A SEASIDE town will receive a new lifeboat to improve the work of lifesaving services on the coastline following a successful trial.
Clacton has been identified as the best place for a Shannon Storm Rider lifeboat, the latest class of boats to help serve within the RNLI.
In a three-day trial starting on July 18, the 18-tonne boat, along with its mobile recovery system, were tested under different circumstances and introduced to the local crew.
As it is bigger than the current boats at Clacton's RNLI station, there will be a host of regular training sessions before the Shannon’s official arrival.
Dave Wells, lifeboat operations manager at Clacton, said: “It has been an exciting few days to see a Shannon on the beach here – as well as a steep learning curve to understand how it will manoeuvre around our lifeboat station, our roads and the beach.
"The crew were pleased to get chance to get up close to a lifeboat like the one that will be coming here and understand what it will take to launch and recover it to save lives at sea from Clacton.
"Storm Rider is much bigger than our current biggest boat – Atlantic 85 David Porter MPS – so this gave us essential knowledge to understand what we will need here in the coming months and years to provide the most effective service."
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