25 Years Ago From the pages of THE LIFEBOAT, June, 1963 Issue.

Notes of the Quarter THE first quarter of 1963 was a period in which a number of important advances were made in the development of life-boat design and in the task, which is a continuous one, of modernizing and re-equipping the life-boat service as a whole. During this period a new type of life-boat was completed. This was the 48-foot 6-inch Oakley life-boat, which is described in detail on page 452 and illustrated on pages 472 and 473.

In the summer of 1958 the first of the Oakley type of life-boat was completed. This was the 37 foot boat, and a number of these life-boats are now in service. The Oakley life-boat, as is generally known, is a self-righting boat, but the most important quality of the boat is not simply that she will right herself automatically if she capsizes but that she is a more stable boat than comparable life-boats of the non-self-righting type, her self-righting quality being provided by an ingenious system of shifting a water ballast. The same principle has been applied in the new 48-foot 6-inch boat, but this is, of course, a boat of a larger type with a cabin and shelter for the crew and survivors.

At the time of going to press the new life-boat is on her way to Leith, where she will be inspected by representatives of life-boat societies from many countries who are attending the ninth international life-boat conference.

The 48-foot 6-inch life-boat is not the only type on which the Institition is working. Designs have been submitted for a life-boat which will be some 70 feet in length, will have a higher cruising speed than existing life-boats in the fleet and from which it will be possible to launch a smaller boat for inshore rescue work. When inviting designs for the new type of life-boat the Institution made it clear that steel construction might be acceptable. Extensive tank tests will have to be carried out before a prototype life-boat can be built, and some two or three years may elapse before this prototype can be effectively tested under service conditions.

NEW FAST RESCUE CRAFT Concurrently with these important developments in the design of life-boats experiments have been carried out with a new type of fast rescue craft designed primarily for inshore rescue work in the summer months. These craft are inflatable and are constructed of a tough nylon material proofed with neoprene. They can be driven at 20 knots or more, a 40 h.p. outboard motor being mounted on a wooden transom. The types with which the Institution has been experimenting are 15 feet 9 inches in length and have a beam of 6 feet 4 inches. Craft of this type are being placed at the life-boat stations at Aberystwyth, Gorleston, Redcar and Wells, and trials will be carried out at other points on the coast between life-boat stations.

The craft will normally be manned by a crew of two with two additional helpers to assist in launching where necessary. Those who man them will receive service rewards on the same scale as members of life-boat crews..