TO MARK the Royal Wedding in July telegram of congratulations was sent to HRH The Prince of Wales on behalf of the RNLI by its chairman, the Duke of Atholl: 'The Committee of Management, lifeboat crews, voluntary workers and staff of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution send loyal greetings and best wishes on the occasion of your wedding.' In reply came the following gracious telegram: ' The Prince and Princess of Wales send you their most heartfelt thanks for your extremely kind message.' In commemoration of the wedding an appeal to raise £100,000 towards a new lifeboat for Wales has been launched.

£16,000 has already been promised and the Lord Mayor of Cardiff, Councillor Ronald F. Watkiss, has shown his support by agreeing to be president of the appeal committee; the committee is chaired by Raymond Cory, a member of the Committee of Management. The appeal aims to reach every town council, business organisation, sporting and sailing club in Wales to help reach the target.

New York Rowing Race Generous sponsorship has made it possible for an RNLI team to compete in the International Lifeboat Races in New York for the third year running, and the team from Newquay, Cornwall,won the race and retained the trophy which an RNLI team from Teesbay won last year. The Newquay team was flown to New York by Pan Am and crew members raised funds locally to provide their own blazers, trousers and track suits.

In the first heat of the races, organised by the Maritime Association of the Port of New York and rowed on July 4, Independence Day, the RNLI crew beat two American teams and went on to beat a crew from a Dutch NATO ship in the final race. At the prize presentation in the New York Playboy Club the lifeboatmen received individual cups presented by the Metropolitan Government of Tokyo. The RNLI men presented the race organisers with a model of a traditional Newquay rowing gig.

* * * The American branch of the Institution, which is based in London, has been honoured by United StatesAmbassador John J. Louis, Jnr, who has accepted an invitation to become president of the branch.

Pulling boats Former crew members of the last pulling lifeboat in service with the RNLI, Robert and Ellen Robson of Whitby, re-lived the days of oar power on August 1 when they rowed the lifeboat in Whitby Harbour as part of the lifeboat day demonstrations. The combined ages of the 12-man crew came to 742 years and former lifeboat inspector Cdr Leslie Hill went out with them. The following day the present Whitby lifeboat crew rowed the lifeboat from Whitby to Robin Hood's Bay and sponsorship money already collected has passed the four figure mark.

The crew of Aberystwyth lifeboat rescued the occupants of a broken down motorboat on August 12 when they were out in a replica of an old-fashioned pulling lifeboat. The replica had been built to raise money for the RNLI and the crew were at sea practising for a sponsored row when they found the motorboat in trouble. They towed her safely back into Aberystwyth.

Chilean lifeboat It was reported in the last edition of THE LIFEBOAT, that an ex-RNLI lifeboat, ON 860, had been sold to the Chilean Lifeboat Society. She was re-named Valparaiso III at a very happy ceremony at Valparaiso on June 20 when the bonds between the Botes Salvavidas deValparaiso and the RNLI, described by the Chilean organisation as 'our spiritual mother', were stressed.

Loss at sea The Department of Trade has just published its statistical analysis of United Kingdom shipping casualties and accidents'at sea for 1979, and it is good to see that the figures for merchant shipping were lower than for the previous year. The number of vessels lost fell to ten, well below the annual average for the past ten years and showing a marked reduction in gross tonnage of merchant vessels lost compared with 1978. The total number of lives lost was well down, too; 126 compared with 170 in 1978.

The statistics for fishing vessels, on the other hand, show that losses over the period 1975 to 1979 were higher than in the two previous corresponding periods.

The publication Casualties to Vessels and Accidents to Men—Vessels Registered in the United Kingdom—Returns for 1979 is available from Her Majesty's Stationery Office, price £4.

Tiger moth rescue Lowestoft lifeboatmen carried out an unusual rescue as they were preparing for a demonstration on lifeboat day. A large tiger moth was seen fluttering on the water in the yacht basin. The lifeboatmen scooped it out and put it in the lifeboat cabin where it dried out and it was eventually able to fly away. A Norwich couple read of the rescue and sent a £2 cheque to the station 'on behalf of the moth'.

Lowestoft lifeboat day raised £2,283, beating the previous year's total by over £100.Cof M Richard Barclay, senior local director of Barclay's Bank, Southampton district, John Clay, deputy chairman of Hambros Bank and director of the Bank of England, John Cox, senior general manager of Midland Bank and chairman of Access, Wilson Ervin, group managing director of Northern Ireland's Northern Bank Ltd, and Lord Stanley of Alderley, a tenant farmer of New College, Oxford, have all been voted new members of the RNLFs Committee of Management.

Mr Barclay is also director of the National Provident Institution (a life insurance company), Barclaytrust International Ltd, Barclays Bank Finance Company (Jersey) Ltd and Barclays Bank Finance Company (Guernsey) Ltd. Dinghy sailing is among his recreations.

Both Mr Clay, who is a member of the Royal Thames Yacht Club, and Mr Cox, who is a fellow of the Institute of Bankers, enjoy sailing.

Mr Ervin is chairman of the Belfast RNLI branch, governor of the RoyalBelfast Academical Institution, vicepresident of the Royal Ulster Agricultural Society and a past president of the Institute of Bankers in Ireland.

Lord Stanley of Alderley is a retired captain of the Coldstream Guards; he farms both in Oxfordshire and in Anglesey and is president of Holyhead RNLI branch. Sailing is also one of his pastimes.

Birthday Honours In the Birthday Honours List: The Most Noble Hugh Algernon, Duke of Northumberland, KG TD, was appointed to be a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order., The Duke of Northumberland is the Treasurer and also a vice-president of the RNLI.

Frederick William Brooks was awarded the MBE for services to the community in Hampshire. Among his other work for the community, Mr Brooks has been president of Hayling Island financial branch since 1980, after serving as chairman for ten years; he is also chairman of Hayling Island station branch.

David James Cox, coxswain of Wells lifeboat, was awarded the BEM. Mr Cox joined Wells lifeboat crew in 1943 and was appointed coxswain in 1960; he was awarded the thanks of the Institution inscribed on vellum in 1964 and 1973 and the silver medal in 1979.

Changes of address The Welsh District Office vacated its premises at The Exchange, Mount Stuart Square, Cardiff, at the end of June and moved to: Aberdare House, Mount Stuart Square, Cardiff. The telephone numbers remain the same as before: Cardiff (0222) 31831 and 29005.

From September the storage and distribution of fund-raising stores, previously undertaken by the Barry Dock store, were also transferred to Aberdare House.

The North London District Office vacated its premises at 553a High Road Wembley, at the end of September, the lease having expired, and moved to: 10- 12 St Albans Road, Barnet, Hertfordshire.

The telephone number had not been allocated at the time of going to press..