Cornish lifeboatman given bravery award after battling 'hurricane conditions' during rescue mission

The Princess Royal pins a Silver Medal for Gallantry on Patch Harvey, an RNLI coxswain for the Penlee lifeboat in Cornwall. Credit: PA

An RNLI coxswain from Cornwall has received a medal for bravery from royalty after carrying out a daring rescue in 'hurricane conditions'.

Patch Harvey received the Silver Medal for Gallantry from Anne, the Princess Royal at a Buckingham Palace garden party organised for the RNLI on 23 May.

Patch, the coxswain of the Penlee lifeboat, was called into action along with his six crew members on 31 October 2022, despite strong winds and large waves.

They launched their vessel at 8:30pm to help rescue the French crew of a 40ft sailing yacht that was disabled two miles off Porthleven and was on a collision course with rocks.

Patch and his crew faced winds of up to 87 knots, waves of six to seven metres and poor visibility during the rescue, but managed to save everybody on board despite the conditions.

Speaking about the incident, he said: “We were called out to a yacht with eight people on it. It was hurricane conditions.

“Their sales were blown out and the engine wasn’t working. If we hadn’t got there, the boat would have smashed into rocks and we would have lost all eight people.

“I’ve been in the RNLI for 32 years and I’d never experienced conditions like that before.”

The event was held at Buckingham Palace to celebrate the charity's 200th anniversary and saw around 2,500 people attend. Credit: PA.

On Thursday, Patch received the Silver Medal, the rest of his crew were also awarded Silver Medal Service Certificates for their courage.

The father of three was joined at Buckingham Palace by his wife, Nina, where the pair met with the Princess Royal, the Duke of Kent and Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence.

“What an honour and a privilege," he said.

"I’ve always seen pictures of the palace but never thought I’d have a chance to be on the grounds."

The event was being held to mark the 200th anniversary of the RNLI and around 2,500 long-serving members of the charity, staff and their families were in attendance.

Speaking about meeting the Princess Royal, Patch said: “She asked questions about what we were called out to do. She was interested in what we did.

“She used to fly helicopters and said she’d rather have been in one of those than a boat."

"It was amazing," he added.