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Displaying items by tag: Historic Buidlings

In south Wales the port of Pembroke Dock has a rich maritime history having been a military town for 150 years. Today, the former Royal Naval Dockyard is a commercial port including a ferry link to Ireland in addition to having an exciting future in the renewables industry.

The Port of Milford Haven forms a key part of the £60m Swansea Bay City Deal’s Pembroke Dock Marine project which will deliver the facilities, services and spaces needed to establish a world-class centre for marine energy and engineering.

As part of this, four Grade II listed annexes attached to the Sunderland Hangars are in need of renovation to bring them into the 21st century and offered as flexible modern workspaces. The building works will begin in November 2021 and are on schedule to be completed by November 2022.

Today, the Port is launching a naming competition for the four annexes and is inviting submissions from members of the community. There are four suggested themes: heritage, renewable future, maritime and social history, but all ideas are welcome.

Commercial Director at the Port, Steve Edwards, said “Pembroke Port is steeped in history and we want to ensure we preserve these buildings so they can be used in the next exciting chapter. Pembroke Dock Marine offers huge opportunities for the town as well as the entire region, so it’s really important that we create desirable accommodation for businesses to establish themselves here. We want to involve the whole community in our plans by inviting memorable names with a back story to complement the developments.”   

To submit your suggestions, visit the port's website here by Monday 18th October.

Pembroke Dock Marine is funded by the Swansea Bay City Deal, the European Regional Development Fund through the Welsh Government, and through private investment.

Published in Ports & Shipping

The Kingstown to Queenstown Yacht Race or 'K2Q', previously the Fastnet 450

The Organising Authority ("OA") are ISORA & SCORA in association with The National Yacht Club & The Royal Cork Yacht Club.

The Kingstown to Queenstown Race (K2Q Race) is a 260-mile offshore race that will start in Dun Laoghaire (formerly Kingstown), around the famous Fastnet Rock and finish in Cork Harbour at Cobh (formerly Queenstown).

The  K2Q race follows from the successful inaugural 'Fastnet 450 Race' that ran in 2020 when Ireland was in the middle of the COVID Pandemic. It was run by the National Yacht Club, and the Royal cork Yacht Club were both celebrating significant anniversaries. The clubs combined forces to mark the 150th anniversary of the National Yacht Club and the 300th (Tricentenary) of the Royal Cork Yacht Club.

Of course, this race has some deeper roots. In 1860 the first-ever ocean yacht race on Irish Waters was held from Kingstown (now Dun Laoghaire) to Queenstown (now Cobh).

It is reported that the winner of the race was paid a prize of £15 at the time, and all competing boats got a bursary of 10/6 each. The first race winner was a Schooner Kingfisher owned by Cooper Penrose Esq. The race was held on July 14th 1860, and had sixteen boats racing.

In 2022, the winning boat will be awarded the first prize of a cheque for €15 mounted and framed and a Trophy provided by the Royal Cork Yacht Club, the oldest yacht club in the world.

The 2022 race will differ from the original course because it will be via the Fastnet Rock, so it is a c. 260m race, a race distance approved by the Royal Cornwall Yacht Club as an AZAB qualifier. 

A link to an Afloat article written by WM Nixon for some history on this original race is here.

The aim is to develop the race similarly to the Dun Laoghaire–Dingle Race that runs in alternate years. 

Fastnet 450 in 2020

The South Coast of Ireland Racing Association, in association with the National Yacht Club on Dublin Bay and the Royal Cork Yacht Club in Cork, staged the first edition of this race from Dun Laoghaire to Cork Harbour via the Fastnet Rock on August 22nd 2020.

The IRC race started in Dun Laoghaire on Saturday, August 22nd 2020. It passed the Muglin, Tuscar, Conningbeg and Fastnet Lighthouses to Starboard before returning to Cork Harbour and passing the Cork Buoy to Port, finishing when Roches's Point bears due East. The course was specifically designed to be of sufficient length to qualify skippers and crew for the RORC Fastnet Race 2021.

At A Glance – K2Q (Kingstown to Queenstown) Race 2024

The third edition of this 260-nautical mile race starts from the National Yacht Club on Dublin Bay on July 12th 2024 finishes in Cork Harbour.

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