Displaying items by tag: Scotland & Wales

23rd November 2021

Freeports in Scotland & Wales Resisted by UK Government Might be Dead in the Water after Treasury ‘Kills’ Idea

The Welsh Secretary had previously said that Wales would have to accept a freeport 'come what may'. Above the Port of Holyhead's main terminal located on Salt Island.

Following a long fight with the Scottish and Welsh Governments over imposing freeports on the autonomous nations, they may have been “killed” after all, UK Government sources have said.

Welsh Secretary Simon Hart had previously said that Wales would have to accept a freeport “come what may” and Economy Minister Vaughan Gething had warned them not to “impose” a tax-free port on Wales.

But senior ministers have now briefed to the London newspapers that Treasury officials had now “killed” the ports. It was one of many UK Government schemes across Whitehall suppressed by Civil Servants, they said.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak had previously lauded the free ports as a way of “levelling up” the economy outside of London.

The Welsh newspaper, Nation Cymru has further coverage of the story.

Afloat adds there is only one designated freeport located on the UK's west coast, that been at the Port of Liverpool.

Published in Ports & Shipping

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Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Yacht Race Information

The biennial Dun Laoghaire to Dingle race is a 320-miles race down to the east coast of Ireland, across the south coast and into Dingle harbour in County Kerry.

The race is organised by the National Yacht Club.

It never fails to offer a full range of weather, wind and tide to the intrepid entrants, ranging from a 32ft cruiser to a 79ft all-out racer.

Three divisions are available to enter: cruiser (boats equipped with furlers), racing (the bulk of the fleet) and also two-handed.

D2D Course change overruled

In 2019, the organisers considered changing the course to allow boats to select routes close to shore by removing the requirement to go outside Islands and Lighthouses en route, but following input from regular participants, the National Yacht Club decided to stick with the tried and tested course route in order to be fair to large and smaller boats and to keep race records intact.

D2D Course record time

Mick Cotter’s 78ft Whisper established the 1 day and 48 minutes course record for the Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race in 2009 and that time stood until 2019 when Cotter returned to beat his own record but only just, the Dun Laoghaire helmsman crossing the line in Kerry to shave just 20 seconds off his 2009 time.