The first week of the 2026 Keelboat Club Racing season at Howth Yacht Club took an unexpected turn when the club's Race Management team rescued a swimmer in distress in Malahide Estuary.

Just four minutes before the first Wednesday evening start sequence, Dublin Coastguard issued a Pan-Pan call reporting that a swimmer was stranded and distressed after getting caught in the ebb tide. He entered the water on the estuary's southern shore but was swept out and across to the northern shore and could not return safely.

At the time, the club’s committee vessel, North Star, was anchored near the West mark and the RIB crews had just completed their course setup. With conditions relatively benign and experienced RIB helms already on the water, Eoin Kernan, as Coxswain, quickly assessed that the Race Management team was in a position to assist.

After consulting with the Race Officer, Eoin coordinated dispatching one of the RIBs, helmed by Evan Banable with crew Cara Lynch, to attend the incident. Concern was growing that the swimmer, already weakened and exposed to cold water, might attempt to swim back across the estuary.

From aboard North Star, Eoin coordinated communications with Dublin Coastguard and Evan, while simultaneously managing the start sequence timings and soundings. Using updated information relayed from Dublin Coastguard through Eoin, Evan and Cara successfully located the swimmer and safely recovered him into their RIB.

As the swimmer was very cold, they provided first aid and advised that they would transport the swimmer to Malahide Marina to await the arrival of Skerries Coastguard and ambulance personnel. Following the handover, Evan and Cara returned to North Star, with the entire operation taking approximately one hour from initial call to conclusion.

Dublin Coastguard later expressed its appreciation for the professionalism and speed of the response from the club’s Race Management team, commenting:

“Thanks for your quick response, attending, clear reporting, and good updates.”

They added:

“Please extend our thanks to yourself and also very much to the RIB crew. You were all very professional and we couldn’t have done this without you.”

Club members will undoubtedly be proud of the calm and capable actions shown by Evan and Cara throughout the incident. Their swift response and professionalism reflected exceptionally well on the club.

Equal credit is due to Eoin Kernan aboard North Star, whose coordination of communications with Dublin Coastguard, race management responsibilities, and on-water support helped ensure the rescue operation ran smoothly while Club Racing continued with minimal disruption.

Howth Yacht Club is extremely proud of the calm, capable and professional response shown by its Race Management team, whose actions reflected the very best of the club both on and off the water. Well done Cara, Eoin and Evan!