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Displaying items by tag: Ardmore Bursary Cadet

On International Women’s Day (8 March) Ardmore Shipping which has chemical/product tankers trading globally and a principle operating office in Cork, highlights the maritime industry historically has lacked gender diversity, however this is changing as more women pursue careers in the field.

In recent years Ardmore have been improving diversity in shipping which has been a core priority for them and resulting in their participation in a variety of initiatives. This includes the Diversity Study Group (DSG) – the first organisation dedicated to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the workplace across the global shipping and maritime sectors.

After joining the DSG, Ardmore played a leading part in the initiation of a charter that would allow signatories to make a public commitment to DEI across the industry. With the subsequent involvement and support of the Global Maritime Forum, this idea was realised through the recently-launched All Aboard Alliance.

Ardmore believes that nurturing and supporting talent is crucial to its success as a company, and DEI is an essential part of this. Together with our partners, we are working to attract women into the seafaring community, while addressing other core aspects of diversity.

On International Women’s Day, Ardmore taken the opportunity to highlight the invaluable role women contribute in their team of dedicated sea staff. Among them is Anwesha Das, an Ardmore Bursary Cadet who joined her first vessel in June 2022 after completing pre-sea training at the Anglo Eastern training academy in Karjat, India.

She shares her experience as a woman in maritime and highlights the increasingly gender-equal space the industry is becoming as various challenges are addressed.

Click HERE to read the interview in full. 

Published in Ports & Shipping

Irish Sailing Classes and Association – There’s no shortage of one-design classes from which to choose and each gives its enthusiasts great competition, fun and camaraderie, writes Graham Smith in this review of the classes. 

One-design racing is where it all starts. It is, after all, where all the top sailors earned their stripes, battling away for line honours without a thought for a handicapper’s calculator wiping away a hard-fought victory!

Indeed, you could count on less than one hand the number of top Irish sailors who didn’t cut their teeth in a one-design dinghy! Just think of Cudmore, Barrington, Watson, Wilkins, Hennessy and Dix to name a few and you realise that they honed their skills in everything from Enterprises to Lasers and a lot in between.

At present count, there are a little over 30 one-design classes in Ireland, split almost evenly between dinghies and keelboats, a statistic which might raise a few eyebrows. They range from the long-established Mermaids, IDRA14s and Dragons to the newer additions like Fevas, Topaz and RS Elite. They all fill a particular need and give their owners and crews considerable enjoyment.

Many have attracted their World or European Championships to Irish waters over the years and while 2009 is notable for a lack of such events here, the following year will see the Etchells Worlds at Howth and perhaps a few other international regattas too.

In addition to the review, we asked each class to complete a questionnaire giving details of their fleet numbers, whether they were on a growth pattern or holding their own, so we could highlight those ‘on the up’ and those remaining static in terms of numbers. The older traditional designs, as you might imagine, fall into the latter category, although that’s not a negative!

CLASS REVIEW  The State of the Classes – League Table (as at February 2009)

S = Static; U = Up/growing

275     Optimist   U

200+   Laser   S

189     Mermaid   S

160     Flying Fifteen   S

130     RS Feva   U

115     Shannon One Design    U

100+   Mirror   S

100+   Topper   U

99       Topaz   U

94       Laser SB3   U

87       GP14   U

85       Squib   S

70       Fireball   S

70       Ruffian   S

60       J24   S

60       Shipman   S

52       Dragon   S

50       RS400/200   S

50       420    U

43       Multihulls    U

42       Dragon    S

40       Water Wags    U

40       Wayfarer    S

34       IDRA14    U

33       Puppeteer    U

28       Etchells    S

27       E-Boat    U

26       Glen    S

25       Enterprise    S

18       Sigma 33    S

18       Howth 17    U

13       RS Elite    U