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Displaying items by tag: Justine Curgenven

#Kayaking - Red Bull recently caught up with sea kayaking adventurer Justine Curgenven, who is currently over a month and more than half way into her 1,000-mile circumnavigation of Ireland.

Unlike Elaine 'Shooter' Alexander's epic solo voyage two years ago, the New Zealander has some extra paddle power in the form of her partner Barry Shaw and friend Roger Chandler.

"We aren't going for any speed records, just hoping to enjoy the scenery and meet some local people," she says of their 50-day adventure around Ireland.

But that's not to say our waters aren't challenge for this experienced kayaker.

"Irish waters can be very challenging," says Curgenven. "They get 2-3m swells quite regularly and are known for their surf beaches, which we are trying to avoid!"

Despite the hard work, the film-maker says "time really does fly when you're having fun... If you like circumnavigations then it's really a great island to paddle around."

Red Bull has more on the story HERE.

Published in Kayaking

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).