Displaying items by tag: Storm Barbara

23rd December 2016

Storm Barbara Continues to Cause Ferry Cancellations

STORM BARBARA: The second storm of the winter has led to further ferry cancellations and disruption this festive season. In this file photo, ferries are seen berthed at Dublin Port terminals 1 and 5 as cruiseship Delphin, built during the Soviet era was also capable of carrying cars

#Cancellations - Storm Barbara continues to cause ferry cancellations but also freight operations on the Irish Sea notably those serving Dublin Port in the busy run-up to the festive season.

Strong winds involving a ro-ro freight ferry arriving to Dublin this morning required tugs to assist while berthing at Terminal 5. A freight sailing tonight on a route to the UK has been cancelled.

The bad weather may pose a concern for passengers with possible further ferry cancellations closer to Christmas Eve in particular on the core Holyhead-Dublin services. Thousands of passengers make the trip annually from the UK to reach the capital and beyond. The route from Wales is operated by two operators, Irish Ferries and Stena Line.

At Dublin Port's main passenger ferry facility, Terminal 1 is where Irish Ferries fast-craft Jonathan Swift remains berthed in port due to cancellations as covered on Afloat yesterday. Sailings of the fast-craft's Dublin-Holyhead sailings today are cancellled due to the what the operator describes as 'adverse weather conditions'.

Irish Ferries advises that 'fast-craft' passengers will be accommodated on alternative sailings using the other Holyhead-Dublin cruiseferry Ulysses. Also currently operating on time is the ropax Epsilon.

Recently introduced by Irish Ferries is Oscar Wilde to boost capacity on the Dublin route which too however was affected by the bad weather. The cruiseferry’s morning sailing to Holyhead was cancelled and also this afternoon's sailing at 16.45hrs from the Welsh port to Dublin. Passengers are to be accommodated on tomorrow's 02.30hrs sailing, Saturday 24 December (Christmas Eve).

There have been no Stena Line cancellations reported so far today on their Holyhead-Dublin service which is operated by a pair of ferries. Stena have said that Storm Barbara is to bring wet and windy conditions to the UK and Ireland. The operator added that unfortunately this may cause disruption to some scheduled sailings today and Saturday (Christmas Eve).

It is advisable to check all ferry operator websites for the latest sailing information for times and (dates of operation given the festive season) and those on France-Ireland services.

Published in Ferry

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Yellow Warning For Small Craft As Storm Barbara Approaches

Severe windy weather approaching Ireland’s North West on Wednesday 21 December

#Weather - Met Éireann has announced a Status Yellow small craft warning for strong gales in effect today (Wednesday 21 December) ahead of Storm Barbara’s expected arrival at the weekend.

Southwest winds will reach Force 8 at times this evening and tonight on coasts from Slyne Head to Rossan Point to Fair Head.

That’s before the deep Atlantic depression, the second winter storm of the current season, tracks eastwards well to the north of Scotland, bringing wet and windy weather across Ireland — and the risk of stormy conditions in the coastal counties of Connacht and Ulster.

Achill Island Coast Guard advises mariners and residents in these areas to expect at least an Status Orange weather warning this Friday, as the projected Force 10 winds are forecast to last up to 24 hours, according to the Connacht Telegraph.

Published in Weather

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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