3:15 am the Dorothy and Philip Constant was launched and found the yacht due south of Littlehampton, deluged with large waves, and with a seasick, exhausted crew. Two of the lifeboat's crewmen boarded the yacht and set up a towline, safely bringing her into Shoreham at 7.25 am. The coxswain was awarded an RNLI Bronze medal for his part. On 20 January 1980, the MS Athina B arrived at Shoreham-by-Sea from the Azores archipelago. During the voyage, she had problems with her generator, gyro compass and radar, and put in at La Rochelle in France for repairs. On arrival at Shoreham, the vessel was caught in gale force seven or eight winds, and with seas breaking across her decks, she was unable to enter. Her engines failed, and a Mayday call was issued. The Dorothy and Philip Constance was launched to service at 8:40, and rescued half the crew as well as the captain's family. The lifeboat returned the next day to rescue the remaining crew. The coxswain was awarded an RNLI Silver Medal. In 1981, sinkage of the slipway led to the allocation of a 13-ton lifeboat, primarily designed for carriage launching. The slipway was strengthened following the decision to place a boat on station. The Rother was replaced in 1986 by the first of two boats that served for four years before being replaced by the new Tyne. In 1990 the new lifeboat arrived at Shoreham. She was on station until 2010, following which the station was served by various relief fleet Tynes until the new entered service in December 2010. 2008: redevelopment and Tamar-class lifeboat In 2008, a £1 million public appeal was launched to partially fund another rebuild, this time to accommodate a new lifeboat. In January 2009 the old station boathouse and slipway were demolished and the station was temporarily housed on Kingston Beach. The building is timber-framed on three storeys, has boat halls for the all-weather and inshore lifeboats, and dedicated slipways to the harbour. The previous boathouse and station encountered occasional problems with flooding due to high spring tides and waves. The rebuilt station included a wave pit at the front of the station, which breaks the waves before they hit the boathouse door, preventing these floods. The project cost a total of £4.2 million and was officially opened by the Prince Edward, Duke of Kent on 16 June 2011. The £2.7 million