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Displaying items by tag: Hamish Ross

In an obituary The Scotsman writes about the late Hamish Ross, ferry industry managing director, Born: 17, July 1943 in Lhanbryde, Morayshire. Died: 4 April, 2019, in Douglas, Isle of Man, aged 75.

Hamish Ross, who died in early April in the Hospice Isle of Man, was a prominent ­figure in the world of Irish Sea shipping over four decades, enjoying leadership roles with Sealink, one of the UK’s major ferry companies of the 1970s and 80s, Sea Containers (who introduced SeaCat fast ferries to the Irish Sea in the 1990s) and latterly with the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company.

However, two of his finest achievements were delivered after his formal retirement in 2007 – as publisher and ­editor of the famous Sea Breezes shipping magazine, he steered the publication safely through to its centennial in 2019, and he also he spearheaded a successful campaign to erect a ­permanent memorial in ­tribute to the heroic ­sacrifice made by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company ships and crews during the evacuation of ­Dunkirk in 1940.

Starting his secondary schooling at Keith Grammar School, Hamish then won a scholarship to Gordonstoun in 1958 through the shipping company Alfred Holt & Co. (Blue Funnel Line). Thus began a 60-year association with the sea.

The first chapter in ­Hamish’s career, serving on Blue ­Funnel’s renowned vessels between 1960-71, encompassed the last great era of British merchant shipping. Having joined as a midshipman, Hamish acquired all the necessary ‘tickets’, eventually gaining his Master’s (Foreign Going) Certificate.

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Published in Ferry

About the Star Sailors League Gold Cup

In 2022, Sailing finally got its own World Cup, according to the promoters of the SSL (STAR SAILORS LEAGUE) Gold Cup. 

Like football in 1930 and rugby in 1987, the SSL Gold Cup is designed to crown the best sailing nation of all! The World's Top 56 countries, selected on their SSL Nation ranking, will battle their way through to raise the coveted and only Sailing World Cup trophy.

The SSL is the global inshore sailing circuit launched by Olympic athletes in 2012, by sailors for sailors. Its main philosophy considers the athletes (not the boats) as the “Stars” and it aims to showcase the annual global sailing championship with its over 15’000 regattas; it determines and celebrates the world leaders in sailing promoting the inshore regattas to the global audience.

The three main components of the SSL Circuit are the SSL Ranking published every Tuesday, updating the position of over 100,000 leading athletes, thus highlighting the world’s top inshore sailors. The SSL Finals taking place every year around November-December, it’s the annual final of the SSL Circuit among the 20/25 best athletes of the ranking, to crown the champion of the season. And the SSL Gold Cup, the ‘ultimate’ championship of the circuit with 56 nations among World Sailing members, to crown the best sailing nation.

In a mechanical sport where the race for technology sometimes gets in the way of the race for glory, the SSL aims for equal competition where the talent of the sailors is at the forefront and the champions become heroes that inspire new generations of sailors.

The SSL is a World Sailing Special Event since 2017.