THE BACK GARDEN of the harbourside house of Sir Max Aitken, whose name she now bears, was the unique setting for the naming ceremony of the RNLI's newest 52ft Arun class lifeboat at West Cowes, Isle of Wight, on Saturday May 2. The lifeboat, the second Arun built for the RNLI's relief fleet, was the gift of the Beaverbrook Foundation and She will be seen at stations all round the coast as she replaces Arun lifeboats undergoing survey or refit.Moored off the private jetty and dressed over all, the lifeboat attracted the attention of passengers aboard the hydrofoil and Red Funnel ferries on their way to and from the mainland and the rousing music by the Cowes Band, under its conductor Peter White, set the scene on a sunny, blustery day, for a happy and memorable occasion.

Lisa Brinton, young daughter of Michael Brinton, deputy superintendent of the RNLI's Cowes depot, presented Lady Aitken with a bouquet of flowers and then Major General Sir Robert Pigot, Bt, a member of the Committee of Management of the RNLI and president of the Isle of Wight Lifeboat Board, welcomed everyone to the ceremony and said it was particularly fitting that the ceremony should take place at Cowes where Sir Max had sailed so much over the years and with great success.

After John Atterton, deputy director of the RNLI, had described the lifeboat, the Right Honourable Lord Robens, a trustee of the Beaverbrook Foundation, handed the lifeboat over to the RNLI, drawing a parallel between the distinguished war record of Sir Max as a Spitfire pilot and the lifesaving role of lifeboats.

'For his gallant war service, his work as chairman of Beaverbrook Press and his keen interest in sailing and the sea, it is fitting that this splendid lifeboat should bear his name.' The Duke of Atholl, chairman of the RNLI, accepting the lifeboat on behalf of the Institution, said she was an 'extremely generous gift' and thanked the Beaverbrook Foundation.

A short service of dedication followed, conducted by the Reverend Canon John Beam, Chaplain to Her Majesty The Queen, Vicar of St Mary, Cowes, and Priest-in-Charge of All Saints, Gurnard, assisted by the Reverend Brian Day, West Cowes Methodist Church, and the Reverend Canon James Walsh, Parish Priest of the Roman Catholic Church, Cowes. After the blessing, Lady Aitken pressed the button to shatter the bottle of champagne naming the lifeboat Sir Max Aitken.

Three hearty cheers led by Staff Coxswain Edward Mallinson and his crew, seemed to be the cue for a helicopter from HMS Daedalus to fly past streaming an RNLI flag.

Lady Aitken and other guests were then invited aboard the new Arun lifeboat Sir Max Aitken by Lt-Cdr Michael Woodroffe, divisional inspector of lifeboats for the South East, for a demonstration trip.—H.D..