Displaying items by tag: Alcatraz

13th October 2012

Irish Residents Among Rescued as Party Boat Hits Rocks in San Francisco

#RESCUE - An unconfirmed number of men from Ireland were among 22 people rescued from a sinking passenger boat in San Francisco Bay in the early hours of this morning.

KGO-TV News reports that the hull of The Neptune was punctured by a rock off Alcatraz around 9.15pm last night local time (5.15am this morning Irish time) and quickly began taking on water.

Matthew Rice was celebrating his bachelor party on the boat with 17 friends at the time - a number of whom has travelled from as far as Ireland - when "all of a sudden it was like boom, just the a big jolt and the next thing we knew the [US] Coast Guard boat came in and got us off," he recalls.

Crew member Rachel Smith, one of four crew on board the party boat, explained how the vessel had veered slightly off course due to a navigation error and hit an area known as 'Little Alcatraz', which resulted in two square-foot holes on either side of the rear hull.

All on board were taken to safety by the coastguard, and attempts were being made to bail the water out of the boat to allow its towing back to San Francisco overnight.

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Mixed Two Person Offshore Keelboat

For the first time in sailing's Olympic history, a Mixed Two Person Offshore Keelboat event will be on the slate at the Paris 2024 Olympic Sailing Competition.

The Mixed Two Person Offshore Keelboat will join kiteboarding, windsurfing, multihulls, singlehanded and doublehanded dinghies and skiffs, promoting the diversity of the sport. This, in turn, will support World Sailing's desire to promote and grow universality in all disciplines and increase female participation with gender-equal medals and athletes.

Offshore sailing is the ultimate test of endurance, skill, discipline, navigation and critical decision making.

Embracing a major part of sailing in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games will enable new stars of the sport to come to the forefront.

Qualification

Offshore sailing is a universal discipline that every World Sailing Member National Authority (MNA) can participate in.

Up to 20 nations will be on the start line at Paris 2024 and sailors from every continent will be represented. To qualify for the Olympic Games, continental qualification events will be held and competition for a spot will be hotly contested.

Equipment

For qualification events, World Sailing will approve a list of one-design boats that are already regionally available and can be accessed as a charter boat. Boats will be equalised to ensure fair competition.

For Paris 2024, World Sailing's Council will select a list of different Equipment it considers to meet the key criteria by 31 December 2020 and then make a decision on the Equipment, selecting from the list, no later than 31 December 2023.

MNAs, Class Associations and Manufacturers have all been invited to propose Equipment for the list and a World Sailing Working Party will evaluate each proposal. A recommended list will be presented to Council for approval in November 2020.

This recommended Equipment list will ensure that event organisers, MNAs and the sailors have opportunities to train and compete in Equipment that is readily available and affordable within their continent and country. It will also ensure each MNA has a fair opportunity to prepare for qualification events and eventually, Paris 2024.

Format

Starting and finishing in Marseille, the Mixed Offshore event is expected to last for either three days and two nights or four days and three nights off the French coastline and whoever crosses the finish line first will be declared Olympic champion.

The race course and length will be announced in the lead up to the start so the competition can take advantage of the latest weather forecast. Current options proposed include long and short courses heading towards the West and East of France.

Safety and Security

The French Navy and Mediterranean forces have extensive experience of supporting major oceanic sailing races. They will provide safety and security at Paris 2024.