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Displaying items by tag: Decommissioning

#FarewellEMER – Irish Naval Service vessel LE Emer (P21) is being decommissioned from the service today after almost 36 years in use.

The oldest vessel in the service, LE Emer was built in Verolme Cork Dockyard and was commissioned on January 16th, 1978. The vessel has had 23 captains and the service estimated it has sailed 518,000 nautical miles during its career.

The final serving captain is Lt Cmdr Alan O'Regan, a Cork native. For more on this story,The Irish Times reports.

Afloat.ie adds that the L.E. Emer completed her last stretch of her final patrol duties that saw her depart Dublin Port on Monday of this week. The OPV is currently moored alongside the outer quay of the Naval Service Base on Haulbowline Island.

As previously reported, an interview with Commodore Mark Mellett, Flag Officer Commanding of the Naval Service. To hear the interview click this link to the podcast version in advance of tonight's RTE Radio 1's 'Seascapes' programme starting at 22.30hrs.

 

Published in Navy

Waszp sailing

The Waszp project was conceived in 2010 by Andrew McDougall, designer of the world-beating Mach 2 foiling Moth. 

The Waszp was created as a strict one-design foiler, where, as the class says “the true test when raced is between crews and not boats and equipment”.

The objective of the class rules is to ensure that this concept is maintained. Keeping possible modifications to a minimum ensures fair racing across the fleet, helps to reduce the overall cost to the sailor and reduces the amount of time in the workshop. 

The popularity of the WASZP has proven that the boat and the concept work. In October 2021, 1237 boats had been sold to over 45 countries. 

The top speed recorded on the foiling dinghy is 26.7 knots. 

60-95kgs+ is a weight range competitive across varied conditions with rigs knowns as ‘8.2’ and ‘6.9’.

The cost of a Moth dinghy in Europe is €14,400 inc VAT + shipping according to the manufacturers in October 2021.