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Displaying items by tag: New €3 million craft

The RNLB Killarney arrived yesterday into Kilmore Quay after making her delivery voyage from England. The new €3 million craft is the first Tamar-class to operate in Irish waters and is the most technically advanced lifeboat in the RNLI fleet.

The lifeboat was funded by a legacy from Mrs Mary Weeks from Surrey in England who passed away in 2006. Mrs Weeks met her husband while on a cruise off the west coast of Scotland on a boat named Killarney.

Tamar_arrival

The RNLB Killarney on her maiden arrival yesterday to Kilmore Quay, Co. Wexford.

She also has a strong RNLI connection through her maiden name Distin. Mrs Weeks was related to the Coxswain of Salcombe lifeboat Samuel Distin and to Albert Distin. Both men lost their lives in the Salcombe lifeboat disaster of 1916.

The lifeboat hull was moulded by the RNLI and fitted out in Plymouth under RNLI supervision. Lifeboat crewmembers based in Kilmore Quay have undertaken comprehensive training at the lifeboat college in Poole and onboard the Tamar class lifeboat in preparation for their new arrival.

The new lifeboat is not expected to go on service until later in the month and the next few weeks will be spent training the rest of the lifeboat crew on the new boat. RNLI Deputy Divisional Inspector Gareth Morrison said, " This is a huge day for the RNLI in Ireland. The arrival of any lifeboat is a great celebration for a community but when it is the first of a new class of lifeboat the excitement is even greater.

The Kilmore Quay lifeboat crew have been looking forward to this day for a long time. Their last lifeboat the Famous Grouse rescued over 300 people since 2004 and this lifeboat station has had many challenging rescues in its history. I wish them the very best of luck with their new lifeboat, may she have many successful years ahead of her." Kilmore Quay lifeboat Coxswain Eugene Kehoe added, "It's a proud day for Kilmore Quay.

Passage_crew

The crew of the RNLB Killarney

A new lifeboat is a tremendous gift and we will take very good care of it. We are very grateful to the donor who by leaving this legacy to the RNLI has provided a lifeboat that will go on to save many lives at sea.

On a bad night miles out to sea it is good to know that we have a state of the art lifeboat and a highly trained lifeboat crew to respond to every situation." The new Tamar class lifeboat is 16.3 metres in length with a maximum speed of 25 knots compared to the 14.3 metres of the current Tyne class lifeboat stationed at Kilmore Quay, which has a maximum speed of 18 knots.

The lifeboat is self-righting and is fitted with an integrated electronics Systems and Information Management System, which allows the lifeboat crew to monitor, operate and control many of the boats systems from shock mitigating seats. The Tamar also carries a Y boat (an inflatable daughter boat) which is housed under the aft deck and deployed from a hinged door in the transom. The lifeboat has room for 44 survivors. It will replace the current Kilmore Quay Tyne class lifeboat The Famous Grouse, which will be retired to the RNLI relief lifeboat fleet.

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Published in RNLI Lifeboats

The Sydney Hobart Yacht Race

The Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race is an annual offshore yacht racing event with an increasingly international exposure attracting super maxi yachts and entries from around tne world. It is hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, starting in Sydney, New South Wales on Boxing Day and finishing in Hobart, Tasmania. The race distance is approximately 630 nautical miles (1,170 km).

The 2022 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race starts in Sydney Harbour at 1pm (AEDT) on Monday 26 December.

This is the 77th edition of the Rolex Sydney Hobart. The inaugural race was conducted in 1945 and has run every year since, apart from 2020, which was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

88 boats started the 2021 Rolex Sydney Hobart, with 50 finishing.

The Sydney Hobart Yacht Race - FAQs

The number of Sydney Hobart Yacht Races held by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia since 1945 is 75

6,257 completed the Sydney Hobart Yacht race, 1036 retired or were disqualified)

About 60,061 sailors have competed in the Sydney Hobart Race between 1945 and 2019

Largest fleets: 371 starters in the 50th race in 1994 (309 finished); 154 starters in 1987 (146 finished); 179 starters in 1985 (145 finished); 151 starters in 1984 (46 finished); 173 started in 1983 (128 finished); 159 started in 1981 (143 finished); 147 started in 1979 (142 finished); 157 started in 2019 (154 finished)

116 in 2004 (59 finished); 117 in 2014 (103 finished); 157 in 2019 (154 finished)

Nine starters in the inaugural Sydney Hobart Yacht Race in 1945

In 2015 and 2017 there were 27, including the 12 Clipper yachts (11 in 2017). In the record entry of 371 yachts in the 50th in 1994, there were 24 internationals

Rani, Captain John Illingworth RN (UK). Design: Barber 35’ cutter. Line and handicap winner

157 starters, 154 finishers (3 retirements)

IRC Overall: Ichi Ban, a TP52 owned by Matt Allen, NSW. Last year’s line honours winner: Comanche, Verdier Yacht Design and VPLP (FRA) owned by Jim Cooney and Samantha Grant, in 1 day 18 hours, 30 minutes, 24 seconds. Just 1hour 58min 32secs separated the five super maxis at the finish 

1 day 9 hours 15 minutes and 24 seconds, set in 2017 by LDV Comanche after Wild Oats XI was penalised one hour in port/starboard incident for a finish time of 1d 9h 48m 50s

The oldest ever sailor was Syd Fischer (88 years, 2015).

As a baby, Raud O'Brien did his first of some six Sydney Hobarts on his parent's Wraith of Odin (sic). As a veteran at three, Raud broke his arm when he fell off the companionway steps whilst feeding biscuits to the crew on watch Sophie Tasker sailed the 1978 race as a four-year-old on her father’s yacht Siska, which was not an official starter due to not meeting requirements of the CYCA. Sophie raced to Hobart in 1979, 1982 and 1983.

Quite a number of teenage boys and girls have sailed with their fathers and mothers, including Tasmanian Ken Gourlay’s 14-year-old son who sailed on Kismet in 1957. A 12-year-old boy, Travis Foley, sailed in the fatal 1998 race aboard Aspect Computing, which won PHS overall.

In 1978, the Brooker family sailed aboard their yacht Touchwood – parents Doug and Val and their children, Peter (13), Jacqueline (10), Kathryne (8) and Donald (6). Since 1999, the CYCA has set an age limit of 18 for competitors

Jane (‘Jenny’) Tate, from Hobart, sailed with her husband Horrie aboard Active in the 1946 Race, as did Dagmar O’Brien with her husband, Dr Brian (‘Mick’) O’Brien aboard Connella. Unfortunately, Connella was forced to retire in Bass Strait, but Active made it to the finish. The Jane Tate Memorial Trophy is presented each year to the first female skipper to finish the race

In 2019, Bill Barry-Cotter brought Katwinchar, built in 1904, back to the start line. She had competed with a previous owner in 1951. It is believed she is the oldest yacht to compete. According to CYCA life member and historian Alan Campbell, more than 31 yachts built before 1938 have competed in the race, including line honours winners Morna/Kurrewa IV (the same boat, renamed) and Astor, which were built in the 1920s.

Bruce Farr/Farr Yacht Design (NZL/USA) – can claim 20 overall wins from 1976 (with Piccolo) up to and including 2015 (with Balance)

Screw Loose (1979) – LOA 9.2m (30ft); Zeus II (1981) LOA 9.2m

TKlinger, NSW (1978) – LOA 8.23m (27ft)

Wild Oats XI (2012) – LOA 30.48m (100ft). Wild Oats XI had previously held the record in 2005 when she was 30m (98ft)

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