Lifeboat crew used lasso to stop runaway speedboat

A lifeboat crew stopped an out-of-control speedboat by lassoing it. The six-metre vessel went into a spin when its skipper, Peter Channing, 66, was trying to moor up and accidentally knocked the throttle.



He was thrown overboard and had taken off his kill chord - a safety device attached to his leg that should have pulled out the ignition key when he fell in the water - so the boat began to circle. Onlookers at Teignmouth Quay in Devon pulled Mr Channing to safety, but the boat was circling the bay and crashing into other vessels.

An RNLI lifeboat arrived on the scene, and the helmsman, Giles Squirrel, pulled up as close as possible while crewmen Adam Truhol and Jim Cassidy stood ready. The crew lassoed the speedboat at the first attempt before pulling it towards them and cutting the engine. Mr Channing, of Teignmouth, was unhurt but his boat was written off.


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He said: “I briefly took off the kill chord and the engine suddenly sprang into life and I was over the side. My buoyancy jacket, which I always wear, inflated and I was drifting in the river. I thought my boat was going to the beach, but suddenly it reared up and started coming back towards me, bouncing off other boats. Luckily it missed me. I managed to get close to the shore when someone threw me a line to pull me in. Nobody was hurt and I suppose I can smile a bit about it now, but I will be more careful in future.”