The Lifeboat

The construction of the hull of the lifeboat is fibre reinforced composite (FRC)with a hypalon-coated nylon inflatable tube.  The hull is separated into many different compartments, so should the hull get holed in anyway, the lifeboat will stay afloat.  The inflatable tube is also made of numerous compartments for the same reason.  Usually a crew of 3/4 is carried but this depends on weather conditions and the type of call which it is required to go to.
It has a length of 8,5m and has a top speed of 35 knots, the amount of fuel carried gives it an endurance of 3 hours at maximum speed or a range of approx. 50 miles.
The Atlantic 85 has 2 x 115hp Yamaha four-stroke engines and a weight of 1.8 tonnes.  It is fitted with radar and VHF/DF (direction finding) equipment to boost this class of lifeboat's SAR (search and rescue) capabilities.  Safe operational limits are in daylight, force 6/7 and at night force 5/6.

The Launch

Port Erin Lifeboat is launched from the boathouse using a standard Do-Do trolley modified for use on a slipway.  The Lifeboat House has a tipping floor which allows the Lifeboat to sit level while housed,  but when required a hydraulic system tips the floor to an 4:1 gradient to line up with the launching slip.  The Do-Do trolley then gets lowered down on two rail tracks until the lifeboat floats off, as soon as the two outboard motors are submerged, the Helmsman applies the power and the lifeboat departs.  The launch on average, takes about 6-8 mins, this is from pager being sounded to actually being at sea.