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Displaying items by tag: Discovery Route

#WorldRecord - Six days, 14 hours, 29 minutes and 21 seconds: that's the new time to beat after the crew of Spindrift 2 smashed the previous Discovery route record by more than 20 hours.

The world's largest racing trimaran crossed the finish line at San Salvador in the Bahamas in the early hours of yesterday morning (6 November) after a blisteringly fast Atlantic crossing from Cadiz in Spain.

Reaching speeds of up to 46.08 knots and covering more than 714 miles last Friday 1 November alone, it was expected that the vessel skippered by Dona Bertarelli and Yann Guichard would make an impact.

But even rough seas and technical mishaps going into the final stretch didn't put much of a dent in their incredible margin, almost a full day ahead of the time set by previous record holder Groupama 3 in 2007.

And this amazing achievement will surely erase memories of Spindrift's woes in Dublin Bay over the summer.

"This is huge," said Bertarelli after confirmation of their record. "The emotion was waiting for us the moment we crossed the line. I enjoyed this race a lot; my first crossing of the Atlantic, in a race, for a record, with a good result at the end.

"Any doubts I might have had about this boat have gone. It is an extraordinary machine, and was combined with a great crew, following superb preparation made by the team on the ground and a sound choice of route."

Published in Offshore

#WorldRecord - The world's largest racing trimaran is on standby awaiting the right weather window to launch their attempt at the Discovery route world record.

Spindrift 2 - the successor to the trimaran skippred by Yann Guichard that met an unfortunate fate in Dun Laoghaire this summer - has been in Portimao in Portugal since 7 October waiting for the perfect conditions to mount their challenge on the Discovery route from Cadiz in southwestern Spain to San Salvador in the Bahamas.

The record for the near 4,000 nautical mile transatlantic route is currently held by Groupama 3, a Franck Cammass-skippered vessel that's part of the same team that won the Volvo Ocean Race in Galway in 2012.

Groupama 3 set a record time of seven days, 10 hours, 58 minutes and 53 seconds with an average speed of 21.7 knots in May 2007, beating the previous time set by Steve Fossett's PlayStation by almost two whole days.

Meanwhile, Guichard and co-skipper Dona Bertarelli, last seen in action in the Rolex Fastnet Race, will be waiting for the trade winds to pick up pace and the Azores high pressure system into place creating the optimum conditions to set out from Cadiz.

"Once we have rounded the Canary Islands by the right it will be a matter of fine tuning our strategy and choosing the best possible course to join San Salvador," saus Guichard.

"The options are a more northerly course, closer to the direct route, or a more southerly course, further off the direct course but presenting better conditions."

Follow the team on Twitter @spindriftracing for the latest Discovery route news.

Published in Offshore

Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI) in Ireland Information

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is a charity to save lives at sea in the waters of UK and Ireland. Funded principally by legacies and donations, the RNLI operates a fleet of lifeboats, crewed by volunteers, based at a range of coastal and inland waters stations. Working closely with UK and Ireland Coastguards, RNLI crews are available to launch at short notice to assist people and vessels in difficulties.

RNLI was founded in 1824 and is based in Poole, Dorset. The organisation raised €210m in funds in 2019, spending €200m on lifesaving activities and water safety education. RNLI also provides a beach lifeguard service in the UK and has recently developed an International drowning prevention strategy, partnering with other organisations and governments to make drowning prevention a global priority.

Irish Lifeboat Stations

There are 46 lifeboat stations on the island of Ireland, with an operational base in Swords, Co Dublin. Irish RNLI crews are tasked through a paging system instigated by the Irish Coast Guard which can task a range of rescue resources depending on the nature of the emergency.

Famous Irish Lifeboat Rescues

Irish Lifeboats have participated in many rescues, perhaps the most famous of which was the rescue of the crew of the Daunt Rock lightship off Cork Harbour by the Ballycotton lifeboat in 1936. Spending almost 50 hours at sea, the lifeboat stood by the drifting lightship until the proximity to the Daunt Rock forced the coxswain to get alongside and successfully rescue the lightship's crew.

32 Irish lifeboat crew have been lost in rescue missions, including the 15 crew of the Kingstown (now Dun Laoghaire) lifeboat which capsized while attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme on Christmas Eve 1895.

FAQs

While the number of callouts to lifeboat stations varies from year to year, Howth Lifeboat station has aggregated more 'shouts' in recent years than other stations, averaging just over 60 a year.

Stations with an offshore lifeboat have a full-time mechanic, while some have a full-time coxswain. However, most lifeboat crews are volunteers.

There are 46 lifeboat stations on the island of Ireland

32 Irish lifeboat crew have been lost in rescue missions, including the 15 crew of the Kingstown (now Dun Laoghaire) lifeboat which capsized while attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme on Christmas Eve 1895

In 2019, 8,941 lifeboat launches saved 342 lives across the RNLI fleet.

The Irish fleet is a mixture of inshore and all-weather (offshore) craft. The offshore lifeboats, which range from 17m to 12m in length are either moored afloat, launched down a slipway or are towed into the sea on a trailer and launched. The inshore boats are either rigid or non-rigid inflatables.

The Irish Coast Guard in the Republic of Ireland or the UK Coastguard in Northern Ireland task lifeboats when an emergency call is received, through any of the recognised systems. These include 999/112 phone calls, Mayday/PanPan calls on VHF, a signal from an emergency position indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) or distress signals.

The Irish Coast Guard is the government agency responsible for the response to, and co-ordination of, maritime accidents which require search and rescue operations. To carry out their task the Coast Guard calls on their own resources – Coast Guard units manned by volunteers and contracted helicopters, as well as "declared resources" - RNLI lifeboats and crews. While lifeboats conduct the operation, the coordination is provided by the Coast Guard.

A lifeboat coxswain (pronounced cox'n) is the skipper or master of the lifeboat.

RNLI Lifeboat crews are required to follow a particular development plan that covers a pre-agreed range of skills necessary to complete particular tasks. These skills and tasks form part of the competence-based training that is delivered both locally and at the RNLI's Lifeboat College in Poole, Dorset

 

While the RNLI is dependent on donations and legacies for funding, they also need volunteer crew and fund-raisers.

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