Recognition epic rescue
EPIC RESCUE
Yallingup Lifeguards Save Three in 15-ft Surf to Win Rescue of the Month
The Kracka Lifeguard board is a high performance craft weighing between 9 kg – 9.5 kg. Our range of Lifeguard boards have been developed by Kracka over many years of testing and feedback from APOLA to meet today’s requirements of a lighter and faster board necessary for emergency rescue situations.
Ben Sowter receives the award at Parliament House in Canberra.
We have 4 Kracka Lifeguard board models now available: Yallingup Beach on the day of the rescue.
After constantly paddling for around 30 minutes and getting nowhere with the three surfers, they made the decision for one of them to paddle back to shore and call for assistance from Smiths lifeguard jetski.
O
n 10 January 2014, ALS Yallingup lifeguards Ben Sowter and Janek Ferrandi took on monster storm conditions to rescue three surfers well out of their limits. It won them SLSA’s Rescue of the Month.
Western Australia’s Yallingup Beach is known for its notorious surf conditions, peak season holiday crowds and out-of-town surfers testing themselves in the big waves. On the day of the rescue, conditions were extreme with the inshore/ mid-break waves at a solid 8–10 ft (double overhead), while outer reef waves where the surfers were heading were 10–15 ft (triple overhead). There were strong rip currents across the beach and a strong drift running from south to north. Three surfers paddled out from Yallingup lagoon not realising they were beyond their capability in the large surf. Within two minutes of leaving the beach they were pulled out in a rip current 600–700 m off shore. Janek Ferrandi quickly grabbed the rescue board and started to paddle out to the three lads. Ben Sowter quickly followed as he could see the situation deteriorating rapidly. Once they had reached the three surfers they were 500–600 m off shore in line with the notorious Rabbits surf break, drifting towards Shallows.
Fortunately for the boys a member of the public was liaising with the lifeguards at the time and pulled the flags down and kept the communications going on the phone with Smiths lifeguards as the rescue continued. The swell kept increasing as the guys were out there with 8–10-ft troughs breaking in the channel.
This is the smallest of the Lifeguard boards and very popular with the Lifeguards that want a fast rescue board.
LG2
This is the middle sized Lifeguard/Rescue board. The extra width in comparison to the LG1 offers more stability and has been the board of choice for many of our Lifeguards for many years.
LG3
This is the largest of our Lifeguard/Rescue boards. This board was developed in consultation with the Lifeguards from Waverley Council's Bondi Beach .The board is much wider than our standard rescue board and was designed to complete mass rescues of more than one person at any time. This board has a user friendly rocker and larger volume for mass rescue situations and offers more stability.
LG4
This model was designed specifically for Manly council. This model actually sits in between the LG2 & LG3 in size. It has less thickness in it which makes it easier to ride. It is more stable than the LG2 model. This board is more suited to surfers who don’t have a SLS background and has a lot of bottom curve and is hard to nose dive.
A critical decision
After 45 minutes of paddling constantly, both Ferrandi and Sowter knew they weren’t going to get them back in at the lagoon. They made a quick and drastic decision: they would paddle in through the Shallows break, putting themselves and their casualties at risk by going over the shallow reef.
The swell kept increasing as the guys were out there with 8-10 ft troughs breaking in the channel
Putting the two weakest paddlers on their boards they started to paddle back towards the Yallingup main break looking for an easy access in to the beach as the waves were a solid 10–15 ft.
50 Australian Lifeguard Magazine 10 th edition
Ferrandi paddled back to shore while Sowter kept paddling the three boys back towards the main break. After unsuccessfully trying to get hold of the jetski—the Smiths lifeguards were themselves conducting rescues—and with the Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter unavailable to assist, Ferrandi paddled back out to assist Ben with the surfers.
LG1
At this time the strongest paddler of the surfers managed to catch a wave in between Rabbits and Shallows, washing up over the rocks. A member of the public came to help the man back from the rocks. Ferrandi and Sowter now had to time it perfectly to avoid injury or drowning. After about 10 minutes of waiting for a lull in the waves, they managed to get the two surfers back with only minor injuries to themselves and the casualties. They had ended up 800–900 m from their starting point.
Once everyone was back on the shore and safe the three surfers were extremely thankful. The jetski came over from Smiths shortly after to make sure everything was okay and the Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter, Life Saver 8, also arrived and checked the scene after the rescue.
All of our Lifeguard/Rescue Boards are made of Epoxy Resin Sandwich Foam construction for strength and longevity. Orders can be sent Online via our Website www.krackasurfcraft.com.au For more information please contact the office on 02 49426177