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Displaying items by tag: Greenlink Interconnector Project

Following cable lay operations set to conclude this weekend, Greenlink Interconnector Ltd will perform cable burial and trenching activities along the planned interconnector route.

These activities will be undertaken between Saturday 13 April and Thursday 20 June, subject to weather and operational constraints.

Operations will take place along the planned interconnector route between the landfall location near Baginbun Beach in Co Wexford and the middle of the Irish Sea. Coordinates and maps can be found in Marine Notice No 21 of 2024, attached below.

The works will be performed by the trenching support vessel Symphony (callsign LXTT). This vessel will have a trenching vehicle deployed or a remotely operated vehicle for survey activities deployed over the side.

As the work vessel will be restricted in its ability to manoeuvre, all other vessels operating within this area are requested to keep a wide berth and pass at minimum speed to reduce vessel wash. The work vessel will be listening to VHF Channel 16 and can set any other channel as required.

For further details, including contact information, see the Marine Notice below.

Published in News Update

Following the recent pre-lay grapnel run, Greenlink Interconnector Ltd will be conducting offshore and nearshore operations for its electricity interconnector from Friday 22 March to Sunday 14 April, subject to weather and operational constraints.

Beach-pull operations in the nearshore are to be undertaken within around one nautical mile of Baginbun Beach. The cable lay operations following the beach pull operations, involving divers, will take place along the planned interconnector route from the landfall location at Baginbun Beach towards the middle of the interconnector route.

The operations will be conducted by three survey vessels: the multicat Forth Warrior (callsign 2JHR8), Connector (DP3) (callsign LXEV) and CRC Voyager (callsign MBZZ7).

These vessels carrying out the works will be restricted in their ability to manoeuvre, therefore all other passing vessels are requested to keep a wide berth and pass at minimum speed to reduce vessel wash. The vessels will display the appropriate lights and shapes if applicable (two black spheres and in the middle a black diamond shape, in a vertical line) and will monitor VHF Channel 16 at all times.

Coordinates and a map of the work area as well as contact details can be found in Marine Notice No 16 of 2024 attached below.

Published in News Update

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, Greenlink Interconnector Ltd is proposing to develop an electricity interconnector to allow for offshore cable installation and burial at a later stage.

A pre-lay grapnel run (PLGR) will be performed along the planned interconnector route to ensure clearance of debris from this Friday 15 March to next Tuesday 19 March, subject to weather and operational constraints.

During the PLGR, a grapnel shall be deployed on the planned cable route and dragged over the seabed. Whenever an increase in tension is recorded or in any case at five-kilometre intervals, the grapnel will be recovered cleaned and inspected. Afterwards, the grapnel will be redeployed to the seabed. The operation will be repeated until the complete route of about 80km has been finished.

The PLGR operations will take place along the planned interconnector route from the landfall location at Baginbun Beach towards the middle of the interconnector route.

Operations will be performed by the Forth Warrior (callsign 2JHR8). The vessel will have the PLGR grapnel deployed on the bow roller.

As the vessel will be restricted in its ability to maneuver, all other vessels operating within this area are requested to keep a wide berth and pass at minimum speed to reduce vessel wash. The vessel will be listening to VHF Channel 16 and can set any other channel as required.

Coordinates and a map of the work area as well as contact details can be found in Marine Notice No 15 of 2024, available to read or download HERE.

Published in News Update

Greenlink Interconnector Ltd (GIL) is proposing to develop an electricity interconnector between the southeast of Ireland, from Great Island in Co Wexford, to southwest Wales at Pembroke.

As part of these proposals, a pre-construction survey is expected to be carried out from today, Saturday 16 July to Tuesday 2 August, weather permitting.

The survey works will be conducted by the Geo Ocean V (callsign: 5BWE3), a multi-disciplined offshore survey vessel with hybrid propulsion fitted for geophysical and geotechnical survey work.

The vessel will have stern deployed equipment and will be restricted in manoeuvrability. All other vessels operating within this area are requested to keep their distance and pass at minimum speed to reduce vessel wash.

Throughout operations the Geo Ocean V will display all appropriate lights and shapes and will be listening to VHF Channel 16 but can set any other channel as required.

For coordinates and a map of the survey location as well as contact details, see Marine Notice No 45 of 2022 attached below.

Published in News Update

Howth 17 information

The oldest one-design keelboat racing class in the world is still competing today to its original 1897 design exclusively at Howth Yacht club.

Howth 17 FAQs

The Howth 17 is a type of keelboat. It is a 3-man single-design keelboat designed to race in the waters off Howth and Dublin Bay.

The Howth Seventeen is just 22ft 6ins in hull length.

The Howth 17 class is raced and maintained by the Association members preserving the unique heritage of the boats. Association Members maintain the vibrancy of the Class by racing and cruising together as a class and also encourage new participants to the Class in order to maintain succession. This philosophy is taken account of and explained when the boats are sold.

The boat is the oldest one-design keelboat racing class in the world and it is still racing today to its original design exclusively at Howth Yacht club. It has important historical and heritage value keep alive by a vibrant class of members who race and cruise the boats.

Although 21 boats are in existence, a full fleet rarely sails buy turnouts for the annual championships are regularly in the high teens.

The plans of the Howth 17 were originally drawn by Walter Herbert Boyd in 1897 for Howth Sailing Club. The boat was launched in Ireland in 1898.

They were originally built by John Hilditch at Carrickfergus, County Down. Initially, five boats were constructed by him and sailed the 90-mile passage to Howth in the spring of 1898. The latest Number 21 was built in France in 2017.

The Howth 17s were designed to combat local conditions in Howth that many of the keel-less boats of that era such as the 'Half-Rater' would have found difficult.

The original fleet of five, Rita, Leila, Silver Moon, Aura and Hera, was increased in 1900 with the addition of Pauline, Zaida and Anita. By 1913 the class had increased to fourteen boats. The extra nine were commissioned by Dublin Bay Sailing Club for racing from Kingstown (Dún Laoghaire) - Echo, Sylvia, Mimosa, Deilginis, Rosemary, Gladys, Bobolink, Eileen and Nautilus. Gradually the boats found their way to Howth from various places, including the Solent and by the latter part of the 20th century they were all based there. The class, however, was reduced to 15 due to mishaps and storm damage for a few short years but in May 1988 Isobel and Erica were launched at Howth Yacht Club, the boats having been built in a shed at Howth Castle - the first of the class actually built in Howth.

The basic wooden Howth 17 specification was for a stem and keel of oak and elm, deadwood and frames of oak, planking of yellow pine above the waterline and red pine below, a shelf of pitch pine and a topstrake of teak, larch deck-beams and yellow pine planking and Baltic spruce spars with a keel of lead. Other than the inclusion of teak, the boats were designed to be built of materials which at that time were readily available. However today yellow pine and pitch pine are scarce, their properties of endurance and longevity much appreciated and very much in evidence on the original five boats.

 

It is always a busy 60-race season of regular midweek evening and Saturday afternoon contests plus regattas and the Howth Autumn League.

In 2017, a new Howth 17 Orla, No 21, was built for Ian Malcolm. The construction of Orla began in September 2016 at Skol ar Mor, the boat-building school run by American Mike Newmeyer and his dedicated team of instructor-craftsmen at Mesquer in southern Brittany. In 2018, Storm Emma wrought extensive destruction through the seven Howth Seventeens stored in their much-damaged shed on Howth’s East Pier at the beginning of March 2018, it was feared that several of the boats – which since 1898 have been the very heart of Howth sailing – would be written off. But in the end only one – David O’Connell’s Anita built in 1900 by James Clancy of Dun Laoghaire – was assessed as needing a complete re-build. Anita was rebuilt by Paul Robert and his team at Les Ateliers de l’Enfer in Douarnenez in Brittany in 2019 and Brought home to Howth.

The Howth 17 has a gaff rig.

The total sail area is 305 sq ft (28.3 m2).

©Afloat 2020