Three volunteers with Looe RNLI have qualified as substantive crew members on the charity’s Atlantic 85 and D Class inshore lifeboats.

Following several months of detailed training, RNLI assessor trainer, Carl Beardmore, visited Looe lifeboat station on Wednesday, December 20, to formally assess volunteer crew members, Amber Palfrey, Will Jaycock and Jonty Wearing.

After quizzing Amber, Will and Jonty on the layout of both the Atlantic 85 and D Class inshore lifeboats, both boats were launched with Tom Peat at the helm of the Atlantic 85, and Jack Spree helming the D Class. Both crews headed out into Looe bay for Carl to assess their boat handling skills along with anchoring, search patterns, towing and a host of other topics.

Returning to the station a couple of hours later, the lifeboats were recovered and made ready for service by shore crew Dave Mitchell, John Goodsman, Carol Foster and Ian Foster.

There were beaming smiles in the crew room after the debrief as Carl confirmed Amber, Will and Jonty had all passed out as substantive crew, wishing them a happy Christmas, Carl congratulated the trio on their hard work and dedication.

Amber and Will volunteered in 2022 and were joined by Jonty who volunteered later in the same year on his 17th birthday. They thanked Looe RNLI volunteer helms Tom and Jack, who took them out to sea for their assessment and lifeboat station trainers Clive Palfrey and Matt Jaycock who, along with the rest of the Looe crew, who have helped them through the training.

Amber, Will and Jonty all mentioned it has taken a huge amount of work but they are proud to be part of such a fantastic crew. They all said volunteering with the RNLI is an opportunity to give something back to the local community.

Looe Lifeboat Station’s lifeboat operations manager Dave Haines was delighted that these crew pass outs highlight the next generation of crew at Looe. Both Amber and Will have relatives in the crew, Amber’s father, Clive, and Will’s uncle, Matt, are both senior helms at the station and Amber’s uncle, Del is a volunteer tractor driver. Even though all three had already been out on several shouts, they have now joined their family members on call over the Christmas and New Year period, ready to save lives at sea.