#TallCruiseships – Anchored less than a nautical mile offshore of Portrush today is the impressive Wind Surf, which has five 50m/164ft high masts towering above the sea, writes Jehan Ashmore.
The Windstar Cruises vessel with a 312 guest capacity is calling to the small Antrim harbour by tender craft to see the main visitor attraction of the Giant's Causeway.
The call of the Bahamas flagged cruiseship to the north is part of a 7-day Gaelic Explorers cruise with visits to Peterhead, Invergordon, Kirkwall, Portree and Isle of Man.
Cruise highlights include Edinburgh Castle, where the cruiseship departed from nearby Leith followed by a call to Orkney to sample the customary famous whiskey distilleries, and the 5,000-year-old Ring of Brodgar, rivaling England's Stonehenge.
Wind Surf is to return to Dun Laoghaire Harbour this Saturday, having made her maiden port of call to the harbour in July.
On that occasion the call involved a 'turnaround' cruise while berthing alongside the Carlisle Pier, which provides easy observation from the East Pier.
The French built 14,745 tonnes vessel launched as Club Med 1 and she has a self-unfurling computer-operated system from the masts that controls seven triangular sails totalling 2,600sq.m/26,881sq.feet
She has a length of 162m /535ft at waterline though if measured to include the bowsprit the overall dimension increases to 187m/617 feet.
Meanwhile, today her sister Club Med 2 docked in Cork's Ringaskiddy Terminal having sailed overnight from Dublin Port (see first visit), where the capital first welcomed the vessel earlier in the season.
Another cruiseship fitted with sailing masts, Sea Cloud II had also toured Irish ports with calls to Dublin, Cork as well as Belfast.
