Name Valas

The vessel was the last to be built of the single-screw Liverpool Class lifeboats (yard no. 265) by Groves & Gutteridge of Cowes in 1941.  She was fitted with a Weyburn AE6 35hp petrol engine. She was the first lifeboat to take part in a rescue involving a helicopter as the 'Jose Neville' (ON834) at Caister. 

As the 'Jose Neville' she was launched 107 times and saved 75 lives, first under coxswain James Brown (1941-56) and then Jack Plummer (1956-66).  Plummer was awarded an RNLI Bronze Medal for the rescue of the Loch Lorgan by the Jose Neville in December 1963.  In 1966 the Jose Neville was sold out of service and converted to fishing vessel 'Concord' of Southwold. 

As fishing vessel 'Concord', the vessel had its original engine, masts and centre plate removed.  After running aground off Southwold in 1981 she was rescued by the Inshore Lifeboat 'Solebay' and escorted under tow to Lowestoft - the helmsman of the Solebay was awarded a bronze medal for the rescue.  A print of this event by Trevor Parkin hangs in the Sailors’ Reading room in Southwold.

In the early 1990s the vessel was sold and a double-diagonal fir, epoxy-coated cabin (echoing the form of the original engine canopy) was fitted, along with replacement masts.  During this period she was also fitted with a new engine and navigational equipment, and renamed VALAS.  Ongoing repairs and maintenance are carried out annually by the owner to keep the boat seaworthy and maintain or improve her condition.

VALAS is currently in full working order as a private leisure craft and has sailed as far as the French coast and up the Thames from Aldeburgh.