Designed for Danger
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) has its Headquarters and Training College at Poole, as well as its production facility for All-Weather Lifeboats (ALBs). As the name implies, these remarkable boats can venture out into seas that would capsize or destroy other vessels.
The Shannon class ALB is the latest addtion to the fleet, and was designed here in Poole by the RNLI engineers. It is the first ALB to use water jets rather than propellers, greatly improving manoeuvrability and shallow-water performance.
Because RNLI vessels need equipment and capabilities not found in other boats, the Poole facility produces many elements from scratch. The design, production and engineering skills contained in the buildings here come together to make the ALBs the very best in the world.
The short film below gives an introduction to the work of the All-Weather Lifeboat Centre. You can find out more about the organisation and how you can support it at this link.
You can watch a clip of vintage film showing a much older Poole lifeboat being launched by clicking here.