Exercise with hovercraft: a shipping disaster occurs in the English Channel large numbers of passengers might have to be rescued and it is likely that a cross channel hovercraft will be directed to the scene to act as a floating casualty station. An exercise to test the possible use of hovercraft in sea rescues took place in Sandwich Bay between Walmer and Dover lifeboats and Hoverspeed's Dover-based hovercraft Princess Margaret. In a moderate to fresh breeze, force 4 to 5, a dozen or so volunteers from Hoverspeed's staff were transferred from the lifeboats to the hovercraft.

Each lifeboat moored alongside the hovercraft and one by one the volunteers were helped on to the blown-out skirt and into the craft. One volunteer remarked that the hovercraft skirt was like a mattress and that she felt safe throughout the operation. In the photograph the crews of Dover's 50ft Thames lifeboat Rotary Service and Princess Margaret practise moving a stretcher holding a dummy patient between the craft (note the hovercraft's lifting door), while Walmer's 37ft 6in Rather The Hampshire Rose stands off. photograph by courtesy of Basil M. Kidd.