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Displaying items by tag: New ferry service

#FerryWickow - A newly renamed car ferry Frazer Aisling Gabrielle called to Wicklow Port prior to the opening of the new Scenic Carlingford Ferry that is scheduled to begin operations early next month, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The 44 car capacity Frazer Aisling Gabrielle had arrived to Wicklow yesterday evening after a passage of around 10 hours from Waterford Estuary. The car ferry having received work at New Ross Boat Yard in preparation for the new service linking Greenore, Co. Louth and Greencastle in Co. Down.

The work carried out at the inland yard downriver from the Port of New Ross involved a new livery applied to the ferry formerly named Foyle Venture. Under that guise this ferry has previously called to Wicklow Port.  As such the presence of the car ferry was less of a surprise in Wicklow unlike newbuild Spirit of Rathlin that made a unique call to Greystones in February of this year.

Frazer Ailsing Gabrielle which can accommodate 300 passengers had berthed at Wicklow's East Pier from where a crew rest took place overnight.  An inshore fishing boat, Bernice set off from the North Quay this morning to transfer a pilot on board the carferry. Following that the vessel departed in classy calm seas for the final leg of the voyage bound for Greenore. 

The ferry project on Carlingford Lough cost €9.75 million (£8.5 million) was entirely privately financed and developed by the Frazer Ferries Group. They acquired last year the Passage East Ferry Company that operates on the Waterford Estuary route served by F.B.D. Tintern.

The former Lough Foyle ferry however provided relief duties to allow the smaller car ferry that plies between Passage East and Ballyhack to undergo annual maintenance at the facility in New Ross. 

Published in Ferry

#NewRoute - A ferry service which has been long awaited between Greenore and Greencastle, linking both sides of Carlingford Lough, will launch early this summer, writes the Argus.

'Construction work has commenced and we're planning to have the ferry service operational by the early part of the summer,' said Paul O'Sullivan of Carlingford Lough Ferries.

The project, which is estimated to have the potential to create 300 jobs directly and indirectly, was first mooted a decade ago but faced numerous delays due to objections, particularly on the northern side.

'It has taken eight or nine years to get to this point in time but we had two jurisdictions to deal with, so we had to double up on everything - planning applications, marine licences, environmental studies, as well as dealing with two sets of statutory bodies,' said Mr O'Sullivan.

To read more the newspaper has a report here.

Published in Ferry

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.

At A Glance – K2Q (Kingstown to Queenstown) Race 2024

The third edition of this 260-nautical mile race starts from the National Yacht Club on Dublin Bay on July 12th 2024 finishes in Cork Harbour.

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