Man overboard! This is the cry no seagoer wants to hear but how much worse would it be to know that, as you slipped and fell into the water, no one knew you had gone? The lone fisherman or yachtsman has always been in grave danger if they become a 'MOB' and their craft sails on without them but now there is hope. The RNLI has developed a pioneering new system that is expected to improve sea safety for all its users.

The MOB Guardian can automatically alert search and rescue organisations if sea users hit trouble - and pinpoint their whereabouts.

Users of the system will be able to carry a device on their boat that is tracked by satellite. If the monitoring system loses contact with the vessel or detects that it has not arrived back to port when expected, it raises the alarm. Most importantly, the MOB Guardian device features personal safety equipment designed to be worn by crew members. In the case of a man overboard incident, the system will sound an alarm in the wheelhouse and alert the relevant search and rescue agencies within 45 seconds.

Andrew Freemantle, RNLI Chief Executive, said: 'MOB Guardian will help us take the "search" out of search and rescue and enable us to reach casualties more quickly. Minutes can make the difference between life and death in the waters around our coastline.' The MOB Guardian will be available from April 2006 through the marine equipment manufacturer McMurdo, which has exclusive rights to manufacture, market and distribute the system worldwide.

Fishermen will be able to buy the MOB Guardian at a subsidised rate.Is your child at risk? Families who enjoy going to sea were able to get a free and potentially lifesaving lifejacket-fitting session in September 2005 thanks to the RNLI.

RNLI Sea Safety specialists and a technician from manufacturers Crewsaver hosted a free lifejacket 'clinic' throughout the Southampton Boat Show. Suppliers provided a selection of lifejackets and buoyancy aids to demonstrate and, overall, more than 2,000 people came to the clinic for advice.

The clinic focused on child safety, as 13% of people rescued by lifeboats in 2004 were children. Many of those children were either wearing ill-fitting lifejackets or no lifejacket at all. Parents have a tendency to buy lifejackets that are too big to allow their child to grow into them but RNLI Sea Safety experts warn that this can be a lethal mistake. If a lifejacket doesn't fit correctly it won't support a child in the water as designed. There is even the danger of slipping right out of the lifejacket and drowning.

The lifejacket clinic was one of several successful RNLI events and displays at the Southampton Boat Show, where the charity enjoyed its highest profile ever. Other RNLI attractions included: RNLI lifeguards 'patrolling' a beach area, giving rescue demonstrations and beach safety advice; the first public showing of the new inshore Atlantic 85 lifeboat; and a focus on the RNLI's recently launched Crew Training Campaign. Over 720 new members were also recruited.

The 2006 London Boat Show, which will feature another lifejacket clinic, takes place just as this magazine arrives with our readers. See the pullout centre section for more details.

For more information on choosing the correct lifejacket for yourself or a child, call the RNLI's Sea Safety team free on 0800 328 0600 (UK) or 1800 789 589 (Republic of Ireland).

S* S«fey 0800 328 0600 1800 789 589Sign design saves lives Imagine how dangerous and confusing driving would be if each different local authority used a different road signage system. Simple, standardised signage helps prevent accidents on the roads - a principle the RNLI is applying to beaches.

Beach owners across the UK are increasingly adopting the RNLI's new safety sign standard.

Now it's not just visitors to the beach who have noticed the signs. They have already been endorsed by RoSPA, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and the National Beach Safety Council and now the Sign Design Society has said they represent international excellence in signage.

In October 2005, RNLI Beach Safety Manager Steve Wills accepted the Society's Signs & Systems award (sponsored by Info Sign Systems) at a ceremony in London. The judges commented: 'We were most impressed by this extremely well thought out and comprehensive approach to developing a signage system designed to help save lives. The signs are clear and well presented with appropriate use of colours and nice design features to help ensure that they are seen and read without overpowering the beach environment.'Train one, save many Eighteen months have passed since HM The Queen opened The Lifeboat College in Poole, Dorset. (See the autumn 2004 issue of the Lifeboat for a full report.) In that time the College has been a hive of activity, with more than 1,200 crew members and 760 staff attending training courses on site and a variety of external organisations using the facilities for meetings.

Accounts for the first year show that the College made significant savings for the RNLI. £436,000 was saved in accommodation costs for crew members who would have previously booked elsewhere and revenue from external bookings topped £470,000. (Members can visit the College too - for details, see page 12.)Surf's up! The Surf Life Saving Association of Great Britain (SLSA of CB) recently celebrated their 50th Anniversary atTruro Cathedral. Joining them at this milestone in their history were representatives of Surf Life Saving Australia, Ron Rankin (President) and Greg Nance (Chief Executive).

It was an Australian, Alan Kennedy, who helped form the SLSA of GB in 1955.

Ron and Greg also visited the RNLI while they were over and talks were held on the continued development of research, operational standards and training in beach lifeguarding.Fast boats to China - and Iceland The high standard of RNLI lifeboats has been underlined by their export to China.

Representatives from the China Rescue and Salvage Bureau visited The Lifeboat College in Poole, Dorset in August 2005 and agreed to buy seven decommissioned Arun class lifeboats. RNLI Assessors Bill Deans and Dave Pascall then flew out to Hong Kong to take two of the boats to Shanghai.

The Chinese also benefited from the RNLI's firstclass training after Instructors Dan Nicholson and Bryan Jackson trained five Chinese crew members in boat handling at Poole and then followed them back to China where they stayed for a month to settle in the boats and crew.

Former RNLI Arun class lifeboats are also used by lifeboat crew members in Iceland. Peter Barnes from the RNLI's East division was a guest of the Icelandic Search and Rescue Service (ICE-SAR) in September 2005. Peter's main task was to survey nine ex-RNLI Arun class lifeboats. Travel between stations could take as long as eight hours and the surveys themselves four hours each, so the days were long but Peter enjoyed the experience.

'I had a great time,' he said. 'It was really interesting to see how another search and rescue service operates. We were able to learn things from each other, exchange views and build up a hopefully lasting relationship.' The RNLI has been selling Arun class lifeboats to other sea rescue organisations as most have been replaced around the coast by the newer generation of 25-knot all weather lifeboats.International Rescue! When the pager goes off, lifeboat crews never know what or whom they're about to encounter but Barrow lifeboat Crew Member Peter Nuttall was particularly surprised on 5 August 2005. His task was to rescue seven Russian sailors from 200m beneath the sea.

Peter's 'day job' is with the Submarine Rescue Service, run on contract for the Royal Navy by Dalton firm James Fisher Rumic Ltd. He and his team flew 11 hours to the far eastern Kamchatka Peninsula to help raise a submarine from the ocean floor. As one of the rescuers said: 'It's like being inside a lift trapped between floors but a lot, lot deeper, colder and more lonely.' Peter was the pilot of the unmanned remotely operated Scorpio 45 rescue vehicle and successfully cut free the sub in a five-hour operation. Peter said: 'It was a fantastic thing, once we knew the submarine was on the surface. It was very emotional.' Russian President Vladimir Putin personally decorated the five British rescuers. At 10 Downing Street and in the presence of PM Tony Blair, Peter Nuttall and two colleagues received the Order for Maritime Services - the first time this award has gone to non-Russians. Peter commented: 'It's quite strange, little old me shaking hands with two of the world's leaders.'RNLI engineers a valuable partnership The RNLI and the University of Southampton have formed an Advanced Technology Partnership to help produce even safer and more effective lifeboats in the future.

The two organisations will share marine engineering expertise and will both benefit from valuable research. RNLI staff can now attend and provide university lectures, while university staff will be seconded to the RNLI. University students will be able to take training and internship placements with the Institution.

The partnership was made official with the signing of a memorandum of agreement, which states: The endeavour reflects a search for excellence in the acquisition, application and dissemination of knowledge in maritime engineering services.'RNLISOS This year's Save Our Soles day, on Friday 27 January 2006, is a great excuse for you to cast off your restrictive formal shoes and wear your trainers to work or school instead, all in exchange for just £1/€2. Thousands of people throughout the UK and Rol took part in last year's SOS day and raised vital funds to provide volunteer lifeboat crews with the specialist training they need to save lives at sea.

For a free RNLI SOS pack telephone: 0845 121 4999 (UK) or 1800 789 589 (Rol); email [email protected] or register online at rnli.org.uk/sos. There are also limited-edition SOS shoelaces for participating organisations. Light up a winter's day and lace up for the lifeboats!Pagers or maroons? During October, the media ran stories to the effect that the RNLI had banned the use of maroons (the rockets traditionally used to announce a lifeboat launch). As a result, enquiries from supporters flooded in. The Lifeboat can now inform readers of the real story.

The RNLI has not banned maroons. Lifeboat station managers have simply been asked to reinforce existing guidance on the use of maroons. Staff Officer Operations (Fleet) Hugh Fogarty explains: 'For the last 20 years we have used an electronic pager system to alert crew. Maroons will still be used if this system fails. A maroon would also be fired if the person needing to be rescued was close to shore and hearing or seeing a maroon would encourage that person to hold on for a few moments more.

'We are reinforcing our guidance with good reason. We have had several serious incidents that had the potential to injure people.

It would be a tragedy if a lifesaving charity caused injury or worse, or neglected to assess risk and put sensible safety guidelines in place.

'I can't stress strongly enough that these maroons are not fireworks; they each contain half a pound of high explosive (the same as a standard NATO hand grenade) and need careful storage, handling, and disposal once out of date. Although some seaside communities are attached to the firing of maroons when a lifeboat launches, the risks can outweigh the benefits of letting others know that the volunteers have been called to the aid of others.

'All at the RNLI, both staff and volunteers, are proud to carry on the 181-year tradition of this charitable, lifesaving institution, albeit using modern technology.'Seaside Rescue returns The BBC Television series Seaside Rescue is due to return to UK screens in the coming months. The 'fly on the wall' documentary follows search and rescue teams including RNLI lifeboat crews and lifeguards as they respond to sea emergencies in the south and south west of England. Check TV lisitings for more details..