Displaying items by tag: Navy Visits

21st October 2016

Royal Naval Destroyer Forced to Cancel Belfast Visit to ‘Shadow’ Russian Navy

#Destroyer - A UK naval destroyer was forced to cancel a visit to Belfast today, due to Russian warships understood to be bound for Syria to reinforce attacks on Aleppo, writes Jehan Ashmore.

Senior Royal Navy Officer for Northern Ireland, Commander John Gray, speaking at the 'Our Maritime Heritage' Conference held in Belfast’s Titanic Quarter yesterday, told delegates including Afloat.ie that HMS Duncan had joined a NATO flotilla in the North Sea to ‘shadow’ the Russian Navy.

HMS Duncan is the newest 'Daring' class Type 45 destroyer, which is officially affiliated with Belfast City, where Commander Gray made his comments during a talk about the restoration project of WW1 light cruiser HMS Caroline that was in the North Sea at the Battle of Jutland. The joint conference was organised by Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI).

According to the Belfast Telegraph, HMS Duncan sailed from Portsmouth on Tuesday to monitor the Kuznetsov task group in which was heading south through the North Sea and English Channel.

Theresa May has condemned Vladimir Putin's aggression in Syria as Royal Navy vessels monitored Russian warships thought to be heading to reinforce the attack on the besieged city Aleppo. The Prime Minister accused Moscow of being behind "sickening atrocities" in support of Bashar Assad's regime.

The Russian taskforce, including the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, was being man-marked by the Royal Navy as it headed towards the eastern Mediterranean. For more the newspaper has a report here.

The fourth in a series of six Daring class destoyers built, HMS Dragon paid a visit during Cork Volvo Week in July.

Published in Belfast Lough

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Ireland & La Solitaire du Figaro

The Solitaire du Figaro, was originally called the course de l’Aurore until 1980, was created in 1970 by Jean-Louis Guillemard and Jean-Michel Barrault.

Half a decade later, the race has created some of France's top offshore sailors, and it celebrated its 50th anniversary with a new boat equipped with foils and almost 50 skippers Including novices, aficionados and six former winners.

The solo multi-stage offshore sailing race is one of the most cherished races in French sailing and one that has had Irish interest stretching back over 20 years due to the number of Irish stopovers, usually the only foreign leg of the French race.

What Irish ports have hosted The Solitaire du Figaro?

The race has previously called to Ireland to the following ports; Dingle, Kinsale, Crosshaven, Howth and Dun Laoghaire.

What Irish sailors have raced The Solitaire du Figaro?

So far there have been seven Irish skippers to participate in La Solitaire du Figaro.

In 1997, County Kerry's Damian Foxall first tackled the Figaro from Ireland. His win in the Rookie division in DHL gave him the budget to compete again the following year with Barlo Plastics where he won the final leg of the race from Gijon to Concarneau. That same year a second Irish sailor Marcus Hutchinson sailing Bergamotte completed the course in 26th place and third Rookie.

In 2000, Hutchinson of Howth Yacht Club completed the course again with IMPACT, again finishing in the twenties.

In 2006, Paul O’Riain became the third Irish skipper to complete the course.

In 2013, Royal Cork's David Kenefick raised the bar by becoming a top rookie sailor in the race.

In 2018, for the first time, Ireland had two Irish boats in the offshore race thanks to Tom Dolan and Joan Mulloy who joined the rookie ranks and kept the Irish tricolour flying high in France. Mulloy became the first Irish female to take on the race.

Tom Dolan in Smurfit Kappa competed for his third year in 2020 after a 25th place finish in 2019. Dolan sailed a remarkably consistent series in 2020 and took fifth overall, the best finish by a non-French skipper since 1997 when Switzerland’s Dominique Wavre finished runner up. Dolan wins the VIVI Trophy.

Dolan finished 10th on the first stage, 11th on the second and seventh into Saint Nazaire at the end of the third stage. Stage four was abandoned due to lack of wind.

Also in 2020, Dun Laoghaire’s Kenneth Rumball became the eleventh Irish sailor to sail the Figaro.

At A Glance – Figaro Race

It starts in June or July from a French port.
The race is split into four stages varying from year to year, from the length of the French coast and making up a total of around 1,500 to 2,000 nautical miles (1,700 to 2,300 mi; 2,800 to 3,700 km) on average.
Over the years the race has lasted between 10 and 13 days at sea.
The competitor is alone in the boat, participation is mixed.
Since 1990, all boats are of one design.