VIP launch: the Duke of Kent, President of the RNLI, was given the task of striking the releasing pin to set Douglas lifeboat on her way down the slipway when he visited the station in June. Douglas, on the Isle of Man, was where the Institution's founder. Sir William Hillary, served as a crew member and won three gold medals for gallantry. His memorial is in St George's churchyard, Douglas, and after the Duke had laid a wreath in RNLI colours there, he attended a reception where he met lifeboutmen and officials from the island's five stations, together with members of the many Isle of Man ladies' lifeboat guilds.

photograph by courtesy of Roger Oram.