Displaying items by tag: Trainee tallship

22nd May 2018

Danish Full Rigged Trainee Tallship Takes Anchorage Break off Bantry

#Tallships - A pair of ships, one a Danish trainee tallship, the other a former Norwegian 'Hurtigruten' coastal passenger/cargoship but trading now as a cruiseship, are anchored closely to each other off Bantry, Co. Cork today, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The tallship is Danmark, which provides 80 trainees to learn sailing skills from MARTEC- the maritime and polytechnic college based in the Nordic country's cityport of Frederikshavn.

For the past 75 years, Danmark has been the principal training ship for the state of Denmark. From 2003, the operation of the trainee ship transferred to MARTEC, however the vessel still remains as state property. A major refit of the berth decks took place just over a decade ago, this led to an upgrade of the teaching facilities and the installation of air-conditioning.

The other Bantry Bay anchored ship, Serenissima, is a small luxury expedition cruiseship that once plied on the famous Norwegian 'Hurtigruten' coastal fjords voyage when named the Harald Jarl.

Since 2003, the role of the the ship changed having been sold to become the 59 cabin capacity cruiseship Andrea but now trades as Serenissima for Noble Caledonia. They deployed the 160 passenger cruiseship to Irish ports among them Dun Laoghaire Harbour where a call was made last season.

Serenissima had called to the same berth where the Frederikshavn registered Stena Carrier in recent weeks occupied the Carlisle Pier. The pier provided the venue last Sunday for the Red Bull Flug-Tag event that saw handmade aircraft attempted to take off!

The Danmark's trainee season schedule for 2018 is currently operating Voyage no. 105. According to MARTEC, trainees began attending the maritime sea-craft skills school in January, and by March the ship departed the waters of Scandinavia bound for Cadiz, Spain.

The tallship's last port of call was Ponta Delgada. This is the capital on São Miguel Island, part of the Azores archipelago of Portugal.

Danmark was commissioned by the ship's namesake government in 1932 at the Nakskov Shipyard in Lolland and was fitted out as a three mast full-rig ship. The decision of this rig was seen as the most complex and therefore demanding to keep most hands busy when the ship entered service the following year.

For many years, all officer apprentices from major Danish shipping companies joined a mandatory training voyage.

In 1939, Danmark visited the United States to participate in the World’s Fair held in New York City. The outbreak of hostilities of WWII however on the other side of the Altantic, forced the ship to stay in US waters to avoid the Germans capturing the vessel.

During the war, Danmark was based in Jacksonville, Florida. It was after the attack on Pearl Harbor, that the captain offered the ship to the U.S. government for the continued purposes as a training vessel. The offer was accepted which led to the ship spending the rest of the war by training cadets at the United States Coast Guard Academy.

This role in the USCG would remain until 1946 when the Danmark was returned unharmed, resulting in resuming training duties for the Scandinavian state.

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Ireland & La Solitaire du Figaro

The Solitaire du Figaro, was originally called the course de l’Aurore until 1980, was created in 1970 by Jean-Louis Guillemard and Jean-Michel Barrault.

Half a decade later, the race has created some of France's top offshore sailors, and it celebrated its 50th anniversary with a new boat equipped with foils and almost 50 skippers Including novices, aficionados and six former winners.

The solo multi-stage offshore sailing race is one of the most cherished races in French sailing and one that has had Irish interest stretching back over 20 years due to the number of Irish stopovers, usually the only foreign leg of the French race.

What Irish ports have hosted The Solitaire du Figaro?

The race has previously called to Ireland to the following ports; Dingle, Kinsale, Crosshaven, Howth and Dun Laoghaire.

What Irish sailors have raced The Solitaire du Figaro?

So far there have been seven Irish skippers to participate in La Solitaire du Figaro.

In 1997, County Kerry's Damian Foxall first tackled the Figaro from Ireland. His win in the Rookie division in DHL gave him the budget to compete again the following year with Barlo Plastics where he won the final leg of the race from Gijon to Concarneau. That same year a second Irish sailor Marcus Hutchinson sailing Bergamotte completed the course in 26th place and third Rookie.

In 2000, Hutchinson of Howth Yacht Club completed the course again with IMPACT, again finishing in the twenties.

In 2006, Paul O’Riain became the third Irish skipper to complete the course.

In 2013, Royal Cork's David Kenefick raised the bar by becoming a top rookie sailor in the race.

In 2018, for the first time, Ireland had two Irish boats in the offshore race thanks to Tom Dolan and Joan Mulloy who joined the rookie ranks and kept the Irish tricolour flying high in France. Mulloy became the first Irish female to take on the race.

Tom Dolan in Smurfit Kappa competed for his third year in 2020 after a 25th place finish in 2019. Dolan sailed a remarkably consistent series in 2020 and took fifth overall, the best finish by a non-French skipper since 1997 when Switzerland’s Dominique Wavre finished runner up. Dolan wins the VIVI Trophy.

Dolan finished 10th on the first stage, 11th on the second and seventh into Saint Nazaire at the end of the third stage. Stage four was abandoned due to lack of wind.

Also in 2020, Dun Laoghaire’s Kenneth Rumball became the eleventh Irish sailor to sail the Figaro.

At A Glance – Figaro Race

It starts in June or July from a French port.
The race is split into four stages varying from year to year, from the length of the French coast and making up a total of around 1,500 to 2,000 nautical miles (1,700 to 2,300 mi; 2,800 to 3,700 km) on average.
Over the years the race has lasted between 10 and 13 days at sea.
The competitor is alone in the boat, participation is mixed.
Since 1990, all boats are of one design.