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Displaying items by tag: North Sea Race

The overall winner for the 181nm North Sea Race under IRC was the Dutch JPK 1180 Il Corvo, owned by Astrid de Vin and skippered by Roeland Franssens. Dutch Ker 46 Van Uden skippered by Johnny Poortman was just 121 seconds behind Il Corvo after IRC time correction. Michel Dorsman’s Dutch X-362 Team Extra Djinn was third. The top three boats, racing under IRC, all came from different classes. Richard Matthews’ British CF520 Oystercatcher XXXV, sailed by James Bolingbroke, took Line Honours for the race.

Richard Matthews’ British CF520 Oystercatcher XXXV Richard Matthews’ British CF520 Oystercatcher XXXV Photo: Rick Tomlinson

The victorious Il Corvo team celebrate at the Yacht Club in Scheveningen Photo: Tim ThubronThe victorious Il Corvo team celebrate at the Yacht Club in Scheveningen Photo: Tim Thubron

“Roeland and I have taken part in the North Sea Race many, many times, we have won class before but for me this is the first overall win,” smiled Il Corvo’s Astrid de Vin. “Roeland is the strategist on board and makes all of the key decisions. The Il Corvo crew are a mixture of sailors from past campaigns, and we are all friends. The North Sea Race is one close to our hearts, we are so happy that we have won it! I have booked a nice restaurant to celebrate but we will have an early start to get the boat over to the Solent for the Myth of Malham Race, next week.”

Dutch Ker 46 Van Uden skippered by Johnny PoortmanDutch Ker 46 Van Uden skippered by Johnny Poortman Photo: Paul Wyeth

Skipper of Van Uden Johnny Poortman has competed in three editions of the Volvo Ocean Race, and leads a young talented Dutch crew, looking to break into the world of professional sailing. “After the start the race was nearly all off the wind, so there were a lot of sail changes, and especially during the night, the team did an excellent job. Well done to Il Corvo, they must have sailed very well. On Van Uden we can only aim to beat the boats in our class, so we are happy with that.” Van Uden will be competing at the RORC IRC Nationals in the Solent June 10-12.

Start of the 2022 North Sea Race Photo: Richard MatthewsStart of the 2022 North Sea Race Photo: Richard Matthews

The North Sea Race is organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club in association with the Royal Harwich Yacht Club, the East Anglian Offshore Racing Association, the Yacht Club Scheveningen and the North Sea Regatta.

The Royal Ocean Racing Club RORC Season’s Points Championship continues with the 7th race of the series, the Myth of Malham Race. Starting from the Royal Yacht Squadron Line at 1300 BST on the 2nd of June, the 230-mile race around the Eddystone Lighthouse mirrors the start of the Rolex Fastnet Race. 

IRC Class Winners for the North Sea Race

IRC SZ Volvo 70 Telefonica Black
IRC 0 Ker 46 Van Uden
IRC 1 JPK 1180 Il Corvo
IRC 2 First 40.7 Flying Fish
IRC 3 X-362 Team Extra Djinn
IRC 4 Sigma 38 Spirit
IRC T-H JPK 1010 Jangada

Full results here

Published in RORC
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Marine Institute Research Vessel Tom Crean

Ireland’s new marine research vessel will be named the RV Tom Crean after the renowned County Kerry seaman and explorer who undertook three major groundbreaking expeditions to the Antarctic in the early years of the 20th Century which sought to increase scientific knowledge and to explore unreached areas of the world, at that time.

Ireland's new multi-purpose marine research vessel RV Tom Crean, was delivered in July 2022 and will be used by the Marine Institute and other State agencies and universities to undertake fisheries research, oceanographic and environmental research, seabed mapping surveys; as well as maintaining and deploying weather buoys, observational infrastructure and Remotely Operated Vehicles.

The RV Tom Crean will also enable the Marine Institute to continue to lead and support high-quality scientific surveys that contribute to Ireland's position as a leader in marine science. The research vessel is a modern, multipurpose, silent vessel (designed to meet the stringent criteria of the ICES 209 noise standard for fisheries research), capable of operating in the Irish Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The Tom Crean is able to go to sea for at least 21 days at a time and is designed to operate in harsh sea conditions.

RV Tom Crean Specification Overview

  • Length Overall: 52.8 m
  • Beam 14m
  • Draft 5.2M 

Power

  • Main Propulsion Motor 2000 kw
  • Bow Thruster 780 kw
  • Tunnel thruster 400 kw

Other

  • Endurance  21 Days
  • Range of 8,000 nautical miles
  • DP1 Dynamic Positioning
  • Capacity for 3 x 20ft Containers

Irish Marine Research activities

The new state-of-the-art multi-purpose marine research vessel will carry out a wide range of marine research activities, including vital fisheries, climate change-related research, seabed mapping and oceanography.

The new 52.8-metre modern research vessel, which will replace the 31-metre RV Celtic Voyager, has been commissioned with funding provided by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine approved by the Government of Ireland.

According to Aodhán FitzGerald, Research Vessel Manager of the MI, the RV Tom Crean will feature an articulated boom crane aft (6t@ 10m, 3T@ 15m), located on the aft-gantry. This will be largely used for loading science equipment and net and equipment handling offshore.

Mounted at the stern is a 10T A-frame aft which can articulate through 170 degrees which are for deploying and recovering large science equipment such as a remotely operated vehicle (ROV’s), towed sleds and for fishing operations.

In addition the fitting of an 8 Ton starboard side T Frame for deploying grabs and corers to 4000m which is the same depth applicable to when the vessel is heaving but is compensated by a CTD system consisting of a winch and frame during such operations.

The vessel will have the regulation MOB boat on a dedicated davit and the facility to carry a 6.5m Rigid Inflatable tender on the port side.

Also at the aft deck is where the 'Holland 1' Work class ROV and the University of Limericks 'Etain' sub-Atlantic ROV will be positioned. In addition up to 3 x 20’ (TEU) containers can be carried.

The newbuild has been engineered to endure increasing harsher conditions and the punishing weather systems encountered in the North-East Atlantic where deployments of RV Tom Crean on surveys spent up to 21 days duration.

In addition, RV Tom Crean will be able to operate in an ultra silent-mode, which is crucial to meet the stringent criteria of the ICES 209 noise standard for fisheries research purposes.

The classification of the newbuild as been appointed to Lloyds and below is a list of the main capabilities and duties to be tasked by RV Tom Crean:

  • Oceanographic surveys, incl. CTD water sampling
  • Fishery research operations
  • Acoustic research operations
  • Environmental research and sampling operation incl. coring
  • ROV and AUV/ASV Surveys
  • Buoy/Mooring operations