THE Royal National Lifeboat Association’s (RNLI) annual sail day in Penarth has eclipsed its fundraising efforts from last year, raising more than £24,000 for the charity.

The organisation provides a search and rescue service for people at sea across the United Kingdom and relies almost solely on public donations and the work of volunteers to maintain its service.

The event, held on Friday, June 16, saw 25 yachts line up just off Penarth Pier for the annual Bill Davies Memorial Cup race, organised by the Cardiff branch of the RNLI and drawing on the support of local yacht clubs.

In near perfect weather conditions, the yachts, all given freely for the day by their owners and provided by Penarth and Cardiff Marinas, Cardiff Bay Yacht Club and Cardiff Yacht Club, raced around various points in the Bristol Channel.

Sponsors were given the opportunity to bid to place crew members on each boat, with many of the yachts having as many as eight to 10 people on board.

Jason Dunlop, lifeboat operations manager for Penarth RNLI, thanked everyone for making the event a success.

He said: “Our volunteer crew members race into action when lives are at risk at sea. The generosity of the sponsors and supporters today will help the RNLI ensure our crews have access to the best training, equipment and support to ensure they are fully equipped for rescue.

“I should like to pay tribute to the work of the organisers, led by Mr Colin Lyons of Cardiff Bay Yacht Club, for making the event run so efficiently and providing us all with such great memories.”

Marshalling the start of the race was Penarth RNLI’s Atlantic class lifeboat., which was on hand to escort the yachts around the course. This was later joined by the Barry Dock RNLI lifeboat, who joined the small fleet as they returned to shore.

Upon disembarking at Cardiff Bay Yacht Club, the sailors were welcomed back with an after race reception which featured a raffle and charity auction, with prizes donated by local organisations.

The Bill Davies Memorial Cup was presented to the crew of the yacht Joyride, owned by Chris Watler of Cardiff Bay Yacht Club, which had been sponsored for the day by Berry Smith LLP..

Sian Reynolds, who invited the Berry Smith sponsors to take part, said: “We all thoroughly enjoyed the event. We were blessed with super weather and had a grand time.”