Knighthood for RNLI Chairman The RNLFs chairman became Sir Michael Vernon when he was made a Knight Bachelor in the Queen's New Year Honours list in recognition of his services to the Institution.

Sir Michael joined the RNLI's Committee of Management in 1963, and became a Vice President in 1975, Deputy Chairman in 1980 and Chairman in June 1989.

NEWSPOINT The tragic loss of two crew from the German rescue cruiser AlfriedKrupp recorded on these pages was the subject of a paper at the recent International Lifeboat Conference, and serves to remind us all that despite great advances in technology the sea is indeed a harsh mistress.

The loss is felt across national borders, reinforcing the International Lifeboat Federation's role in ensuring that information is shared between every nation's lifeboat service - voluntary and state-run. The Conference (reported on page 292) also examined the Estonia Ro- Ro ferry disaster, to ensure that lessons learned in the resulting SAR operation can be heeded internationally.

Safety must always be the over-riding consideration, and the RNLI has never shied away from making difficult decisions when they are needed-for there are no second chances at sea.

It is therefore particularly galling that the facts of a recent and well-publicised incident, involving four Cornish lifeboatmen on a fundraising event, were not fully explained by some parts of the media.

A decision - logical, sensi- | ble and fully justifiable - was j reported in some quarters in a way which lent credence to the old adage of never letting the facts get in the way of a good story.

j Fortunately such events are rare, and most of the media reports the RNLI's activities factually, recognising the difficulty of its work, and supporting the whole organisation, for although the crews do not seek publicity media exposure is the lifeblood I of fundraising.Open days in 1995 at...

... most lifeboat stations Most of the RNLI's 214 lifeboat stations will be holding an Open Day on Sunday 28 May 1995 - the late May Bank Holiday.

This provides a great opportunity for anyone with an interest in the lifeboat service to visit either their local, or favourite, station to meet the lifeboat crews and examine boats and equipment in detail.

In past years several stations have opened their doors during this Bank Holiday but this is the first year when virtually every station has participated.

Stations which are not opening include Arbroath, Stornaway, Stromness, Thurso and Wick while Rosslare, Rye Harbour, Hastings, Ramsgate and Eastbourne are uncertain.

Lymington will not be opening on 28 May but will be open on Bank Holiday Monday, 29 May instead.

Anyone making a long journey and who would like to check whether a station is open should either call the station direct (telephone number in the local directory) or contact the Public Relations Department at Poole Headquarters on (01202) 671133.The Annual Meetings A final reminder that the RNLI's Annual General Meeting and Annual Presentation of Awards will be at a new venue in 1995.

Both meetings will be at the Barbican Hall in the City of London on Thursday 18 May, the AGM starting at 1130 and the APA at 1430.

The AGM is restricted to Governors of the Institution but the APA is open to any interested party. Admission is by ticket only and the last day for applications was 31 March 1995. Tickets are being despatched in early April and any queries should be addressed to the AGM Office at the RNLI's Poole headquarters.at...

...Poole headquarters Every two years the RNLI headquarters and depot at Poole is thrown open to visitors for two days at the end of July.

This year Open Days will be held on Friday 28 July and Saturday 29 July, when visitors will be able to see the Institution's latest lifeboats, watch demonstrations and displays and take tours of the headquarters building.

The headquarters building and depot will be open from 10am to 6pm on both Friday and Saturday. RNLI headquarters is close to Poole railway station, and limited car parking is available on site.

Further details will be provided in the Summer issue of THE LIFEBOAT, which is published in early July.

...and Chatham The collection of historic lifeboats which was moved to Chatham Historic Dockyard from the now-closed Bristol museum will be open for viewing on several weekends during 1995.

Although the display is far from complete visitors will be able to view up to 14 lifeboats in the No. 4 covered slip atthe No. 4 covered slip at Chatham on the weekends of 27 and 28 May, 24 and 25 June and 12 and 13 August. The collection may also be open for viewing on 16 and 17 September, subject to confirmation. Volunteers will be on hand to provide information.

Please note that although the Historic Dockyard will be open throughout the season the lifeboat collection is inaccessible except on the dates given above.

The Historic Dockyard is a magnificent setting for the lifeboats, telling the story of wooden warship construction and the history of the yard.Jolly good show The RNLI's stand at January's London International Boat Show proved to be highly successful, in terms of both fundraising and public awareness.

The position of the stand was close to ideal, and sales of souvenirs were up by some 25% on 1994 with membership receipts also substantially up.

A complete upper steering position from a Trent class lifeboat was a good crowdpuller, with a 'video wall' showing pictures of heavy seas in front of it realistic enough to test the sealegs! Several cheques were presented during the show, including £66,000 from the Royal Bank of Scotland, £10,500 from the Foresters and £11,000 in memory of two yachtsmen murdered in Antigua.

The central stage was used to gain exposure for the launch of the RNLI's 'Safety on the Sea' booklet and for the Public Relations awards. The awards, made for contributions to publicity for the Institution, were presented by Richard Stilgoe.

Two awards went to the BBC, the broadcast media award to '999', and the special group effort award to 'Blue Peter'.

Motor Boat and Yachting took the printed media award and Derek Calderwood, honorary curator of the Grace Darling Museum, the audio- visual and display award.German lifeboat tragedy The coxswain and engineer of the German rescue cruiser Alfried Krupp lost their lives on 1 January 1995 when the 28m (92ft) vessel was hit by a sea of such ferocity that she was overwhelmed and capsized. The rescue cruiser was returning to her base on the island of Borkum when the tragedy happened. The wind was gusting up to Hurricane Force 11 at the time, with heavy snow and rain showers, a severe sea and 'an extraordinary ground swell' more than 10m (33ft) high.At 2114 GMT she was hit by a ground swell of such size that the 115 tonne-displacement cruiser was knocked off course, overwhelmed and hurled into the trough upsidedown - with enough force to push fittings through the superstructure roof. She selfrighted but windows were shattered and some 3 tons of water entered the superstructure, putting nearly all of the electrics out of action.

The engineer had been descending from the upper steering position at the time and was lost overboard. The coxswain, strapped into the upper steering position, survived the initial wave but was tragically later swept overboard while rescue attempts were being made by helicopter.

The remaining two crew members, one injured as a result of an earlier service, were inside the wheelhouse or below and survived.

The RNLI extends its sincere condolences to the German lifeboat service and to all those involved.New station at Kyle The RNLI is to open a new lifeboat station at Kyle of Lochalsh this spring, allocating an Atlantic class inshore lifeboat for one year's evaluation.

The area has seen 101 search and rescue incidents in the last 5 years, of which Portree's Waveney class lifeboat, 19 miles to the north, dealt with 40% while the remainder were covered by local craft.

With Mallaig's Arun 20 miles to the south it was decided that the growing activity in the area warranted a rapid response lifeboat, particularly as the new Skye bridge is likely to increase the number of visitors An Atlantic class rigid inflatable was chosen because of the need for a fast response time and also the requirement to cope with strong prevailing winds, large seas and strong tides.Trials... and tribulations? Rapid technological progress means that new concepts and equipment are constantly coming onto the market, some of which could be of great benefit to the RNLI. The Operations department and the lifeboat crews also feed back reports and suggestions on a regular basis, and it is the task of the Institution's recentlyconstituted Trials Team constantly to review this flow of products, ideas and suggestions.

Having balanced the potential advantages against weight and complexity they can see whether suitable ideas and equipment can be developed to function reliably and safely in the harsh environment of the lifeboat service.

Some of the projects in hand at the moment are: • Night vision equipment trials have been completed on various items of equipment and a recommendation made.

Subject to committee approval it is expected that night vision equipment will be issued to all all-weather lifeboats and some inshore lifeboats, starting during 1995.

• Controllable pitch propellers (CPPs) were fitted to the prototype Severn class in early 1995 and are undergoing trials which will last several months. CPPs offer several theoretical advantages in terms of performance and manoeuvrability, although only thorough trials will show whether these translate into practical and reliable improvements in operational conditions.

• A GPS (Global Positioning System) satellite navigator has been developed for inshore lifeboats. Commercially available 'internals' have been adapted for RNLI use with a special weatherproof housing which can be used by gloved crew members while on service.

Operation has also been simplified, as these sets will often be used in extreme conditions.

Provided trials prove satisfactory these sets should go into production shortly.

• Trials of lightweight protective helmets are under way, and around a dozen commercially- available helmets are being used in trials around the coast. Once the most desirable features have been identified by the crews a manufacturer will be asked to produce a new RNLI design incorporating as many of them as possible. This project is closely linked with the investigation into the possibility of built-in radio intercoms for crew members.

And, just to show the wide range of items under review, the team is also involved in the less glamorous tasks of testing crew's wellies and the search for a new slipway grease!Last of the line leaves Poole The last of the RNLI's rigid inshore lifeboats was withdrawn from her station at Poole on 28 November 1994, leaving all of the Institution's ILB work in the hands of inflatables or rigid inflatables.

The A class Sam and Iris Coles, a 20ft 6in glassfibre Boston Whaler, entered service in 1985 and had been the only surviving rigid ILB since the last of the 18ft 6in McLachlans was withdrawn in April 1988. The Whaler had been retained at Poole because of the nature of Poole's large shallow harbour, but she had been relieved for maintenance by rigid inflatable Atlantics which had also proved suitable for the area. Sam and Iris Coles has been allocated to the inshore lifeboat centre at Cowes where she will be used as a general purpose boat.

Poole's new ILB will be an Atlantic 75, but temporarily the relief fleet Atlantic 21 B548 Aldershot, (ex-Hayling Island which will also receive an Atlantic 75 shortly) is housed in the new floating boathouse with its built in slipway..