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Displaying items by tag: Captain Sarah Breton

#CaptBreton – While Galway Bay is hosting The World today off Mutton Island, Captain S C Breton master of P&O Cruises Arcadia which is nearly twice the size, is set to make an anchorage call off Dun Laoghaire Harbour tomorrow morning, writes Jehan Ashmore.

Under her command, Captain Breton has the responsibility of the 83,500 tonnes vessel and leading a crew of 848 and more than 1900 passengers on the exclusively adults-only cruiseship. The call is to become the second cruise caller to Dun Laoghaire this season, following the successful and historic inaugural visit of Queen Mary 2 in mid-May.

The vast majority of her passengers are from the UK, the rest are a sprinkling of nationalities including those from Isreal, Malaysia, Japan and New Zealand. As for Captain Breton and her crew who are more diverse in terms of nationality than her guests are, with more than 25 countries represented and where the majority of the crew are mostly British, Indian and Filipino.

The 285m Arcadia was launched in 2005 by her patron, Dame Kelly Holmes. She is one of seven cruiseships of the P&O Cruises fleet which together last year made a spectacular cruise-in-company sail-past down Southampton Water for the 'Grand Event' which celebrated the 175th anniversary of the world famous company last July. Arcadia was the third vessel behind the sail-past leadship.

Incidentally Arcadia's first port of call after the event was to Dublin Port as previously reported on Afloat.ie and tomorrow's call will be her first to Dublin Bay since the visit just over a year ago.

Arcadia was launched in 2005 at the Fincantieri Cant. shipyard in Malfoncone though originally she was laid down at the Italian shipyard for Cunard Line as their Queen Victoria, however it was decided by her owners Carnival Corporation to transfer the vessel to her UK based cruising subsidiary.

As previously alluded she is an adult-only cruiseship which offers a relaxed pace in stylish surroundings that are also extravagant throughout her 11 passenger decks. A notable feature  is her exterior glass-fronted lifts and expansive art collection, featuring no less than 3,000 works of art and creating a sophisticated air on board.

 

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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