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Displaying items by tag: Ex Royal Dockyard

The Pembrokeshire community in south-west Wales have been successful in naming four new buildings at the Port of Pembroke that are being created to service the growing renewables industry in the county.

The annexes attached to the historic Sunderland Hangars at Pembroke Port are being redeveloped into modern office and workshop spaces with work expected to be completed by Spring 2023.

A public competition was held giving people the chance to name the new buildings which attracted a wealth of creative suggestions and were judged by a panel consisting of the Chair of the Port of Milford Haven Chris Martin, Mayor of Pembroke Dock Councillor Joshua Beynon, Rik Saldanha from the Pembroke Dock Heritage Trust, Phil Collins from the West Wales Maritime Heritage Centre and Tim James, now at Celtic Sea Power.

The panel were delighted with the range of submissions and the chosen names Erebus House, Catalina House, Falcon House and Oleander House were suggested by David Lockwood, the Pembroke Dock Heritage Trust, Marie Sampson, Victoria Allen and Tyler Streitberger respectively.

Commercial Director at the Port of Milford Haven, Steve Edwards, commented “These structures date back to the early 1900s so we felt it was important to recognise and celebrate their heritage. Work is progressing well to give new life to the annexes and make them fit for industry. The wider Pembroke Dock Marine project is a huge opportunity to create hundreds of well paid jobs in the community, not only in the renewables sector but for the entire supply chain, so we’re really excited that work is underway on this phase of the development.”

Pembroke Dock Marine is expected to generate £73.5m annually to the regional economy, create opportunities for around 1,800 jobs for today’s workforce and the next generation, and contribute 1,000MW to UK and Welsh decarbonisation targets.

Pembroke Dock Marine is a partnership project between the Port of Milford Haven, Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult, Marine Energy Wales and Celtic Sea Power. It is funded by the UK Government and Welsh Government through the Swansea Bay City Deal, and through the public and private sectors. It is also part funded by the European Regional Development Fund through the Welsh Government.

History of winning names

Erebus House

The HMS Erebus was built in Pembroke Dock, which at the time was the only Royal Dockyard in Wales. Launched in 1826, HMS Erebus went on to take part in John Franklin’s lost expedition under the command of James Clark Ross to the Antarctic in the 1840s, along with HMS Terror. The expedition was one of history’s greatest mysteries with both ships and its crew disappearing until there was a breakthrough in September 2014, when the shipwreck of HMS Erebus was discovered to the east of Queen Maud Gulf, Canada.

Catalina House

During World War II, the most used aircrafts at the time were the American-built PBY Catalina, which were originally introduced in the 1930s. The flying boat did not need a runway and played a significant role during the Battle of the Atlantic, with the Catalinas operating out of Pembroke Dock by the Royal Air Force, as well as the United States Navy.

Falcon House

The first of two HMS Falcons to be built at Pembroke Dock during the 1810s, launching in June 1820, was a Cherokee Class warship for the Royal Navy. The second HMS Falcon to be built in the Pembroke Dockyard was a Wooden Screw Sloop vessel, and was launched in August 1854 to serve during the Crimean War in the Baltic Sea, also participating in the siege off the coast of Courlan.

Fast forward to 1979, and a highly classified project, which still remains Pembroke Dock’s ‘worst kept secret’, saw the construction of a famous (Star Wars: 'Empire Strikes Back') spaceship story in the Western Hangar.

Oleander House

The last ship to be built at the Royal Naval Dockyard in Pembroke Dock was the RFA tanker Oleander, which was only one of six ships in its class.

Construction on the Oleander first started in December 1920 and it was launched in April 1922. RFA Oleander met its fate in May 1940 when the ship was severely damaged by a near miss during an air attack in Norway.

Published in Ports & Shipping

Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta

From the Baily lighthouse to Dalkey island, the bay accommodates six separate courses for 21 different classes racing every two years for the Dun Laoghaire Regatta.

In assembling its record-breaking armada, Volvo Dun Laoghaire regatta (VDLR) became, at its second staging, not only the country's biggest sailing event, with 3,500 sailors competing, but also one of Ireland's largest participant sporting events.

One of the reasons for this, ironically, is that competitors across Europe have become jaded by well-worn venue claims attempting to replicate Cowes and Cork Week.'Never mind the quality, feel the width' has been a criticism of modern-day regattas where organisers mistakenly focus on being the biggest to be the best. Dun Laoghaire, with its local fleet of 300 boats, never set out to be the biggest. Its priority focussed instead on quality racing even after it got off to a spectacularly wrong start when the event was becalmed for four days at its first attempt.

The idea to rekindle a combined Dublin bay event resurfaced after an absence of almost 40 years, mostly because of the persistence of a passionate race officer Brian Craig who believed that Dun Laoghaire could become the Cowes of the Irish Sea if the town and the local clubs worked together. Although fickle winds conspired against him in 2005, the support of all four Dun Laoghaire waterfront yacht clubs since then (made up of Dun Laoghaire Motor YC, National YC, Royal Irish YC and Royal St GYC), in association with the two racing clubs of Dublin Bay SC and Royal Alfred YC, gave him the momentum to carry on.

There is no doubt that sailors have also responded with their support from all four coasts. Running for four days, the regatta is (after the large mini-marathons) the single most significant participant sports event in the country, requiring the services of 280 volunteers on and off the water, as well as top international race officers and an international jury, to resolve racing disputes representing five countries. A flotilla of 25 boats regularly races from the Royal Dee near Liverpool to Dublin for the Lyver Trophy to coincide with the event. The race also doubles as a RORC qualifying race for the Fastnet.

Sailors from the Ribble, Mersey, the Menai Straits, Anglesey, Cardigan Bay and the Isle of Man have to travel three times the distance to the Solent as they do to Dublin Bay. This, claims Craig, is one of the major selling points of the Irish event and explains the range of entries from marinas as far away as Yorkshire's Whitby YC and the Isle of Wight.

No other regatta in the Irish Sea area can claim to have such a reach. Dublin Bay Weeks such as this petered out in the 1960s, and it has taken almost four decades for the waterfront clubs to come together to produce a spectacle on and off the water to rival Cowes."The fact that we are getting such numbers means it is inevitable that it is compared with Cowes," said Craig. However, there the comparison ends."We're doing our own thing here. Dun Laoghaire is unique, and we are making an extraordinary effort to welcome visitors from abroad," he added. The busiest shipping lane in the country – across the bay to Dublin port – closes temporarily to facilitate the regatta and the placing of six separate courses each day.

A fleet total of this size represents something of an unknown quantity on the bay as it is more than double the size of any other regatta ever held there.

Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta FAQs

Dun Laoghaire Regatta is Ireland's biggest sailing event. It is held every second Summer at Dun Laoghaire Harbour on Dublin Bay.

Dun Laoghaire Regatta is held every two years, typically in the first weekend of July.

As its name suggests, the event is based at Dun Laoghaire Harbour. Racing is held on Dublin Bay over as many as six different courses with a coastal route that extends out into the Irish Sea. Ashore, the festivities are held across the town but mostly in the four organising yacht clubs.

Dun Laoghaire Regatta is the largest sailing regatta in Ireland and on the Irish Sea and the second largest in the British Isles. It has a fleet of 500 competing boats and up to 3,000 sailors. Scotland's biggest regatta on the Clyde is less than half the size of the Dun Laoghaire event. After the Dublin city marathon, the regatta is one of the most significant single participant sporting events in the country in terms of Irish sporting events.

The modern Dublin Bay Regatta began in 2005, but it owes its roots to earlier combined Dublin Bay Regattas of the 1960s.

Up to 500 boats regularly compete.

Up to 70 different yacht clubs are represented.

The Channel Islands, Isle of Man, England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Ireland countrywide, and Dublin clubs.

Nearly half the sailors, over 1,000, travel to participate from outside of Dun Laoghaire and from overseas to race and socialise in Dun Laoghaire.

21 different classes are competing at Dun Laoghaire Regatta. As well as four IRC Divisions from 50-footers down to 20-foot day boats and White Sails, there are also extensive one-design keelboat and dinghy fleets to include all the fleets that regularly race on the Bay such as Beneteau 31.7s, Ruffian 23s, Sigma 33s as well as Flying Fifteens, Laser SB20s plus some visiting fleets such as the RS Elites from Belfast Lough to name by one.

 

Some sailing household names are regular competitors at the biennial Dun Laoghaire event including Dun Laoghaire Olympic silver medalist, Annalise Murphy. International sailing stars are competing too such as Mike McIntyre, a British Olympic Gold medalist and a raft of World and European class champions.

There are different entry fees for different size boats. A 40-foot yacht will pay up to €550, but a 14-foot dinghy such as Laser will pay €95. Full entry fee details are contained in the Regatta Notice of Race document.

Spectators can see the boats racing on six courses from any vantage point on the southern shore of Dublin Bay. As well as from the Harbour walls itself, it is also possible to see the boats from Sandycove, Dalkey and Killiney, especially when the boats compete over inshore coastal courses or have in-harbour finishes.

Very favourably. It is often compared to Cowes, Britain's biggest regatta on the Isle of Wight that has 1,000 entries. However, sailors based in the north of England have to travel three times the distance to get to Cowes as they do to Dun Laoghaire.

Dun Laoghaire Regatta is unique because of its compact site offering four different yacht clubs within the harbour and the race tracks' proximity, just a five-minute sail from shore. International sailors also speak of its international travel connections and being so close to Dublin city. The regatta also prides itself on balancing excellent competition with good fun ashore.

The Organising Authority (OA) of Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta is Dublin Bay Regattas Ltd, a not-for-profit company, beneficially owned by Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club (DMYC), National Yacht Club (NYC), Royal Irish Yacht Club (RIYC) and Royal St George Yacht Club (RSGYC).

The Irish Marine Federation launched a case study on the 2009 Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta's socio-economic significance. Over four days, the study (carried out by Irish Sea Marine Leisure Knowledge Network) found the event was worth nearly €3million to the local economy over the four days of the event. Typically the Royal Marine Hotel and Haddington Hotel and other local providers are fully booked for the event.

©Afloat 2020