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Displaying items by tag: G8 summit

#FerryNews- Seatruck Ferries Heysham-Warrenpoint route had the unusual task of transporting 170 'Snoozebox' cabins to provide temporary accommodation for the 1350 security personnel drafted in for the G8 Summit that took place on the shores of Lough Erne.

Each cabin houses eight individuals in two rooms, each of which has its own bathroom facilities.
The cabins were moved to a strict timeline with Newry based Motis securing the contract for their transportation to site.

Seatruck Commercial Manager in Ireland Damian McGrath commented: "The movement took a great deal of planning not only to meet the requirements of the contract but also to ensure that our regular customers were not disadvantaged by this large movement.

Mr McGrath added "Many of the shipments were undertaken on weekend and off peak sailings where space could be made available more easily. The Warrenpoint route is having a busy year with more and more users switching to the service".

Two freight ferries run the route linking between Co. Down and Cumbria, they are the Seatruck Panorama (2008/14,759grt) and the chartered Anglia Seaways (2000/13,073grt).

 

Published in Ferry

#MarineScience - With world hunger set to be a hot button issue at the G8 summit in Northern Ireland this summer, the Guardian reports on one possible solution to the problem of food scarcity in the developing world in the form of marine agriculture.

Water scarcity is "the most severe impediment to increasing food production and security", particularly in regions like the Sahel in West Africa, where irrigation is not a practical option and dry seasons often ruin traditional rain-fed harvests.

But water scientist Ricardo Radulovich of the University of Costa Rica posits a novel approach - take advantage of Africa's lakes, many of which cover a large surface area, by using the water surface to grow crops and farm fish.

A prototype project in Nicaragua has produced crops of fruit and vegetables on floating rafts which can be made cheaply from various everyday materials.

Radulovich and his team also talk up the benefits of cultivating water-borne plants normally considered weeds, such as water hyacinth, to encourage biodiversity and attract bigger fish to areas with poor numbers.

The Guardian has much more on the story HERE.

Published in Marine Science

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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