LIFEBOAT launches for those using pleasure craft continue to be the largest proportion of rescue missions, according to figures released yesterday by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI).
Provisional statistics for the Republic show that volunteer lifeboat crews launched 402 times, saving 71 lives and bringing 346 people ashore.
A breakdown of the statistics shows that pleasure craft accounted for 55 per cent of services last year, compared to 56 per cent in 1995. People without a craft (cut off by tides or in trouble in the sea) accounted for 21 per cent of calls last year, compared to 19.5 per, cent in 1995.
The RNLI said it would announce a new form of membership, called Offshore, at the London International Boat Show. The scheme is aimed at people who use the sea for pleasure and is intended to make them more responsible for funding a service which they are the most likely to require.