THE DUKE OF ATHOLL, chairman of the RNLI, praised the courage of the Penlee lifeboat crew lost last December and of their families at the annual general meeting of the governors of the RNLI held in London on Tuesday morning May 11. The Duke described the crew of Solomon Browne as ...

'. . .fine, well-trained lifeboatmen' who, when the call came 'in the finest traditions of the lifeboat service . . . did not hesitate to set out to help other seafarers in distress.' Of the families, who attended the afternoon meeting to receive medals for gallantry awarded to the men, he said: 'They have been an example to the whole country. In the midst of great sorrow and harrowing publicity they have remained dignified and calm. They have earned our respect, admiration and support.' The Duke announced that a public enquiry into the disaster at Penlee had been ordered by the Department of Trade.

Speaking of the Institution's financial position, the Duke of Atholl reported that the RNLI's income increased by 17.4 per cent in 1981 to reach almost £14 million, the target figure for the year. He praised the fund raisers and said: ' shows that our voluntary system is strong enough to weather economic storms and to continue to provide the money to build and maintain a first class fleet of lifeboats, giving the nation unrivalled value for money.' At the afternoon meeting HRH Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, presented the gold medal for gallantry awarded posthumously to Coxswain Trevelyan Richards to his mother, Mrs Mary Richards, and the bronze medals awarded to the seven members of his crew to members of their families. The Princess also presented the gold medal to Coxswain Michael Scales of St Peter Port for the rescue of 29 people from the cargo vessel Bonita in hurricane force winds last December; the bronze medal was presented to each of his seven crew.

A full report of the annual meetings begins on page 88.

New Penlee lifeboat The new lifeboat for Penlee will be a 52ft Arun which will lie afloat in Newlyn Harbour. The lifeboat is being paid for by the Robinson Charitable Trust and will be named Mabel Alice after Mr David Robinson's wife. The boat is under construction at Fairey Allday Marine in Cowes and is expected to arrive at Newlyn next spring. Meanwhile Penlee lifeboat station is operating the 46ft 9in Watson class lifeboat Guy and Clare Hunter which was formerly stationed at St Mary's, Isles of Stilly. Princess of Wales lifeboat Her Majesty The Queen has given permission for the new 37ft 6in Rother lifeboat at Barmouth to be named Princess of Wales. The lifeboat was partly funded by an appeal throughout Wales to celebrate the Royal Wedding last year and more than £50,000 was raised. A cheque for this amount was presented by the Lord Mayor of Cardiff, Councillor Ronald F. Watkiss, to the Duke of Atholl, chairman of the Institution, who thanked the people of Wales for supporting the appeal so generously and described the cheque as '. . . a splendid result and a most welcome boost to our funds'.

Royal luncheon party Superintendent Coxswain Brian Bevan of Humber lifeboat station was invited by HM The Queen to a private luncheon party at Buckingham Palace on May 18. Coxswain Bevan, who holds the gold, silver and bronze medals for gallantry, received a bar to his bronze medal at the recent annual presentation of awards.

US Navy League dinner HRH Princess Anne was guest of honour at the dinner organised by the United Kingdom Counil of the Navy League of the United States on April 2 at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich.

The dinner was in aid of the RNLI. It was one of the largest social events organised by the US Navy League in London in recent years and one of the major fund-raising items on the programme was a grand auction. The dinner strengthened links between the RNLI and US citizens both in this country and in the United States, who have already provided the money for two Atlantic 21 class lifeboats.

Tyne class lifeboats The RNLFs 47ft fast slipway lifeboats will be known as the Tyne class in line with the Institution's policy of using names of rivers for lifeboat classes.

Tyne was chosen to reflect the close connection of Mr P. Denham Christie, chairman of the Boat Committee, with the fast slipway boat project; Mr Denham Christie comes from Newcastle and he served as coxswain of Tynemouth lifeboat from 1953 to 1963.

The first of the Tyne class lifeboats, City of London, has started trials which will include extensive sea passages around the coast. The second Tyne class lifeboat is building at Fairey Allday Marine, Cowes, and is due to be launched during the summer.

Design Council Awards 1982 The RNLI has received a Design Council Award for the Arun class lifeboat.

Certificates were presented by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, to Mr P.

Denham Christie, chairman of the Boat Committee, and Lt-Cdr H. E. Over, chief technical officer, at a special luncheon in the Barbican Centre on April 28, In all, awards were made to 34 different products, in six different classes, between them forming a cross section of fine British design and craftsmanship.

In presenting its entry, the RNLI gave as the essential principle of the Arun that the hull, machinery and equipment is so arranged that a whole host of operations can be carried out in a comparatively small but highly complex vehicle without overdue interference by one operation with another; and that all operations can be performed, when necessary, in extreme conditions of wind and sea.

At the time the entry was made, at the end of the summer 1981, Arun lifeboats had been at sea on service for more than 3,000 hours, rescuing 455 people and landing 256, all of which figures have, of course, since increased.

Although rescues have been performed in winds up to hurricane force and tremendous seas, no Arun has capsized and no crew member has been lost or seriously disabled. In the past few years, three services for which gold medals have been awarded have been carried out in Arun class lifeboats.

The Design Council judges studied all aspects of the lifeboat's design and fitting out and visited the Arun at Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, where they were taken for a demonstration run, before making the award '. . . for the excellence of the design'.

After the award ceremony, the Duke of Edinburgh inspected the Arun lifeboat Duchess of Kent which had been named in London by the Duchess the previous day (see page 85).

Surf Life Saving anniversary The Surf Life Saving Association of Australia celebrates its seventy-fifth anniversary this year and Rear Admiral W. J. Graham, director RNLI, sent the following telegram to Sydney: 'On behalf of the chairman and Committee of Management of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, our crews, staff and supporters, may I convey to all at Surf Life Saving Association of Australia our heartiest congratulations on this your seventy-fifth anniversary and our best wishes for a prosperous and safe future.'.