New lifeboat crew training speeds up as arrival date draws near
Volunteer lifeboat crew at Lytham St Annes are looking forward to the arrival of their new Shannon class lifeboat next month.
With the new lifeboat Barbara Anne due to arrive at the charity’s Lytham St Annes Station on 25 February the pace of crew training has quickened in readiness.
A Shannon launch and recovery system (SLARS) the name given to the combined tractor and carriage, is at the South Promenade boathouse to train the tractor drivers and shore crew and, to assist with this, a relief Shannon class lifeboat, Brianne Aldington, came for two days of trials.
Training progressed so well that one of the four drivers, Roy Black, taking part in the training on the day the Shannon returned to Fleetwood Marina, actually did the launch, the first by a Lytham St Annes driver. All the station’s drivers have more training to do before being passed out as ready but all are doing well, including the ones who unfortunately couldn’t attend on that day due to work commitments.
Meanwhile the four Lytham St Annes Coxswains were at Poole RNLI Training Centre all together for a water jet course, the new Shannon being driven by jets rather than propellers. Gary Bird (Coxswain / 2nd Mechanic), John Atkinson (2nd Coxswain), Tom Stuart (Deputy 2nd Coxswain) and Nick Glassbrook (Deputy 2nd Coxswain) honed their skills over the week as the new type of boat handling is radically different from the conventional type. So that the Lytham St Annes station was not left without a Coxswain while all four were away, Fleetwood lifeboat’s 2nd Coxswain / Mechanic, Steve Carroll, was drafted in to look after things.
John Atkinson said on his return from Poole: 'It was an exciting week. The Shannon is superb and so responsive for close manoeuvring when going alongside another vessel. With her extra speed, at 25 knots half as fast again as the lifeboat she is replacing, the new boat has the potential to save more lives at sea.'
The Barbara Anne is due to leave Poole on 21 February and with overnight stops at Brixham, Newlyn, Kilmore Quay, and Holyhead arrive here on the 25 February. Two Lytham St Annes crews will bring her as part of their training, the second crew taking over from the first at Newlyn.
RNLI media contacts:
For more information please contact David Forshaw, Lytham St Annes volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer on 07904 685 206 or [email protected], Peter Whalley, Lytham St Annes volunteer Deputy Lifeboat Press Officer on 07872 026395 or [email protected] or Chris Cousens, RNLI Regional Media Officer, West on 077482 65486 or [email protected]
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The RNLI charity saves lives at sea. Its volunteers provide a 24-hour search and rescue service around the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland coasts. The RNLI operates 238 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland and more than 240 lifeguard units on beaches around the UK and Channel Islands. The RNLI is independent of Coastguard and government and depends on voluntary donations and legacies to maintain its rescue service. Since the RNLI was founded in 1824, its lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved over 146,000 lives.
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