THE PERSISTENCE AND DEDICATION which RNLI supporters have shown in a period of exceptional financial stringency give, at the time of going to press, reasonable grounds for optimism about the financial results in 1976. Encouraging support has continued to come from all the established sources, including branches, guilds and the Civil Service and Post Office Lifeboat Fund.

(A profile of the secretary of this remarkable body appears on page 227.) There have also been a number of highly successful local appeals. The Bristol appeal has closed at a figure of £102,298.

The Broughty Ferry appeal has already brought in more than £100,000 and the Isle of Wight appeal more than £16,000.

The admirably organised efforts of Round Table seem likely to produce at the very least the cost of a new Waveney lifeboat.

What this has meant in practice is that it has already been possible to order three new lifeboats in 1976, and it is likely that our reserves at the end of the year will allow a further order to be placed for at least one more. As readers will recall, earlier in the year it was found necessary temporarily to curtail the lifeboat building programme, but the present unmistakable evidence of widespread support for the RNLI which 1976 has provided offers encouragement for the future.

Commercial prospects for the Atlantic 21 One of the most important and exciting developments in lifeboat design in recent years has been the Atlantic 21 inshore lifeboat, which had its origins in Atlantic College in South Wales, largely through the efforts of Rear- Admiral Hoare. The boat was first shown to other lifeboat societies at the International Conference in New YorkCity in 1971 when David Stogdon gave a number of demonstrations. Since then the RNLI has built 42 Atlantic 21s, 23 of which are on service on the coast, and there are now good prospects that other organisations will wish to use the boat, both for lifesaving and other purposes, in this country and overseas.

The RNLI Trading Company, on behalf of the RNLI, is entering into an agreement with Halmatic Ltd. to build Atlantic 21s for the commercial market.

RNLI Trading will retain the copyright in the design and will receive a royalty on every boat built by Halmatic for sale to a third party.

The depot at Poole The RNLI depot at Boreham Wood was closed down at the end of September 1976 and the new depot came into operation as part of the main head office complex at Poole. This completes the present stage in the move from London and its immediate environs which was decided on in the summer of 1972.

One gratifying consequence of the move to Poole is the number of visits which honorary workers are now making to the head office. All such visitors are naturally welcome, and it is hoped that those who come will also take the opportunity of seeing the new depot at work. Visits to Boreham Wood were of course popular among many branches and also parties of school children.

Autumn gales The driest and warmest summer in living memory in most parts of Britain was followed, not surprisingly, by persistent rain accompanied at times by gales during much of the autumn.

Some of the worst weather was in mid- October, when winds rose to gale, storm and even hurricane force at times. Fortunately there was good warning of the approach of this bad weather, but even so, according to returns already received, between October 12 and 17, 16 lifeboats and five ILBs were launched on service; of these, six offshore and two inshore lifeboats were out on Thursday, October 14, the day of the worst storms.

Trouble was not confined to the sea.

On October 26 Arbroath ILB was out in the streets. Very heavy rain on the hills, spring tides and drains blocked with autumn debris all combined to swell the burn which runs through the town until it broke its banks, flooding a low lying inland area to a depth of 5 feet.

The fire service asked for the help of the ILB, which rescued two families from a marooned house and, from 1000 to 1700, ferried the firemaster and police to investigate the flooded area, and also ferried residents from a block of flats, while pumping got under way.

Association for Rescue at Sea Inc.

In our last number we reported that a joint American/British Committee had been established in the United Kingdom to appeal to United States citizens to provide the funds for a new lifeboat. The committee agreed that it would be necessary to establish a suitable organisation in the United States, and at a meeting held in New York on November 22 the body known as the Association for Rescue at Sea Inc. formally came into being. Application has been made to the Internal Revenue Service of the USA for tax exemption status. The inaugural meeting in New York was held through the good offices of the British/American Chamber of Commerce. Messrs. Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen and Hamilton have acted as honorary solicitors. The registered offices of the new association are: c/o Mr James Wegeler, Secretary/Treasurer, 440 Park Avenue South, New York, N.Y.

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