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Displaying items by tag: Shipping Industry events

Trinity House, the General Lighthouse Authority (GLA) for England, Wales and Channel Islands, has signed up to join London International Shipping Week 2023 (11-15 September).

The GLA's multi-function buoy tender THV Galatea is to visit the Pool of London where it will be a host to showcase its people, skills and technology-driven practices on board.

LISW is an industry-facing calendar of over 200 events across the centre of London, making great use of the capital’s maritime connections and landmark venues, including Trinity House, the International Maritime Organization and the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich.

Maritime safety organisation Trinity House is taking this opportunity to engage with industry and government by bringing THV Galatea into the Pool of London to berth alongside HMS Belfast, the iconic floating visitor tourist attraction on the Thames.

While the custom-built buoy tender THV Galatea will serve as a platform to showcase Trinity House’s people and how it approaches its dual missions as an aid to navigation prover and maritime charity.

Trinity House will make the ship also available as a space for functions and meetings during the week, among them Afloat includes to highlight a Maritime UK Careers fair following the UKSST report launch which is to take place on Monday, 11 September. 1.00am - 16.00pm.

This invite-only event will welcome students from Further and Higher education establishments and introduce the wide-ranging maritime careers available for those considering opportunities after education.

Afloat also highlights the event of Maritime Careers and Opportunities on Wednesday 13 September (09:00 - 15:00) This high-level seminar will identify innovations in training and support for industry entrants throughout their careers, at sea and beyond. For more details including to reserve a free ticket click here.

As for the main showcase, this too is to take place onboard THV Galatea on Wednesday 13 September (1830-2130) when a private event is held for industry, the government and press/media.

Visitors to the event will meet a number of our multi-disciplinary shore and vessel teams, whose work and expertise will vary from cutting edge research and development, navigational requirements, multiple engineering disciplines, cadet training, maritime welfare and giving, marine operations and commercial services.

For a list of all events and details click here.

On the importance of sending THV Galatea to exhibit at LISW, Deputy Master Captain Ian McNaught said: “While we can only show our guests a small part of what we do, we hope that everyone will appreciate the critical work being done by our people to safeguard seafarers and ships and keeping our island nation open for business, but also to raise awareness of the importance of the Red Ensign and the UK’s vital maritime sector.”

Published in Lighthouses

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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