Displaying items by tag: Warships newbuilds

22nd October 2020

UK Shipyard that Built 'Beckett' Series for Irish Navy Given Warship Pledge at H&W Appledore

A UK Shipyard previously owned by Babcock Marine which built a quartet of 'Beckett' class OPV90's for the Irish Naval Service has been given a British MoD pledge to build a trio of warships creating 600 jobs.

A UK shipyard that built a quartet of 'Beckett' class OPV's for the Irish Naval Service has been given a British Ministry of Defence pledge to build three warships which has been hailed as good news for Appledore Shipyard in north Devon.

The shipyard has been actively seeking skilled boat builders after being bought by new operators Infrastrata, the asset management firm behind Harland & Wolff.

Tim Jones, chairman of the Appledore Taskforce and the South West Business Council, said if Appledore was successful in bidding for the work, it could see the ship yard back to full strength.

He said: "During the run up to the purchase of the Yard by InfraStrata, discussions took place with Senior officials in Whitehall, which gave encouragement to the prospect that MoD work would be directed to the Yard.

For much on the development BusinessLive reports.

Afloat adds asides the 'Beckett' OPV90 quartet (see photo caption), an earlier version in the form of the 'Roisin' OPV80 class pair were also built for the Naval Service at the south-west English shipyard though when owned by Appledore Shipbuilders.

Published in Shipyards

Tagged under

Beneteau 31.7 sailing in Ireland

In Ireland, the Beneteau First 31.7 Ireland One Design Class Association encourages and develop the use of the Beneteau First 31.7 yacht as a one-design keelboat, mainly for racing.

Each year the association stages national championships with boats coming from different sailing across Ireland. The main centre is Dun Laoghaire Harbour where the bulk of the fleet (15 boats) are based at the National Yacht club but are moored at Dun Laoghaire Marina.

The Beneteau 31.7 boat is not new to Dublin Bay, as boats of this size and type have competed in DBSC in the Cruiser 2 class for some years.

However during the 2006 season, due to their increased numbers, DBSC granted the class its own racing start, thereby facilitating one-design racing for this cruiser/racer.

Since then it has become one of the biggest one-design keelboat classes on the Bay.

One-design rules were drawn up to discourage modifications, maintain a level playing field and set a generally ‘Corinthian’ ethos.

To preserve the cruising dimension, the boat races with cushions aboard.

Numbers entered in DBSC have settled down to approx 15-18 boats, and regular Thursday and Saturday attendances over the season are usually of the order of 14 to 16 boats, reflecting good participation by members. Racing is close and competitive.

In addition to scratch results, ECHO results are also posted. This combines the best of both worlds, providing one-design racing which the members like, while also providing an incentive and interest in turning out for those boats who may not always approach podium position on scratch.

At A Glance – Beneteau First 31.7 Specifications

L.O.A 9.61 m
Hull length 9.50 m
L.W.L. 8.80 m
Beam 3.23 m
Draught min (Deep draught keel) Cast iron 1.90 m
Ballast weight (Deep draught keel) 1 025 kg
Air draught (max) 13.90 m
Light displacement (EC) 3 750 kg
Fuel capacity 30 l
Freshwater capacity 160 l
Engine power 21 HP