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Displaying items by tag: Irish Mercantile Marine

#EVENTS-The annual Seafarers Commemoration in Cork will be held at 12 noon, on 28th November in the Port of Cork Offices, Custom House Quay.

The event is organised by the Cork branch of the Maritime Institute of Ireland which also hosted the Seafarers Commemoration in Dublin last Sunday where a mass was held at City Quay Church. Wreaths were laid afterwards at the nearby Irish Seaman's National Memorial, for the men of the Irish mercantile marine who lost their lives at sea during the Second World War.

In the afternoon, a commemoration service of those who lost their lives on Irish ships also took place at Evensong in St. Patricks Cathedral.

As the 'family of the sea' gathered at the City Quay memorial, this provided an opportunity to reflect memories of former seafarers. In recent years, the memorial service has been extended to honour all Irish seafarers who have died at sea.

For further information detailing lists of Irish merchant ships lost during WW2 and the names of those seamen lost, click HERE in addition a short video clip depicting war footage and paintings of Irish vessels lost.

Yesterday marked the 20th anniversary of the sinking of the B&I Line containership Kilkenny in Dublin Bay in which three crew lost their lives in a collision with the German owned Lo/Lo Hasselwerder.

A memorial to the incident in 1991 is located at Irish Continental Group's (ICG) headquarters in Dublin Port, where the former state-run B&I Line was based before privatisation and sold to ICG's ferry subsidiary Irish Ferries.

Published in Boating Fixtures

SB20 (formerly Laser SB3) information

Designed by Tony Castro, the SB20 is a British-built strict one-design 6.15m keelboat conceived as a wide appeal, affordable, competitive sportsboat for teams of three or four sailors. It is also, arguably, the most successful sportsboat in the world with 800 owners competing regularly in a programme of exciting local, national and international events.

Originally known as the Laser SB3, the SB20 continues to deliver on its pioneering promise: a boat that is fun, fast and easy to sail by anyone of any age; the best value-for-money sportsboat in the market.

The Laser SB3 was designed by Castro and launched in 2002. In 2007 the Laser SB3 was awarded ISAF Recognised Status and the first World Championships were held in Ireland in 2008. In 2012, Tony Castro appointed a new builder, Sportsboat World. At this time, the Laser SB3 was renamed the SB20 and building was returned to the UK from Malaysia. The ethos of the class continues.

The boat is a strict one-design class, economic to buy and campaign, easy to sail with a simple deck layout and electric downwind performance delivered by the generous sail plan. The boat has a lifting keel, can easily be launched from a slipway and towed behind a family car.

Previous SB20 World Champions

2008 GBR: Geoff Carveth, Roger Gilbert, Roz Allen & Sarah Allan

Host National Yacht Club, Dun laoghaire, Ireland

2009 GBR: Craig Burlton, Stephen White, Adam Heeley

Host Clube Naval de Cascais, Cascais, Portugal

2010 GBR: Jerry Hill, Grant Rollerson, Joe Llewellyn

Host Circolo Vela Torbole, Lake Garda, Italy

2011 GBR: Geoff Carveth, Andy Ramus, Ian Mills & Emma Clarke

Host Royal Torbay Yacht Club, Torquay, UK

2012 GBR: Geoff Carveth, Lesley Dhonau, Roger Hudson & Asenathi Jim

Host Hamilton Island Yacht Club, Queensland, Australia

2013 GRB: Craig Burlton, Stephen White, Adam Heley Host COYCH Club, Hyeres, France