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Displaying items by tag: First cruisecaller in 20 years

#CruiseRosslare - Afloat’s tracking of known Irish Sea timber-trading cargoships recently led to Rosslare, synonymous for its ferries, is to welcome more business with a first cruise call in more than two decades, writes Jehan Ashmore.

In early July the honour of this inaugural cruise call will go to Fred Olsen Cruise Lines Braemar with more than 900 visiting passengers. The  24,344 tonnes vessel is to dock within the harbour and remain in port for up to 12 hours.

Last year Pheonix Reisen's similar capacity cruiseship Albatros which has a deeper draft was scheduled to anchor offshore. The call however was cancelled due to bad weather conditions preventing anchoring and tendering visitors ashore. To read more click here.

The call by Braemar this summer will be more keenly awaited by Rosslare Europort, where the harbour authority is unique for an Irish port in that it is operated by Irish Rail (Iarnród Éireann).

In addition the cruise call is to boost the season for businesses notably running visitor attractions in the ‘model’ county and that of Wexford town.

As reported previously on Afloat, Braemar took part in Fred Olsen's first ever fleet gathering to one port and all at the same time. The event took place in Bergen last year where the origins of Fred Olsen date back to 1848.

Since 1987 the operator have concentrated cruises departing from UK ports, through Southampton, Liverpool, Newcastle, Dover, Tilbury, Harwich and Falmouth.

Published in Cruise Liners

About the 29er Skiff Dinghy

The 29er is a one-design double-handed, single trapeze skiff for youth sailors.

There is an active class in Ireland, just one of the 38-countries from across all continents now racing the high-performance skiff.

The 29er is one of the latest dinghy classes to arrive in Ireland and has a 50/50 split between boys and girls.

The class like to describe the boat as "The most popular skiff for sailors who want to go fast!".

Derived from the Olympic class 49er class and designed by Julian Bethwaite the 29er was first produced in 1998.

Two sailors sail the 29er, one on trapeze.

The class is targeted at youth sailors aiming at sailing the larger 49er which is an Olympic class.


The 6.25-metre high rig features a fractional asymmetrical spinnaker; a self-tacking jib decreases the workload of the crew, making manoeuvres more efficient and freeing the crew to take the mainsheet upwind and on two-sail reaches.

The 15.00 m2 spinnaker rigging set-up challenges crews to be fit and coordinated, and manoeuvres in the boat require athleticism due to its lack of inherent stability and the high speed with which the fully battened mainsail and jib power up.

The 74kg weight hull is constructed of fibreglass-reinforced polyester in a foam sandwich layout.

The fully battened mainsail and jib are made from a transparent Mylar laminate with orange or red Dacron trimming, while the spinnaker is manufactured from ripstop Nylon.

The mast is in three parts - an aluminium bottom and middle section, with a polyester-fibreglass composite tip to increase mast bend and decrease both overall weights, and the capsizing moment a heavy mast tip can generate. Foils are aluminium or fibreglass.

About the ILCA/Laser Dinghy

The ILCA, formerly known as the Laser, is the most produced boat in the world, with 220,000 units built since 1971.

It's easy to see why the single-handed dinghy has won the title of the most widely distributed boat of all time.

The Laser is a one-design dinghy, the hulls being identical but three rigs that can be used according to the size and weight of the sailor.

The class is international, with sailors from 120 countries. The boat has also been an Olympic class since 1996, being both the men's and women's singlehanded dinghy.

Three rigs are recognised by the International Laser Class Association (ILCA):

  • ILCA 4: sail of 4.70m2
  • ILCA 6: sail of 5.76 m2
  • ILCA 7: sail of 7.06 m2

29er skiff technical specs

  • Hull weight 74kg (163lb)
  • LOA 4.45m (14.4ft)
  • Beam 1.77m (5ft 7in)
  • Crew 2 (single trapeze) 
  • Spinnaker area 15.00 m2 (181.2sq.ft)
  • Upwind sail area 12.5 m2 (142.0 sq.ft)
  • Mast length 6.25m (20.5ft)

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