A few of us have just come back form a long weekend conducting sea trials on the new 2011 lifeboat in Weymouth. We have to say that we’re pretty impressed with Ribcraft of Yeovil and what they have achieved for us. As is to be expected there are a few kinks to work out, mainly with the comms systems, but that’s the whole point of conducting the trials.
This proved to be an incredibly useful weekend, getting used to the new boat and testing the new twin 90hp Suzuki engines. We have started the process of getting ourselves familiar with the new Raymarine navigation systems which provide us with a real advantage over our old system – this should dramatically improve our effectiveness in search and rescue. A big thanks to Jolyon from Raymarine who took time out to help us familiarise ourselves with the new equipment.
Also a special thanks to Dorian and Charlie of Ribcraft who made themselves available all weekend to discuss any details about the new lifeboat and in enabling us to practice some manouvers with HM Coastguard and their AugustaWestland AW139 SAR Helicopter, and even to have a chat with the crew.
Plenty of pictures were taken over the weekend. Please be patient, when we get them we will put them up on the site.
