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Displaying items by tag: Scottish skipper

A Scottish ferry master with decades of experience sailing on the west coast has hit out at the management of the lifeline service and the “inadequacy” of current quayside infrastructure.

As pressure mounts on the islands according to The Herald, for action to improve the performance and reliability of Scotland’s vital ferry network, a senior captain has marked his retirement with a savage attack on operator CalMac and the failings of harbour infrastructure policy presided over by CMAL (Caledonian Maritime Assets).

The mariner underlined the difficulties which the under-pressure service is causing for island communities, claiming that any local looking to book a vehicle space on a ferry must do so six months in advance.

As previously featured on Afloat Arran businesses vented their fury over a ‘flawed’ harbour move

The claims come after a recent series of reports in The Herald exposed deep-seated problems on the ferry network, which islanders and exports say are the cause of an ageing fleet, insufficient capacity and a lack of vessel flexibility.

For more on criticism over the new harbour at Brodick on the Isle of Arran click here.

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