Terry George, coxswain/ mechanic of the Sennen Cove lifeboat, joined the crew of the station's all-weather lifeboat in 1983 and was appointed coxswain/ mechanic in 1989. Terry also became a member of the station's inshore lifeboat in 1994.

That same year he and Neil Brockman, coxswain/ mechanic of Penlee lifeboat, were awarded the RNLI's bronze medal for the same service - a joint one to a fishing vessel in Force 9 winds and appalling sea conditions. Sennen Cove lifeboat was the first to be called out but the weather was so bad that Penlee was also called out and at one stage both lifeboats were needed to make any progress with the tow.

The gruelling service, lasting more then nine hours, was carried out mostly in complete darkness and with winds gusting to 82mph. Both crews suffered badly from seasickness but both coxswains showed skill and coolness in establishing their tows and co-operated fully with each other during the service.

Facts and Figures Provisional statistics as of May 1997 show that during 1996: The RNLI's lifeboats were launched 6,389 times (an average of more than 17 launches a day) 1,291 lives were saved (an average of more than 3 a day) Some 54% of all services were to sail, power and manual pleasure craft There are 298 lifeboats on station 129,807 lives have been saved since the RNLI was founded in 1824.

Costs The cost of running the RNLI in 1997 will be £70m.

The approximate current cost of building a lifeboat is: 4.9m D class inflatable £11,500 7.3m Atlantic rigid inflatable - £61,500 14m Trent £1,175,000 17m Severn £1,580,000.