Fairlight of Blakeney Point
Fairlight at Great Yarmouth.
The Oakley class 37 ft. lifeboat Fairlight 37-06, official number 973, was built in 1964 by William Osborne of Littlehampton.
The boat was stationed at Hastings from 1964 to 88. She was in the relief fleet from 1988 to 89, at St. Ives from 1989 to 90, placed into the relief fleet again from 1990 to 91 and then stationed at Newquay from 1991 to 92.
She was sold in October 1994 as a pleasure boat at Blakeney Point in Norfolk and was named Almalux. She was later renamed Fairlight.
Fairlight returned to Hastings in 2008 when she was on display as part of the lifeboat station's 150th. anniversary celebrations.
The Oakley class 37 ft. lifeboat was designed for carriage launching.
The design combined great stability with the ability to self-right in the event of it capsizing. This was achieved by a system of shifting water ballast. The system works by the lifeboat taking on 1.5 tons of sea water in a tank under the engines immediately it is launching. If the lifeboat then reached a crucial point of capsize the ballast water would transfer through valves to a righting tank built into the port side. If the capsize was to the starboard side of the lifeboat, the water shift started when an angle of 165° was reached. This would push the boat into completing a full 360° roll. If the capsize was to the port side, the water transfer started at 110°. In this case the weight of water combined with the weight of machinery aboard the lifeboat usually managed to stop the roll and allow the lifeboat to bounce back to upright. The tank was emptied when the boat was taken out of the sea. There was a problem with damp sand left in the tank after the water was drained, which caused weak electrolytic action that eroded the copper nails which held the wooden hulls together.
The boat's hull is constructed from two wooden skins with a layer of calico between. After several years it was found that the calico absorbed water, which caused softening of the wood around the copper nails. This led to a series of surveys in the late 1980's resulting in the withdrawal of some boats and replanking of others. The skins were made from diagonally laid African mahogany planks. The outer one was 0.375 inches (9.5 mm) thick with the inner 0.25 inches (6.4 mm). The keel was iron and weighed 1.154 tons. The hull is divided into 11 watertight compartments and is fitted with 175 air cases and 46 PVC blocks.
Crew: 7
Survivor capacity: 35
Length overall: 37 ft. 11 in. (11.55 m)
Beam: 11 ft. 6 in. (3.5 m)
Draught: 3 ft. 3.5 in. (1 m)
Displacement: 11 ton
Engines: 2 x Ford Thorneycroft or Parsons Porbeagle diesels
Engine output: 2 x 52 hp (38.77 kW)
Top speed: 8.1 knots (9 mph - 15 km/h)
Range at top speed: 156 nm (180 miles - 290 km)
Fairlight of Blakeney Point
Fairlight at Great Yarmouth.
The Oakley class 37 ft. lifeboat Fairlight 37-06, official number 973, was built in 1964 by William Osborne of Littlehampton.
The boat was stationed at Hastings from 1964 to 88. She was in the relief fleet from 1988 to 89, at St. Ives from 1989 to 90, placed into the relief fleet again from 1990 to 91 and then stationed at Newquay from 1991 to 92.
She was sold in October 1994 as a pleasure boat at Blakeney Point in Norfolk and was named Almalux. She was later renamed Fairlight.
Fairlight returned to Hastings in 2008 when she was on display as part of the lifeboat station's 150th. anniversary celebrations.
The Oakley class 37 ft. lifeboat was designed for carriage launching.
The design combined great stability with the ability to self-right in the event of it capsizing. This was achieved by a system of shifting water ballast. The system works by the lifeboat taking on 1.5 tons of sea water in a tank under the engines immediately it is launching. If the lifeboat then reached a crucial point of capsize the ballast water would transfer through valves to a righting tank built into the port side. If the capsize was to the starboard side of the lifeboat, the water shift started when an angle of 165° was reached. This would push the boat into completing a full 360° roll. If the capsize was to the port side, the water transfer started at 110°. In this case the weight of water combined with the weight of machinery aboard the lifeboat usually managed to stop the roll and allow the lifeboat to bounce back to upright. The tank was emptied when the boat was taken out of the sea. There was a problem with damp sand left in the tank after the water was drained, which caused weak electrolytic action that eroded the copper nails which held the wooden hulls together.
The boat's hull is constructed from two wooden skins with a layer of calico between. After several years it was found that the calico absorbed water, which caused softening of the wood around the copper nails. This led to a series of surveys in the late 1980's resulting in the withdrawal of some boats and replanking of others. The skins were made from diagonally laid African mahogany planks. The outer one was 0.375 inches (9.5 mm) thick with the inner 0.25 inches (6.4 mm). The keel was iron and weighed 1.154 tons. The hull is divided into 11 watertight compartments and is fitted with 175 air cases and 46 PVC blocks.
Crew: 7
Survivor capacity: 35
Length overall: 37 ft. 11 in. (11.55 m)
Beam: 11 ft. 6 in. (3.5 m)
Draught: 3 ft. 3.5 in. (1 m)
Displacement: 11 ton
Engines: 2 x Ford Thorneycroft or Parsons Porbeagle diesels
Engine output: 2 x 52 hp (38.77 kW)
Top speed: 8.1 knots (9 mph - 15 km/h)
Range at top speed: 156 nm (180 miles - 290 km)