Barrow RNLI’s volunteer crew launched their inshore lifeboat this afternoon (Sunday) in response to reports of a person in the water.

The request for assistance was received from HM Coastguard in Holyhead at 2.15pm. The information received was that a kitesurfer had got into difficulty near Foulney Island after the casualty had become separated from their board.

The crew was paged and the inshore lifeboat Raymond and Dorothy Billingham, was launched at 2.28pm with Jonny Long at the helm along with crew Saul Tomlin and Fraser Livesey.

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In challenging conditions, the lifeboat located the casualty who had managed to cling on to a mooring buoy on the east side of Roa Island.

The casualty had tried to swim to the shore but in the strengthening wind was unable to make any progress. The casualty, who by now had been in the water for some twenty minutes, was taken on board the lifeboat and handed over to the team from Furness Coastguard who were waiting at the Foulney Island car park.

With the casualty safe, the lifeboat returned to the boathouse at 2.57pm where it was washed down and made ready for the next launch.

The weather at the time of the incident was bright and clear with good visibility. The wind was south, south-westerly, Force 7-8. The high tide had just passed at 1.57pm with a predicted height of 9.6 metres which, with the wind behind it, made an actual tide height of 10.2 metres.