Menu

Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Displaying items by tag: Dun Laoghaire Harbour

Fast-ferry Stena Lynx III departed Dun Laoghaire for Fishguard Harbour on a repositioning voyage today, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The 80m craft built in Hobart, Tasmania is due to dock at the Pembrokeshire port this afternoon in advance of seasonal sailings on Stena Line's Fishguard-Rosslare.The Stena 'Express' fast-ferry service is to resume in just over a fortnight's time. Sailings are scheduled to a daily single round trip between 1 July-4 September.

The 627 passenger / 120 car capacity fast-ferry will operate in tandem with the year-round operated conventional ferry-service served by the Stena Europe. Passage times are 120 minutes for the fast-ferry service while the Stena Europe takes 3 hours 30 minutes to sail across the St. Georges Channel.

In the same week that the fast-ferry takes up summer sailings from Fishguard, the small French flagged cruiseship Le Diament is to make the first of three calls in July and once in August.

The motoryacht-like vessel which can accommodate 226 passengers is the first cruise caller of the season and is run by the only French-owned cruise operator Compagnie De Iles Du Ponant.

Published in Ferry
A UK registered fishing vessel the Lynn Marie was detained by the L.E. Orla (P41) seven miles off Bray Head in the early hours of Tuesday for an alleged breach of fishing regulations.
L.E. Orla escorted the Lynn Marie into Dun Laoghaire Harbour at 07.00hrs where the vessel with a crew of four where handed over to the custody
of the Gardai. The L.E. Orla which berthed alongside the harbour's Carlisle Pier, is designated as a coastal patrol vessel (CPV) along with sistership L.E. Ciara (P42).

This is the second detention of a vessel this year. According to the Naval Service in 2010 there were 1666 boardings carried out which resulted in warnings to 70 vessels and eight detentions.

Published in Navy
With Spring in the air...get into your stride and help raise funds for Aware's annual St. Patrick's Day Harbour 2 Harbour Walk around Dublin Bay.
Aware, a charitable organisation that assists in 'helping to defeat depression, ' is to run the Harbour 2 Harbour event on Thursday 17 March. The walk on St. Patrick's Day starts at 10.30am from Dun Laoghaire Harbour (Plaza of the ferry terminal) and ends at Howth Harbour (The Bloody Stream).

Alternatively walkers are welcomed to take the walk in the reverse direction starting at Howth and terminating at Dun Laoghaire. The walk takes approximately 4-hours to complete. The 16.4 mile route that skirts the shores of Dublin Bay will offer great views!

The walk last year was taken by families, friends and individuals and provided participants with a great sense of achievement!

For this year's event, walkers are invited to take part by booking places in advance online. Entries (€10 per person) close at midnight on Sunday 13 March, click HERE. Late registration will also be available on the morning of the walk  (€15 per person) or email [email protected]

To read more about Aware click http://www.aware.ie (noting the locall Aware Helpline Tel: 1890 303 302 / calling from overseas +353 1 6766 166) and further information about the Helpline click HERE

Published in Dublin Bay

 

The Dun Laoghaire Harbour Company has invited the public to submit their ideas about the future of the harbour. A masterplan is to be developed so to address the changing emphasis of the harbour from a commercial harbour to a recreational harbour and the impact of change in the profile of ferry sailings on the Dún Laoghaire - Holyhead route. For further details please logon HERE In addition a map of the harbour, showing the extent of the area concerned.

Published in Dublin Bay
Emmy award winning actor Eddie Izzard is to star in a sailing remake of "Treasure Island" which will feature the 145-foot tall-ship 'Earl of Pembroke' which arrived into Dun Laoghaire Harbour yesterday, writes Jehan Ashmore.
The British comedian, voice-over artist and actor will play in the role of the iconic one-legged pirate, Long John Silver in the classic Robert Louis Stevenson 18th century tale of adventure and treasure. Also starring is Rupert Penry-Jones, best known for his spy role in the BBC TV series Spooks.

Shooting is scheduled for a five-week period, starting late November in Dublin and Cork. The Earl of Pembroke is currently berthed at Dun Laoghaire's Carlisle Pier, where SquareSail crew are adapting the vessel in preparation for shooting which includes the use of the East Pier Battery. Also assisting the shoot will be the Irish National Sailing School (INSS) based in Dun Laoghaire, which for over twenty years has provided marine co-ordination services for film and TV work.

The two-part, 120 minute drama was commissioned for the Sky 1 HD TV channel. The director is Steve Barron (Arabian Nights, Merlin, England Manager) and the producer is Laurie Borg (Made in Dagenham, Little Voice, Sense and Sensibility). Also coming on-board the film-team are Irish costume designer, Lorna Marie Mugan (Killing Bono) and line producer Des Martin (Tara Road).

In the New Year the production moves to the Caribbean island nation of Puerto Rico. It is expected that the drama be released on Sky 1 HD TV in Christmas 2012.

The Earl of Pembroke is owned by Cornwall based SquareSail which specialises in providing tall-ships for film productions. The Swedish built vessel was launched as Orion in 1948 and worked bringing timber from Scandinavia to the UK. In 1974 the vessel was laid-up for several years until SquareSail purchased her in 1979. She underwent an extensive restoration programme to emerge in 1994 in the appearance of an 18th century barque.

Setting 9,500 square foot of sails, the tall-ship has 14 sails. Should the winds be slack, the 174 ton vessel has a MAN 6 –cylinder, 300hp engine which drives a three-bladed propeller. As for her silver-screen credits, they include Cutthroat Island, Frenchman's Creek, Hornblower Series III and Longitude.

Treasure Island follows the recent filming of Neverland which included shooting locations in Dalkey and Killiney in Co. Dublin and neighbouring Co. Wicklow. Both productions are part of a multi-million pound investment by Sky for their high-definition (HD) drama department.

Looking for further reading on Tall Ships in Ireland? Click the links below:

Click this link to read all our Tall Ships Stories on one handy page


Previewing Ireland's Tall Ships 2011 Season


Can Ireland Get a New Tall Ship?

Published in Tall Ships
Ahoy me hearties...Dublin Bay is to become the setting for "Treasure Island", the classic adventure story by Robert Louis Stephenson, with filming scheduled next month, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The 145-foot Earl of Pembroke, a three-masted barque will be centre-stage. Shooting is expected to start in early November for the made for TV movie which is to be broadcast in two parts.

Dun Laoghaire's strategic location on Dublin Bay with close proximity of Dalkey Island, Killiney Bay and Wicklow Mountains to the south coupled with the backdrop of Howth Peninsula, will provide plenty of scope for cinema-photography.

With the Earl of Pembroke to be based in Dun Laoghaire, the harbour town is also home to the film's production company Parallel Film Productions which has included works such as Amongst Women, Breakast on Pluto and the TV series, The Clinic for RTE. In addition the locally based Irish National Sailing School (INSS) on the West Pier, aside from operating sailing activities, have also built up a strong reputation in marine-support and equipment services for film, TV and advertising. Projects have included the films, Saving Private Ryan, Into The West and TV series The Tudors.

The 350-tonnes, Earl of Pembroke is by no means just a floating prop. Launched as Orion, the vessel was built at Pukvik, Sweden in 1948 and for nearly three decades she sailed the North Sea on the timber trade from the Baltic Sea to British ports until laid-up in Denmark in 1974.

The vessel lanquished for several years but in 1979, Cornwall based Square Sail purchased her. In 1985 the vessel underwent a complete restoration programme and in 1994 the vessel re-emerged as a 18th century barque. Among the many film roles, she became the HMS Hotspur in the TV series 'Hornblower'. This year the vessel was involved in a major pirate themed mini-series for French TV which was shot in Corsica. Square Sail's specialisation in providing 'tall-ships' for the film industry also includes the vessels, Keskalot and Pheonix.

Published in Dublin Bay
Page 42 of 42

Dublin Bay 21s

An exciting new project to breathe life into six defunct 120-year-old Irish yachts that happen to be the oldest intact one-design keelboat class in the world has captured the imagination of sailors at Ireland's biggest sailing centre. The birthplace of the original Dublin Bay 21 class is getting ready to welcome home the six restored craft after 40 years thanks to an ambitious boat building project was completed on the Shannon Estuary that saved them from completely rotting away.

Dublin Bay 21 FAQs

The Dublin Bay 21 is a vintage one-design wooden yacht designed for sailing in Dublin Bay.

Seven were built between 1903 and 1906.

As of 2020, the yachts are 117 years old.

Alfred Mylne designed the seven yachts.

The total voting population in the Republic's inhabited islands is just over 2,600 people, according to the Department of Housing.

Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC) commissioned the boat to encourage inexpensive one-design racing to recognise the success of the Water Wag one-design dinghy of 1887 and the Colleen keelboat class of 1897.

Estelle built by Hollwey, 1903; Garavogue built by Kelly, 1903; Innisfallen built by Hollwey, 1903.; Maureen built by Hollwey, 1903.; Oola built by Kelly, 1905; Naneen built by Clancy, 1905.

Overall length- 32'-6', Beam- 7'-6", Keel lead- 2 tons Sail area - 600sq.ft

The first race took place on 19 June 1903 in Dublin Bay.

They may be the oldest intact class of racing keelboat yacht in the world. Sailing together in a fleet, they are one of the loveliest sights to be seen on any sailing waters in the world, according to many Dublin Bay aficionados.

In 1964, some of the owners thought that the boats were outdated, and needed a new breath of fresh air. After extensive discussions between all the owners, the gaff rig and timber mast was abandoned in favour of a more fashionable Bermudan rig with an aluminium mast. Unfortunately, this rig put previously unseen loads on the hulls, resulting in some permanent damage.

The fleet was taken out of the water in 1986 after Hurricane Charlie ruined active Dublin Bay 21 fleet racing in August of that year. Two 21s sank in the storm, suffering the same fate as their sister ship Estelle four years earlier. The class then became defunct. In 1988, master shipwright Jack Tyrrell of Arklow inspected the fleet and considered the state of the hulls as vulnerable, describing them as 'still restorable even if some would need a virtual rebuild'. The fleet then lay rotting in a farmyard in Arklow until 2019 and the pioneering project of Dun Laoghaire sailors Fionan De Barra and Hal Sisk who decided to bring them back to their former glory.

Hurricane Charlie finally ruined active Dublin Bay 21 fleet racing in August 1986. Two 21s sank in the storm, suffering the same fate as a sister ship four years earlier; Estelle sank twice, once on her moorings and once in a near-tragic downwind capsize. Despite their collective salvage from the sea bed, the class decided the ancient boats should not be allowed suffer anymore. To avoid further deterioration and risk to the rare craft all seven 21s were put into storage in 1989 under the direction of the naval architect Jack Tyrrell at his yard in Arklow.

While two of the fleet, Garavogue and Geraldine sailed to their current home, the other five, in various states of disrepair, were carried the 50-odd miles to Arklow by road.

To revive the legendary Dublin Bay 21 class, the famous Mylne design of 1902-03. Hal Sisk and Fionan de Barra are developing ideas to retain the class's spirit while making the boats more appropriate to today's needs in Dun Laoghaire harbour, with its many other rival sailing attractions. The Dublin Bay 21-foot class's fate represents far more than the loss of a single class; it is bad news for the Bay's yachting heritage at large. Although Dún Laoghaire turned a blind eye to the plight of the oldest intact one-design keelboat fleet in the world for 30 years or more they are now fully restored.

The Dublin Bay 21 Restoration team includes Steve Morris, James Madigan, Hal Sisk, Fionan de Barra, Fintan Ryan and Dan Mill.

Retaining the pure Mylne-designed hull was essential, but the project has new laminated cold-moulded hulls which are being built inverted but will, when finished and upright, be fitted on the original ballast keels, thereby maintaining the boat’s continuity of existence, the presence of the true spirit of the ship.

It will be a gunter-rigged sloop. It was decided a simpler yet clearly vintage rig was needed for the time-constrained sailors of the 21st Century. So, far from bringing the original and almost-mythical gaff cutter rig with jackyard topsail back to life above a traditionally-constructed hull, the project is content to have an attractive gunter-rigged sloop – “American gaff” some would call it.

The first DB 21 to get the treatment was Naneen, originally built in 1905 by Clancy of Dun Laoghaire for T. Cosby Burrowes, a serial boat owner from Cavan.

On Dublin Bay. Dublin Bay Sailing Club granted a racing start for 2020 Tuesday evening racing starting in 2020, but it was deferred due to COVID-19.
Initially, two Dublin Bay 21s will race then three as the boat building project based in Kilrush on the Shannon Estuary completes the six-boat project.
The restored boats will be welcomed back to the Bay in a special DBSC gun salute from committee boat Mac Lir at the start of the season.
In a recollection for Afloat, well known Dun Laoghaire one-design sailor Roger Bannon said: "They were complete bitches of boats to sail, over-canvassed and fundamentally badly balanced. Their construction and design was also seriously flawed which meant that they constantly leaked and required endless expensive maintenance. They suffered from unbelievable lee helm which led to regular swamping's and indeed several sinkings.

©Afloat 2020