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Displaying items by tag: Heritage Plan

#InlandWaters - Waterways Ireland is hosting its second annual Heritage Plan Open Day from noon to 7pm next Wednesday 13 December at its headquarters in Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh.

Visitors can review all the actions of the Heritage Plan that were progressed in 2017, as well as meet staff from the various divisions within Waterways Ireland to chat face-to-face about potential projects, ideas and support the cross-border body can offer stakeholders in Ireland’s inland waterways.

Come and listen to oral histories, inspect archival material and discuss waterway place names. Sit down and review the wide variety of natural, built and cultural heritage reports commissioned throughout the year.

View the work undertaken by the recipients of the 2017 Heritage Grants Scheme. Staff will be on hand to advise on the 2018 Grants Scheme, too.

Talk to Waterways Ireland about potential projects you’d like progressed in 2018, partnerships you can offer or general queries about the Heritage Plan.

Waterways Ireland’s chief executive Dawn Livingstone will also be present on the day, with eight dedicated slots for one-to-one meetings available to reserve via Doodle.

Have your say in the ‘What Floats your Boat’ public feedback corner where you can leave a comment on what you like or where you think Waterways Ireland could improve our service to our stakeholders.

There will also be free boat trips (spaces allocated on a first come, first served basis) from the Waterways Ireland HQ moorings from 1-3pm.

Take one of two one-hour boat tours of Enniskillen and Devenish Island, or try your hand at a Menapii currach with Row the Erne, winners of the Living Waterways National Award (weather dependant).

Limited parking is available at the Waterways Ireland HQ, which is also accessible on foot from the town centre.

Published in Inland Waterways

#InlandWaters - Waterways Ireland has won the Guardian Award at the 2016 World Canals Conference for its Traditional Heritage Boat Survey of the Royal Canal, Grand Canal, Barrow Line Canal and Barrow Navigation.

Undertaken as part of the Waterways Ireland Heritage Plan launched earlier this year, the project was led by environment officer Cormac McCarthy, who attended the event in Scotland to receive the presentation.

The World Canals Conference took place Monday 19 to Thursday 22 September in Inverness, welcoming international waterway experts, business leaders and global professionals to join in celebrating and exploring innovation in sustainable tourism, regeneration, engineering and heritage management of our waterways and much more.

The Guardian Award is sponsored by Historic Environment Scotland and celebrates outstanding work to safeguard the heritage of the world's waterways.

In other inland waterways news, Two Cooks Restaurant & Wine Bar in Sallins, Co Kildare, on the banks of the Grand Canal, took the Taste of the Waterways Award for 2017 at the Georgina Campbell Awards.

The winning eatery – opened recently by Josef Zammit and Nicola Curran, a well known couple with a following among Kildare diners – is one of many featured in A Taste of the Waterways, the annual guide produced by Waterways Ireland in conjunction with Georgina Campbell.

Other waterfront winners at the latest ceremony include Viewmount House in Longford, along the Royal Canal, which was named Country House of the Year, and Country Choice in Neagh, Co Tipperary, a popular rest stop on for Shannon boaters, which won the award For Services to Irish Food & Hospitality.

Published in Inland Waterways

The 2024 Vendée Globe Race

A record-sized fleet of 44 skippers are aiming for the tenth edition of the Vendée Globe: the 24,296 nautical miles solo non-stop round-the-world race from Les Sables d’Olonne in France, on Sunday, November 10 2024 and will be expected back in mid-January 2025.

Vendée Globe Race FAQs

Six women (Alexia Barrier, Clarisse Cremer, Isabelle Joschke, Sam Davies, Miranda Merron, Pip Hare).

Nine nations (France, Germany, Japan, Finland, Spain, Switzerland, Australia, and Great Britain)

After much speculation following Galway man Enda O’Coineen’s 2016 race debut for Ireland, there were as many as four campaigns proposed at one point, but unfortunately, none have reached the start line.

The Vendée Globe is a sailing race round the world, solo, non-stop and without assistance. It takes place every four years and it is regarded as the Everest of sailing. The event followed in the wake of the Golden Globe which had initiated the first circumnavigation of this type via the three capes (Good Hope, Leeuwin and Horn) in 1968.

The record to beat is Armel Le Cléac’h 74 days 3h 35 minutes 46s set in 2017. Some pundits are saying the boats could beat a sub-60 day time.

The number of theoretical miles to cover is 24,296 miles (45,000 km).

The IMOCA 60 ("Open 60"), is a development class monohull sailing yacht run by the International Monohull Open Class Association (IMOCA). The class pinnacle events are single or two-person ocean races, such as the Route du Rhum and the Vendée Globe.

Zero past winners are competing but two podiums 2017: Alex Thomson second, Jérémie Beyou third. It is also the fifth participation for Jean Le Cam and Alex Thomson, fourth for Arnaud Boissières and Jérémie Beyou.

The youngest on this ninth edition of the race is Alan Roura, 27 years old.

The oldest on this ninth edition is Jean Le Cam, 61 years old.

Over half the fleet are debutantes, totalling 18 first-timers.

The start procedure begins 8 minutes before the gun fires with the warning signal. At 4 minutes before, for the preparatory signal, the skipper must be alone on board, follow the countdown and take the line at the start signal at 13:02hrs local time. If an IMOCA crosses the line too early, it incurs a penalty of 5 hours which they will have to complete on the course before the latitude 38 ° 40 N (just north of Lisbon latitude). For safety reasons, there is no opportunity to turn back and recross the line. A competitor who has not crossed the starting line 60 minutes after the signal will be considered as not starting. They will have to wait until a time indicated by the race committee to start again. No departure will be given after November 18, 2020, at 1:02 p.m when the line closes.

The first boat could be home in sixty days. Expect the leaders from January 7th 2021 but to beat the 2017 race record they need to finish by January 19 2021.

Today, building a brand new IMOCA generally costs between 4.2 and €4.7million, without the sails but second-hand boats that are in short supply can be got for around €1m.

©Afloat 2020

Vendee Globe 2024 Key Figures

  • 10th edition
  • Six women (vs six in 2020)
  • 16 international skippers (vs 12 in 2020)
  • 11 nationalities represented: France, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Hungary, Japan, China, USA, New Zealand (vs 9 in 2020)
  • 18 rookies (vs 20 in 2020)
  • 30 causes supported
  • 14 new IMOCAs (vs 9 in 2020)
  • Two 'handisport' skippers

At A Glance - Vendee Globe 2024

The 10th edition will leave from Les Sables d’Olonne on November 10, 2024

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