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Displaying items by tag: Returns to Med Migrant role

#BeckettReturns - L.É. Samuel Beckett departed Cork Harbour for the Mediterranean this morning, writes the Evening Echo, as the Naval Service continues its role in European search and rescue operations in the region.

The OPV90 class patrol vessel departed from Haulbowline Naval Base at 10am, and is set to return in mid-December, taking over from L.É. James Joyce which returns home next Friday, September 30, following three months at sea.

The LÉ James Joyce successfully located and rescued a total of 531 people over a recent weekend in two operations conducted with the Italian Coastguard North West of Tripoli.

The crew most recently rescued 265 people in a humanitarian operation off Libyan coast last week. Tragically attempts to resuscitate some of those found failed, with one man and four women, one of whom was heavily pregnant, declared dead by a Red Cross doctor.

Published in Navy

Esailing & Virtual Sailing information

The concept of e-sailing, or virtual sailing, is based on a computer game sailing challenge that has been around for more than a decade.

The research and development of software over this time means its popularity has taken off to the extent that it has now become a part of the sailing seascape and now allows people to take an 'active part' in some of the most famous regattas across the world such as the Vendée Globe, Route du Rhum, Sydney Hobart, Volvo Ocean Race, America’s Cup and some Olympic venues too, all from the comfort of their armchair.

The most popular model is the 'eSailing World Championship'. It is an annual esports competition, first held in 2018 and officially recognised by World Sailing, the sports governing body.

The eSailing World Championship is a yearly competition for virtual sailors competing on the Virtual Regatta Inshore game.

The contract to run the event was given to a private company, Virtual Regatta that had amassed tens of thousands of sailors playing offshore sailing routing game following major offshore races in real-time.

In April 2020, the company says on its website that it has 35,000 active players and 500,000 regattas sailed.

Virtual Regatta started in 2010 as a small team of passionate designers, engineers, and entrepreneurs gathered around the idea that virtual sailing sports games can mix with real races and real skippers.