Displaying items by tag: Maidentrip

15th December 2013

New Documentary Charts Dutch Teen's Solo Round-The-World Voyage

#LauraDekker - A new documentary is bringing the inspirational story of young Dutch circumnavigator Laura Dekker to the big screen.

As Scuttlebutt News reports, Maidentrip was produced by a team of female filmmakers who followed the teenager over two years of her life as she made history by sailing solo around the world, with no follow boat or support team.

Dekker was just 14 years old when she set out on her own in January 2010, after fighting a court battle for the right to achieve her dream.

Two years later, aged 16, water baby Dekker sailed into Sint Maarten in the Caribbean to complete her voyage and smash the world record for the youngest solo female circumnavigation.

Catching up with Dekker at various ports of call along her route, the filmmakers combined their footage with candid self-shot scenes from the young sailor herself alone on board her 26ft vessel.

The end result is a remarkable coming-of-age story as Dekker, already mature beyond her years, literally and figuratively grows up at sea.

Scuttlebutt News has more on the story HERE.

Published in News Update

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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.

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.