Hornsea Inshore Rescue

General information

Since the early 1970s Hornsea had been the base for a Coastguard Patrol Boat. Local auxiliary Coastguards operated the boat throughout the summer and winter, whenever sea conditions were suitable and a crew was available.

Even though the Coastguard Boat was classed as a patrol boat it was used on a number of occasions as a rescue facility saving numerous casualties during its service at Hornsea.

Unfortunately due to the Coastguard Review in the early 1990s, the Coastguard policy regarding their patrol boats underwent considerable change.

Some Coastguard stations lost their patrol boats whereas other stations gained a patrol boat. Hornsea unfortunately lost their patrol boat to the newly formed Hull Coastguard Station.
As a result of this loss, there was much concern from the public regarding the safety of bathers, fisherman and many other people who often use the sea for their recreation and sport. After a public meeting there was much support for the development of an independent rescue facility to be based at Hornsea. This would be run by volunteers and operated as a charity.

In 1994 Hornsea Rescue became a registered charity. After much hard work by the fund raising group, enough money was raised to purchase a new inshore rescue boat. The boat is a 5.85 metre rigid hull inflatable boat and was built by Ribtec of Southampton. It was delivered to Hornsea in December 1995.

The boat is equipped with twin 60hp Mariner Outboard Engines giving a top speed of around 35knts. The boat is also equipped with a GPS satellite navigation system, which was donated by Hornsea Lions and for night time operations the "Do Something Different Club" in Hull helped to raise £500, which was doubled by BP to £1,000 to allow us to purchase some Night Vision Goggles.

Longbeach Leisure Caravan Park offered Hornsea Rescue some premises free of charge to house the inshore rescue boat. This was an old disused barn, which needed restoring. Much hard work was put into rebuilding the barn and converting it into a boathouse. While being very grateful to the Longbeach Caravan Park this location was not ideal from an operational point of view and our aim was to have a purpose built rescue station on the seafront... the dream became a reality when in August 2008 ground was broken for the building work to start.
The new building was opened by HRH Princess Anne.
The boathouse has been an invaluable asset to the service enabling us to run experience, educational and corporate days.
Through fundraising we have managed to purchase a new Atlantic 55 boat and launching cradle which has made things much safer for our crew.
We need donations to keep this valuable service running on a daily basis and to help purchase new much needed equipment.