Menu

Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Displaying items by tag: LE Roisin

The Naval Service's OPV L.E. Roisin (P51) under the Command of Lt. Cdr. Peter Twomey is on a three-day visit to St. Petersburg in the Russian Federation, writes Jehan Ashmore.
L.E. Roisin is on a foreign trade deployment with calls to Helsinki, Tallinn and next Wednesday she is due to call to the Latvian capital Riga, where medical supplies are to be delivered on behalf of Adi Roche's Chernobyl Children's Project in Belarus, now in its 25th year of operations. Money to purchase the supplies were raised from a charity row-athon organised by the crew prior to departure.

Since Tuesday the offshore patrol vessel (OPV) has been berthed in the Baltic city of St. Petersburg. Her naval officers laid a wreath at the Piskarevskoye Memorial Cemetery. Also visited was the Central Naval Museum and the naval cruiser Aurora, where one of the first incidents of the 'October' Russian revolution took place in 1917.

Irish Ambassador to Russia Philip McDonagh boarded the L.E. Roisin yesterday to highlight Irish-Russian bi-lateral relationships and co-operation between the two countries in areas of economic, culture, education and tourism. In the first-half of 2010 bi-lateral trade with Russia was up 66% and St. Petersburg is the most important economic centre after Moscow.

The trade mission follows last year's visit of president Mary McAleese who became the first Irish head of state to visit Russia. On her visit which included St. Petersburg, she signed a protocol on partnership and co-operation between the Russian city and Dublin during the third St. Petersburg International Innovation Forum.

In March of this year representatives from St. Petersburg took part in the Russian Culture Festival in Dublin. Three months later in July, the Irish capital was visited by the Russian Naval destroyer Admiral Chabanenko (650), the flagship of the countries Northern Fleet. For more on that visit of the Udaloy –II class destroyer click HERE.

L.E. Roisin is not the first Irish Naval Service vessel to visit the Russian Federation as this accolade goes to the flagship L.E. Eithne (P31) which called to St. Petersburg in 2003.

Published in Navy
Page 2 of 2

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