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Displaying items by tag: North of Disko

#arcticcircle – The Galway to Greenland Expedition 'North of Disko' has started its return journey from high in the Arctic Circle along the west Greenland coast. The team, lead by Jamie Young aboard the 49ft Killary Flyer yacht, set sail from Galway on the 14th June and have spent the past six weeks exploring the spectacular coastline by kayak, climbing and sail, as well as through film and photography.

The expedition, run by Killary Adventure Expeditions, aims to document this changing coastline and produce a comprehensive art photography exhibition showcasing the fragile nature of the Arctic environment as well as climbing and kayaking guides to the west Greenland coast. Art photographer Daragh Muldowney of Dulra Photography is one of the crewmembers and has managed to capture some incredible images of the ice from the ice cap and glaciers to icebergs. The expedition has also been filmed along the way with the aim of producing a short documentary on the experience.

The crew are currently on their way south to the town of Sisimuit, still inside the Arctic Circle, where they will prepare the boat for their return journey across the Atlantic. They aim to arrive back in Killary Harbour on approximately the 20th August.

"The expedition so far has been hugely rewarding" according to Jamie. "We've been lucky enough to have been welcomed into the Inuit communities we've visited and it's been very interesting to hear about the social, environmental and political challenges faced by them at present".

The crew encountered three significant storms on the initial Atlantic crossing so are hoping for a less turbulent return journey. You can follow their progress through daily blogs from the crew at www.northofdisko.com or view a selection of images from the trip so far on their facebook page www.facebook.com/pages/Killary-Adventure-Expeditions. You can see examples of Daragh's previous work at www.dulra.com

Published in Cruising

The Star keelboat is a 6.9 metres (23 ft) one-design racing keelboat for two people designed by Francis Sweisguth in 1910.

The Star was an Olympic keelboat class from 1932 through to 2012, the last year keelboats appeared at the Summer Olympics at which Ireland's representatives were Peter O'Leary and David Burrows.

Ireland has performed well in the class internationally thanks to some Olympic campaigns including a bronze medal at the Star World Championships in 2000, won by Mark Mansfield and David O'Brien.

The boat is sloop-rigged, with a mainsail larger in proportional size than any other boat of its length. Unlike most modern racing boats, it does not use a spinnaker when sailing downwind. Instead, when running downwind a whisker pole is used to hold the jib out to windward for correct wind flow.

Early Stars were built from wood, but modern boats are of fibreglass and carbon construction.

The boat must weigh at least 671 kg (1,479 lb) with a maximum total sail area of 26.5 m2 (285 sq ft).

The Star class pioneered an unusual circular boom vang track, which allows the vang to effectively hold the boom down even when the boom is turned far outboard on a downwind run.

Another notable aspect of Star sailing is the extreme hiking position adopted by the crew and at times the helmsman, who normally use a harness to help hang low off the windward side of the boat with only their lower legs inside.

At A Glance – Star Specifications

Designer Francis Sweisguth
Year 1910
Crew 2 (Skipper + Crew)
S + 1.5 C ≤ 250 kg (550 lb)[1]
Draft 1.016 m (3 ft 4 in)
Hull Type keelboat
Hull weight ≥ 671 kg (1,479 lb)
(including keel)
LOA 6.922 m (22 ft 9 in)
LWL 4.724 m (15 ft 6 in)
Beam 1.734 m (5 ft 8 in) at deck
1.372 m (4 ft 6 in) at chine
Hull appendages
Keel/board type bulb keel
401.5 ± 7 kg (885 ± 15 lb)
Rig
Rig type sloop
Mast length 9.652 m (31 ft 8 in)
Sails
Mainsail area 20.5 m2 (221 sq ft)
Jib/genoa area  6.0 m2 (65 sq ft)
Upwind sail area ≤ 26.5 m2 (285 sq ft)

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