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Queen sails off on Jubilee tour

LONDON, England -- Britain's Queen Elizabeth II has launched her Golden Jubilee nationwide tour with a boat ride.

As befits a seafaring nation, the Queen, who is celebrating her 50 years on the throne, started her 15-week tour in Falmouth, Cornwall, southwest England, with a boat ride.

A flotilla of small craft followed the queen who stood at the helm of a new lifeboat that she had just named.

In the breeze as the boat sped across Falmouth Harbour, the queen kept a firm grip on her designer headwear.

Sailors on the frigate HMS Cornwall stood to attention on deck and made three cheers for their sovereign as her boat passed by.

EXTRA INFORMATION • Golden Jubilee

Youngsters aboard the square-rigged training ship Prince William, named after the queen's grandson, also cheered as she passed.

Pleasure boats followed in the queen's wake as she docked at the Prince of Wales Pier where more than 2,000 people were waiting to greet her.

Earlier the queen, with her husband the Duke of Edinburgh visited Falmouth's National Maritime Museum. A small yacht given by the Island Sailing Club of Cowes to the couple in 1948 as a wedding present, Bluebottle, is now an exhibit there.

The queen named the RNLI's latest lifeboat, saying: "I name this lifeboat Richard Cox Scott. May God bless her and all who sail in her." She flicked a switch sending a customary bottle of champagne crashing on to the hull.

On the quayside, a Royal Marines Band played the theme from Thunderbirds as the queen and Duke boarded the boat for a harbour trip.