Displaying items by tag: drycargo ship

18th November 2010

Irish cargo-ship remains aground off Drogheda Port

The Irish flagged general cargo-ship Arklow Raider which went aground when departing Drogheda Port on Tuesday, remains stuck on a sandbank tonight, writes Jehan Ashmore.

In strong south-east gales the 90-metre vessel with a cargo of cement bound for Swansea, ran aground off the port's north breakwater. There were plans to tow the 2,999 gross tonnes vessel this morning but no large tugs were available to assist. It is expected that a tug will arrive at the scene tomorrow.

Meanwhile the crew of the Arklow Raider remain onboard the vessel which is in no danger. The dry-bulk cargo ship vessel is owned by Arklow Shipping Ltd and is one of nine 'R' class sisters built by the Dutch shipbuilders Barkmeijer Stroobos B.V.

The Drogheda Port Company's patrol launch, Boyne Protector has been monitoring the situation as the Arklow Raider lies close to the entrance of the Co. Louth port.

Published in Ports & Shipping

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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