‘You have a natural instinct with boats. No one can teach you that,’ said former Swanage Crew Member Winky Marsh to Holly Phillips then aged 15

A Londoner by birth, the young Holly spent her Summers in Swanage, Dorset, and her first boating memory, at 5, was 'rowing' in the sand. At 12 she could drive the real thing.

Holly recalls crewing on a passenger boat as a teenager and helping to search for a diver. She went on to personally rescue a friend who nearly drowned, receiving the Royal Life Saving Society's Mountbatten Medal.

She studied Ship Science at the University of Southampton, gaining a degree in Engineering followed by a PhD. In her first attempt to get a foot in the door of the RNLI, she proposed a project to investigate the relative strengths of stitched and woven fabrics used in composites.

In the event, her first job was designing ships' rudders with a commercial company in Poole, a lucky break Holly puts down to ‘being in the right place at the right time’, as she does with her first lifeboat shout. In 1994, Poole’s Coxswain knew of Holly's abilities and, being short of volunteers one day, he asked if she would help in a search.

Joining the crew proper shortly after, Holly became the first female crew member at the station and the 100th in the RNLI. This brought her extensive publicity – not something she sought: ‘I don’t expect to be treated differently because I’m a woman. I just do the job as well as anyone else.’ But she admits: ‘It’s great knowing that more than 40 people are alive today because of something I’ve done.’

Twenty five years after Winky's telling remark, Dr Phillips volunteers as a lifeboat helm and navigator and works as Principal Naval Architect at RNLI Headquarters, managing the design and build of the Mark II E class lifeboat.

Never one to put her feet up, Holly is goalkeeper for a local hockey team while her rowing passion has continued in coxing and rowing a gig: ‘Most activities involve boats; I have a competitive streak and love the banter, tactics and quick decision-making on the water.’ And Boot, her beloved Tibetan Terrier, often trains with her

Schooled in Hammersmith, Holly's affinity with the River Thames continues with the E class project. She says: ‘This is so much more than a work thing and, after years of planning and working alongside a fantastic team, it will give me such a great feeling to see the Mark II operational and to know that the crews are happy with it. I know what saving lives feels like and being able to drive the design of a new lifeboat to carry this on is amazing.'