Displaying items by tag: Winter layup

3rd November 2017

Last Fast Ferry Using Holyhead Will Become Summer Only Service

#fastferry - The introduction next year of a new cruise ferry between Holyhead and Dublin reports Daily Post will see the last fast ferry on the route cut to a summer only service.

Irish Ferries' new vessel W. B. Yeats - currently under construction at Flensburg, Germany - will start up on the Anglesey to Ireland route next September.

It will see the Jonathan Swift docked for winter - with the boat returning in April 2019. This happened to the Stena Line fast boat - the Explorer - until it was phased out completely in 2015.

The W. B. Yeats - sailing alongside the Ulysses - will increase capacity over the winter but passengers will lose the option of the quick crossing.

Fast ferry sailings take around 1hr 50 mins, compared to more than 3 hrs on the other vessels.

One issue of concern for Holyhead is a step up in summer sailings by Irish Ferries between Ireland and France - with the W. B. Yeats switching to these routes between April and September. It doubles the number of summer sailings between Ireland and France.

To read more click here and as reported on Afloat, concerns from Holyhead after Brexit as increased freight and passenger capacity is to operate from Ireland direct to mainland Europe.

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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.