The Lifeboat is pleased to announce the award of an RNLI Bronze Medal for Gallantry to the Coxswain of Dunbar lifeboat, 38-year-old Gary Fairbairn.

Gary and his crew endured a 42-mile passage in severe gale force 9 winds to reach and rescue two people from their crippled yacht. Once, the Trent class John Neville Taylor plummeted 10m from the crest of a wave. Gary comments: ‘I worked on trawlers for 15 years before becoming Coxswain but I’ve never seen anything like that.’

See page 24 for a full account of this dramatic service.