Inflatable rescue boats (or IRBs) Club member Don "Bluey" Wright was the New Zealand Powercraft Officer from 1976 to 1979. Development and operation of Jet Rescue Boats had been pushed as far as they could go and needed highly qualified crew, were expensive to maintain & operate and sometimes had problems during launch and retrieval. The Schwepps Powercraft Congress was held at Piha in 1976 and introduced many clubs in New Zealand to the value and capabilities of IRBs. Don and the Speights family worked together to develop the Arancia Inflatable Rescue Boat with the Mk I Arancia IRB being tested at Piha in November 1978. During this test the first ever rescue of a swimmer washed up on rocks occurred. Don knew how boats worked and with others such as; Rob Ferguson, Murray Wood, Basil Vertongen, Loius Jordian, John Hosiaux spent a lot of time getting the engines and hulls right and promoting their use. Bluey Wright introduced qualifications for drivers and crew. Out-of-season IRB Rescue Competitions started at Piha. In 1981 Bluey and his son Tony won two of three events at the first Europa IRB Nationals which were held at Piha. By 1981 50% of all surf rescues in New Zealand were performed by IRBs. IRBs feature in the TV series Piha Rescue. Piha Juniors - Nipper Life Guards Piha Juniors under the instruction of Ron "Snooper" Cooper way back in the early 1950s were called the young un's. These Juniors were soon to be the front line guards due to work commitments of the Senior Guards. Don "Bluey" Wright 1955–1956 took the Juniors. Buddy Lucas from 1971. Gordon Barker helped by Ken Morris 1975–1983. This was the start of the Nipper movement. July 1994 saw twenty three Juniors off to train at Huntington Beach, Los Angeles, California. Sponsors Piha Surf Life Saving Club is proudly supported by: Major Sponsors: Nissan, Burger Fuel, Trillian Trust Inc, Coverstaff Recruitment, NZCT Sport, Blue Sky Community Trust, Sir John Logan Campbell Residuary Estate, Kelliher Charitable Trust, Yamaha New Zealand, ASB Community Trust, The Trust Community Foundation (TTCF), Infinity Foundation Ltd, Isuzu, Explorer New Zealand, Freshmax Sponsors: Brown Cleaning Solutions, Ross Mullins - Sound developments, Jagermeistter, Tomizone, Fulton Hogan, Remuera Lions, BFG Bourneville Furniture Group, Fonterra Project 80 Partners: Hulena Architects Ltd, Campbell Brown Planning Ltd, Harrison Grierson, Operating Partners Ltd, Piha SLSC Fund Trust, hlkjacob, Consult QS. New Zealand honours