Large crowds gathered to welcome the spectacular arrival of Barmouth’s new Shannon class lifeboat, the Ella Larsen, as she ploughed through the waves in 40mph winds on Sunday.

The RNLI’s new £2.2m Shannon lifeboat arrived at Barmouth on Sunday, 10 March as hundreds of supporters and well-wishers lined the beach to greet the new state-of-the-art lifeboat.

The new boat was met out at sea by Barmouth’s current Mersey Class lifeboat, the Moira Barrie; they were also accompanied down the coast by Criccieth’s B Class Atlantic 85 lifeboat. It was a moving and memorable sight to see the boats surging through the heavy seas as they neared the shore.

The Barmouth Coxswains and volunteer crew gave a display of the new boat’s manoeuvrability before beaching and being recovered onto the Shannon launch and recovery vehicle. Both all-weather lifeboats were then towed to the beach in front of the Boathouse to be presented to the crowd.

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