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Displaying items by tag: Obstruction of Heysham Port

#Obstruction – An Isle of Man ferry that was stuck from entering Heysham Port on New Year’s Day due to a ‘submerged obstruction’, it now transpires was caused by a large piece of timber that broke free during the winter storms.

The timber had become embedded on the sea bed at the entrance to the Lancashire port. As a result the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company’s 12,504 tonnes ropax Ben-My-Chree had to await sufficient clearance before safely entering the port channel.

The ferry is currently operating to a revised sailing schedule as the Heysham Port Authorities are trying to deal with the obstruction. The port authority have warned the Steam Packet’s and other port users that they cannot attempt to remove the obstruction before tomorrow, Sunday 3rd January, at the earliest.

Commenting on the port obstruction, Steam Packet CEO Mark Woodward said ‘As a result of this problem, which is outside of our control, the Ben-my-Chree schedules will be affected. We will only be able to approach and leave the port at higher states of tide; there will also be a knock-on effect to the weekend daytime Birkenhead sailings. Passengers on the affected sailings will be contacted by our customer services team. We will also keep passengers advised if any further changes are required’.

Provisionally, the revised sailing schedule by the Steam Packet and additional contact details are available by clicking here.

Published in Ferry

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