A two-man rowing boat crew, trialling their vessel in the Irish Sea, had to be rescued by Workington RNLI.
The volunteer crew was called out at around 11.25pm last night to help the stricken vessel, which was about two miles off the coast of Workington.
The crew was trialling the specially-made seven-metre vessel for a forthcoming Atlantic crossing challenge, when they became aware of issues with the rudder.
It had become stuck and the crew called the Coastguard for assistance.
Workington RNLI’s volunteer crew launched the all-weather lifeboat Dorothy May White and towed it back to harbour.
Just a few hours later, the crew was paged again to go the assistance of a boat which had began to take on water in the Irish Sea.
The converted fishing boat got into difficulty off the coast at Ravenglass and the Coastguard alerted Workington RNLI at about 6.55am.
The volunteer crew launched all-weather lifeboat Dorothy May White and a helicopter was also called out to assist.
The crew reached the 17 metre vessel and towed the boat to Workington, arriving at around 12.30pm.
Workington RNLI has responded to four callouts this week.