£50 million modernisation programme The Duke of Atholl, chairman of the RNLI, announced a £50 million boat building programme to modernise the lifeboat fleet. Speaking at the Institution's annual general meeting, he said, 'We have set a seven-year target to complete the introduction of the RNLI's fast lifeboats by 1993. The target will mean the replacement of our slower, 8 knot, wooden hulled lifeboats with faster classes and the boatbuilding programme will cost £50 million over the next seven years.' 1985 the busiest year Last year was the busiest year ever for lifeboats with 3,864 launches on service. 1,742 lives were saved, the second highest number in peacetime.

There was a large increase in launches to sailboards from 320 in 1984 to 520 in 1985 with 285 lives saved. Most of these services were carried out by inflatables or rigid inflatables and the average service to a sailboard lasted only 35 minutes. By contrast, 1,460 hours were spent by RNLI lifeboats dealing with fishing vessels, an average of over 2Vi hours spent on each service.

Good news in the Budget The Chancellor's 1986 Budget contained good news for fund raisers. From April 1 this year, companies (other than close companies) can claim tax relief for one-off gifts to charity—broadly in the same way that they can now claim relief by way of a four year covenant. In order to encourage charitable giving by other companies and individuals, the Government has removed the annual limit of £10,000 for covenants where higher rate tax relief is claimed. From April 1, 1987, a new scheme will also be introduced to encourage giving by employees through deductions from the payroll. Details of all these schemes are being worked out and will be circulated to RNLI branches and guilds by regional offices in due course.

New fund raising chairman The Lord Stanley of Alderley has been appointed as the new chairman of the fund raising committee, following the death of Captain John Leworthy in January. Lord Stanley joined the committee of management in 1981 and is already known to many fund raisers in Wales where he has chaired several regional conferences.

Danish tests Coxswain Dave Kennett of Yarmouth, Isle of Wight and Stuart Weiford, RNLI research and development officer, visited Denmark in March to participate and advise on lifeboat model tests. In December 1981 the RF2, a brand new lifeboat stationed at Hirsthals in Denmark, was lost with her crew of five as they tried to save thecrew of a local fishing boat. The Danish authorities conducted a thorough investigation and are well on their way to ordering a new class of lifeboat. Model tests were commissioned with Coxswain Kennett and Mr Welford present to show a radio controlled model of an RNLI Arun for comparison with the Danish designs.

HM The Queen's 60th birthday A message was sent from the chairman, the Duke of Atholl, on behalf of all in the RNLI on the occasion of our patron's 60th birthday. A reply was received from Her Majesty: 7 thank you, the committee of management, lifeboat crew members, station officials and voluntary members of branches and guilds and staff of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution most sincerely for your kind congratulations on my birthday.

Elizabeth R.' Foreign visitors The RNLI provides the secretariat for the International Lifeboat Conference which meets every four years. The next conference will be held in 1987 in Spain and the head of the Spanish Red Cross of the Sea, Admiral Diaz del Rio, visited Poole in May for discussions about the conference. Other recentvisitors include the new head of the Finnish lifeboat service and delegations from the two Netherlands lifeboat services, the French lifeboat service and the United States Coast Guard.

Ferry appealing Anyone making a crossing with Sealink Ferries this summer will find themselves reminded of the RNLI and its need for money to build new lifeboats. Sealink are running a £150,000 appeal aboard their ferries to help fund a new lifeboat with competition forms, leaflets offering instant prizes and collecting boxes distributed in every corner of the duty free shops, bars and restaurants. The company have already donated £20,000 towards the appeal and they are now relying on the Great British holidaymaker to make up the difference.Renault 5 competition: there is still time to enter the Renault 5 Shoreline Drive competition featured on the inside back page of the Spring issue of THE LIFEBOAT. The closing date has been extended by a month to August 31, 1986 and the winners will be announced in the Autumn issue. Extra entry forms can be obtained by contacting Shoreline, RNLI, West Quay Road, Poole, Dorset 1(1115 1HZ. Remember, there is an excellent chance of winning a brand new 5 door Renault 5 TL and a Vinta 370 sailboard.

All you have to do is answer some simple questions, give a name to your new Renault 5 and join up a new Shoreline member.NEWS POINT SETTING A TARGET Fifty million pounds is a lot of money in anybody's terms. Even spread over seven years the figure is a daunting one. So when the chairman of the RNLI, the Duke of Atholl, announced a £50 million lifeboat modernisation programme at the AGM, there were some sharp intakes of breath. The new target—to complete the introduction of the RNLI's fast lifeboats by 1993—is an ambitious one. It involves doubling the normal rate of boat building. For anybody who doubts the wisdom of setting the target, it is worth looking back to 1970 when the RNLI aimed to make the whole fleet self-righting within ten years. To achieve the goal, emergency air bags were fitted to Watson and Barnett lifeboats.

The bags saved the lives of the Barra Island and Salcombe lifeboat crews, whose lifeboats were capsized by huge waves but righted successfully with no loss of life.

Fast, modern lifeboats—the Arun, Thames, Tyne, Waveney, Atlantic 21, D and C class inflatables —have already set the pattern for the future. The RNLI's course is now set for a complete fleet of fast lifeboats which will make the lifeboat service still more efficient for both lifeboatmen and survivors in the future..