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Displaying items by tag: Car Ferry Wicklow

#FerryWickow - A newly renamed car ferry Frazer Aisling Gabrielle called to Wicklow Port prior to the opening of the new Scenic Carlingford Ferry that is scheduled to begin operations early next month, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The 44 car capacity Frazer Aisling Gabrielle had arrived to Wicklow yesterday evening after a passage of around 10 hours from Waterford Estuary. The car ferry having received work at New Ross Boat Yard in preparation for the new service linking Greenore, Co. Louth and Greencastle in Co. Down.

The work carried out at the inland yard downriver from the Port of New Ross involved a new livery applied to the ferry formerly named Foyle Venture. Under that guise this ferry has previously called to Wicklow Port.  As such the presence of the car ferry was less of a surprise in Wicklow unlike newbuild Spirit of Rathlin that made a unique call to Greystones in February of this year.

Frazer Ailsing Gabrielle which can accommodate 300 passengers had berthed at Wicklow's East Pier from where a crew rest took place overnight.  An inshore fishing boat, Bernice set off from the North Quay this morning to transfer a pilot on board the carferry. Following that the vessel departed in classy calm seas for the final leg of the voyage bound for Greenore. 

The ferry project on Carlingford Lough cost €9.75 million (£8.5 million) was entirely privately financed and developed by the Frazer Ferries Group. They acquired last year the Passage East Ferry Company that operates on the Waterford Estuary route served by F.B.D. Tintern.

The former Lough Foyle ferry however provided relief duties to allow the smaller car ferry that plies between Passage East and Ballyhack to undergo annual maintenance at the facility in New Ross. 

Published in Ferry

The GP14 is a popular sailing dinghy, with well over 14,000 boats built.

The class is active in the UK, Ireland, Australia, South Africa, Sri Lanka and parts of north-eastern USA, and the GP14 can be used for both racing and cruising. 

Designed by Jack Holt in 1949, with the assistance of the Dovey Yacht Club in Aberdyfi. The idea behind the design was to build a General Purpose (GP) 14-foot dinghy which could be sailed or rowed, capable of also being powered effectively by a small outboard motor, able to be towed behind a small family car and able to be launched and recovered reasonably easily, and stable enough to be able to lie to moorings or anchor when required. Racing soon followed, initially with some degree of opposition from Yachting World, who had commissioned the design, and the boat soon turned out to be an outstanding racing design also.

The boat was initially designed with a main and small jib as a comfortable family dinghy. In a design philosophy that is both practical and highly redolent of social attitudes of the day the intention was that she should accommodate a family comprising parents plus two children, and specifically that the jib should be modest enough for "Mum" or older children to handle, while she should perform well enough to give "Dad" some excitement when not taking the family out. While this rig is still available, and can be useful when using the boat to teach sailing, or for family sailing, and has some popularity for cruising, the boat is more commonly seen with the full modern rig of a mainsail, genoa and spinnaker. Australian boats also routinely use trapezes.

GP14 Ireland Event Dates 2023

  • O'Tiarnaigh (Apr 22-23) Blessington Sailing Club
  • Ulsters (May 20-21) East Antrim Boat Club
  • Munsters (Jun 17-18) Tralee Bay Sailing Club
  • Leinsters (Jul 7-9) Dun Laoghaire Regatta
  • SOYC (Aug 19-20) Rush Sailing Club
  • Nationals (Sep 1-3) Sutton Dinghy Club
  • Hot Toddy (Sep 30-Oct 1) Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club

 

At A Glance – GP14 Dinghy Specifications

Crew 2
Draft 1,200 mm (47 in)
Hull weight 132.9 kg
LOA 4.27 m (14 ft)
Beam 1.54 m
Spinnaker area 8.4 m2
Upwind sail area 12.85 m2

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