SALCOMBE RNLI and the Coastguard helicopter from Newquay completed a joint training exercise within the harbour last week.

On Thursday, June 2, Salcombe RNLI held an open day with a demonstration in the estuary of their teamwork, winching crewmembers to and from the lifeboat and the helicopter.

Matt Davies, Salcombe RNLI, said: ‘It went really well, £1,300 was raised on the day through the the BBQ at the Fortescue, the welly wanging competition and the various collection buckets throughout town. Thank you to everyone who paid us a visit, stayed to watch the helo display and donated.’?Last year, the familiar Sea King helicopters from the Royal Navy based at Culdrose and the RAF from Chivenor were phased out after a long and distinguished service in the South West, to be replaced by brand new state of the art search and rescue helicopters operated by Bristows on behalf of the UK Coastguard.

Many of the helicopter crews from the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force have transferred over to Bristows meaning that the skills and experience have not been lost. The crews operate in much the same way as before but with newer and superior equipment.

Simon Evens, Salcombe Lifeboat Station Operations Manager, said: ‘There had been some concern a couple of years ago that the new service would not be as good as the old military Sea Kings, but having worked with Bristows in the past six months it is clear that the service is just as good as before and the new aircraft have greater speed, endurance and capacity.

‘The operational relationship between the new Coastguard helicopters and the RNLI is excellent.’

Both the all-weather lifeboat The Baltic Exchange III and the inshore lifeboat Joan Bate were be open to the public on the morning of Thursday, June 2, and previous Coxswain Frank Smith arranged for several historic lifeboats to visit Salcombe at the same time, with these being open to the public as well, on Normandy pontoon.

The previous evening, Wednesday, June 1, at 7.30pm, TV personality Adam Hart Davies hosted a special evening in Cliff House describing the tragic events of 1916 when the Salcombe lifeboat capsized on the Bar, killing 13 lifeboat men.

The centenary of the tragic 1916 loss will be marked on October 27 this year with a wreath-laying ceremony at sea and a service of commemoration in the Holy Trinity church.

So far this year, Salcombe RNLI lifeboats have been launched a total of nine times, with the inshore lifeboat ‘Joan Bate’ launching five times and the all-weather lifeboat ‘The Baltic Exchange III’ launching four times.