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Displaying items by tag: EcoTrader

Arklow Ranger following a christening ceremony at Royal Bodowes main shipyard in the Netherlands was launched yesterday having slide off the stocks into the water, writes Jehan Ashmore.

This is the 4th general cargo vessel out of the seven Eco-Trader 6,885 deadweight tonnes (dwt) series on order from Arklow Shipping Ltd.

The 104m Arklow Ranger was launched during the afternoon from the Royal Bodewes shipyard at Hoogazand near Groningen.

As for the other three completed newbuilds, leadship, Arklow Racer was delivered to ASL in February, followed by the series second ship, Arklow Rally which made its maiden sailing on the Summer solstice.

The newest Eco-Trader or ‘R’ class, Arklow Rambler last month departed the inland shipyard along the canal system while under tow to Delfzijl on the Ems estuary.

It is from the nearby port of Emshaven that this third newbuild has been carrying out ship-builders sea trials in the North Sea.

Published in Shipyards

Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Yacht Race Information

The biennial Dun Laoghaire to Dingle race is a 320-miles race down to the east coast of Ireland, across the south coast and into Dingle harbour in County Kerry.

The race is organised by the National Yacht Club.

It never fails to offer a full range of weather, wind and tide to the intrepid entrants, ranging from a 32ft cruiser to a 79ft all-out racer.

Three divisions are available to enter: cruiser (boats equipped with furlers), racing (the bulk of the fleet) and also two-handed.

D2D Course change overruled

In 2019, the organisers considered changing the course to allow boats to select routes close to shore by removing the requirement to go outside Islands and Lighthouses en route, but following input from regular participants, the National Yacht Club decided to stick with the tried and tested course route in order to be fair to large and smaller boats and to keep race records intact.

RORC Points Calendar

The 2019 race was the first edition to form part of the Royal Ocean Racing Club “RORC” calendar for the season. This is in addition to the race continuing as part of the ISORA programme. 

D2D Course record time

Mick Cotter’s 78ft Whisper established the 1 day and 48 minutes course record for the Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race in 2009 and that time stood until 2019 when Cotter returned to beat his own record but only just, the Dun Laoghaire helmsman crossing the line in Kerry to shave just 20 seconds off his 2009 time.