Some of the OGA60 Round Britain fleet are visiting Portsoy this weekend for the Traditional Boat Festival. The cover photo for this post is taken from the OGA50 Round Britain Challenge in 2013 when ‘Witch’ was towed into harbour by the Fraserburgh Lifeboat having fouled her prop on fishermen’s creels.
Watch these two archive films to discover developments with lifeboats around the UK coasts in the 1940s and 1950s. We see lifeboatmen in action, with women taking some roles on the beach to launch and recover boats.
The RNLI has also provided assistance to members of the RBC60 fleet. In May, 2023, ‘Louisa May’ was towed into Plymouth by the Dartmouth lifeboat with engine failure. Skipper Jim provides some background to the story. Later in May, ‘Moon River’ also had to seek assistance from the Coastguard when her electrics failed.