Shallow reckoning

The nature of RNLI rescue work has fundamentally changed. Where lifeboat demand once centred on commercial fishing vessels and mariners working far offshore, it is now concentrated overwhelmingly close to shore, a shift driven by growth in recreational open water swimming, kayaking and paddleboarding.

That change in demand, combined with an ageing all-weather and inshore fleet reaching the end of its 25-year operational life, has prompted the RNLI’s 2040 Lifeboat Fleet Strategy, a wholesale reconfiguration of vessel classes and capability across the charity’s 238 stations.

“Use of the sea around the UK is fundamentally changing,” says Tom Baker, naval engineer and the charity’s asset management lead.

“Increasing numbers of people are using the coast for recreational purposes, such as open water swimming, kayaking and paddleboarding so most RNLI rescues are now closer to shore than out to sea, when rescue demand was often in support of commercial fishermen and other mariners working further offshore.”

Indeed, between 2017 and 2024, 98% of the RNLI’s lifeboat response was within 10 nautical miles of the shore, with 1.8% between 10 and 25nm and just 0.2% at a range greater than 25nm from the shore. What’s more, the majority of casualties now start