The launching ceremony and trial run of a four-foot scale model of the Howth life-boat took place recently at Baldoyle. The builder, twenty years old Derick Riley of "Alverno", Strand Road, Baldoyle, Dublin, is a science student at University College Dublin.

Derick decided to build the scale model three years ago when he was present at the naming of the Howth life-boat, but it was not until July of last year that he started, when he had access to the original blueprints of the 4y-foot Watson type boat.

He spent most of his holidays working on the model, which is built on a scale of one inch to the foot. She is 47 inches long with a beam of 13 inches and a draught of 4 inches. With fuel and equipment on board she weighs 36 Ibs. The rudder control is power assisted by an electric motor. She has twin screws driven by an 8 c.c. watercooled diesel engine giving her a maximum speed of just over three knots.

Most of the fittings on the model were made by Derick himself. The super-structure is of plywood with glass-fibre in places to mould curved parts.

The exhaust, as in the original life-boat, has two outlets. One under the waterline to discard oil, the other, for smoke, from the mast-head. To make it even more realisticthe model has a crew of miniature life-boat men. The total cost of materials used in the construction was about £25.

Derick has appeared on Irish television with his model and has entered it for a display at Helys of Dame Street, Dublin during a model fortnight. Later on, Derick hopes to fit a radio control unit into the model and give displays to raise funds for the Howth life-boat..