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Displaying items by tag: Shiprepairs

#NAVAL SERVICE- The Naval Service patrol ship LE Ciara (P42) has been cleared to return to sea, following repairs to a hole in its hull, the Irish Times reports.

The high-speed coastal patrol vessel (CPV) is the latest in a series of vessels in the fleet which have required substantial repair due to a combination of age and rough Atlantic conditions.

The oldest ships of the eight-strong fleet, the sisters LE Emer , Aoife and Aisling , have all suffered plate erosion due mainly to age. The service is due to received two new ships at €50 million each, which will be commissioned in 2014 and 2015, under a deal with British shipbuilder Babcock Marine.

Published in Navy

The Dragon was designed by Johan Anker in 1929 as an entry for a competition run by the Royal Yacht Club of Gothenburg, to find a small keel-boat that could be used for simple weekend cruising among the islands and fjords of the Scandinavian seaboard. The original design had two berths and was ideally suited for cruising in his home waters of Norway. The boat quickly attracted owners and within ten years it had spread all over Europe.

The Dragon's long keel and elegant metre-boat lines remain unchanged, but today Dragons are constructed using the latest technology to make the boat durable and easy to maintain. GRP is the most popular material, but both new and old wooden boats regularly win major competitions while looking as beautiful as any craft afloat. Exotic materials are banned throughout the boat, and strict rules are applied to all areas of construction to avoid sacrificing value for a fractional increase in speed.

The key to the Dragon's enduring appeal lies in the careful development of its rig. Its well-balanced sail plan makes boat handling easy for lightweights, while a controlled process of development has produced one of the most flexible and controllable rigs of any racing boat.