Displaying items by tag: Isle of Man cruise season

23rd February 2016

Manx Government Upgrades Plans to Drive Cruise Sector

#CruiseIOM - The Isle of Man Government last year appointed Neptumar (IOM) Ltd, a subsidiary of Dohle (IOM) Ltd, as its cruise consultant as part of a new strategy to drive forward cruise business in the Isle of Man.

According to Cruise Europe, bookings for 2016 are looking good with 19 vessels expected to call at the Isle of Man, either at anchorage or alongside at the Victoria Pier which can take vessels up to 155m in length.

As part of the new strategy the Isle of Man is reviewing its harbour facilities and has planned some upgrades this year to the Victoria Pier, including the fenders, to make berthing more comfortable for visiting cruise vessels.

Routine maintenance and upgrade to the Douglas Sea Terminal will also take place and this year there will be a retail outlet in the welcome centre selling Manx produce and local crafts.

The Vikings are set to dominate the Isle of Man in 2016 with exhibitions hosted by Manx National Heritage, the organisation responsible for protecting and promoting the Isle of Man’s heritage and culture. Many of these sites feature in shore excursions.

On arrival passengers will see the Tower of Refuge which was built on the reef in 1832 following several shipwrecks. Sir William Hillary, who helped to found the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, ordered the construction because he wanted a refuge for survivors until help could arrive.

Published in Cruise Liners

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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 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