Teignmouth RNLI holds opening morning to view new Atlantic 85 lifeboat

Friends, family and local supporters joined volunteers at Teignmouth RNLI last Saturday 30 November at an open morning to celebrate receiving a new Atlantic 85 lifeboat to help volunteer crews continue to save lives at sea.

Fundraising and Engagement Chair, Wendy Richards Wood said despite the weather the event was a ‘great morning for all involved with a good turnout’ she also thanked ‘those who helped to make the open morning a success, including the shore crew who ensured the boat was cleaned before her debut to the public’.

Patron of Teignmouth RNLI, Lord and Lady Clifford were also in attendance with their family who enjoyed a guided tour of the new boat, including its new features, as explained by volunteer boat crew who were on hand all morning to greet visitors.

With a steady stream of visitors, it was an opportunity for supporters to see the new lifeboat Claude and Kath, ahead of the boathouse visits team opening back up in the spring. Volunteers also collected over £60 in donations throughout the morning, and the volunteer shop team took an impressive £700 in sales.

The new B class lifeboat, ‘B-947 Claude and Kath’ arrived on station on Wednesday 13 November, replacing The Two Annes. Claude and Kath is an epoxy and carbon constructed lifeboat with an orange polyester gel coat finish on the external hull no longer using the filler gel and paint as before on The Two Annes.

Claude and Kath is also heavier, so doesn’t require the lead ballast that the previous lifeboat was fitted with. The console crew pod is also larger to accommodate all the upgrades since the first models were built (of which The Two Annes was one of), and the newer boats also have a redesigned anchor locker and chain bin.

Other than it having the latest engines and some electrical upgrades, Claude and Kath is very similar otherwise to The Two Annes in capability and ability to help save lives at sea.

Claude and Kath has been primarily funded from the legacy of Miss Jean Stevenson.

Jean Stevenson lived in Chesterfield and died in December 2019. Jean was a long-term supporter of the RNLI which started with her father, Claude, who raised funds for the RNLI including organising the local Lifeboat Day.

Jean remembered the RNLI with a generous gift in her Will with requests to fund a lifeboat. Jean had expressed a wish to remember her parents, Claude and Kath, and honour all their volunteering and fundraising for the RNLI by incorporating their names on a lifeboat.

Additional funding was also provided by the legacy of Joan Eileen Kenney, who lived in Dorset, in memory of her late husband, John Kenney.

Key facts about the RNLI

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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Contacting the RNLI - public enquiries

Members of the public may contact the RNLI on 0300 300 9990 (UK) or 1800 991802 (Ireland) or by email.