Displaying items by tag: Company closes

11th January 2023

Rathlin Island Ferry Company Closes Down Route to Ballycastle Harbour

The ferry operator which serves Rathlin Island off the Antrim coast has ceased trading due to "financial difficulty".

Rathlin Island Ferry Limited which operates between Rathlin Island and Ballycastle Harbour, in a Directors statement expressed "regret" as it announced that its last sailing (today, 11 January) will depart the mainland at 16.00 GMT.

The company using a fast-craft catamaran and car-ferry, added that an insolvency practitioner has been appointed to place the firm into liquidation.

The six-mile route is where RIFL had operated on behalf of the Department for Infrastructure which Afloat adds awarded a contract to Arklow Marine Services to build a car-ferry. The 6 vehicle ferry, Spirit of Rathlin entered service in 2017.

According to a DFI spokesperson, they were notified on Wednesday that the company was to cease trading with immediate effect.

The closure of RIFL follows strike action by ferry workers over pay and conditions which led to sailings cancelled. In addition weeks of engagement were held between the Department for Infrastructure and the ferry operator about the contract and the company's financial position.

The DFI spokesperson also added that it recognised the importance of the ferry service for the local community.

The Island has a population of around 150 residents.

BBC News NI has more details of the company's closure and response from local politicians.

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About the 29er Skiff Dinghy

The 29er is a one-design double-handed, single trapeze skiff for youth sailors.

There is an active class in Ireland, just one of the 38-countries from across all continents now racing the high-performance skiff.

The 29er is one of the latest dinghy classes to arrive in Ireland and has a 50/50 split between boys and girls.

The class like to describe the boat as "The most popular skiff for sailors who want to go fast!".

Derived from the Olympic class 49er class and designed by Julian Bethwaite the 29er was first produced in 1998.

Two sailors sail the 29er, one on trapeze.

The 6.25-metre high rig features a fractional asymmetrical spinnaker; a self-tacking jib decreases the workload of the crew, making manoeuvres more efficient and freeing the crew to take the mainsheet upwind and on two-sail reaches.

The 15.00 m2 spinnaker rigging set-up challenges crews to be fit and coordinated, and manoeuvres in the boat require athleticism due to its lack of inherent stability and the high speed with which the fully battened mainsail and jib power up.

The 74kg weight hull is constructed of fibreglass-reinforced polyester in a foam sandwich layout.

The fully battened mainsail and jib are made from a transparent Mylar laminate with orange or red Dacron trimming, while the spinnaker is manufactured from ripstop Nylon.

The mast is in three parts - an aluminium bottom and middle section, with a polyester-fibreglass composite tip to increase mast bend and decrease both overall weights, and the capsizing moment a heavy mast tip can generate. Foils are aluminium or fibreglass.

About the ILCA/Laser Dinghy

The ILCA, formerly known as the Laser, is the most produced boat in the world, with 220,000 units built since 1971.

It's easy to see why the single-handed dinghy has won the title of the most widely distributed boat of all time.

The Laser is a one-design dinghy, the hulls being identical but three rigs that can be used according to the size and weight of the sailor.

The class is international, with sailors from 120 countries. The boat has also been an Olympic class since 1996, being both the men's and women's singlehanded dinghy.

Three rigs are recognised by the International Laser Class Association (ILCA):

ILCA 4: sail of 4.70m2

ILCA 6: sail of 5.76 m2

ILCA 7: sail of 7.06 m2