Twelve kayakers rescued in Dublin Bay

The Irish Coast Guard at Howth and life guards from Dollymount beach assisted 12 kayakers who were in difficulty off Red Rock in Sutton, Dublin on Sunday evening.

It is understood challenging weather conditions with offshore winds and a receding tide resulted in eight kayakers being pushed out into Dublin Bay.

The Dollymount Life Guard rescue boat located four kayakers on the rocks near Sutton Strand and one was taken on board the rescue boat, while three climbed back up to the cliff path.

A further eight kayakers were then towed back to shore. The Coast Guard said most of the kayakers were novices and were on board a commercially organised kayaking trip using sit-on kayaks.

While all were wearing life jackets and wet suits, the group had very limited safety equipment with them, the coastguard said. The group had no marine VHF radio or distress flares, they hadn’t observed the small craft warning in place and hadn’t logged their journey with the Coast Guard operations centre, the Coast Guard added.