RNLI Rescue Boards
Our boards save lives too:
The RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institute) patrol our beaches and seas around the whole of Great Britain. We are proud to meet their exacting specifications and requirements to produce their rescue boards in our UK factory. Their requirements are rigid and strict – essential when lives are at stake. Our construction creates a lighter and stronger board than any other used at the RNLI. The response from local lifeguards are that they are incredibly tough and amazingly light – around 7-9 kgs, compared to 14-15 kgs which are the weights of some of their older boards.
How they are made is subject to a mutual confidentiality agreement although anybody can make a paddle board these boards use proprietary technology developed in house by Seabase. We went through rigorous pre-adoption testing – drop (impact) tests, stress tests and weight support tests – by RNLI engineers who lead in their respective field. Our product surprised them (and us, to be honest) from the quality of the laminate and it’s resistance to damage from their test equipment, to the handles that took 400 kgs of weight without budging (to be fair, we stopped the test at that point when the test machine stressed).
Despite the secrecy surrounding our methods, these boards use material you can buy from us today:
Epoxy Resin by Resin Research – high bio-content, low toxicity, epoxy resin. The best you can buy, worldwide)
Fibreglass cloth by Hexcel Composites – industry leader in aramids and exceptional reinforcements. (They supply Airbus – Seabase are official distributors)
Rescue board handles – developed and designed in house at Seabase.
Sunscreens – the range of life-saving hi-intensity broad spectrum Surfersskin sunscreens used by beach lifeguards throughout the UK.
New Fins – for the boards designed and developed by Seabase to reduce issues and problems long experienced by Lifeguards.