Displaying items by tag: Dick Welsh

25th May 2022

Dick Welsh Appointed as New Isle of Man Commissioner for the Northern Lighthouse Board

Dick Welsh is set to become the new Isle of Man Commissioner (Non-Executive Director) of the Northern Lighthouse Board.

Dick Welsh has been appointed as the new Isle of Man Commissioner (Non-Executive Director) of the Northern Lighthouse Board, the General Lighthouse Authority responsible for Scotland and Manx waters.

Mr Welsh, who received an MBE in the January 2020 Honours List for services to the maritime community on the Isle of Man and Worldwide, will serve for a three-year term, from 1 June 2022 to 31 May 2025.

Mike Bullock, Chief Executive of the Northern Lighthouse Board said: “We are really looking forward to welcoming Dick to NLB. From a Merchant Navy Cadetship to a serving Engineer Officer and latterly as Director of the Isle of Man Ship Register, Dick’s impressive career at sea and in senior roles ashore means he will be a tremendous addition to our Board of Commissioners.

“This is a unique role which offers the opportunity to contribute to the strategic leadership and governance of NLB, in the delivery of a critical safety service to all mariners.”

Commenting on his appointment with NLB, Dick Welsh said: “I am incredibly fortunate to be appointed as Commissioner, Isle of Man for the Northern Lighthouse Board. I am really looking forward to getting involved and becoming a valuable member of the Board.

“I have had a long association with NLB lights. As a boy I spent summers at Langness where a family friend had been a keeper. This association went further when I dated a Langness keeper's daughter. When he was posted to Muckle Flugga, I spent 3 glorious weeks there one summer and visited the lighthouse. Even today I often spend time at Langness, Point of Ayre or fishing inside Chicken’s Rock.”

As a Commissioner, Mr Welsh will help provide non-executive leadership, challenge, oversight and support to the executive team through regular Board and committee meetings as well as participating in visits to NLB’s operational sites across Scotland and the Isle of Man.

The appointment will take effect from 1 June 2022.

Published in Isle of Man

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About Conor O'Brien, Irish Circumnavigator

In 1923-25, Conor O'Brien became the first amateur skipper to circle the world south of the Great Capes. O'Brien's boat Saoirse was reputedly the first small boat (42-foot, 13 metres long) to sail around the world since Joshua Slocum completed his voyage in the 'Spray' during 1895 to 1898. It is a journey that O' Brien documented in his book Across Three Oceans. O'Brien's voyage began and ended at the Port of Foynes, County Limerick, Ireland, where he lived.

Saoirse, under O'Brien's command and with three crew, was the first yacht to circumnavigate the world by way of the three great capes: Cape Horn, Cape of Good Hope and Cape Leeuwin; and was the first boat flying the Irish tri-colour to enter many of the world's ports and harbours. He ran down his easting in the Roaring Forties and Furious Fifties between the years 1923 to 1925.

Up until O'Brien's circumnavigation, this route was the preserve of square-rigged grain ships taking part in the grain race from Australia to England via Cape Horn (also known as the clipper route).

At a Glance - Conor O'Brien's Circumnavigation

In June 1923, Limerick man Conor O’Brien set off on his yacht, the Saoirse — named after the then newly created Irish Free State — on the two-year voyage from Dun Laoghaire Harbour that was to make him the first Irish amateur to sail around the world.

June 1923 - Saoirse’s arrival in Madeira after her maiden passage out from Dublin Bay

2nd December 1924 - Saoirse crossed the longitude of Cape Horn

June 20th 1925 - O’Brien’s return to Dun Laoghaire Harbour