October 13, 2019 - 1512 views
Hundreds of people lined Rhyl promenade on Sunday afternoon to welcome home the station's £2.5M lifeboat.
Former Oakley class lifeboat Har-Lil, current lifeboats Lil Cunningham and the station’s current D-class lifeboat Mary Maxwell greeted the Shannon class lifeboat and provided a spectacle for viewers in the harbour. RNLI volunteers from Flint also attended with their D-class lifeboat to show their support.
The modern, state-of-the-art lifeboat is larger, faster, more manoeuvrable and safer and therefore has the potential to save more lives off the north Wales coast. It received a huge welcome and arrived to huge cheers from crowds despite the downpours.
The community pulled out all the stops to raise £150,000 towards the modern new vessel in less than a year – exceeding all expectations.
The appeal was closed by the charity’s biggest fan Darcey Payne-Burgoyne, who donated her £150 pocket money to close the appeal earlier this year. The Ysgol Bryn Hedydd pupil was delighted see the eagerly awaiting lifeboat arrive home and brought bags of goodies for her favourite crew.
The new lifeboat brings 21st century technology to Denbighshire. Driven and steered by water jets instead of the conventional propellers and rudders, the Shannon can turn in her own length or stop almost instantly making going alongside a casualty to take off casualties a much safer option.
The increased speed of 25 knots as against 17 knots for the current Mersey class lifeboat on Station at Rhyl mean that casualties can be reached sooner in desperate situations where conditions are rapidly deteriorating.
The Shannon is designed for the safety of the crew, as well as rescued survivors, with better seating and full seat belt safety harnesses.
The design of the vessel’s electronics (called SIMS – Systems Information and Management Systems) with a display at all seats mean that crew members do not need to get up to change seats if changing roles in severe weather. A press of a button will allow the functions required to control the vessel to be transferred between the seating positions.
