Farewelltolifeboat
After helping save many lives at sea, Filey’s all-weather lifeboat has taken part in its final training exercise.
The boat is leaving the town at the end of this month to be replaced by a new, faster vessel.
Sunday saw it used for its last ever training exercise with Filey Lifeboat’s crew.
Press officer for Filey Lifeboat John Ward said: “The all-weather boat will launch from Filey for the final time on Thursday April 29 at about 6am.
“It will go by sea to Lowestoft, Suffolk,, where it will be “lifted out” and possibly taken by road to Poole.”
He said he does not know what will happen to the boat in the long-term but initially it is likely to become part of the RNLI’s relief fleet.
It will be temporarily replaced in Filey by relief Atlantic 85 – the B913 ‘Pride of Fred Olsen’ – until a permanent Atlantic 85, the B928, will be sent to Filey in the coming months, once it has been built.
As previously reported by The Scarborough News, the RNLI has decided that Filey would be better served by an Atlantic 85 because it can reach a casualty much more quickly than conventional lifeboats.
It does have operational weather limits so some callouts carried out by Filey Lifeboat in the past will be tasked to Scarborough or Bridlington.
Mr Ward said the type of casualty that the RNLI is called to has changed over the years from mostly fishing vessels to leisure craft, and the move to an Atlantic 85 reflects that shift.
A spokesperson for the RNLI said: “The RNLI’s aim is to reach at least 90 per cent of all casualties within 10 nautical
miles of the coast within 30 minutes of launch, in all weathers.
“For that we need a network of 25-knot all-weather lifeboats and 35-knot inshore
lifeboats at strategic points along the coast.
“The Atlantic 85 is quicker to launch than any all-weather lifeboat, has a maximum speed of 35 knots – much faster
than even the Shannon at 25 knots – and is more manoeuvrable.
“It can also carry more than 20 casualties to shore at a time.”