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Displaying items by tag: Tug Ben Eadar

#SOLD DUBLIN TUG SETS SAIL – With a career spanning nearly four decades, the former Dublin Port Company tug Ben Eadar (1973/198grt) departed over the weekend on her delivery voyage to serve new owners in Portuguese waters, writes Jehan Ashmore.

Prior to her departure, Ben Eadar was moored alongside the grab-hopper dredger Hebble Sand (1963/757grt) in Alexandra Basin, which too awaits her delivery voyage to new owners.

It was envisaged that the veteran tug would be towed on the delivery voyage to Portugal however she left Dublin Port for the final time on Saturday under her own power. Since her departure the 17 tonnes bollard pull (tbp) veteran vessel called en route to Milford Haven on Monday before making a longer leg across the Bay of Biscay.

She still retains her original name since her launch at the Yorkshire shipyard of Richard Dunston Ltd, Hessle, however she was re-flagged in Vanuatu, where her change of registry is Port Vila, the capital of the south Pacific island nation.

Ben Eadar became the last of three tugs sold this year to depart Dublin Port, having been brought by ARPA & Co. of Setubal in Portugal. The 17-tonnes bollard pull (tbp) tug follows her younger 35tbp Voith- Schneider fleetmates, Cluain Tarbh (1991/268grt) and Deilginis (1997/335grt). The former was sold to Scottish interests and the latter remains in Irish waters based out of Killybegs.

The trio represented the last of the older generation of a tug fleet built for the Dublin Ports & Docks Board (DP&DB) which is now the Dublin Port Company. The tugs were all given names of Dublin Bay coastal suburbs spelt in Irish and were replaced by a pair of more powerful 50tbp newbuilds introduced from 2009.

Published in Ports & Shipping

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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