The Annual Presentation of Awards Ceremony in London provides a rare opportunity to gather together some of the year's medal winners and allow them to talk about their lifeboats, their services and their methods and views.Silver medallist Alan Thomas from Tenby and Bronze medallists Dave Kennett from Yarmouth, Peter Race from Teesmouth and David Steenvoorden from Cleethorpes sat down for a chat.

The Inspector for the East Division Tom Nutman posed some questions Tom Nut man: All of your services were very different, so can we talk about the suitability of your particular class of lifeboat for the service you carried out. Three of you have been on 'conventional' boats before you took over the new fast type of lifeboat and Dave Steenvoorden, although he's the helmsman of a D class inflatable, has a lot of experience with other types of similar- size boats. How would you have coped in those services with the old lifeboats? Dave Kennett (Yarmouth, Arun class): I think one of the advantages of the new boats is the engine power. I don' t think you could ever get into trouble with the power the Arun has.

Sometimes you've only got short moments when there's grip under the props. In the older boats when your stern was up you had very little thrust, and when she came down you only had a limited amount of horsepower, and time, to back off. With the Arun you've got thrust from the moment the prop is in, and you've got a lot of power. That's the difference- the 'conventional' boats' sea-keeping was second to none, but they didn't have the power. We had to reposition them by backing off all the time, now you can use the engines and rudder to manoeuvre more or less within the length of the boat.

We had a very rough trip down to the casualty, and part was in very shallow water with a long, heavy breaking sea. There was so much breaking water it was quite dangerous and when we arrived we had to rest the crew and sort the lifeboat out - a 3/ iin bolt had sheered on the rear door for example. We came off the top of a sea hard enough to split one of the fuel tanks, but all-in-all the lifeboat performed very well.

We have a nice big open foredeck on the Arun, so the chaps could work the foredeck and have plenty of room for survivors to come down the scrambling net.

Peter Race (Teesmouth, Tyne class): There's no way I'd run the old boats down, they were marvellous boats, but technology has moved on and I don't think we could have done our service in the old boat because of the lack of power.

Under the cliffs there are boulders as big as houses in places, and in surf the echo sounder doesn't give you much help - it was showing between 18ft and nothing. I kept letting her go in with the seas - going astern into the weather - and she hit the bottom a lot, but with the power we were just backing her off. That was the depth indicator: 'when she bumped hard we came out again!' You could never have done that with a conventional wooden boat, and I would have been terrified of putting her on the bottom. We would probably have put the anchor down, veered in and held off. Doing a similar sort of thing, but without the speed and the confidence. It would have been really difficult.

Another really good thing about the Tyne is the confidence you get from the propellers being in tunnels. We practise going ashore on the beach, and you can put the stem ashore, step off almost dry and then pull her off again.

Alan Thomas (Tenby, Tyne class): We couldn't have carried out the service in the same way with the old boat — in the first place we wouldn't have been there in time.

We had to carry out the rescue stern-to, because of all the nets and ropes floating downwind, so it was just a case of doing what you can when you can. I was concerned about rolling the casualty over before we could get the fellow out. I used the power to stay with him, to stop going any further on top of him. We didn't touch the boat at all.

David Steenvoorden (Cleethorpes, D class): The Avon is a better boat than the earlier Ds. I find that with the D class we are out of the water more than in it, I don't think the prop touched the water during the whole service! They are a very suitable boat for our kind of environment. So responsive, she can whip round and get us out of trouble quickly. If we get a big wave we can just whip round it. That's the secret of a D class - fast and efficient.

With the men inside and dry for most of the time, and all the electronic equipment, is there still the same need to have strong fit crew members on the boats that there has always been? Kennett: It was because we had two very strong crew members on the foredeck that they managed to pull the chaps to safety from the scrambling net. The crew stayed down below for the trip out. We also took a trainee. I try to take a younger member of the crew with us on as many services as we can. It is essential that we take these young chaps, because they can pass the information on - it's very useful.

Race: We only had three of what you might call our regular crew on our medal service. We had three lads who were on the ere w list - at 10, 11 or 12, something like that - and it was their first experience of what you might call really bad weather.

You mix them, because there is no way you can learn by listening to others. The first time you experience it, it's terrific.

Thomas: In Tenby there are so many of the boys that have been on the boats, merchant service, fishing boats and so on, and I'm very fortunate with our crew, because everyone's on a par. We don't have to say: 'we'll take him in preference to others'. Everybody can do everything that has to be done.

Race: My lads are the same. They can do everything - it's just the benefit of a bad weather service, which you don't get very often.

Steenvoorden: At Cleethorpes, with a D class, a fit crew is a must.

When you are on a service like ours you have no chance to speak to each other, so you really have to have a good crew -especially strong ones for dragging people out of the water. One lady in the five canoes was almost hysterical and Martin Kennedy, the biggest lad on our crew, sorted her out and kept her nice and quiet. When we came alongside the pilot launch we kept being knocked away, and it was Martin Kennedy again with his arms round the pilot ladder who held us, he just dug his knees into the sponson and held on.

Race: I've got a fellow, Big John, and when we veered the X boat (a small inflatable carried aboard-Ed) down under the cliff he was on the rope. When we backed out John was on the rope again, getting it in whenever he had a bit of slack. We need strong fellows without a doubt.

With the old-type boat when steaming towards a casualty, the coxswain could relax. He was on the wheel and not having to drive the boat all the time. Do you find there is extrapressure on you in the new boats because you are actually taking on the weather from the time you leave until you get to the casualty? Kennett: I find it quite relaxing actually, I just sit back in the seat as I've got a very good crew to back me up. I've got a good second coxswain for things like the navigation and radio. We are all in the same little cabin.

Steenvoorden: I find in the D class you tend to come back very tense because you've got to keep on top of it all the time. You are not just watching the sea, you are also watching the crew - because you can throw one out of the boat without even trying. I've actually had two crew fly 3ft up in the air because I've been a bit lax and not watching what I'm doing.

Thomas: I could say the same really. You play it like a fish when its nasty, depending on how drastic the situation is. On the service we are talking about here we were running downwind so it wasn't so bad.

How do you find the conditions on the new type of boats, and did it take long to adjust to them? Race: The biggest difference I noticed, and very quickly, is that everything happens so fast. We used to do a mile every seven minutes, now we do a mile every three-and-a-half.

Thomas: You have a much more comfortable seat in these boats.

With the Watson you were standing at the wheel, pounding and jarring your legs, and the boys were sitting on those benches which you could only get half your backside on! It was a much worse ride in those boats.

Kennett: You are being thrown about more violently. The old boats used to give you a gentle ride, you were only doing 8 knots but with the Arun when you have a 15ft to 20ft foot sea she really does drop hard. It's like any fast boat, like being in a D class! Steenvoorden: When you are on the helm in a D class you have to think of your crew, because you are having a different ride at the stern to your two crew. When you get to a job you are absolutely shattered, with a short sea you are just going bang, bang, bang. It's very exhausting.

Race: The two seats in the Tyne with suspension are a boon, the lads behind the helmsman soon let you know if its getting a bit bumpity, because you don't realise it on the suspension seat.

If you get a nasty glance over the shoulder you realise you had better ease up a bit! Obviously the new boats are noisier. Do you find that a nuisance on service? Thomas: In the first place we did, but not so much now.

Race: When you go from 8 knots to 18, you get more power, more engine noise and more buffeting. It isn't a problem, although the RNLI were concerned originally. It's to be expected, and you live with it.

Thomas: ...Plus you are comparatively dry and comfortable. With the Watsons you had a wet backside as soon as you hit the water.

The biggest difference is that with the old type of boat from the time you were called out you were just thinking about where you were going and what you were going to do when you got there.

Turning to equipment. Is there anything that you find particularly useful? Is there anything else you would like to see, or is there anything you feel no use for? Steenvoorden: I find on the D class the new compass position is perfect - you are not chasing the compass all over the bottom of the boat. We leave it permanently fixed at all times.

Thomas: I'd like to see the anchors made up, ready to go away.

When you need an anchor it's usually in a hurry.

Kennett: I couldn't agree more. When you need an anchor you need it very quickly, and I think it would be possible to come up with an easier method, and for recovery as well. You need a lot of crew to recover an anchor on the foredeck, they all have to hang on, and there's always the chance of the lines washing over the side. (Trials with a new stockless anchor are under way - Ed) Race: I'd agree with all those comments. On a Tyne class I have never used an anchor in anger to do a service. Even on the old boats I can only remember using it once in 20 years. It is a bit of a pain having to pass shackles, and thinking 'for goodness sake don't drop it'. We carry a spare shackle, but there is still the risk in recovering the anchor.

Thomas: With the Watson we used the anchor quite a few times, but we've never used it on the new boat. Perhaps a digital echo sounder in the wheelhouse, like there is outside. The graph one inside is a bit of a pain. With an echo sounder you want to know what the depth is straightaway. With the digital you are spot-on. (Arun and Tyne classes are now being retro-fitted with digital echo sounders in the wheelhouse - Ed) Kennett: We have used our anchor. Mainly to take stranded vessels off the beach, in broken water in particular and more so with the old boat. I think anchoring is a nuisance really, it is much better to stay free and it is something less to worry about, especially with recovery.

Steenvoorden: We' ve never used the anchor. Looking at it from the stowage point of view, we have all this equipment on a D class and nowhere to put it. We are now carrying a first aid kit in with the anchor - we can no longer get it down the pocket at the side of the radio.

If you did anchor in a bad weather service would you try and recover the anchor or would you just cut it? Steenvoorden: With the D class I would just cut it.

Race: It's one of those decisions you would make in the heat of the moment.

Kennett: I think the only time I would want to use an anchor is if we had a vessel ashore and were trying to tow her off. A strong ebb tide'over a shingle bank, that's the time to use the anchor. Putting a line on a casualty with a strong tide you could quite easily finish up on top of a bank or shore yourself. If you have got to stay for a time the anchor does hold you in position, so you are ready to tow.

Let's pick up on towing. Do you think towing is part of the job and how do you find your boats for towing? Thomas: Very good. 1 run my own boats as well as being on the lifeboat, and if I were to break down and someone came to pick me up I wouldn't just get off my boat and leave it-and I don't blame anyone for doing the same. And sometimes it's safer to take the whole boat rather than go alongside and try and take the people off.

Kennett: It's essential to have a nice long line, so that you can adjust it for towing in various sea conditions. The new line stretches well and gives quite a nice tow.

Race: We haven't used the latest long line yet. Obviously it's best kept in the water - we used to have a couple of coils fastened with a fender to keep the line down, but we don't really need that now. The new rope is 3'/: m circumference, an excellent piece of equipment.

Have you had much difficulty in towing with the casualty surging in a following sea? Kennett: I think this all comes down to experience, regulating the line to the length of the sea. I try and arrange it so that the vessel being towed is going up the same sea as we are, and it works quite well. 20ft, even 1 Oft, of line makes a difference between the casualty surging past you or staying fairly well back.

We have quite a few yachts with broken rudders and we find a drogue an important part of towing. Because these small sailing boats go all over the place you have to be very careful. We drop the drogue in their cockpit, and we tell them what to do. We had one made up specially with two fathoms of chain to keep it down. It works very well. (Trials with a casualty towing drogue are under way. If successful it will be issued to all All-weather lifeboats - Ed) Steenvoorden: We had the choice of carrying our line, but although we did want to dispose of it I elected to keep it so we could give it to a casualty if necessary. Using the weather and tides you can tow with a D class almost as well as with an All-weather boat. We've towed a couple of 32-footers and umpteen yachts. One day we went out and found the boat was too big to tow, so we called for the assistance of the Arun.

As Dave Kennett was saying, you just need a long tow. We carry two lines and usually use the shortish one for pleasure craft. But if you've got a following sea then we use a longer one. I like to put one of the crew members aboard anyway when we are towing.

Race: It gives you more confidence if you've got one of your own men aboard, particularly if he takes a hand-held radio with him.

Kennett: It depends on the conditions. Sometimes trying to get alongside a casualty you can do an awful lot of damage, especially if it's a tiny little boat, and you could probably finish up on top of it if you are not careful. That's why I try and use our Y class inflatable, which is useful for putting people on board in a rough sea. We use it almost to excess, but it certainly saves going alongside with the big boat.

Thomas: It depends what sort of boat it is. If it's a local boat and you know the fellow, then perhaps we wouldn't bother. But if it's a stranger then we try to get somebody aboard.

Steenvoorden: We always try to do it very diplomatically. To put a crew aboard to take charge we always say 'we would like to put somebody aboard to assist'. You've got to be diplomatic.

We now have far more electronic equipment on the lifeboats than we ever had. Do you find it useful, or do you feel that there is too much reliance on electronics? Kennett: You cannot get away from basic navigation. We have got to remember that these aids to navigation are purely an aid.

Thomas: They're an aid to navigation, as long as you bear that in mind and not place too much reliance on them. I don't think we use them to their full potential. As far as I am concerned as long as I can get the latitude and longitude everything after that is a bonus! Race: My lads are quite confident with all of it, but with varying degrees of success. Some are absolute wizards, we have a couple of lads who are used to pounding keyboards and they are really whiz. It's definitely an aid to the chart and the watch. We make a point of putting a mark on the chart every half-hour, because you never know when you are going to lose one or other of the aids, or even all of them.

So you think the local knowledge that all lifeboat stations have is going to continue? Kennett: I don't think there's a substitute for sound local knowledge. Instruments orqualifications will never take its place for close-in navigation. Steenvoorden: Local knowledge is the most important piece of equipment in our boat. In a D class all we have is a compass and a watch - something that would tell us where we are when it's foggy would be an advantage. (Investigations to find a suitable VHF DF for ILBs are continuing - Ed) Kennett: Going out to sea is quite a simple thing. Going in around rocks there are only a certain number of people who know where they are going - local knowledge again.

More and more casualties have electronic position finding equipment and are more likely to give you a position. Is this helping you ? Kennett: Yes, it's a great help. But you have to update the information and make sure it's coming from the right source. I find that the VHF direction finder is one of the finest pieces of equipment, because if the casualty has a VHF you can't go wrong - it can save miles searching when you can get a transmission and home on it. We can, and do, home on them.

But let's face it, we have done without all these things and there are a lot of lifeboatmen who have carried out a lot of very difficult tasks, in foggy weather, bad conditions.

All these things are an aid to help us.

Moving on to the gear that you wear. Having gone from conventional boats to the new type, do you find the modern gear suitable? Steenvoorden: A lot of stations do not like helmets in the D class, but we always wear them, on exercise or service, sunny or raining, and because we always wear them we have got used to them. For the service when we got the medal the visors were a blessing. We would never have found the casualties without them. We weardrysuits all the time too. You never know how long you 're going to be out, you might save a person in the water and then get diverted somewhere else - we have a rule, always put a dry suit on.

Kennett: We find that the oilskins sweat from the inside, and we get very hot, especially in the summer, but in the winter they are superb.

The lifejacket's a problem, when we are on the upper steering position it tends to drop over the wheel and get in the way. You can't see your feet and you feel so clumsy when you want to walk about. With all the gear on, and your winter woollies, you feel a bit of a zombie. (Research into a new, more compact lifejacket is also well under way - Ed) Thomas: I don't like the helmets. They are a distraction, and just glancing behind is an effort. You have to turn much further round to see. The clothing is pretty good but the new gear is not something you can just jump into, like the old waders and 'yellows'.

Race: I have no complaints at all about the foul weather gear. It's the best we've had - it's warm, perhaps too warm in the summer so very often we just wear the bib-and-braces trousers. When we did the medal service we left the station with our helmets on, strapped in, and were using the intercom on the way down. When we got to the cliffs and I went up to the steering position I took my helmet off, because you need the wind on your face, and to hear what is going on. It is not just one sense you are using, you are using all your senses to get a feel of the conditions.

Steenvoorden: The helmet can be a hindrance at times when you are working at close quarters, but with a D class so low in the water the spray on your face hurts and your eyes sting. If you are searching for someone like those canoeists and the visibility is down to 50 to 60 yards the bit of protection the visor gives is excellent, you are not forever wiping your eyes.

Race: It's very difficult to move about the wheelhouse and in between the seats with a lifejacket on. AII of you are saying that the helmets have disadvantages. Can you think of any headgear that would be preferable? Thomas: I would prefer to wear the bump caps, we usually do.

Race: I take Dave's point on the helmet, we tried visors on two lads who were lookouts outside, because you can't see from within a wheelhouse, and they were over the moon about them. In fact we all have visors for our helmets now. Kennett: I feel that the helmets are cumbersome. When you are working on deck you shout instructions and the other crew can't hear you. When we started to hit the seas going down to Swanage I said 'right chaps, I don't want to be hard on this, you know I've got to tell you to put your helmets on'. Personally I don't like wearing a helmet as I find it too restrictive, as do my crew.

How do you feel about safety lines, and how do you find them in use? Thomas: It depends on what you are doing. If you know you are going to stay in one position then fair enough, but if you are going to be a bit agile they tie you up.

Race: In a search we put a man each side of the top steering position, and if it's bad they clip it on for their own security, so if they do become a bit lax or get caught out they know they are not going to leave the confines of the cockpit.

Kennett: We use them when the chaps are working in severe conditions, unless they are helping a casualty over the side. They don't like being tied down, its like having seat straps on in the wheelhouse.

My chaps don't like being tied down to the seats.

Race: We use our lap straps when it is bad, because it gives you free hands and you can relax a little bit.

Thomas: Quite a few of our chaps use them.

We have talked about many aspects of the lifeboats and the services so perhaps we could look at the aftermath. How do people respond after the danger is over? Steenvoorden: The five canoeists had written off their boats, but we put them on the pilot launch and had the canoes and paddles waiting for them at the station. They couldn't believe it, we had a lovely letter and they are having a charity 'do' for us. It makes it all worthwhile. Race: I don't like to take money. People offer whateverthey have got with them, £5 or£20 notes, but I always say: 'you are under pressure now and we appreciate it, but if you feel the same way tomorrow or next week then write in. You are not obliged to, we are not a service that charges.' Give anyone the idea that they have to contribute to get saved, and we've lost. We never, ever lecture either.

The Coastguardcan make acomment though...

Kennett: If someone comes up and says 'look at the fools going across the Solent in those awful conditions' I ask if they have ever done anything silly, like walking across a road and nearly being run down by a car. It's like everything, if you ride a bike long enough you'll fall off it.

And its not only the yachtsmen, anyone can get into trouble, even professional seamen. It's nice if people come back and say 'thanks a lot'.

Steenvoorden: I think that's it. I don't think we have finished when we've got them ashore. We take them back to the station, give them a cup of tea, help them recover the boat. We always recover the boat for them if we can.

Gentlemen, thank you all very much..