Displaying items by tag: Anna Livia

11th February 2019

Dublin's Liffey Ferry Service Starts for First Time Since 1984

Following a 35 year absence the Liffey Ferry service was reinstated today reported The Irish Times which added operators confident after successful maiden voyage despite lack of passengers. AFLOAT adds the restoration of No.11 Liffey Ferry was a joint project carried out by the Dublin Port Company and Dublin City Council.

#ferries - Dublin city had for the first time in 35 years, a new ferry service writes The Irish Times.

It was a cold, bright pre-dawn morning when the Dublin No 11 Liffey Ferry left its berth beside the MV Cill Airne at 7am for its maiden voyage as a passenger ferry.

The Liffey was like glass and as the boat turned east in the direction of the Tom Clarke (East-Link) Bridge, a beautiful red sunrise framed the Poolbeg Towers.

It was a perfect start. The only thing that was missing was passengers. There were none.

“It’s a bit early,” confessed Charles Sheridan, one of the three members crew on the No 11 for its first three minute trip across the Liffey to Sir John Rogerson’s Quay. “From a commuter point of view, the 7am start will take some time to generate traction.”

He was not fazed by the no-shows saying that the service will take some time to establish itself and they already have a group booked in from one of the many companies headquartered in Dublin’s Docklands.

For more on the relaunch of the ferry service and the related role of the East-Link bridge, click here.

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The Kingstown to Queenstown Yacht Race or 'K2Q', previously the Fastnet 450

The Organising Authority ("OA") are ISORA & SCORA in association with The National Yacht Club & The Royal Cork Yacht Club.

The Kingstown to Queenstown Race (K2Q Race) is a 260-mile offshore race that will start in Dun Laoghaire (formerly Kingstown), around the famous Fastnet Rock and finish in Cork Harbour at Cobh (formerly Queenstown).

The K2Q race follows from the successful inaugural 'Fastnet 450 Race' that ran in 2020 when Ireland was in the middle of the COVID Pandemic. It was run by the National Yacht Club, and the Royal cork Yacht Club were both celebrating significant anniversaries. The clubs combined forces to mark the 150th anniversary of the National Yacht Club and the 300th (Tricentenary) of the Royal Cork Yacht Club.

Of course, this race has some deeper roots. In 1860 the first-ever ocean yacht race on Irish Waters was held from Kingstown (now Dun Laoghaire) to Queenstown (now Cobh).

It is reported that the winner of the race was paid a prize of £15 at the time, and all competing boats got a bursary of 10/6 each. The first race winner was a Schooner Kingfisher owned by Cooper Penrose Esq. The race was held on July 14th 1860, and had sixteen boats racing.

In 2022, the winning boat will be awarded the first prize of a cheque for €15 mounted and framed and a Trophy provided by the Royal Cork Yacht Club, the oldest yacht club in the world.

The 2022 race will differ from the original course because it will be via the Fastnet Rock, so it is a c. 260m race, a race distance approved by the Royal Cornwall Yacht Club as an AZAB qualifier.

A link to an Afloat article written by WM Nixon for some history on this original race is here.

The aim is to develop the race similarly to the Dun Laoghaire–Dingle Race that runs in alternate years.

Fastnet 450 in 2020

The South Coast of Ireland Racing Association, in association with the National Yacht Club on Dublin Bay and the Royal Cork Yacht Club in Cork, staged the first edition of this race from Dun Laoghaire to Cork Harbour via the Fastnet Rock on August 22nd 2020.

The IRC race started in Dun Laoghaire on Saturday, August 22nd 2020. It passed the Muglin, Tuscar, Conningbeg and Fastnet Lighthouses to Starboard before returning to Cork Harbour and passing the Cork Buoy to Port, finishing when Roches's Point bears due East. The course was specifically designed to be of sufficient length to qualify skippers and crew for the RORC Fastnet Race 2021.