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Displaying items by tag: Mark Mellet

The Celtic Mist, the new flagship of the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group, was berthed in Waterford city for the Tall Ships weekend writes Shay FennellyGifted to the IWDG in May 2011 by the family of a former Irish Prime Minister, Charles Haughey, who declared Irish waters a whale and dolphin sanctuary in 1991.

Celtic Mist left Waterford on Sunday morning in glorious sunshine on passage down the River Suir for the Tall Ships Parade of Sail off Dunmore East watched by thousands of people from the river bank at Passage east, Duncannon and Dunmore East.

Celtic-Mist

Ireland's only entry in the 2011 Tall Ships race from Waterford to Greenock Irish Whale and Dolphin Groups's research vessel Celtic Mist in the Tall Ships Parade of Sail off Dunmore East in Waterford. Photo: Shay Fennelly/Aquaphoto

The Tall Ships fleet was reviewed by Flag Officer Commanding Naval Service Commodore Mark Mellet and Sean Flood Sail Training Ireland (Board) and a Goodwill Ambassador for Sail Training International past the LE Aoife. Over 1200 young people, many who have never been to sea before, are onboard the 50 tall Ships sailing to Greenock.

On board Celtic Mist are Captain Fiacc Brolchain, Gary Davis, Eithne Griffith, Deirdre Slevin, Conor Ryan and trainees Siobhan Ardener (19) from Killarney, Co Kerry, and Keith Cleere (19) from New Ross, Co Wexford.

The race started slowly at 15.00hrs, five miles south of the Hook Lighthouse in 10 knots of wind and blue skies and headed for the Irish Sea to Scotland.

ComMMellet

Flag Officer Commanding Naval Service, Commodore Mark Mellet (left) and Sean Flood Sail Training Ireland (Board) and a Goodwill Ambassador for Sail Training International on board LE Aoife reviewing the Tall Ships fleet as they passed off Dunmore East, County Waterford. Photo: Shay Fennelly/Aquaphoto

 

Published in Tall Ships

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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