Menu

Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Displaying items by tag: Gibraltar

#FastPatrols  -A pair of small yet high-speed Royal Navy Inshore Patrol Craft in which one served in Gibraltar are to pay a visit to Dublin Port,writes Jehan Ashmore.

The ‘Archer’ class HMS Blazer along with HMS Ranger are to arrive today. They belong to the 14 strong P2000 Fast Inshore Patrol Craft that form the First Patrol Boat Squadron.

Primary role of the P2000’s is to support the University Royal Naval Units (URNU) but they also contribute to a wide range of Fleet tasking. Among them fishery protection duties and safeguarding the integrity of the UK's territorial waters.

The craft provide training and maritime experience for University Royal Naval Unit students and also provide support to Fleet tasking and exercises.

HMS Blazer (P279) is the URNU at Southampton Solent University, Portsmouth University and Southampton Institute.

As for HMS Ranger, this sister is the URNU at Sussex University, however she served for 13 years in the Gibraltar Squadron before returning to the UK in 2004.

Some characteristics of the Archer P2000 craft are listed below.

Tonne Displacement: 54
Top Speed: 25 knots
Nautical Range: (550 miles)
Weapons: DS3OB 30mm Gun and GAM BO 20mm Gun

The visiting Royal Navy pair are to berth at Ocean Pier from where HMS Portland also called in recent years. The Type 23 Duke class frigate was referred to related naval news regards the recently decommissioned RFA Gold Rover.

Published in Naval Visits

#WORLD RECORD - A Dutch teenager has become the youngest sailor to circumnavigate the world solo - following a court battle for the right to embark on the challenge.

Sixteen-year-old Laura Dekker sailed into harbour at Sint Maarten in the Caribbean on Saturday afternoon to complete her round-the-world voyage.

She arrived a year and two days after setting out, and beat the previous unofficial record held by Australian Jessica Watson by eight months, according to RTÉ News.

The feat is more remarkable in that Dekker sailed from port-to-port, staying at sea for at most three weeks at a time, whereas Watson voyaged non-stop.

But the adventure almost didn't happen, as Dekker and her father had to fight in a court in Utrecht for the right to attempt the record, as previously reported on Afloat.ie.

Dekker has originally planned to set out a year earlier, at the age of 14, but the court ordered her placed in the care of welfare officers on the grounds that she was too young to guarantee her safety at sea.

She finally won the court battle in July 2010 and set sail from Gibraltar the following month, though a change to her planned course saw the challenge officially begin in Sint Maarten in January 2011 instead.

However, the record will not be officially recognised by the Guinness Book of World Records nor the World Sailing Speed Record Council, which does not classify records by age.

RTÉ News has more on the story HERE.

Published in News Update

The Irish National Sailing and Powerboat School is based on Dun Laoghaire's West Pier on Dublin Bay and in the heart of Ireland's marine leisure capital.

Whether you are looking at beginners start sailing course, a junior course or something more advanced in yacht racing, the INSS prides itself in being able to provide it as Ireland's largest sailing school.

Since its establishment in 1978, INSS says it has provided sailing and powerboat training to approximately 170,000 trainees. The school has a team of full-time instructors and they operate all year round. Lead by the father and son team of Alistair and Kenneth Rumball, the school has a great passion for the sport of sailing and boating and it enjoys nothing more than introducing it to beginners for the first time. 

Programmes include:

  • Shorebased Courses, including VHF, First Aid, Navigation
  • Powerboat Courses
  • Junior Sailing
  • Schools and College Sailing
  • Adult Dinghy and Yacht Training
  • Corporate Sailing & Events

History of the INSS

Set up by Alistair Rumball in 1978, the sailing school had very humble beginnings, with the original clubhouse situated on the first floor of what is now a charity shop on Dun Laoghaire's main street. Through the late 1970s and 1980s, the business began to establish a foothold, and Alistair's late brother Arthur set up the chandler Viking Marine during this period, which he ran until selling on to its present owners in 1999.

In 1991, the Irish National Sailing School relocated to its current premises at the foot of the West Pier. Throughout the 1990s the business continued to build on its reputation and became the training institution of choice for budding sailors. The 2000s saw the business break barriers - firstly by introducing more people to the water than any other organisation, and secondly pioneering low-cost course fees, thereby rubbishing the assertion that sailing is an expensive sport.