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Displaying items by tag: Pontoon berth

Dun Laoghaire Harbour's newly installed 'primary passenger ship tender pontoon' was put to immediate use this weekend to facilitate the second cruise-liner visit of the season to the east coast port.

Tenders from the Viking Venus Cruise Ship were the first to use the facility that brings cruise passengers to awaiting coaches in the harbours' compound which means no disruption to harbour car parks.

As Afloat reported previously,  the new 40m x 4.5m floating pontoon is now located at No 4 berth on the east side of St Michael’s Pier. The pontoon was assembled at the nearby Carlisle Pier and towed to the berth.

The Viking Venus Cruise Ship Tende disembarks passengers at the new pontoon berth at Dun Laoghaire HarbourThe Viking Venus Cruise Ship Tender disembarks passengers at the new pontoon berth at Dun Laoghaire Harbour on Sunday

Tender operations for the visiting ships, (anchored in the bay) will now take place from No 4 berth using the nearby compound for awaiting coaches. 

The move has the added benefit of freeing up the town's Carlisle Pier for sailing events and boat storage.

And the newly installed glass wall at the plaza overlooking the berth means the visiting ship at anchor and the tendering operation itself is now visible from the quayside.

The next liner to use the new dock will be the MSC Magnifica on Wednesday, April 20th.

The new pontoon comes complete with mooring bollards, ramps and steps for the safe disembarkation of passengersThe new pontoon comes complete with gangway, mooring bollards, ramps and steps for the safe disembarkation of passengers

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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