Howth RNLI was on exercise this afternoon Saturday 24th April when it received a call to join the Irish Coast Guard Helicopter Rescue 116 who were tasked to locate a kite-surfer who had got into difficulty off Sutton Strand in North Dublin.
The wind had reduced in strength which caused the kite equipment that the kite-surfer was using to collapse into the water and he was unable to launch the kite again and was drifting towards Sutton estuary.
The Coast Guard Helicopter was already on scene and dropped a smoke marker to aid the Howth RNLI Lifeboat locating the casualty.
The kite-surfer was taken aboard the inshore lifeboat and safely returned to shore.
The volunteer lifeboat crew were Ian Martin (Helm), Lorcan Dignam and Ronan Murphy.
Speaking following the callout, Ian Martin, Howth RNLI Inshore Lifeboat Helm said: ‘Our volunteer lifeboat crew are always ready to respond to a call for help and we train for situations just like this. We were delighted to be able to quickly locate the kite-surfer with the assistance of Rescue 116 and bring him back to safety’’.