There were many fishermen who would be able to provide a crew, and a road close to the coast both north and south of the town would allow it to be transported to other places where it could be launched when required.

The new boat was paid for by Alexander Kay, an insurance broker in Glasgow, and a boathouse was built on land donated by the Duchesse de Coigny.

Soon after that the RNLI began to provide motor lifeboats and it was Girvan's turn in 1931, the new boat being inaugurated on 16 May 1931.

The motor lifeboat could cover a larger area more efficiently and so the station at Ayr closed the following year.

The new lifeboat that took up station at the same time was paid for and named Sylvia Burrell who had died the previous year but had long been a supporter of the RNLI and had knitted nearly 400 pairs of mittens for lifeboat crews.