Equiom’s team, who recently undertook the Three Peaks Challenge, were successful in their attempt and have raised £10,000 for Hospice Isle of Man.

The team of seven including Equiom chairman, Larry Kearns and group managing director, Sheila Dean undertook the UK’s premier mountain challenge with the initial aim of raising £1,200 to cover the first print run of a cookbook project, which had been brought to their attention by Hospice’s Northern Committee.

However, cheque presentations were made to Hospice Isle of Man and to Northern Hospice Committee for £7,500 and £2,500 respectively. Sheila Dean speaking at the presentations said: ‘So many of us have personal attachments to Hospice on the island, and the fantastic work they do.

‘So to be able to give something back and support them was something very close to my heart.

‘Having bonded closely with the team, training in all kinds of weather – nothing could have prepared us for the challenge that lay ahead.’

Sheila added: ‘I speak for the whole team when I say that this is a personal achievement to be extremely proud of, as it was definitely more challenging than we all expected.

‘A big heartfelt thank you to all those who kindly supported us and by doing so helped us to raise funds in excess of what we set out to achieve – friends, family, staff and colleagues all contributed.’

Margaret Simpson, chief executive of Hospice Isle of Man speaking on accepting the donations said: ‘We were deeply touched when presented with this amazing amount, as it had been kept a surprise for us until the actual presentation.

‘To say we were stunned would have been an under-statement.

‘Huge congratulations and many thanks to Equiom and their supporters for raising such a significant amount and well done to the team on their fantastic achievement.’

The team, who completed the daunting challenge with Sheila and Larry, were James Horrigan, Robert Cattle, Mike McHale, Fiona Noon, Emma Corlett and Andy Wilson.

The Northern Hospice Recipe book is expected out in print at the end of November in time for the Christmas shopping season.

The Isle of Man’s first gold medal of the 2013 NatWest Island Games in Bermuda was proudly won by the women’s gymnasts in the team competition on Sunday.

Team captain Grace Harrison boldly led the girls to victory by a mere three marks over the Bermudian girls, who had been confident of a home triumph. Third place went to the Faroese, a further five marks back in third.

Coached by Nick Workman and with the support of reserve Aoife Donnelly, the Manx team performed brilliantly with Emily Dale-Beeton, Tara Donnelly, Nicole Burns and Rebecca Johnson really showing fine form throughout, brought about by the long, hard hours of training.

The team competition on two pieces, floor and vault, meant little room for error and the girls didn’t disappoint.

On floor, Nicole Burns picked up the highest score of the day with 12.9, showing incredible artistry and agility, although this by no means overshadowed the other girls who turned in clean and tidy routines with all moves stuck.

Grace Harrison scored highest on vault with 13.05, again with solid support from the other girls, all performing combinations of Tsukahara and Yurchenko vaults.

The girls now look forward to the FIG competition on Tuesday.

The men’s gymnastics team of Tony Duchars, Brandon Garrett, Harshul Measuria and Anand Patel were also in the medals winning silver in the vault and floor competition.

The 2013 NatWest Island Games athletics programme opens at 9.40 this morning Bermuda time (1.40pm UK time) with the women’s 100 metres heats.

The youngest competitor in the Isle of Man team, Charlotte Bawden, goes in heat one, which will help to get the nerves out of the way early.

Bethan Pilley has withdrawn from the 100 metres in order to concentrate on the long jump final on Tuesday evening.

At 10.05am (2.05pm GMT) come the men’s 100 metres heats in which Jack Lemaire has a tough draw in heat two against the silver and bronze medallists from 2011. Lemaire undoubtedly has the talent to give them both a hard time.

Finally, at 11.10am (3.10pm GMT), Ryan Fairclough goes in heat three of the men’s 800 metres and has avoided the two athletes most likely to be his biggest rivals. They go together in heat one.

The heat draws and revised entry lists can been found at http://natwestislandgames2013results.com/athletics/index.htm which is well worth bookmarking. Reports and videos of the events involving Isle of Man athletes will be uploaded on David Griffiths’s Facebook page. He has also set up a YouTube channel and if possible will upload videos to that also. It is at http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3TRFHrFrQeG0P2xzQabb1g?feature=watch
The very best of luck to every member of the lsle of Man team. I am sure they will all do their island proud as they always do.

Continent 8 Technologies have announced the appointment of Stephen Trimble as head of product, based at the company’s headquarters in the island.

Stephen brings more than 15 years of experience in Telecommunications, IT and Data Centre operations to lead Continent 8’s global product management function.

He will take responsibility for the management, definition and delivery of both existing and new products and services for the global business.

John Stone, for the company, said: ‘Continent 8 are delighted to have attracted such an experienced and well-respected individual.

‘Stephen’s skills and experience greatly complement our plans for the expansion of our global footprint and the enhancements we are currently making to our portfolio of services.

‘With the Isle of Man data centre expansion currently underway, Stephen’s appointment also underlines our commitment to further growth in the island.’

Stephen said: ‘It is extremely exciting to be joining a company as dynamic and forward-thinking as Continent 8.

‘At a time of local and global expansion I am looking forward to assisting with the introduction of further world-class products and services.

Michael Tobin, Continent 8 chief executive officer, said: ‘Building the Continent 8 organisation can only be accomplished through the creation of a world class team.

‘Stephen is a welcome addition to help continue our growth on the Isle of Man and throughout our global footprint.’

Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond will visit the Isle of Man this week to deliver the Chief Minister’s International Lecture.

He is due to deliver the lecture to an audience of nearly 200 invited guests in the Villa Marina tomorrow (Tuesday) evening.

His visit will also include a separate meeting with the Chief Minister Allan Bell as well as seeing something of the island’s economic and culture life.

Mr Bell said: ‘Mr Salmond is one of the most high profile politicians in the UK at the present time. With the referendum on Scottish independence now only a year away he is likely to have an even higher profile.’

Mr Bell said the future of Scotland, our nearest geographical neighbour with whom we have strong historical and cultural connections, would undoubtedly have some influence on our economy, particularly if it set its own tax rates under full independence or some form of alternative ‘Devo Max’ proposals - under which is would be handed full control of domestic affairs.

The Chief Minister said: ‘The Scottish government has been looking very closely at the island’s constitutional position with the UK and many would like to have a similar relationship, in particular the freedom to set their own tax rates, particularly corporate tax. That’s pretty much what Devo Max is.

‘If the referendum ends in a ‘no’ vote for Scottish independence, there is sure to be discussions about reviewing the relationship between Scotland and Westminster. Should it achieve full independence or deliver some form of Devo Max then clearly there could be more competitive relationship with the Isle of Man in future. We are watching developments with considerable interest.’

Bus Vannin bosses claim a new bus ticketing system will save £200,000 annually and pay for itself in two years - mainly by tackling fraud.

Tynwald last week voted overwhelmingly to spend £400,000 on the Ticketer system - with the Community Culture and Leisure Minister Graham Cregeen insisting it was not a ‘Rolls Royce’ option.

He said lessons had been learned from mistakes in the past which has resulted in the current system having to be replaced after just five years.

A public accounts committee investigation found serious mistakes had been made in the purchase of Almex which was introduced at a cost of £381,483 in 2008, but is now deemed no longer fit for purpose.

Mr Cregeen told Tynwald: ‘We’ve learned the lessons from the mistakes in the past’.

Insisting it’s ‘not a Rolls Royce scheme’, he said the replacement Ticketer system will allow for the use of Smart card technology. It will also cover the heritage railways.

The Minister claimed the system will save about £200,000 a year - and so pay for itself in two years. By helping eradicate ticket fraud alone, it would apparently save £175,000.

DCCL chief executive Nick Black told iomtoday: ‘The department knows that it currently pays £50,000 in commission to the various businesses that stock and distribute multi-journey tickets.

‘Once smart cards are available, these tickets would be topped up either on the bus or online and therefore there will be no need to issue or indeed print the current tickets. This saving is therefore easily calculated.

‘The larger element of saving comes from the analysis of actual travel versus travel that has been paid for. Industry surveys suggest that such losses are in the order of 4-10% per cent of takings and we have therefore used the low end of this range and estimate an overall combined saving of £200,000 a year. As you will know, with a capital cost of £400,000, payback will be pretty swiftly achieved with savings being generated thereafter.’

The PAC’s report on the Almex fiasco found a civil servant with no experience in this area was put in charge of procurement, hindering the selection of the most appropriate system. Almex didn’t deliver the required specification and some £30,000 had to be spent to fix it for immediate use.

Middle MHK Howard Quayle branded the DCCL’s track record as ‘disastrous’. Michael MHK Alfred Cannan suggested Ticketer’s purchase was ‘premature’ given no decision had been reached over possible privatisation.

It was a tough start for Manx beach volleyball duo Dan Smith and Mike Travers against gold medal favourites Cayman Islands 1.

A very one-sided group match ended with the Caymans dominating with a 2-0 win and sets finishing 21-8 and 21-6. In a group with other winnable matches, it’s always best to get the tough ones out of the way first. Hopefully a good learning curve and an opportunity to acclimatise ahead of today’s match against Bermuda 2.

Cal Crutchlow secured his second MotoGP runner-up result with a powerful ride in the German Grand Prix at Sachsenring on Sunday.

Badly bashed up after two crashes in Friday practice, the Ramsey resident was far from 100 per cent fit for the punishing 30-lap race in hot temperatures.

From second on the grid, denied a consecutive pole by Honda’s Marc Marquez by 0.123 second, Crutchlow was initially swamped down the order to fifth place.

But the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team rider showed tremendous mental and physical resilience to battle his way up to third behind Valentino Rossi after a couple of laps.

Crutchlow then sat patiently waiting for a way past ‘The Doctor’. That opportunity arose just after half-distance when Cal overtook the factory Yamaha on the downhill approach to turn 13.

Once ahead of Rossi, he then set about reeling in leader Marquez. The gap at that point was 2.8sec with 14 laps remaining. He initially managed to slash a few tenths of a second off him each lap, reducing the gap to 2.10s by lap 18.

Marquez got the message and the margin remained at a fraction over two seconds for the next few laps. It dipped under two seconds and, with two laps remaining, it had stabilised at 1.6s. At the chequered flag it was 1.559s.

‘I’m very please with that considering the injuries to my hand and arm,’ said Cal. ‘I could not find grip early on and by the time I got past Valentino, Marc had got away.’

Isle of Man claimed a team bronze in the men’s NatWest Island Games triathlon at Clearwater Beach on Sunday morning.

The team of Kristian Cowin, Andrew Isaac, Juan Kinley, Andrew Nash, Roger Raatgever and Paul Swindale contested the Olympic distance event which began with a 7.30am swim in the crystal clear, warm water of the North Atlantic around Bermuda.

Isaac was sixth out of the water in an excellent 20.32, followed in eighth by fellow former Isle of Man squad swimmer Cowin in 21.45.

Microgaming’s Roger Raatgever and Ramsey police inspector Juan Kinley produced near-identical times of 1hr 01min 16sec and 1:01.17 respectively on the bike to move up the overall order.

After the swim, first transition and cycle, Isaac was still the leading Isle of Man competitor in 1hr 24m 56s, followed by Nash 1:25.01, Kinley 1;27.04, Raatgever 1:27.57, Cowin 1:28.51 and Swindale 1:29.57.

The mid-morning heat was oppressive for the 10km coastal run. Nash produced a 43m 18s run to finish best Manx in ninth overall with a combined time of 2:08.44 (including the second transition).

Raatgever, whose company sponsored the Isle of Man triathlon team, ran well to overhaul Kinley and finish 13th overall in 2:10.17. He crossed the line five seconds and one position in front of his rival and team-mate, despite having dropped an additional seven seconds to Kinley in the second transition.

Isaac struggled in the run, dropping down the order to 24th overall in a finishing time of 2:14.33.

Cowin was almost two minutes faster than him on the run, but still finished six places and two minutes behind Isaac overall in 2:16.34 (30th).

Swindale also found the run tough, taking almost 54 minutes to complete the distance. His overall time was 2:24.18 for 38th place in a total field of 40 finishers.

Four competitors failed to complete the race, all because of heat exhaustion. Two of them required hospital treatment.

Overall it was a good team effort from the Isle of Man sextet to take the bronze medal behind Gibraltar (who fielded a total of 10 competitors) and Orkney. The combined times of the leading three Manxmen was 46s faster than host nation Bermuda who had been fancied to go well.

A smaller field of 14 contested the women’s event over the same course.

Gill Crennell of Peel produced a 27m 33s swim to initially place 13th, but moved up on the cycle with a time of 1:17.28 (10th), by which point there had been one retirement.

Another girl dropped out on the final run, which Crennell completed in 56.26 for an overall time of 2:42.59 including transitions and a 15-second penalty.

Joanne Hawkins of Ramsey had her usually strong swim, completing the 1,500m distance in 23.03 (fifth best of the women).

She also bettered her team-mate on the cycle, by more than one minute, but dropped behind on the run with a time of 1:06.33.

At the finish, Hawkins was 11th in 2:47.30.

Western Isles won the women’s team event with Isle of Man fifth.

Thomas Miller Investment (Isle of Man) Limited have donated £1,500 to the Island Games Association of Mann.

The money will be used to fund the travel costs of team doctor Frank Vaughan to the 2013 Natwest Island Games in Bermuda, which continues this week.

Thomas Miller Investment have previously supported individual sports for the Island Games, but on this occasion, given the high cost of travelling to Bermuda, were looking for a way to support all Manx athletes competing.

The company recognises the importance of the role Dr Vaughan will play in such unfamiliar surroundings.

Ian Jarrett , chairman of Thomas Miller Investment (Isle of Man) Limited, lived and has played sport in Bermuda. He said, ‘The team will have a great time in Bermuda – for many it will be a once in a lifetime opportunity but in the heat and humidity there is no question that it will be extremely challenging. We wish everyone concerned, but particularly one of our employees - Karen Faragher (Tennis) who is competing in her 12th Games, the very best of luck and we look forward to hearing about all the successes on their return.’

Gary Hepburn is the new managing director of the island trust and corporate business of the First Names Group.

Gary was appointed to the role after working as client service director at First Names Group for nine years.

Gary is well known within the industry, he has a wealth of experience in financial services placing him as the natural choice to lead the Isle of Man operation.

Originally from Zimbabwe he worked in the UK, Bermuda and the Cayman Islands before moving to the Isle of Man with his family.

Gary is a Fellow of the Institute of Bankers; he holds the trustee diploma as well as a Finance degree from the University of Manchester.

He is also a long-time member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners and the Securities Institute.

First Names Group now have more than 400 staff operating out of eight strategic locations and is one of the world’s largest offshore trust, funds and corporate service providers.

Gary said: ‘First Names Group has grown very strongly over the last few years.

‘I am excited about the future and am really looking forward to helping deliver responsible growth, whilst crucially ensuring we continue to provide unrivalled client service.’

Morgan Jubb, chief executive of the Group, said: ‘First Names Group has ambitious plans for the future, a strong leadership team is imperative if we are going to achieve our objectives. I am delighted with Gary’s appointment. He is a strong leader and is dedicated to delivering the highest level of client service. He is well respected by clients and colleagues alike.

Sefton Group bosses have appeared before the Economic Policy Review Committee to give evidence regarding the recently announced government support for the Group.

Group chairman, Sir Miles Walker, and chief executive Brett Martin answered questions from the committee, comprising Dudley Butt MLC, Leonard Singer MHK and Michael Coleman MLC.

A £1.3 million taxpayer-funded bail-out, as well as a £3.2 million deal for the government to purchase and lease back the Middlemarch site to the Sefton Group have caused controversy.

Asked why they did not sell the site on the open market, Sir Miles answered: ‘We didn’t want to prejudice our ownership by selling away from government, as with them, there was the possibility of a buyback.’

Sir Miles told the committee: ‘When I became chairman in 2010 it was clear we had a lot of debt with Lloyds Banking Group, but we had their support and worked with them to reduce the debt.

‘By 2011 the debt was down significantly but it was obvious Lloyds were looking for a way out.

‘We looked at the Middlemarch site for the best way to get equity and approached the government to see if they were interested in purchasing it in July 2012.

Identical twins who both recorded nine A*s in their GCSEs in 2008 have now both gained degrees in Chinese.

David and Jonathan Wildman, 23, who were born two minutes apart, went to Cambridge and Oxford universities respectively.

We first reported on the Douglas twins in 2006 when they gained their nine GCSEs, and then again in 2008 when they both passed A levels in French, German, English literature and AS level physics.

David achieved an upper second class degree, known as a 2:1, just one percent short of a first-class degree, while Jonathan got a first class honours degree.

David, currently back in the Isle of Man, said: ‘I was very satisfied with a 2:1, I worked hard for it and this was the best 2:1 I could have got.

‘I’m going to relax for a bit now, it’s been a long hard slog getting the degree over the four years.’

Asked about his plans for the future, he said: ‘I would like to do a masters and maybe go to another country.’

The twins first became interested in China and the language after a Ballakermeen school trip to the country.

‘There was a school exchange opportunity at Ballakermeen and it seemed too good to be true, so after I went on that I kind of became obsessed,’ said David.

Their time spent at separate universities was the first time the twins had been apart for a long period and David said: ‘That was one of the hardest things at first, being apart after around 19 years together, but it gave us the chance to develop individually and rediscover who we are.’

Before starting their degrees the twins spent six months in China teaching English.

‘At first it was a bit of a culture shock but it gave us a really good foundation for the degree, and of course we met and got to know a lot of Chinese people,’ said David.

The twins’ mother, Martine, was very proud of them saying: ‘It’s great, they did find it quite hard being separated at first but they’re very happy now they’ve got their results.’

The plan to introduce a £1 airport parking fee for the first hour of car parking at Ronaldsway will not go ahead.

Instead the first half hour of parking in both the short stay and long stay car parks will be free.

In a statement released yesterday it was announced that, after considering all the public comments received, which was around 150 in total, and having met with TravelWatch at the end of June, Minister David Cretney decided to meet the public halfway and to retain a 30 minute free period, something that was in place nearly a decade ago.

‘The Department did consider having a period of up to 30 minutes’ free parking as one of the original options, however when this was originally in place, it was abused by members of the public, so we decided against the option,’ said Mr Cretney.

‘However having read all the comments, many people have said that they were not against a change but suggested that a reduced period of free parking would be helpful,’ he added.

‘So I have decided that there will be up to 30 minutes’ free parking.

‘In addition, we will re-instate a conveniently placed disc zone within the short stay car park, for genuine short term users, so that meeters and greeters, or those with mobility issues can park near the Terminal and collect their passengers and luggage, and depart within the 30 minute period,’ continued the minister.

The car park rates, with the new 30 minute free period, will be re-advertised, and will take effect from mid-August.

In summary, the charges will be as follows; free parking for up to 30 minutes in both the short stay and long stay car parks. In the short stay car park, £1 for 31 minutes to one hour, £1.50 for one to two hours, and £2.50 for two to four hours. In the long stay car park charges will be £1 between 31 minutes and two hours, and £2 for two to four hour stays.

There will be no change to the daily rates or subsequent day rates for short or long stay.

There will be a convenient disc zone in the short stay car park, for parking up to 30 minutes, and the current disabled parking nearest to the Terminal, (adjacent to the hire cars), which is currently used free, for up to one hour, will continue for disabled users free of charge.

The current facility in front of the Terminal building, whereby passengers can be picked up and dropped off, will continue with no changes.

‘I would like to thank the people who have taken the time to write or email in their comments. I hope that this decision will be met with satisfaction by most. We will continue to monitor the car park usage and we will review the situation in the Spring,’ concluded the minister.

TravelWatch welcomed the decision, saying: ‘We believe that open discussion of these issues has been helpful to all concerned and hope this might become a model for future handling of such changes.’

A driver on her way to receive treatment at the hyperbaric chamber had a lucky escape when a tree crashed onto her car as she drove along Peel Road.

Jane Perry, of Willowbrook Gardens in Douglas, said she felt lucky to be alive after the tree - one of a number of mature broad leafs that border that section of the road - smashed down on to the back section of her car.

‘It was pretty frightening,’ she said.

‘If it had been a couple of seconds different it could have been much worse. It came down on the back of the car and it really frightened the hell out of me. It just came out of nowhere,’ she said.

Mrs Perry added the trees, which are on private land, appeared to have been affected by the very dry weather in the past couple of weeks and the fallen tree simply seemed to have been uprooted from the dry ground.

‘There was no wind. It looked as if the tree had just lifted from the soil,’ she added.

Mrs Perry was heading from her workplace at BNP Paribas Securities Services on North Quay in Douglas to the hyperbaric chamber when the accident happened on Wednesday.

Th tree completely wrote off her BMW X3 motor car and blocked the road, which is currently one-way heading in to Douglas, until government workers were able to move the branches and clear the road.

‘If it had been a smaller car I don’t know what would have happened,’ said Mrs Perry, who was uninjured.

‘I didn’t know what had happened at first. I wondered what I had done. I was lucky. There was a lot of glass in the car and the windscreen broke but did not fall in. It had not completely shattered fortunately.’

She added she had been grateful for the support of kind passers by who had called police and an ambulance.

‘Then they took my car to the vehicle testing centre to check there were no faults with it - which seems a bit ironic really. It’s certainly a bit of an inconvenience.’

So far she hasn’t made it back to the hyperbaric chamber and is considering alternative strategies for getting there: ‘I think next time I go there I’m going to park at Quarterbridge and walk the rest of the way on the other side of the road,’ she said.

Five-time Southern 100 champion Ian Lougher rode his final race on the Billown Course the day after celebrating his 50th birthday in the paddock.

The popular Welshman, whose record tally of 32 wins on the course is one more than the great Joey Dunlop’s, finished third in the combined Ultra-Lightweight race on his birthday (first 125 ahead of great rival Chris Palmer) and fifth in the solo championship race the following day.

‘I’ve always thoroughly enjoyed my racing on the Billown Course. It’s such a friendly meeting. I first rode here 30 years ago in 1983, so it’s an opportune time to bow out.’

Lougher will complete a glittering road racing career with outings at the Ulster Grand Prix, Classic TT, Scarborough and possibly a final outing at Macau in November.

A man whose body was discovered in Ramsey last week has been named as 37-year-old Kieron Gerald Hughes, a plumber who lived at Rectory Court.

Ambulance crews found Mr Hughes dead at an address in St Paul’s Court in the town at around 1am on Thursday morning.

The death is as yet unexplained and police have appealed for anyone with information to call them, particularly those who had contact with Mr Hughes during the 24 hours before his death.

Police inquiries are continuing and anyone able to help should call Ramsey police station on 812234 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.

Team Isle of Man claimed eight medals, two of them gold, on the second full day of competition at the NatWest Island Games in Bermuda.

Taking to the top step of the podium on Monday were athlete Kevin Loundes and swimmer Grant Halsall.

Loundes scooped gold in the men’s 10,000m, while 2009 victor Halsall set a new island record on his way to the win in the men’s 50m backstroke.

Also impressing in the pool were Laura Kinley and Charlotte Atkinson who picked up silver in the 50m breaststroke and 100m butterfly.

Back on the track Gail Griffiths landed silver in the women’s 10,000 metres, while there were further medals for the island’s cycling contingent - Elliot Baxter and Leon Mazzone securing silver and bronze in the men’s mountain biking criterium.

The island’s badminton contingent narrowly missed out on gold losing 3-1 to Guernsey in the team competition’s final. The island’s tennis team of Karen Faragher, Laura Feely, Elena Snidal and Katie Tinkler also medalled, securing bronze in the women’s team event.

Monday’s endeavours leave the Manx fifth in the overall medal table, with three golds, seven silvers and four bronze.

More in Thursday’s Manx Independent.

Public sector manual and craft workers have agreed to a pay freeze - in return for there being no compulsory job losses.

Members of Whitley Council were balloted on whether to support the pay freeze if it is guaranteed that for the rest of this financial year there will no compulsory redundancies.

Some 2,005 ballot papers were distributed of which 958 were returned. Of these, 504 voted in favour, 419 voted against and there were 35 spoilt papers.

A deal was signed at a meeting of the Whitley Council on Monday to confirm the pay freeze will run to March 31 2014 in the interests of keeping jobs and helping cope with budget cuts.

Ramsey’s Mersey-class RNLI lifeboat, the RNLB Ann and James Ritchie, went to the assistance of leisure craft in two separate incidents on Saturday afternoon.

It was initially launched at around 3.30pm to go to the rescue of a small sailing vessel around two miles east of Ramsey. The vessel had experienced a near-capsize during which its crew of two were thrown into the water.

The pair managed to re-board their vessel but were unable to start the engine and put out a radio distress call.

The lifeboat arrived on scene within 10 minutes of being launched.

Coxswain Mark Kenyon observed that the two people onboard the sailing vessel although unhurt and wearing buoyancy aids, were shocked and wet and made the decision to transfer them to the lifeboat.

Two of the lifeboat’s volunteer crew took charge of the sailing vessel, which was taken safely in tow to Ramsey Harbour, where it was secured.

The lifeboat was then immediately called by Liverpool Coastguard to go to the assistance of a rigid inflatable boat, with two people on board.

It had experienced engine failure, and was around two miles south east of Maughold Head.

This vessel was also towed to the safety of Ramsey Harbour.

The lifeboat crew were stood down at around 6pm after the lifeboat had been recarriaged, washed down, returned to the boathouse and refuelled.

Dr Gordon Dickens, a volunteer with Ramsey RNLI Lifeboat and RNLI Sea Safety Officer for the Isle of Man later, said: ‘Happily these two incidents resulted in the safe return of the crews and their vessels to harbour.

‘With this spell of warmer weather, many leisure craft and their crews are enjoying the seas. But please, if you are unsure about any matter concerned with safety at sea, or would like one-to-one informal advice on your boat and equipment, a member of the Sea Safety Team is happy to call on you at your boat. This can be arranged by calling me on 475979.

‘This is perhaps a good opportunity to remind boat users of some simple safety precautions they can take to help them enjoy the seas with minimal risk.

‘Ensure your vessel is in a seaworthy condition and fit for the proposed trip; make sure your engine is serviced and you have plenty of fuel. Have an alternative means of propulsion in case the engine fails, such as oars or a small outboard motor.

‘Have a reliable means of communication such as a fully-charged hand-held VHF radio. If you go out often consider a VHF training course so you can make maximum use of your radio. Please do not depend on a mobile phone, it may not be good enough!

‘Check the weather forecasts/wind strengths and state of the tide. Wear a lifejacket, buoyancy aids are fine for dinghies and kayaks close inshore, but only provide a third of the support of a lifejacket, which is better to wear if you are venturing further from shore.

‘And finally, tell someone ashore your plans and expected time of return.’