Stormy seas help bring new lifeboat home to Bridlington

The New Bridlington Lifeboat arrivesat it's new home
Picture by Paul Atkinson:
NBFP PA1745-12b — The New Bridlington Lifeboat arrivesat it's new home Picture by Paul Atkinson: NBFP PA1745-12b

Stormy seas and icy blasts brought home Bridlington's newest lifeboat yesterday, named in honour of the local man who made it possible.

The RNLI’s new Shannon class lifeboat - boat number 122 - was brought to shore at exactly 1.22pm. She will be named Anthony Patrick Jones in memory of the man whose “substantial” bequeathment helped fund her, and will be housed in a purpose built Art-Deco style boathouse.

Bridlington RNLI coxswain Stuart Tibbett said she was a quicker boat, quicker to launch and was able to deal with extreme weather better.

This, he added, had been proven ahead of her home journey as icy weather saw the crew making snowballs from the hailstones they were hit with ahead of yesterday’s launch.

The New Bridlington Lifeboat arrivesat it's new home
Picture by Paul Atkinson:
NBFP PA1745-13c — The New Bridlington Lifeboat arrivesat it's new home Picture by Paul Atkinson: NBFP PA1745-13c

“We’ve come back today in some seas as big as mountains,” he said last night. “Our old boat would have taken a battering. It was amazing. This boat is a whole different ball game. Hopefully, it will mean the crew can be in a better state when we get where we need to be. It was a real honour to bring her in.”