The dedication of Haydn Miller - the first Tamar class lifeboat to go on service at an RNLI lifeboat station will be officially named by executor Tony Middleton during the historic naming ceremony in Tenby on Sunday. Former RNLI council member Commodore Bob Hastie will officially open the town's £5.84M lifeboat station at 4.30 pm, and Howard Richings, RNLI Estates Manager Corporate Services, will give a description of the building. In the evening, the £2.5M state-of-the-art RNLI lifeboat will be named Haydn Miller in honour of the donor. Neil Chaplin, RNLI Principal Engineer, will give guests a description of the lifeboat. The station's Tyne class lifeboat Sir Galahad, which saved lives off the Pembrokeshire coast since 1986 has now returned to the RNLI's headquarters in Poole, Dorset. Compared to the Tyne class the Tamar is bigger - 16 metres as opposed to 14 - and has a faster response time, with a speed of 25, rather than 17 knots. "Everyone involved with the lifeboat station in Tenby is proud of the new facilities - the magnificent boathouse and the Tamar Class lifeboat, which is one of the most advanced search and rescue vessels in the world," said Howard Griffiths, chairman of the RNLI station branch at Tenby. "Sunday is going to be an enjoyable and memorable day for everyone as we celebrate the official opening of the boathouse and the naming ceremony for the lifeboat. A new chapter in the history of the lifeboat service in Tenby, which commenced in 1852 and where our brave and dedicated crews have saved nearly 700 lives over the past 154 years, begins." See centre pages for more details about the celebrations.
