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Displaying items by tag: Highperformance boat

Sailors who would like to try out a Laser SB3 might be interested to learn of an Open Day at the National Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire on Saturday 9th October.

The Dun Laoghaire SB3 fleet is inviting sailors to come and try a sail on this exciting one-design performance boat on that day and class members will be on hand to offer information and advice. Registration starts from 9.30am and on the water activity will be between 10.30am and 4.00pm.

On the day, the Class Association will provide RIB transfers to the SB3s which will be sailed in Scotsman's Bay. The day is open to experienced or novice sailors and especially to prospective new owners. A series of short races will also be run to give visitors a feel for the boat in racing conditions while ashore, light refreshments, soup and sandwiches will be provided free of charge.

Those wishing to avail of the opportunity should ideally advise the organisers first of their preferred time slots and make sure they bring their sailing wet weather gear and a life jacket.

To make a provisional booking, call or text Justin Burke on 087 2417542; alternatively e-mail: [email protected]

Published in SB20

About Brittany Ferries

In 1967 a farmer from Finistère in Brittany, Alexis Gourvennec, succeeded in bringing together a variety of organisations from the region to embark on an ambitious project: the aim was to open up the region, to improve its infrastructure and to enrich its people by turning to traditional partners such as Ireland and the UK. In 1972 BAI (Brittany-England-Ireland) was born.

The first cross-Channel link was inaugurated in January 1973, when a converted Israeli tank-carrier called Kerisnel left the port of Roscoff for Plymouth carrying trucks loaded with Breton vegetables such as cauliflowers and artichokes. The story, therefore, begins on 2 January 1973, 24 hours after Great Britain's entry into the Common Market (EEC).

From these humble beginnings however, Brittany Ferries as the company was re-named quickly opened up to passenger transport, then became a tour operator.

Today, Brittany Ferries has established itself as the national leader in French maritime transport: an atypical leader, under private ownership, still owned by a Breton agricultural cooperative.

Eighty five percent of the company’s passengers are British.

Key Brittany Ferries figures:

  • Turnover: €202.4 million (compared with €469m in 2019)
  • Investment in three new ships, Galicia plus two new vessels powered by cleaner LNG (liquefied natural gas) arriving in 2022 and 2023
  • Employment: 2,474 seafarers and shore staff (average high/low season)
  • Passengers: 752,102 in 2020 (compared with 2,498,354 in 2019)
  • Freight: 160,377 in 2020 (compared with 201,554 in 2019)
  • Twelve ships operating services that connect France, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Spain (non-Covid year) across 14 routes
  • Twelve ports in total: Bilbao, Santander, Portsmouth, Poole, Plymouth, Cork, Rosslare, Caen, Cherbourg, Le Havre, Saint-Malo, Roscoff
  • Tourism in Europe: 231,000 unique visitors, staying 2.6 million bed-nights in France in 2020 (compared with 857,000 unique visitors, staying 8,7 million bed-nights in 2019).