Displaying items by tag: Afloat
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Look Out for Autumn Afloat!
New York Crew Set To Commemorate 9/11 Afloat
Through their participation in the 40,000-mile round the world race, the New York crew is raising funds and awareness for the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, a not-for-profit organisation created to design and run the Memorial and Museum at the World Trade Center.
At 1246 GMT (0846 EST) on Sunday, exactly ten years after the first plane hit the Twin Towers, the team of 18 led by skipper Gareth Glover will hold hands and observe a minute's silence before casting wreaths of remembrance into the Atlantic Ocean.
For the Clipper 11-12 crew members who hail from New York, the ten-year anniversary will be especially poignant.
New York crew member for Leg 2, Pat Coppolechia is a lawyer and a New York resident, and admits that Sunday will bring back powerful memories.
"In my wallet I've got the times that the planes hit the Towers and the times that they collapsed. It is certainly going to be on my mind and I'll reflect on where I was when it happened and the whole impact it had on New York and the world as a whole. I think there's going to be a moment of vulnerability and concern for those at home and everywhere around the world on the tenth anniversary," Pat said.
New York is racing around the globe alongside nine other internationally sponsored teams, all of whom will put their rivalries aside to remember the people who died in the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001 with a minute's silence.
Just over ten years ago the biennial Clipper Race visited New York in August 2001, enjoying a stopover at Liberty Landing in New Jersey overlooking the Twin Towers after racing from Brazil. The fleet set sail on 31 August just 11 days before the attacks.
Former crew member Sarah Thorogood, who took part in Clipper 2000-01, said many of the crew enjoyed trips to the top of the Twin Towers during their visit to the city.
"We heard about the attacks mid-Atlantic when one of our crew called his son on the satellite phone. It was a huge shock and hard to comprehend when so many of us had been to the top of the Towers just a few days before. It didn't fully sink in until we arrived in Jersey when we saw the shocking images," Sarah said.
The New York team is endorsed by Empire State Development, the agency responsible for promoting business and economic development throughout the state, which is proud to see its powerful marketing message taken around the world on the yacht's distinctive livery featuring the iconic 'I love New York' branding.
The Clipper Race was established 15 years ago by sailing legend Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, the first man to sail solo and non-stop around the world in 1968/69. The name of the race was inspired by the trade routes followed by the early clipper ships and over a century later Sir Robin's ten identical stripped down 68-foot ocean racing yachts are using the same trade winds to help global destinations boost business and tourism through their participation in this unique event. Each yacht represents an international city, region, country or company.
The race makes an official stopover in New York between the end of leg seven and the beginning of the eighth and final leg of Clipper 11-12.
The Clipper Race departed the UK at the end of July and raced to Brazil via Madeira. The ten teams are currently gearing up to start Leg 2 to South Africa on Saturday. After a well-earned stopover in Cape Town, the matched yachts will race to Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, China, Panama, USA, Canada, Northern Ireland and the Netherlands before returning to the UK just before the opening of the London 2012 Olympic Games in July next year.
With the strap line 'Raced by People Like You', the Clipper Race is the embodiment of Sir Robin's vision to enable people from all walks of life to experience the thrills and challenges of ocean yacht racing: ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Each of the teams is led by a professional skipper but the crews are all amateurs, nearly 40 per cent of whom have never sailed before undertaking their extensive pre-race training. Five hundred people will participate in Clipper 11-12 with around 100 racing the full 40,000 miles and the remainder joining for one or more of the eight legs of the competition.
'Prodigious' Takes Pride of Place on 'Afloat Boats for Sale' Site
'Prodigious' is a very special, go anywhere motor yacht according to her broker, Hugh Mockler of Crosshaven Boatyard. This Weymouth 51 foot motor cruiser has just been added to Afloat's Boats for Sale site today and this 1988 craft is taking pride of place.
Originally constructed in accordance with Lloyds rules under the supervision of a Lloyds surveyor. In 2000 she underwent an extensive refit at the renowned Fairlie Restorations yard at Hamble and flew her pre purchase survey - the highly regarded David Hopkins declaring "She is the best example of her type that I have personally seen and she is in a good, sound and seaworthy condition."
The boat is lying on the south coast of England and priced at £229,000
All the details and specs are on the Boats for Sale site here. Vid below here too.
Thanks for YOUR Comments, Keep'em Coming!
Thanks for your feedback. Each Afloat.ie posting has the opportunity to comment at the end of the story and we're keen to get as many people involved as possible. Join us on facebook, debate on the forum or simply leave a comment on a story. Here's a recent selection:
No Medals But Plenty of Confidence for 2012
I bet who ever decided to put up the "take that mr Percy" comment on the afloat Facebook page yesterday looks like a twat now.
Stephen
Jérémie Beyou on BPI wins Dun Laoghaire Leg of Solitaire du Figaro
Congratulations to Jérémie and to all the other sailors who came in this morning. Watched (from my window!) -- quite a spectacular sight and some competitors were so close after such a long race.
Toestrap o'Hike
Coveney Welcomes Funding for New Coast Guard Station in Crosshaven
Hope to have it built by the end of 2012 together with the new Goleen Station. A good year for Cork. Minister Ring will be officially opening our Achill Station on the 3rd of September. Guests welcome.
Chris
Nixon Makes History With Silver at World Junior Rowing Championships
Well done Holly and Paul. This is the result of a lot of hard work, and a successful system of support provided by Rowing Ireland, with funding by the Irish Sports Council and Sport NI.
Gordon Reid
100 Days and Counting to Race Around the World
Hi Guys, Congratulations on your coverage of the VOR, you have more information than the event website which doesn't even mention the SANYA boat.
Cahill's Joie de Vie Sails to Victory at WIORA Series, Clifden
Thoroughly enjoyed the hospitality and good company up in Clifden. Well done to the winners.
Susan Wallace
Afloat.ie - Essential Maintenance Tonight
Seven days, Seven Winners in Afloat's Facebook Competition
Cruise from Kinvara to Tahiti Wins Sailor of the Month Award
Recognised by the senior offshore sailing organisation, the Irish Cruising Club, with the award of the historic Faulkner Cup, the Quinlan's achievement is further enhanced by the fact that, in their determination to acquire a boat suitable for long distance voyaging, they built their steel-constructed 40ft cutter Pylades themselves, launching in 1997.
They have brought a lively and enquiring eye to the complex project, something which reflects Fergus's qualifications as an architect. As he has drily observed himself, there isn't a lot of work around for architects in Ireland at the moment, so everything clicked with the boat sea-tested and ready to go off on this sail of a lifetime.
Having left Kinvara in June 2009, their longterm plan is a global circumnavigation, returning to Galway Bay in August 2012. Quite what Ireland will be like by then is anybody's guess. But as it is, the crew of Pylades have enough to be getting on with in dealing with the vagaries of the open ocean, and the volatile political situation in some of the areas where ocean voyagers go. For armchair sailors at home, their thoughtful and entertaining reports on their experiences make them worthy "Sailors of the Month".
City Powerboat School on the Market
Due to an opportunity for its owners overseas Dublin City's only powerboat training school, City Powerboat School is on the market. The Irish Sailing Association recognised training establishment is advertised in next week's edition of Afloat magazine. The school operates in the 'highly visible' River Liffey area. School principal Felix Finlay says 'the position of the school in Dublin City has attracted many enquiries, for not only powerboat training courses, but sail training, tourism activities, and educational opportunities'. More here.
Outstanding Anthony O'Leary is Worthy Sailor of the Year
Anthony O'Leary of Cork is the Afloat.ie/Irish Independent "Sailor of the Year" in celebration of his outstanding achievements afloat nationally and internationally throughout last season, and to honour his dedication to sailing in all its forms both as a participant and an administrator.
The O'Leary pace afloat and ashore belies his age of 53. During 2010, it was in May that he was "Sailor of the Month" for an already remarkable list of wins with his Ker 39 Antix. Having topped the April Series in Kinsale, he then won the Crosshaven-Dun Laoghaire race overall, went on to win his class and be one of the top points scorers in the ICRA Nationals in Dublin Bay, and then went on to Scotland to win his class overall with a nail biting brace of wins on the final day of the Scottish Series.
To achieve all that before May was out was exceptional, but the O'Leary progress was only beginning. The big picture was to maintain momentum towards the international Commodore's Cup in the Solent in August. Antix was one of the three boat squad, and her skipper was also the team captain in a campaign which was light years away from the glossy efforts which dominated the boom years of Irish affluence.
Anthony O'Leary takes on the waves at the helm of his yacht Antix during Cork week in Cork Harbour. Photo: Bob Bateman
In previous seasons, Ireland had been able to muster enough boats for two or even three teams, yet had never won despite being within inches of success. But this time round, only three boats were game for it, and only one – Rob Davis's Corby 36 Roxy – was new. Yet with Dave Dwyer's ever-keen Mills 39 marinerscove.ie filling the third slot, O'Leary headed a potent force, and he himself sailed with style and inspiring sportsmanship to give Ireland a commanding overall win.
Anthony O'Leary is the personification of Irish sailing at its very best. With the enthusiastic support of his wife Sally, he is father to a family which has logged outstanding sailing success at all levels. Yet he himself is in many ways the quintessential club sailor. He is as happy racing the Autumn series at Crosshaven with a 1720 or the West Cork regattas with a cruiser-racer, as he is competing at the highest levels. He has been among the front runners for the title of Ireland's "Sailor of the Year" several times. And now, as with all his wins, when he does do it, O'Leary does it with style.
