Life-saving legacy boat finally sailing home

A long-awaited lifeboat will finally return home after the RNLI charity found suitable moorings for it.

The Shannon-class vessel is heralded as the RNLI's first "legacy boat" because it was paid for with £3m that was left to the charity by Bradford couple George and Frances Phelon.

The boat, which is named after the pair, was delivered to Gorleston lifeboat station in Norfolk in September 2023, but was withdrawn nine months later because of unsuitable moorings.

It will arrive on 11 April and RNLI lifeboat operations manager Lindsey Wigmore said she was "delighted".

"It's a great boat which really will help us manage better in shallow waters, such as the sandbanks off the Norfolk coast," she said.

In 2024, the RNLI said the swell conditions at Great Yarmouth and Gorleston Lifeboat risked damaging the boat.

It went into service at stations in Falmouth, Cornwall, and Kilkeel in Northern Ireland, as well as a full refit in Poole, Dorset.

The boat will arrive between the piers at Gorleston at 13:44 BST, which corresponds with the number on the side of the boat.

It will then be moored at a new site at the former pilot station further down the river, which the RNLI obtained from the Great Yarmouth Port Authority.

RNLI head of region Rebecca Felton said "we look forward" to the boat keeping the "Norfolk coast safe".

"We are also incredibly grateful to the donors whose generosity has paid for the boat," said Felton.

"We want to make sure that it is well used in saving lives at sea for many years to come."

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