(a) Each rescue boat must be capable of being launched with the unit making headway of 5 knots in calm water, or with the unit anchored or bearing on the bottom in a current of up to 5 knots. A painter may be used to meet this requirement.

(b) Each rescue boat embarkation and launching arrangement must permit the rescue boat to be boarded and launched in the shortest possible time.

(c) If the rescue boat is one of the unit's survival craft, the rescue boat must also be as follows:

(1) The rescue boat must meet the embarkation arrangement and launching station requirements of §108.540.

(2) The rescue boat must meet the launching arrangement requirements of §§108.550 and 108.557, and if the launching arrangement uses falls and a winch, §108.553.

(3) If the launching arrangement uses a single fall, the rescue boat must have an automatic disengaging apparatus approved under approval series 160.170, instead of a lifeboat release mechanism.

(d) Rapid recovery of the rescue boat must be possible when loaded with its full complement of persons and equipment. If the rescue boat is also a lifeboat, rapid recovery must be possible when loaded with its lifeboat equipment and an approved rescue boat complement of at least six persons.

(e) Each rescue boat launching appliance must be fitted with a powered winch motor.

(f) Each rescue boat launching appliance must be capable of hoisting the rescue boat when loaded with its full rescue boat complement of persons and equipment at a rate of not less than 0.3 meters per second (59 feet per minute).

[CGD 84-069, 61 FR 25291, May 20, 1996, as amended at 63 FR 52814, Oct. 1, 1998]