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Displaying items by tag: Belfast Harbour Marina

In a rapid spread of harbour and marina closures in Northern Irish waters, the next to suffer is Belfast Harbour Marina which is closed to visitors until further notice.

The action has been taken in the light of current UK Government and Royal Yachting Association advice.

The 85-berth marina is in the heart of Belfast's Titanic Quarter and was installed to host the Belfast Tall Ships Festival in August 2009. Approximately 17 berths are dedicated to long term berthing and a further 17 are available for winter berthing from October until the end of March.

The marina is popular for overnighting while visiting in the City which is permissible only with Harbour Master or Marina Supervisor approval and generally not for more than five nights.

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Two chic barge berths at Belfast Harbour Marina are available for bookings for those looking for a different base to explore Northern Ireland.

The berths — named ‘Harland’ and ‘Wolff’ after the city’s iconic shipyard — comprise the renovated barge Nolly, which in a previous life had once cruised the canals of Lanarkshire in Scotland.

When it came into the hands of Gillian Campbell and Aidan Metcalfe, they assembled a dedicated team to transform a vessel that had been set for scrap into a luxury holiday letting.

That involved painstaking work of stripping back the barge all the way to its steel frame and essentially rebuilding it as an entirely new boat, designed along the lines of houseboats common on the continent.

Today, Nolly’s two self-contained apartments are available to book on AirBnB for short stays right in the heart of Belfast.

And now, the team behind Nolly want to put their hard-earned knowledge to work with commissions for new luxury barges build to a similar spec.

For more details visit BargeAtTitanic.com

Published in Aquatic Tourism

The Half Ton Class was created by the Offshore Racing Council for boats within the racing band not exceeding 22'-0". The ORC decided that the rule should "....permit the development of seaworthy offshore racing yachts...The Council will endeavour to protect the majority of the existing IOR fleet from rapid obsolescence caused by ....developments which produce increased performance without corresponding changes in ratings..."

When first introduced the IOR rule was perfectly adequate for rating boats in existence at that time. However yacht designers naturally examined the rule to seize upon any advantage they could find, the most noticeable of which has been a reduction in displacement and a return to fractional rigs.

After 1993, when the IOR Mk.III rule reached it termination due to lack of people building new boats, the rule was replaced by the CHS (Channel) Handicap system which in turn developed into the IRC system now used.

The IRC handicap system operates by a secret formula which tries to develop boats which are 'Cruising type' of relatively heavy boats with good internal accommodation. It tends to penalise boats with excessive stability or excessive sail area.

Competitions

The most significant events for the Half Ton Class has been the annual Half Ton Cup which was sailed under the IOR rules until 1993. More recently this has been replaced with the Half Ton Classics Cup. The venue of the event moved from continent to continent with over-representation on French or British ports. In later years the event is held biennially. Initially, it was proposed to hold events in Ireland, Britain and France by rotation. However, it was the Belgians who took the ball and ran with it. The Class is now managed from Belgium. 

At A Glance – Half Ton Classics Cup Winners

  • 2017 – Kinsale – Swuzzlebubble – Phil Plumtree – Farr 1977
  • 2016 – Falmouth – Swuzzlebubble – Greg Peck – Farr 1977
  • 2015 – Nieuwport – Checkmate XV – David Cullen – Humphreys 1985
  • 2014 – St Quay Portrieux – Swuzzlebubble – Peter Morton – Farr 1977
  • 2013 – Boulogne – Checkmate XV – Nigel Biggs – Humphreys 1985
  • 2011 – Cowes – Chimp – Michael Kershaw – Berret 1978
  • 2009 – Nieuwpoort – Général Tapioca – Philippe Pilate – Berret 1978
  • 2007 – Dun Laoghaire – Henri-Lloyd Harmony – Nigel Biggs – Humphreys 1980~
  • 2005 – Dinard – Gingko – Patrick Lobrichon – Mauric 1968
  • 2003 – Nieuwpoort – Général Tapioca – Philippe Pilate – Berret 1978

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