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Displaying items by tag: Astrid 'Gathering of the Sea'

#astrid – A month after she hit rocks near Oysterhaven, Kinsale, County Cork, during the Irish Sailing Association (ISA) Gathering Cruise, the 42–metre Dutch Tall Ship Astrid makes a sad picture, still trapped on rocks, her beautiful sails torn and ripped by the sea but amazingly her rig still intact.

A night before the accident, on July 23rd, the only square rigger on the cruise, made for an altogether different picture moored in Oysterhaven Bay.

24 hours later, the 100–year–old vessel hit rocks inside the Sovereign Islands at Ballymacus Point, near Kinsale during a promotional photocall.

The training ship had lost power and was apparently driven on to rocks by a strong southerly wind at the western entrance to Kinsale Harbour. The grounded vessel quickly took on water.

A lot has happened since then, none of it for the good of Astrid though. Thoughts of any salvage attempt of this great hull have fast receded. For now the scene is just a daily reminder why water safety cannot be taken for granted and how impressive the Irish Rescue services were on July 24th, rescuing all 30 crew and trainees.  A number of accident investigations are underway.

For all Afloat's previous stories on the Tall Ship Astrid Rescue click this link.

Published in Tall Ships

#TallShips - Sail Training Ireland and Dutch based At Sea Sail Training are to the host the "Gathering at Sea" between 14-28 July.

This event will see the Tall Ship Astrid sail from Southampton to Cherbourg via Kinsale.

The 14 day voyage is part funded by the European Youth in Action Project and is the goal of International Exchanges to unite youngsters from all over Europe.

Sailing a vessel together is the best way to experience each other's cultures in real life. As we would like to offer this experience to as many young people as possible, we apply for funding with the EU program Youth in Action.

The Astrid, "Gathering at Sea" is available for 15-25 year olds and the European Union exchange programme as stated above to take in the following ports of Southampton to Cherbourg via Kinsale. Participating countries are from France, The Netherlands, UK and Ireland.

The costs are: €925 (normal fee €1,295), due to funding from the EU the price is reduced and where there is to be a 70 % of the transfer costs back). For further details contact Monique in At Sea Sail Training at this email: [email protected]

Published in Tall Ships

Dun Laoghaire Regatta 2023 Coastal Class

Two Irish hopes in the 2023 Fastnet Race from Cowes will compete first in a 20-boat Coastal Class at July's Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta (VDLR).

Pre-event favourites must be the First 50 Checkmate XX, fresh from Sovereign's Cup victory (three wins from four races sailed) and the Grand Soleil 44 Samatom.

Four races and one discard for the coastal division will be under International Race Officer Con Murphy.

The course will be decided on the race day and communicated to each skipper via a dedicated Offshore WhatsApp group at least one hour before the start. 

The finish will be between the Pier Ends at the Dun Laoghaire Harbour entrance. The finishing time will be taken from the Yellowbrick tracker system.

The class will be the first to start on Thursday, with a warning signal at 1425 and 0955 on Friday. Coastal starts at 1055 on Saturday and 0955 on Sunday. 

The course will use DBSC Marks, Volvo Yellow inflatable Top Hat and Shipping Navigation Marks.

Dun Laoghaire Regatta 2023 Coastal Class Entries

GBR 8859R Jackknife J125 Andrew Hall Pwllheli
GBR 8911R Jezebel J111 1.093 Cris Miles Pwllheli Sailing Club
IRL 3435 Albireo 0.928 David Simpson RIYC
IRL 9898 Indecision J109 1.007 Declan Hayes RIYC
IRL 811 RAPTOR 1.007 Fintan Cairns RIYC
GER 6577 Opal 1.432 Frank Whelan GSC
GBR 9740R SLOOP JOHN T SWAN 40 Iain Thomson
IRL 1507 1.057 James Tyrrell ASC
IRL 1129 Jump The Gun J109 1.005 John M Kelly RIYC
GBR 7536R Hot Cookie Sunfast 3600 John O'Gorman NYC
IRL 3471 Black Velvet 0.979 Leslie Parnell RIYC
IRL 4007 Tsunami First 40.7 Michelle Farreall National Yacht Club
IRL 66 Checkmate XX 1.115 Nigel BIGGS HYC
GBR 6695R Wild Haggis Farr 30 1.060 Nigel Ingram Holyhead
GBR 9496T Bojangles J109 0.999 Paul HAMPSON Liverpool Yacht Club
IRL 1367 Boomerang Beneteau 36.7 0.997 Paul Kirwan
GBR 8992R Lightning Farr 30 1.074 Paul Sutton Holyhead Sailing Club
GBR 9047R Mojito J109 Peter Dunlop Pwllheli SC - RDYC
GBR 9244R Samatom Grand Soleil 44R 1.134 Robert Rendell HYC
IRL 44444 Magic Touch 0.979 Steve Hayes GSC
IRL 3317 Scotia First 31.7 0.930 Terence Fair Ballyholme yacht club
GBR 5373 Honey Bee Hunter HB31 0.900 William Partington Pwllheli Sailing Club / SCYC