• Grahame Farr's The Tubular Lifeboats 1850-1939 is in many ways the most interesting of his papers on lifeboat history. It is available from the author at 98 Combe Avenue, Portishead, Bristol BS20 9JX, price 60p including posting and packing.

The first record of a proposal for a tubular lifeboat goes back to 1813, when Thomas Boyce was awarded a silver medal and ten guineas by the Society of Arts for a model of a small lifeboat containing two wood framed cylinders. However it is with the arrival on the scene of two somewhat eccentric figures named Richardson that Mr Farr's narrative becomes really engrossing.

Henry and Henry Thomas Richardson were father and son and both were Army officers. Their interest in and dedication to tubular lifeboats is described as 'single minded to the point of fanaticism'.

The first tubular lifeboat the Richardsons built was named Challenger.

The Richardsons carried out trials with her off the north-west coast of England, and when approaching Lytham in foggy conditions they decided to address the crowd on the shore in French and then fire a brass swivel gun. This promptly dispersed the crowd who believed a French lugger was approaching. Later the Richardsons disguised themselves with masks resembling boars' and crocodiles' heads.

In spite of their eccentricities they were extremely successful propagandists for tubular lifeboats in North Wales and the Liverpool area. Challenger went into service, not in Britain but in Oporto, but of the other tubular lifeboats four were stationed at New Brighton, three at Rhyl, one at Liverpool and one at Pwllheli.

A disaster occurred to one of the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board's tubular boats in 1875, when the lifeboat capsized after taking off the crew of the American ship Ellen Southerd.

Another tubular lifeboat succeeded in saving the lives of 19 people and following the subsequent enquiry Capt H. T.

Richardson pointed out strenuously that the Harbour Board's boat was illdesigned because it had not been built in accordance with the patent which he and his father had taken out.

Capt Richardson died in 1887 and left the RNLI £10,000 to pay for two more tubular lifeboats. One of these was subjected to trials off Lowestoft in competition with three other types of lifeboat.

The adjudicators awarded 188 points to a Watson lifeboat, 150 to a self-righting lifeboat, 127 to a Norfolk and Suffolk boat and only 105 to the tubular boat.

Yet in spite of its limitations a tubular lifeboat remained in service at Rhyl as late as 1939.

Once more Mr Farr has put all lifeboat historians into his debt, and it is perhaps a pity that his excellent series of lifeboat papers is produced so modestly. At one point in this new paper, in a reference to the competition held for the best model of a lifeboat in 1851, Mr Farr mentions a 'Henry Beeching'. Is it possible that for once Mr Farr has nodded and he is in fact writing about James Beeching, the winner of the competition?—P.M.

• William Whiting, master of the 'quiristers' of Winchester College for 36 years in the nineteenth century, was the author of 'Eternal Father, strong to save', the hymn so well loved by seafaring people which is sung at all lifeboat services of dedication; it was his contribution to the first edition of Hymns Ancient and Modern published in 1860.

In this centenary of his death, a biography, William Whiting, has been written by Patricia Hooper and published by Paul Cave Publications Ltd, 13 Portland Street, Southampton, price £3, postage and packing 30p. It is the result of extensive research and, in addition to the story of the Whiting family itself, the history of the Quirister School is taken right back to the founding of Winchester College in the fourteenth century.—J.D.

• Food with a Flair is the latest cook book compiled for the benefit of the lifeboat service. Barbara Wentworth has collected more than 100 recipes from members of the Central London Committee and their friends—and delicious they sound, too: Serbian fish casserole, for instance, or Elizabethan lamb, white turnip pudding or gooseberry and geranium ice. The booklet starts with notes on metric equivalents and comparative oven thermostats and ends with tips on catering for offshore sailing contributed by Cherry Jackson. All profits go to the RNLI and the price is £1 including postage and packing; for branches and guilds ordering in bulk the price is 75p per copy. Available from the RNLI London office, 21 Ebury Street, London SW1 OLD.—J.D.

• Every now and again an outstanding book appears which is clearly destined to become one of the classics in the library of the sea. Such is Power Yachts by Rosemary and Colin Mudie (Adlard Coles, £15). Both Rosemary and Colin are seamen through and through, being equally at home under sail or power, in dinghy or offshore yacht, cruising or racing. That the sea and boats are a joy to them is soon plain to the reader.

Since 1958 Colin and Rosemary have been partners in their own yacht design business, specialising in fast power and sailing vessels up to about 100ft LOA; the sail training shipRoyalist is just one of the many and varied designs which has come from their board. Colin is a fellow of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects and joint chairman of its Small Craft Group; he is also a fellow of the Royal Institute of Navigation as well as a past president of the Yacht Brokers, Designers and Surveyors Association, and he has recently become a member of the RNLI Technical Consultative Committee. Both are active members of Lymington ILB station branch, Rosemary is public relations officer and Colin is a deputy launching authority.

Described as a detailed discussion, Power Yachts opens with chapters on the way of a ship in the sea and the seamanship of power yachts, and goes on to talk about methods of construction old and new and all aspects of modern power boat design. Professional knowledge and practical common sense overflow into wisdom and the whole is lightened by the good cheer and wit of the authors making a book which will be of great interest to the knowledgeable and an invaluable introduction to the newcomer. Illustration is exceptionally good, with large, clear diagrams and imaginative photographs, and the whole appearance is pleasing. No wonder the book has been nominated one of the top examples of British book design and production of 1978.—J.D.

• 'At noon on Saturday, 27 August 1977, fifteen fine ocean yachts set out from England for a 27,000 miles race around the world, via Cape Horn. Between them they flew the national flags of Britain, France, Holland, Italy and Switzerland, besides that of the European Economic Community; they were crewed by 158 men and 10 women, including those from USA, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg as well as the countries under whose flags the yachts raced.' Thus begins Cape Horn to Port (Nautical Publishing Co., £6.50), the official account of the 1977/78 Whitbread Round-the-World Race written by Erroll Bruce with the help of other members of the main committee. On such a race, during which gale and storm would be welcomed by wellfound yachts hoisting every stitch of sail they could effectively carry, each of the experienced crews knew that they would have to be self sufficient; the course would lead them well away from shipping lanes into such inhospitable waters as the notorious Roaring Forties and even down into the icestrewn seas below 50° south. Requirements for safety equipment (including double-bottomed liferafts to combat the freezing cold of the Southern Ocean) were laid down by the race regulations and all yachts were subject to scrutiny at each port of departure.

Moreover, each crew had its own survival routines worked out. Close radio contact was maintained throughout the fleet, with each boat ready to go to the help of another should the need arise.

Cape Horn to Port, written as it is by a distinguished ocean racing skipper and a former member of Longhope lifeboat crew, is a well told and well illustrated record of the race; a record to which many more detailed stories from the crew members themselves will no doubt be added later. In the appendices can be found details of the yachts and crews together with full results and technical comment.

The last leg ended in strong gales and storms and, as the author comments, when a westerly gale is blowing against a strong ebb tide in the English Channel, the seas become much steeper than in an open ocean gale of the same strength.

The exploits and achievements of the various yachts were astounding, but one of the over-riding impressions left by this book is the strong bond which was forged between all those who took part in the great adventure. Each crew competed with all its might, but deep friendship and concern extended to the whole fleet.—J.D..