Launch of the Gig Safety Boat Pictures to follow

Lyme Regis Gig Club had a naming ceremony for our new safety boat Conway today. I like Peter Wiles pictures.

Lyme Regis Gig Club is lucky to be associated with the Conway Association whose members attended HMS Conway, a naughtical training school for member of the Merchant Navy and Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve. This came about because the Gig Club’s late Committee Member Michael Rushforth attended Conway. The Conway Association support the Gig Club preserves the sea faring traditions that date back to the Napoleonic period when HMS Conway was launched.

The Gig Club safety boat was launched by Ian Hopkinson (hoppy) who attended Conway with the late Michel Rushforth. Ian is now a Marine Surveyor in Vancouver and visited Lyme Regis for the launching ceremony. Angela Rushforth and her son Tom were guests of honour.

The Gig Club’s safety boat Conway is a Rib of the type used by special forces with an inflatable hull and can be deployed from helicopters and submarines. Conway will be used as a safety boat supporting the Clubs new planned youth section and at rowing regattas and to take gig crews too and from the pontoon in the Pool, where the gigs are often based for training sessions.