Members of St Ives lifeboat crew got the chance to test drive the RNLI's new £1.5m all-weather boat yesterday.
The St Ives station will be one of the first in the country to receive one of the charity's new Shannon class lifeboats.
The Shannon, named after a river in Ireland, will replace the town's current RNLI Mersey class lifeboat, The Princess Royal, when she comes to the end of her operational life.
The charity has been testing a prototype of the Shannon, which is the first all-weather lifeboat to be powered by water jets, not propellers.
The craft is capable of 25 knots – 50 per cent faster than the lifeboats it replaces.
Fleet staff coxswain, Lee Firman, who brought the prototype to Hayle beach on Thursday, said: "We are here just trialing the launch and recovery system. The Shannon is predominantly a beach launch boat so we have just been trialing the kit to see whether it is suitable in the different beach conditions around the UK."
Mr Firman said the trials crew had already used the equipment on shingle and sloping beaches but wanted to see how it performed on the "flat, golden sands of Hayle".
"It is working well," he said. "It copes with the beach conditions... everything is performing as expected.
"Hayle affords us the chance to show it off to the public but still have a bit of room to ourselves to trial the kit."
Former St Ives coxswain Tommy Cocking has also been involved in testing the new craft.
The lifeboat for St Ives will be funded by a generous legacy.
The St Ives station will be one of the first in the country to receive one of the charity's new Shannon class lifeboats.
The Shannon, named after a river in Ireland, will replace the town's current RNLI Mersey class lifeboat, The Princess Royal, when she comes to the end of her operational life.
The charity has been testing a prototype of the Shannon, which is the first all-weather lifeboat to be powered by water jets, not propellers.
The craft is capable of 25 knots – 50 per cent faster than the lifeboats it replaces.
Fleet staff coxswain, Lee Firman, who brought the prototype to Hayle beach on Thursday, said: "We are here just trialing the launch and recovery system. The Shannon is predominantly a beach launch boat so we have just been trialing the kit to see whether it is suitable in the different beach conditions around the UK."
Mr Firman said the trials crew had already used the equipment on shingle and sloping beaches but wanted to see how it performed on the "flat, golden sands of Hayle".
"It is working well," he said. "It copes with the beach conditions... everything is performing as expected.
"Hayle affords us the chance to show it off to the public but still have a bit of room to ourselves to trial the kit."
Former St Ives coxswain Tommy Cocking has also been involved in testing the new craft.
The lifeboat for St Ives will be funded by a generous legacy.
