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Displaying items by tag: Planned maintenance

Last week, the Isle of Man Steam Packet announced a change of ferry for day-time crossings on its Douglas-Heysham route.

As Manx Radio wrote, those travelling on the IOM-England route on Monday (15 April) will be on board the ropax Ben-my-Chree, which was withdrawn from service last year when replaced by the £80m newbuild flagship, Manxman.

According to the company, the change of ferry is due to planned maintenance of safety equipment, with the former flagship operating the Manxman's daytime sailings. The route takes 3 hours 45 minutes.

On Friday, the Ben-my-Chree returned to Manx waters having departed dry-dock at Cammell Laird, Birkenhead in Merseyside, where the 1998-built ropax had been having an overhaul and repaint.

To find out the latest sailing information, click here.

Published in Ferry

Waszp sailing

The Waszp project was conceived in 2010 by Andrew McDougall, designer of the world-beating Mach 2 foiling Moth. 

The Waszp was created as a strict one-design foiler, where, as the class says “the true test when raced is between crews and not boats and equipment”.

The objective of the class rules is to ensure that this concept is maintained. Keeping possible modifications to a minimum ensures fair racing across the fleet, helps to reduce the overall cost to the sailor and reduces the amount of time in the workshop. 

The popularity of the WASZP has proven that the boat and the concept work. In October 2021, 1237 boats had been sold to over 45 countries. 

The top speed recorded on the foiling dinghy is 26.7 knots. 

60-95kgs+ is a weight range competitive across varied conditions with rigs knowns as ‘8.2’ and ‘6.9’.

The cost of a Moth dinghy in Europe is €14,400 inc VAT + shipping according to the manufacturers in October 2021.