Looking for a picture, wessex towing boat.

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8 years 11 months

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This is the story as I remember it told, any inaccuracy is doubtless mine.
Chap I used to know brought a few of his university friends home and decided to "borrow" his dad's boat and go for a sail. Cleared Portsmouth harbour, hard right and slap onto the Hamilton bank. Someone ashore dialled 999 and the Lee on Solent Wessex duly arrived. So the boat streamed an inflatable tender on a line into which the winchman duly descended and came aboard, subsequently removing the crew. When it came the turn of the chap who's father owned the boat he said "Look chum, I could pretty well walk ashore from here and I don't need rescue, how about a tow?" The winchman consulted and said "Well the skipper's game. just don't blame us if it tears your deck cleat out." A tow was affixed and the cuddly old Wessex went chug chug and the boat came free quite readily. The winchman left assuring him that they would not be claiming any salvage since he had never given up command and control or somesuch and any way, they would be dining out on this story for a while. Boat duly returned to mooring and shhhh!
Then Yachting magazine arrives and there in a full page ad for an insurance company is HIS boat being towed by a helicopter!
Now this story sounds tall as hell to me but I could swear I remember seeing the picture. I have not been able to find it online and wonder if maybe anyone remembers seeing it somewhere.

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Glad it didn't end up like this!

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18 years 2 months

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Somewhere in the loft I've a book called British ( military? ) Helicopters and I know there a photo in that of a Whirlwind towing a yacht

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6 years 7 months

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A Whirlwind towing a boat? Almost as bizarre as this...
[ATTACH=CONFIG]258174[/ATTACH]

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16 years 7 months

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ThreeM, wasn't that one of Duncan Sandys least successful defence cuts proposals advanced in his 1957 White Paper?

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6 years 7 months

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Yes, Avion Ancien, this is the mark one version. The mark 2 version brought it up to date with a hard hat and high-vis gear! :highly_amused:

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8 years 11 months

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That may well be it. The bloke who told me the story wouldn't know a Wessex from a food blender. I assumed, damned if I know why since I well remember the Whirlwind HAR9 from Lee.

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18 years 2 months

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Well I dug the book out, but am I allowed to post the pic ?

Book is actually British Service Helicopters by R Gardner & R Longstaff and the picture is Whirlwind HAS9 '589' towing a 21 ft yacht aground off Portsmouth

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17 years 5 months

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Sea Knight towing an Ice barge

http://1000aircraftphotos.com/Contributions/11201L.jpg

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17 years 5 months

Posts: 8,980

And a reversal, boat towing a helicopter

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/e0/65/eb/e065ebd9b65c54a9cfeb96cff133d00a.jpg

Member for

8 years 11 months

Posts: 120

11th January 2018, 14:30 #12 JagRigger JagRigger is offline
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Well I dug the book out, but am I allowed to post the pic ?

Book is actually British Service Helicopters by R Gardner & R Longstaff and the picture is Whirlwind HAS9 '589' towing a 21 ft yacht aground off Portsmouth

That will be the one! If I remember the name "Cohort" was visible on the spray dodgers.

Tony, I've seen that Sea Knight pic before, Jeez, foreshortening, perspective, whatever, it gives me the willys!