Menu

Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

 

Displaying items by tag: Twiggy

#COBH CRUISE CALL – The sleek profile of Seabourn Sojourn, the cruiseship whose godmother is Twiggy, the English fashion icon and actress, called at Cobh Cruise Terminal this morning, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The ultra-luxurious vessel is the second of a pair of 32,000 tonnes sisters built for Seabourn Cruises by Italian shipyard T. Marrioti in Genoa. She was launched into the Ligurian Sea in 2010 and unusually for a cruiseship she has twin funnels that skilfully merge into the superstructure's appearance.

In the same year the 197m vessel made a promotional visit to London where she was christened by Twiggy at a ceremony held on the Thames.

Seabourn Cruises operate in the top end of the cruise market and have won prestigious travel awards over the years. Likewise to competitor Silverseas Cruise whose Silver Whisper is visiting Killybegs today having made a port of call to Foynes yesterday.

The 450 guest capacity Seabourn Sejourn is also in the same league with her rivals in that she only has suites in terms of accommodation type, where within there is a choice of six categories.

She has 225 ocean view suites measuring 295 to 1,682 sq ft, 90% with private verandas. This includes five Owner's Suites measuring up to 1,062 sq ft (including the veranda) and four two-bedroom Grand Suites with up to 1,682 sq ft of private living space.

In addition there are 22 Penthouse Suites on the uppermost decks, each featuring up to 534 sq ft feet of space. To browse a virtual tour of these very spacious suites on Deck 11 click HERE.

As for facilities she sports the largest spa on any ultra-luxury ship, at 11,400 sq ft encompassing an indoor and outdoor space laid out over two decks. There are also six whirlpools and two swimming pools, including the pool patio, with a pair of large whirlpool spas and a "beach" style pool, a casual patio grill and the patio bar.

On the sun deck above sits Seabourn's popular open-air Sky Bar located high atop on deck 11 is a Sun Terrace with 36 tiered double sun beds. Just aft of that is The Retreat, with shuffleboard courts and a nine-hole putting green.

The panoramic Observation Bar on Deck 10 offers 270 degree forward views over the sea. There is the Club for dancing and the larger Grand Salon is also used for dancing as well as lectures, production vocal shows, cabaret performances and classical recitals.

Other facilities can be viewed through the virtual tour HERE

Published in Cruise Liners

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.