Menu

Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Displaying items by tag: Dublin 'Swift'

#fastferry - The introduction next year of a new cruise ferry between Holyhead and Dublin reports Daily Post will see the last fast ferry on the route cut to a summer only service.

Irish Ferries' new vessel W. B. Yeats - currently under construction at Flensburg, Germany - will start up on the Anglesey to Ireland route next September.

It will see the Jonathan Swift docked for winter - with the boat returning in April 2019. This happened to the Stena Line fast boat - the Explorer - until it was phased out completely in 2015.

The W. B. Yeats - sailing alongside the Ulysses - will increase capacity over the winter but passengers will lose the option of the quick crossing.

Fast ferry sailings take around 1hr 50 mins, compared to more than 3 hrs on the other vessels.

One issue of concern for Holyhead is a step up in summer sailings by Irish Ferries between Ireland and France - with the W. B. Yeats switching to these routes between April and September. It doubles the number of summer sailings between Ireland and France.

To read more click here and as reported on Afloat, concerns from Holyhead after Brexit as increased freight and passenger capacity is to operate from Ireland direct to mainland Europe.

Published in Ferry

#DublinSwift- Ulysses departed Birkenhead fresh from annual maintenance today in readiness to resume a sailing from Holyhead in the early hours of tomorrow to Dublin Port, writes Jehan Ashmore.

During the dry-docking at Cammell Laird shipyard, the operators Rosslare-Pembroke Dock ferry Isle of Inishmore covered the roster of Ulysses in tandem with fast-fast Jonathan Swift.

Incidentally, all of Jonathan Swift's sailings were cancelled today apparently due to adverse weather conditions and these Dublin 'Swift' sailings are expected to operate tommorrow. Although Dublin 'Swift' sailings will not be operating from this Friday, 17 January to 7 February inclusively as the fast-ferry heads off for annual maintenance too.

With Dublin Swift sailings not running during that timeframe, the Dublin –Holyhead route will be maintained by Ulysses and newcomer Cartour Epsilon.

 

 

Published in Ferry

About Match Racing

A match race is a race between two competitors, going head-to-head.

In yacht racing, it is differentiated from a fleet race, which almost always involves three or more competitors competing against each other, and team racing where teams consisting of 2, 3 or 4 boats compete together in a team race, with their results being combined.

A match race consists of two identical boats racing against each other. With effective boat handling and clever use of wind and currents, a trailing boat can escape the grasp of the leader and pass. The leader uses blocking techniques to hold the other boat back. This one-on-one duel is a game of strategy and tactics.

About the World Match Racing Tour

Founded in 2000, the World Match Racing Tour (WMRT) promotes the sport of match racing around the world and is the longest running global professional series in the sport of sailing. The WMRT is awarded ‘Special Event’ status by the sport’s world governing body – World Sailing – and the winner of the WMRT each year is crowned World Sailing Match Racing World Champion. Previous champions include Sir Ben Ainslie (GBR), Taylor Canfield (USA), Peter Gilmour (AUS), Magnus Holmberg (SWE), Peter Holmberg (ISV), Adam Minoprio (NZL), Torvar Mirsky (AUS), Bertrand Pace (FRA), Jesper Radich (DEN), Phil Robertson (NZL) and Ian Williams (GBR). Since 2000, the World Match Racing Tour and its events have awarded over USD23million in prize money to sailors which has helped to contribute to the career pathway of many of today’s professional sailors