First, two types were designed weighing only seven tons. That meant that a large number of stations could now have motor lifeboats where before, because of their weight, they were out of the question.
But there were still stations for which no existing type was suitable.
Some presented -a curious double problem. The lifeboat had to be light enough to launch off the beach. At the same time the conditions at sea required a large lifeboat.
That problem, too, was solved with a special type called the beach lifeboat. And now, during the last year or two, the Institution has designed and built a still lighter motor lifeboat called the surf type.
weighs only 4% tons, The building yards on the Clyde have been used for the repair of lifeboats for 30 or 40 years, and all repairs of lifeboats on the West Coast of Scotland and in northern Ireland are now gone there. The first motor lifeboat to be built on the Clyde was the boat now at Port Askaig, Argyll. where a station was established in 1934. She was laid down in June of that year and went to her station in June of the following year. She is of the powerful Watson cabin type. She was followed by the Portpatrick, Wigtownshire, motor lifeboat, laid down ip 1936 and completed in March, 1937. She also is of the Watson cabin type.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.