A crew member urges the Severn class Lifeboat towards her destination, a burning tanker apparently on the horizon. Just metres away, the crew of an Atlantic 75 lifeboat works hard to right their capsized vessel It sounds like a scene disastrous enough to put anyone off taking to the waves again, but this is, in fact, a normal day in The Lifeboat College's integral Survival Centre. This is where trainees get their hands dirty and their feet wet: a centre of excellence for sea survival training. From fixing engines to using a liferaft in raging waves, lifeboat crews are getting the best preparation possible for their lifesaving work.

'We have been planning the centre for three years and it is quite something to see it turned into reality/ says Graham Wagstaff, the Technical and Sea Safety Training Manager. He proudly showed HM The Queen some of the excellent facilities during her visit to The Lifeboat College.

The tour began with the lifeboat simulator, which is designed to look and feel like the wheelhouse of a Severn class lifeboat. Featuring a wrap-around screen with 3D graphics, surround sound and a full cockpit of instruments, it is used for a wide variety of training including navigation, search and rescue, and radar. It is so realistic that some trainees have suffered from seasickness even though there is no actual movement involved.

The Royal Party was also shown the 4m-deep wave tank, where an Atlantic 75 lifeboat was capsized. Lifeboats are flipped using a crane and harness suspended above the tank. The wave machine and planned light and sound effects add further realism. 'Crews will be able to train in the dark, with 'lightning' and the sounds of helicopters assaulting their senses,' Graham adds.The right course The personal survival course hosted at the centre is accredited by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and certainty won't be a breeze. Any trainee who pictured a swimming pool and computer game when they first heard about the wave tank and simulator is in for a shock. Training includes exercises complete with 'casualties' and powerful waves, and a day of first aid led by a former paramedic - a tough, in-at-the-deep-end introduction to personal sea survival techniques.

Fire safety is a key part of the comprehensive training available and the RNLI has recently taken delivery of a specially adapted fire simulator. Installed in the depot site next to the College, it is based on one designed to train the crews of 747 jumbo jets but this time mimicking a Severn class lifeboat. Here, crews will be trained by a former fire fighter in how to deal with gas-driven fires and smoke.

(See page 27 for how to help fund this.) As well as keeping themselves safe and tending to casualties, being part of a crew can mean maintaining and mending the lifeboat too. That's where the College workshops come in, which are based on the ground floor of the Survival Centre.

Offering hands-on experience in maintenance, repairs and rubberwork, inshore lifeboat training has moved here from its former base at the Inshore Lifeboat Centre in Cowes, Isle of Wight. Next door is the live engine workshop, which features a real engine from each class of all weather lifeboat.

Trainees get to know the engines and how they operate first, then we give them a fault to fix,' explains Graham, who points out that lifeboat courses are split 50:50 between classroom and practical. A skills workshop and classroom with audio-visual equipment are the icing on the cake.

It all adds up to a real asset for the Institution, providing progressive, specialist training that protects volunteers - and helping to save more lives at sea, thanks to the generous supporters of the RNLI..