Displaying items by tag: ICG Irish Ferries

18th January 2018

Irish Ferries W.B. Yeats to be Launched at German Shipyard Tomorrow

#FerryNews - Weather permitting, Irish Continental Group (ICG)’s €144m newbuild cruiseferry W.B. Yeats, is due to be launched tomorrow from a German shipyard, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The giant 55,500 gross tonnage W.B. Yeats with a capacity for 1,885 passengers and crew and 1,200 cars, is to be launched from the slip of Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft mbH & Co. KG (FSG).

Launching of W.B. Yeats will be a significant milestone for ICG as the cruiseferry will easily be the biggest ever to enter service for their ferry division Irish Ferries, however this will be upstaged by an even larger giant super-cruiseferry, as ICG recently placed an order also with FSG at a cost of €165.2m.

The super cruiseferry, estimated to be around 67,300 gross tonnage, is to be delivered by mid-2020 and operate the core Irish Sea Dublin-Holyhead route. The super-cruisferry will be more freight-orientated and will also be the biggest ferry in the world in terms of vehicle capacity.

As for the W.B. Yeats, tomorrow's first contact of the cruise ferry with the water at the FSG shipyard is located in the German city on the Baltic Sea.

There remains plenty of work to be done as the luxurious cruiseferry will take several months before shipbuilders sea trials of W.B. Yeats can take place. In addition to berthing trials in mid-June following W. B. Yeats scheduled delivery voyage to Dublin Port. The cruiseferry at 195m is longer to the capital's iconic ‘Spire’ if laid on its side which measures just 120m.

Dublin Port is homeport to ICG headquarters and where existing flagship, Ulysses operates on the route to Holyhead. The 50,000 gross tonnage cruiseferry built by Aker Finnyards, Finland in 2001, bears a strong design resemblance to that of W.B. Yeats.

Irish Ferries are firstly to deploy W.B. Yeats on an Ireland-France around mid-July, this will be the Dublin-Cherbourg route. The new cruiseferry is to enter service ready in time for the summer's high-season months.

The continental route opened in recent years by the chartered-in ropax Epsilon, offering a no-frills service, is to be replaced by the W.B. Yeats which will be a considerable improvement given the extensive range of passenger facilities. They include a Club Class lounge, an á la carte and self-service restaurants, cinema, shopping mall and a variety of bars and choice of lounges.

W.B. Yeats will also raise the bar as accommodation for 440 cabins will include luxury suites with their own private balconies. This feature is a first for Irish Ferries and will be appreciated more so during the summer and on the longer continental crossings. This compared to the short-sea Dublin-Holyhead route, when W.B. Yeats is to make a second new debut by serving on the Welsh service from September.

At that stage, it will be a year since the cruiseferry’s official keel-laying ceremony took place at FSG. The Flensburg shipyard will be kept busy with construction of the ‘jumboised’ version of W.B. Yeats half-sister super-cruiseferry, given designs seen by Afloat which will be revealed soon on FerryNews.

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National Yacht Club Facilities

Facilities include a slipway directly accessing Dun Laoghaire Harbour, over eighty club moorings, platform parking, pontoons, fuelling, watering and crane-lifting ensure that the NYC is excellently equipped to cater for all the needs of the contemporary sailor. Berths with diesel, water, power and overnight facilities are available to cruising yachtsmen with shopping facilities being a short walk away. The club is active throughout the year with full dining and bar facilities and winter activities include bridge, snooker, quiz nights, wine tasting and special events.

National Yacht Club History

Although there are references to an active “club” prior to 1870, history records that the present clubhouse was erected in 1870 at a cost of £4,000 to a design by William Sterling and the Kingstown Royal Harbour Boat Club was registered with Lloyds in the same year. By 1872 the name had been changed to the Kingston Harbour Boat Club and this change was registered at Lloyds.

In 1881. the premises were purchased by a Captain Peacocke and others who formed a proprietary club called the Kingstown Harbour Yacht Club again registered at Lloyds. Some six years later in 1877 the building again changed hands being bought by a Mr Charles Barrington. and between 1877 and 1901 the club was very active and operated for a while as the “Absolute Club” although this change of name was never registered.

In 1901, the lease was purchased by three trustees who registered it as the Edward Yacht Club. In 1930 at a time when the Edward Yacht Club was relatively inactive, a committee including The Earl of Granard approached the trustees with a proposition to form the National Yacht Club. The Earl of Granard had been Commodore of the North Shannon Y.C. and was a senator in the W.T.Cosgrave government. An agreement was reached, the National Yacht Club was registered at Lloyds. The club burgee was created, red cross of Saint George with blue and white quarters being sky cloud, sea and surf. The Earl of Granard became the first Commodore.

In July of 1950, a warrant was issued to the National Yacht Club by the Government under the Merchant Shipping Act authorising members to hoist a club ensign in lieu of the National Flag. The new ensign to include a representation of the harp. This privilege is unique and specific to members of the National Yacht Club. Sterling’s design for the exterior of the club was a hybrid French Chateau and eighteenth century Garden Pavilion and today as a Class A restricted building it continues to provide elegant dining and bar facilities.

An early drawing of the building shows viewing balconies on the roof and the waterfront façade. Subsequent additions of platforms and a new slip to the seaward side and most recently the construction of new changing rooms, offices and boathouse provide state of the art facilities, capable of coping with major international and world championship events. The club provides a wide range of sailing facilities, from Junior training to family cruising, dinghy sailing to offshore racing and caters for most major classes of dinghies, one design keelboats, sports boats and cruiser racers. It provides training facilities within the ISA Youth Sailing Scheme and National Power Boat Schemes.

Past Commodores

1931 – 42 Earl of Granard 1942 – 45 T.J. Hamilton 1945 – 47 P.M. Purcell 1947 – 50 J.J. O’Leary 1950 – 55 A.A. Murphy 1955 – 60 J.J. O’Leary 1960 – 64 F. Lemass 1964 – 69 J.C. McConnell 1969 – 72 P.J. Johnston 1972 – 74 L. Boyd 1974 – 76 F.C. Winkelmann 1976 – 79 P.A. Browne 1979 – 83 W.A. Maguire 1983 – 87 F.J. Cooney 1987 – 88 J.J. Byrne 1988 – 91 M.F. Muldoon 1991 – 94 B.D. Barry 1994 – 97 M.P.B. Horgan 1997 – 00 B. MacNeaney 2000 – 02 I.E. Kiernan 2002 – 05 C.N.I. Moore 2005 – 08 C.J. Murphy 2008 – 11 P.D. Ryan 2011 – P. Barrington 2011-2014 Larry Power 2014-2017 Ronan Beirne 2017 – 2019

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