Displaying items by tag: France & Spain

24th May 2019

Cancelled Cork to France And Spain Sailings Due to 'Hydraulic Fault'

Sailings on Brittany Ferries have been cancelled this weekend on routes linking France and Spain. AFLOAT adds this is not the first time the flagship Pont-Aven has been off-service this month as Armorique deputised on the French route twice on 4th May (as above off Cobh) and 19th May while Pont-Aven was (and currently) remains dry-docked in Brittany for repairs at Damen Shiprepair, Brest. Armorique had transferred from English Channel duties linking Portsmouth and Caen (Ouistreham) in Normandy and where on 6 June the 75th anniversary of the D-Day Landings in WW2 will be commemorated.

Several scheduled sailings the Irish Examiner reports between Cork and mainland Europe have been cancelled by Brittany Ferries.

All planned sailings to and from Roscoff, France have been cancelled until May 31.

The routes affected are Roscoff to Cork tomorrow, May 24, and Cork to Roscoff on Saturday.

The cancellations are due to "a technical problem with the Pont-Aven ferry," according to the company.

Brittany Ferries has apologised for any inconvenience this has caused and in a statement said customers affected are being offered a full refund or an alternative sailing.

"Brittany Ferries sailings from Roscoff-Cork (May 24) and Cork-Roscoff (May 25) have regrettably been cancelled due to a hydraulic fault on the Pont-Aven affecting its rudder, the repairs for which have taken longer than first anticipated," a spokesperson said.

"We are currently contacting all passengers scheduled to travel the route tomorrow and Saturday to offer assistance.

To continue reading this story (click here) on the 40,000 gross tonnnage cruiseferry which is currently dry-docked in Brest at Damen Shiprepair.

Afloat adds Armorique (see above photo) previously deputised on the Ireland-France service also this month because Pont-Aven had another incident during a crossing between the UK and Spain. This necessitated a detour to Brest from where passengers were safely disembarked.

On that occasion Pont-Aven used the same dry-dock in Brest to undergo repairs.

As for Armorique, this cruiseferry routinely serves on the English Channel between Portsmouth and Caen (Ouistreham). The ferryport in Normandy is adjacent to the beach (codenamed 'Sword') which formed part of the Allied invasion when the D-Day Landings took place on 6th June 1944.

Commemorative services to mark the 75th anniverary of that momentous day will be held in less than fortnight's time.

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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.