Galway Maritime Festival attracts large Crowds

About 150,000 people from all over Ireland and from abroad have come to Galway for this long weekend to attend the city's two-week-long maritime festival, which is organised to celebrate the stop-over of the 2008/2009 Volvo Ocean Race (see my entry of May 24th).

According to experts, the Volvo Ocean Race is 'the 6th-biggest sporting event in the world', and the fastest and most expensive sailing boats ever built are taking part in the 37,000 mile round-the-globe challenge.

The Garda Síochána appeals to motorists travelling west to allow themselves "considerable additional time for their journeys", as long tail-backs are expected on the roads to Galway.

Fáilte Ireland, our usually quite useless tourist board, says that it now believes the additional income from the festival will far exceed the € 43 million it had originally predicted.

Attendance figures will set new records for a maritime event in the West of Ireland, but they will not reach the numbers Waterford has seen four years ago, when we hosted the start of the 2005 International Tall Ships' Race. In only four days, during which we had 88 sailing vessels in port - including 28 famous class A ships (which are at least 40 metres long, but many are a lot larger) - Waterford registered more than 450,000 visitors to the city (which has only about 60,000 inhabitants).

In two years' time - in early June of 2011 - we will host the same event again and I am looking forward to it already in great and happy anticipation.

The Emerald Islander

Volvo Ocean Race reaches Galway

Regular readers know that I am an old sailor and retired naval officer. And some also know that I am still involved with the sailing community, including STI (Sail Training International). So anything that involves ships, boats and the sea does naturally interest me. However, I am not a great friend and supporter of completely commercialised events that are predominantly large advertisement boards for numerous big companies, with the sailing vessels and their crews degraded to mere 'supporting acts' in the corporate show of vanity.

From today on the spotlight will be on Galway, the largest city in the West of Ireland, which is hosting a two-week-long maritime festival to celebrate their participation in the 2008/2009 international round-the-globe Volvo Ocean Race.

In the early hours of this morning the participating boats entered the port of Galway, finishing the 7th leg (of ten) in this demanding race. They had left the US port of Boston at 1300 h local time (1700 h GMT/1800 h BST) on May 16th for their 2550 nm course to Galway, via St. John's (Newfoundland).
The first boat to arrive in Galway was the Ericsson 4 at 0054 h GMT (0154 h BST), winning leg 7 of the race in a time of 7 days, 10 hours, 33 minutes and 51 seconds. Thus Ericsson 4 gained 8 more points, extending her position as the overall race leader with now 94.0 points on the board.

The Irish-Chinese boat Green Dragon - which obviously attracts the greatest interest and support among the maritime community in Ireland - entered Galway at 0315 h GMT (0415 h BST), finishing leg 7 in third position (behind the Puma, which was the runner-up in the Boston to Galway race).
Overall the Green Dragon is now in 5th position (out of 8) on the board, with a total of 53.0 points.

The international round-the-globe Ocean Race, which is one of the most challenging competitions of its kind, began in 1973 (then under the name of a different sponsor) and was inspired by the achievements of two great British sailors, Sir Francis Chichester and Sir Robin Knox-Johnston.

The 2008/2009 race started last October in the Spanish port of Alicante, with the first leg going all the way across the South Atlantic, down to Cape Town (above) in South Africa.
From there the boats set course for Cochin in India (leg 2), and after some rest they continued east-southeast to Singapore (leg 3). Leaving the 'Pearl of the East' on January 18th, the fleet sailed north on leg 4, to Qingdao (formerly the German colony Tsingtao) in China. From there they set out on leg 5, the longest and toughest part of the competition, with a 12,300 nm course across the Southern Pacific and around Cape Horn (which is the most difficult thing to do for any sailor).
Having left Qingdao on February 14th, only five of the boats - including the Green Dragon - made it through leg 5 and arrived at Rio de Janeiro in late March. It took Ericsson 3 - the winner of this leg - 40 days, 23 hours and 26 minutes of sailing to reach Rio, and the last of the competitors came into port three days later.
After some welcome rest days in sunny Rio de Janeiro, the fleet set sails again on April 11th, embarking on leg 6 of the race to Boston, Massachusetts (below), which they reached on April 26th (and left again for Galway on May 16th).

With seven of the ten legs finished, the overall race positions of the boats are as follows:

1. Ericsson 4 (94.0 points)
2. Telefonica Blue (81.0 points)
3. Puma Ocean Racing (80.0 points)
4. Ericsson 3 (62.5 points)
5. Green Dragon (53.0 points)
6. Telefonica Black (39.0 points)
7. Delta Lloyd (31.0 points)
8. Team Russia (10.5 points)

On June 6th leg 8 of the race will be started in Galway, sending the boats on a 1250 nm course to the Swedish port of Gotenburg-Marstrand. From there they will go on a short course (leg 9) to Stockholm, and the final leg will bring them from the Swedish capital to St. Petersburg in Russia, where this year's race ends after more than 37,000 nm.

Until June 6th the city of Galway, despite her still unsolved problems with the local drinking water (see my entries of September 23rd, 24th, 27th & 30th, 2008), is hosting a huge festival, which includes all kinds of the arts, music and performances.
Galway has a long reputation for her artists and cultural diversity, as well a being a 'fun city'. So I presume they will make a good effort to please the many visitors that are expected over the two weeks.
But even more interesting for the City Council and Galway's business people are the € 43 million of extra income for the local economy the two-week-long festival is expected to create.
And, given the fact that we have local government elections on June 5th, the sitting members of Galway City Council should also benefit from the additional 'feel-good factor'.

The Emerald Islander

Vendée Globe Race 2008/2009 started

Today, at precisely 13.02 h local time (12.02 pm GMT), the 2008/2009 Vendée Globe Race was started in the port of Les Sables d'Olonne on the French Atlantic coast.

Despite severe weather conditions about 300,000 people had gathered at the port to see the 30 competing yachts off. Many of the spectators were lined up tight on the seawalls, ignoring the rain, storm and high waves, to bid the skippers a cheerful farewell.

The Vendée Globe is a non-stop sailing event for single-handed yachts, covering an average of 27,000 miles, and regarded as the toughest challenge a sailor can face on this planet.
Unlike the Velux Oceans Race, which breaks the event up into three legs, the Vendée Globe goes non-stop across some very inhospitable stretches of ocean. It is the ultimate test of both skipper and equipment.
More than a third of the boats that entered the 2004/05 race were forced to retire, and there were even fatalities in the 1992/93 and 1996/97 events.

From the start at the French coast the race goes south through the Atlantic, passing Madeira, the Canaries and the Cape Verdes, and then along the eastern coast of South America around the feared Cape Horn into the Pacific. The course continues then across the southern Pacific and - leaving Australia to the north - into the southern Indian Ocean, sailing through the infamous and dangerous 'roaring forties' past the Kerguelen Islands towards the Cape of Good Hope on the southern tip of Africa, but bypassing it in a fair distance. Halfway between Africa and South America then the course will be changed to straight north, and the final stretch - known among the competitors as 'the home run' - begins, leading all the way back to Les Sables d'Olonne

The Vendée Globe is also essentially a French event, created and developed by tough French yachtsmen, who have so far always won the race, which is very strongly supported by the French public and media. (Some commentators even call it "the Tour de France of the Sea".)
Even though there are more foreign sailors competing in recent races, 17 - more than half - of the skippers in this year's event are French.
With seven competitors - including the only two women - the UK has the second-largest national contingent in the race. There are also two Swiss skippers, and one each from Austria, Canada, Spain and the USA.

Although the skippers are alone in their boat and can never sleep longer than 20 minutes at one time, they now have quite considerable assistance from many different gadgets. This technology makes sailing the yacht easier and it also means that the skippers can be in contact with their onshore support team around the clock.
Demands to update blogs, video diaries, and calls to do live interviews with the media mean that some of the equipment has to be very advanced. It also has to be robust. Boats are frequently battered by the waves and salt spray will wreck any exposed electrical equipment.

One of the seven British yachts that entered the race this year - the Aviva (right) - is skippered by 35-year-old Dee Caffari (below left) from Fareham in Hampshire, the first woman who sailed single-handed the "wrong way" (against the prevailing winds) around the world two years ago.
On board her 72-foot boat, designed for a crew, she struggled for six months to complete this long and dangerous voyage around the planet in 178 days, 3 hours and 5 minutes. She thus entered the history books and earned herself great respect and admiration in the sailing community.

The second female skipper in this year's event is 34-year-old Samantha Davies (right), originally from Portsmouth, but now living in Concarneau in France.
"I'm really excited and relieved the race is finally here. I've been preparing for nearly two years and everything is pretty much ready," she said before the start.
"The most important thing for me is to finish. There are 20 new yachts in this race and Roxy - my boat - is quite an old lady. Realistically it will be really hard to win, and I'm very humble about being in this race."

The Roxy (right) might be "an old lady", but she is a yacht with a very serious pedigree. She won the last two Vendée Globe races under previous skippers and having a different name then.

It remains to be seen if her good luck continues and if she can win a third time in a row, which would be not only the first victory for a female skipper, but also the first time a non-French competitor in the Vendée Globe wins the race. But until then a lot can happen, and the approximately three months at sea will be hard for all 30 particpants, in particular the two English women, who are both first-time competitors in this challenging event.

They hope to follow in the footsteps of the now famous Ellen MacArthur, who - then aged 25 - came second in the 2001/02 Vendée Globe race and broke in 2005 the world record for the fastest solo circumnavigation of the globe.

The Emerald Islander

UPDATE

One of the two Swiss sailors - Bernard Stamm - had already some bad luck. His yacht Cheminées Poujoulat collided with a French fishing boat 72 miles after the start and had to return to port with a broken bowsprit. Stamm is however optimistic that repairs can be carried out fast and has declared he will not give up and sail on again as soon as possible. I wish him the best of luck.

Was Asgard II missing a 'Sea-Cock'?

Investigators charged with finding the reasons for the sinking of the Irish national sail training vessel Asgard II in the early hours of September 11th in the Bay of Biscay are said to be focusing on the possibility that the absence of a valve or 'sea-cock' could have been responsible for the loss of the brigantine.

Even though an underwater-inspection of the wreck with a remote-controlled camera vehicle has found that one of her hull planks is damaged, it is not thought that the Asgard II collided with a rock or an other object, as none of the five regular crew members and 20 trainees on board reported feeling any bump.

The French and Irish maritime authorities are conducting their separate investigations, trying to find out why the 27-year-old training vessel sank after it was rapidly overcome with an influx of water in the Bay of Biscay, off the French coast south-west of Belle-Île-en-Mer.

The vessel's insurers, who are facing a pay-out of € 3.8 million, are also carrying out their own investigation. As soon as further information is available, I will post it here.

The Emerald Islander

P.S. Those readers who wish to learn more about the loss of the Asgard II and the news that have emerged so far might also be interested to read my earlier entries of September 11th & 13th and October 3rd, 5th, 12th, 18th & 29th.

Ex-Minister supports the Raising of Asgard II

Robert 'Bobby' Molloy (photo left), a former Irish Minister for Defence, is supporting calls for the raising of the Asgard II from the seabed in the Bay of Biscay, where she sank in the early hours of September 11th. (see my entry of that day)

During his time as Minister for Defence, Robert Molloy approved the original funding to build the brigantine specifically as Ireland's national sail training vessel.

In an interview with Ireland's national broadcaster RTÉ, Mr. Molloy said that the Asgard II (archive photo right) had made "a huge contribution to the nation, training thousands of young people and helping to formulate their characters".

He emphasised that it was "essential for safety at sea to know what has happened to the vessel" and that the State should continue to provide sail training for young people in the future.

Two separate investigations by the Irish Marine Casualty Investigation Board (MCIB) and by the French maritime authorities have not been concluded yet, and the current Minister for Defence Willie O'Dea told the Dáil that tenders for lifting the Asgard II from the seabed will close next Friday.

The costs for a salvage operation are expected to be substantial, but since the vessal was insured for € 3.8 million, that amount of money should be well sufficient to raise and restore her.

Willie O'Dea (photo left) said that Coiste an Asgard, the committee which runs the vessel's operations (and which he chairs), has also been looking at a possible replacement to continue national sail training, but has not yet made a decision.

Mr. Molloy, who retired from politics in 2002, said he had met with the present minister and that many people were concerned about the future of the Asgard II. He called on all sailing people to make their voices heard, in order to get the sunken brigantine salvaged and returned to service.

Regular readers of this weblog will know that I have done this already for the past six weeks, and even made further suggestions. (see also my entries of September 13th and October 3rd, 5th, 12th & 18th)
I will continue to do so and welcome the statement and support of Bobby Molloy. Without his clear vision and determination in the early 1980s the Asgard II might not exist at all, and he is a most welcome ally in the campaign to safe her from an eternal grave beneath the waves.

The Emerald Islander

Irish Shipbuilding Skills are sufficient for the Construction of a new Sail Training Vessel

According to several experts in traditional ship and boat building, a possible replacement for the sail training vessel Asgard II (archive photo left), which sank off the coast of France on September 11th (see my entry of that day), could be built in Ireland with existing Irish skills and craftsmanship.

Michael Kennedy and Bill Crampton, the two shipwrights who led the construction of the replica famine ship Dunbrody - a three-masted barque now moored as a museum vessel in New Ross, Co. Wexford - have told the Irish Times that their entire team is "still alive and well" and "available for such a project", should it become necessary.

A suitable premises for building a new vessel may also be available in the south-east of Ireland - most likely the place in New Ross where the Dunbrody was built - to ensure that it would be ready in time for the next Irish hosting of the International Tall Ships' Race, in 2011 here in Waterford.

Ireland's Minister for Defence Willie O'Dea, who is also chairman of Coiste an Asgard, had expressed concern about the availability of skills in Ireland to build a replacement, if such a decision was taken.
O'Dea was commenting after the sinking of the 27-year-old brigantine in the Bay of Biscay, but before an inspection of the vessel had taken place.

Now Coiste an Asgard is hoping to raise and repair the sunken vessel, which has meanwhile been inspected and found widely intact, sitting upright on the seabed, with only minor visible damage to the hull. (see my entry of October 3rd)
Insurers are assessing the situation, and an investigation into the cause of the sinking is still being conducted by Irish and French maritime authorities.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Defence said that it was "still too early to say whether any attempt would be made to salvage the Asgard II", lying in 80 metres of water, or rather build a replacement.

The beautiful green-painted brigantine, designed and built in 1980-81 by Jack Tyrrell of Arklow, Co. Wicklow, was insured for € 3.8 million. The Dunbrody construction team said this could provide "vital seed capital" to build a new training ship for the Irish State.

Up to 65 people worked on the construction of the Dunbrody in New Ross, Co. Wexford, which was launched by former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern in February 2001. The project was initiated by Seán Reidy of the John F. Kennedy Trust, and based on the design of an emigrant ship built in Quebec/Canada for a New Ross merchant family in 1845.

Over the ten years it took to build the replica Dunbrody (in the foreground below), extensive skill training took place at the wharf, and the national training authority FÁS was heavily involved in it as well. The building of the Dunbrody cost a total of € 6 million, including FÁS labour, whereas the Kerry-built replica famine ship Jeanie Johnston (in the background below) ran well over budget and cost eventually € 15.8 million.

Michael Kennedy said that - in addition to his own team - several craftsmen involved in the construction of the Jeanie Johnston also had sufficient skills to work on a new vessel, and he hoped that the maritime sector would co-operate on such an initiative if it was approved by the Irish government.

"We've had a sail training ship since the foundation of the State, starting with the original Asgard," he explained, "and it would be a terrible pity if we did not have one in future."

Bill Crampton added that proposals to hire the Jeanie Johnston to continue the sail training programme "might meet a short-term need, but it would not be a suitable successor to the Asgard II".

I completely agree with both statements, as I have already expressed in previous articles here. And I would even suggest that building a new (second) sail training vessel for the State should be considered, even if the Asgard II can be salvaged and put back into service.
In the 1980s, when she was constructed, the interest in sail training was very limited in Ireland. The Asgard II was purpose-built as a brigantine to fulfil the Irish need and demand of the time. But now her limited capacity of only 20 trainee places is almost too small for the meanwhile increased interest in sailing and sail training here.

Especially in recent years - due to the great success of the annual Tall Ships' Race and other major sailing regattas and events for tall ships - the idea of sailing and using tall ships for training and team building exercises for young people has become very popular.
Being an island nation with a long and considerable seafaring tradition, Ireland could well afford and sustain two sail training vessels.

The element of costs will of course be a major argument in the current times of recession and global financial crisis. But I would not worry about that. If organised properly, the money for a new vessel could be raised through public subscription. There are many wealthy people in Ireland and around the world, and many of them are sailing enthusiasts.

I would be prepared, willing and more than happy to organise the fund-raising activity for a new Irish sail training vessel and have in fact already made some contacts with other people in the sailing community about it. The reactions I received are all very positive, so now it is up to the government and Coiste an Asgard to make a decision.

The Emerald Islander

Answers to Questions regarding Asgard II

A week ago I wrote my third article about the loss of the Irish sail training vessel Asgard II (seen here moored at Cork in 2003), which sank off the French coast in the Bay of Biscay on September 11th. (see my entry of that day)

One of my readers - Ronnie - has left a comment with this post and asked 5 questions, which I will answer below to the best of my knowledge and ability.

1) Approx How much would it cost to buy the Prince William?

This is a very good question, but at this point in time I don't have a precise answer for it. I will make further inquiries, and should I be given a specific sum, I will come back to you in a later post.

In general, vessels of this kind and size don't come cheap, especially if they are in good condition, which the Prince William certainly is. There is currently another brig on the market - one that is older than the Prince William and based in Germany - and her owners are looking for € 2.4 million. However, if they can get that amount in the present climate of world-wide economic crisis and recession is somewhat doubtful. Like with everything else, the market forces of supply and demand determine the price for a ship or vessel. If an owner is in desperate need of cash, he might sell at a price below the actual value, and a buyer in urgent need of a vessel might pay more than he would under normal conditions. As things are now, it is more a buyer's market. So negotiating and even a bit of haggling might well be worth one's while.

2) Is there superstitions with sailing on a vessel that have sunk before?

There are many people who have superstitions of all sorts and kinds, and the sailing community is no exception to that. However, the kind of superstitions many sailors had in less enlightened times in the past have almost all disappered from today's modern sailing community. At least I have not encountered any of them in more than thirty years at sea.
One might be thinking of things like the 'Klabautermann' or the ship's 'kobold', or perhaps of the old tale of the sacred Albatros, who would bring doom to a ship if he was killed. Very well-known is also the superstition of the 'Jonah', a crew member or passenger on board who brings the ship bad luck.
And there is the even older superstition that a woman on board will attract bad spirits to a vessel and its crew.
All those were the products of times when sailors were widely uneducated and often illiterate, but to a great extend influenced by religious believes and doctrines, superstitions and old sagas and tales. Today's sailors are modern people, and live in a world of information and technology. Thus these old superstitions are gone for good.
This goes especially for the idea that a woman on board means bad luck. There are many women in all sorts of ships and vessels these days, in passenger ships, ferries and cruise liners, and they serve with equal rights in most of the world's navies. (Norway has even a female officer in charge of one of their submarines now.) And on many modern sail training vessels the number of female trainees often exceeds the number of their male crew mates.

However, the superstition you mention in particular still exists to a certain extend, though I would see it more as a fear or general safety concern than a traditional superstition. There are people who would not buy and drive a second-hand car that was involved in an accident, or buy a house damaged by a fire. The same goes for ships. Some people would not sail in a ship that had a fire or major accident, and this goes especially for vessels put back into service after having sunk and being subsequently salvaged and repaired.

Personally I do not share such fears. Modern technology is very advanced, and any vessel that had the bad luck to founder - usually under heavy weather conditons - and is salvaged and repaired, will be as safe as any other. In fact, one can assume that the owners will make sure that all possible safety measures are put in place, perhaps even more than the ship had before, to avoid a repeat of the traumatic event as much as it possible.
There is never a 100% guarantee, and any ship or vessel can get into trouble if the conditions are bad enough. And of course it is a free world we live in, so no-one is forced to sail in a vessel that has sunk before.

3) Is there problems that can occur later after a vessel has been recovered and repaired?

Well, as I said already above, there is never a 100% guarantee, and any ship or vessel can get into trouble if the conditions are bad enough. If a sunken vessel is deemed fit to be raised and repaired, it means that it is still in good enough condition for further service. Otherwise one would not spend the time, energy and money on it.

When repairs are carried out, they are done professionally and to the best of people's ability. Often a salvaged vessel is modernised and further improved in the process of repair, to make it stronger and better and avoid future calamities.
For the general stability and service ability of a ship it also depends to a certain extent on the conditions under which she sank, which parts were damaged, how badly and by what cause.
For example, ships that were torpedoed or ran onto a mine during a war would have substantial structural damage to the hull. Even after proper and professional repair that can mean a certain structural vulnerability of the vessel. Nevertheless many ships who suffered such a fate have been raised, repaired and put back into service, some in their previous role, others were given less hazardous duties (e.g. as training ships, coastal patrol vessels or storage hulks).

In case of the Asgard II it appears that she is still in pretty good shape and almost undamaged. She sits upright on the bottom of the sea, which means that her masts should be alright, too. Inspection has found light damage to one hull panel, but it is not certain if that damage occurred before and was the reason for her sinking, or if it happened when she hit the seabed.
I am no shipwright or engineer, but from what I know a salvage and repair should be possible and not even too difficult. And after a proper repair I would deem her as safe and stable as any other vessel.

4) Why the sailing community would prefer to see her fixed and not replaced with a larger vessel offering greater training opportunities?

The reasons for that are mainly sentimemtal. There are certainly people who would favour a larger vessel as replacement for Asgard II, as it would indeed offer more places for trainees. When Asgard II was built in 1981, sail training - in Ireland as well as anywhere else - was not as popular as it is now. So the vessel was designed for the needs of a small country like Ireland. At the time no-one would have expected that the tall ships would return from the obscurity of history and become very popular again.
If we would build a sail training vessel for Ireland today - and perhaps we still might have to do that if a salvage of Asgard II is not possible or financially not viable - it would naturally be of a larger size, most likely a brig or even a barque instead of a brigantine.

But one should not underestimate the sentimentalities of sailors. As much as superstitions have now disappeared from the seafaring community, we are still quite a sentimental lot. Each ship and vessel has her own personality, almost like a human being, and emotions are invested in the relationships sailors have with their vessel.
Asgard II has always been a 'happy ship' and was very popular with sailors and the general public alike. And this was not limited to Ireland. Quite the opposite. Even though we are an island and thus surrounded by the sea, the sailing community here is still relatively small.
But through her voyages around the world, visits to many foreign ports and participation in the international Tall Ships' Races the Asgard II has made many friends in many countries. They all were saddened by her sinking and would be very happy to see her salvaged and sail again.

There is also one other aspect that has to be taken into consideration. As the cause of the sinking of Asgard II is yet unknown and the circumstances - as far as we know them - are somewhat unusual, a full and close-up inspection of the vessel is very much desired, in order to establish without doubt what actually happened. This could well be attempted by divers, but it would be a lot more thorough when done by experts on the surface. For that a raising of the sunken vessel is a prerequisite.

5) Why do you think building a new vessel is not the favoured option for Coiste an Asgard?

This answer is easy: Money. As the Asgard II is of course insured, the costs for salvaging and repair would be a matter for the insurance underwriters. Thus the State and Coiste an Asgard would get their vessel back into service at almost no expense.
It also makes no sense to leave a perfectly operable vessel with only slight damage to rot at the bottom of the sea, where she would disintegrate over time and be lost forever.

The only real advantage the building or acquisition of a new - and larger - vessel would give is an increased number of training places. And this alone is not a strong argument with Coiste an Asgard.
In case a replacement for Asgard II would be needed, buying an existing vessel - like the above mentioned Prince William - would be preferred to building an entirely new one in Ireland. Again money is the main factor here, and there is also the element of time. Depending on type and size of the new vessel, and the shipyard chosen to build her, it could easily take years before she would put to sea.
This means a loss of income as well as a loss of skills and experience for Coiste an Asgard. And a new construction would undoubtedly be far more expensive than the purchase of an existing vessel, which would be ready to sail almost immediately after acquisition.
Given the current recession and world crisis, with good negotiations one might even be able to obtain a brig like Prince William second-hand for the money the insurance underwriters would have to pay out in case of a total loss.
Nevertheless, the best and also least expensive option remains a salvage and repair, and I am sure that Coiste an Asgard will do that, unless unforeseen technical problems should stand in the way.

Thank you for your questions, and I hope you will find my answers satisfactory. Keep reading this weblog for any further developments regarding Asgard II and other sailing matters. And feel free to ask any questions you have. They are as welcome as you are.

The Emerald Islander

O'Dea: Asgard's Fate depends on Insurers

It appears that the fate of the sunken Irish sail training vessel Asgard II lies now in the hands of the insurance industry. The thought alone must send shivers down the spine of any decent sailor. It certainly has that effect on me.

An initial inspection and underwater survey of the wreck (for details see my entry of October 3rd) established that the brigantine is in much better condition than many of us expected.
She sits upright on the seabed, in about 80 metres of water, and there appears to be very little visible damage. This suggests that her raising and repair is not only possible, but also advisable.

Ireland's Defence Minister Willie O'Dea (right), who is also chairman of Coiste an Asgard, has said that the question of salvage "depends now mainly on the ship's insurers".
He declared that Asgard II was "well insured for a good deal of money", and that negotiations with the insurance companies over the further procedures are now in progress.

The insurance money could either be used for a salvage operation and subsequent repairs, or alternatively contribute to the building costs of a new vessel. The latter option is currently not favoured by Coiste an Asgard. The sunken brigantine has a unique character and is very dear to many people in Ireland and abroad. So if she can be salvaged and put back into service, this is the preferred option for everyone.

There is also some doubt if the skills to build a similar vessel as replacement still exist in modern Ireland. (The government has indeed done nothing during the past 25 years to train shipwrights and boat-builders which would be needed for such a project.)

Another possible alternative - in case a salvage operation would be ruled out - is to buy an existing vessel as replacement for the Asgard II. This could be done with the insurance money and would be much easier than salvage or building a new vessel.

One possible option for a purchase would be the British brig Prince William (left) whose current owner, the Tall Ships Youth Trust in the UK, is looking for a buyer. She is already well-known in Ireland from numerous visits, and her Master is an Irishman.
So there are good arguments for this option, and the vessel is also substantially larger than the Asgard II, which would mean more places for trainees.

However, I think that I speak for a majority in the Irish sailing community when I state here that salvaging the Asgard II would be the most preferable option, especially since she is in good shape and condition.

The Emerald Islander

A Day on the T/S Gunilla

Today has been a very positive and uplifting day for me. The weather was fine, with a clear blue sky and sunshine well into the afternoon, which is not that common here in October. But it was a welcome compensation for the long and grey weeks of rain and storm we had during this year's 'summer'.

However, the good weather was only the backdrop for this positive day. I have just returned home from Cork, where I spent most of the day on board the Swedish sail training ship Gunilla, which arrived in Cork on Monday and will sail on to Spain on Sunday. Later, after a change of the trainee crew, the beautiful three-masted bark will sail across the Atlantic Ocean, heading for the northern coast of South America.

With 49 metres length the T/S Gunilla is Sweden's largest sail training vessel and a truly fine example of great ship design, initiative and proper seamanship. (for details of the vessel and its history, please see my entry from September 25th)

Like all other sail training ships, T/S Gunilla teaches young people to sail, to work in teams and to take responsibility for each other and for their vessel. But in contrast to other tall ships, this is not all the trainees learn. The Gunilla is home to a unique Swedish education model, which can best be translated as the 'sailing high school'. Besides all the sailing skills and comradeship at sea the students have also normal classes as they would have in any other school on land.

Having seen myself today how it works, and encountered 33 kind and enthusiastic students on board (among them many young women), I am impressed by the concept and convinced that it should be adopted by other training ships and vessels as well.
I also spent good time with the Master, his officers and teachers, and thus gained a good insight into the operation of the seagoing college.
What I found was a combination of professionalism and high quality, combined with a very humane and friendly attitude. All over the barque one meets people with bright eyes, great smiles and a relaxed but nevertheless orderly attitude.

Over the past 33 years I have been in many seagoing vessels, and among them a good number of tall ships. So I think that I have some experience and understanding of the matter and have to say that I rarely experienced such a happy ship - happy in every way - as the T/S Gunilla.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Captain Frederik Göthberg and Chief Officer Knut Svanholm for their kind invitation and hospitality, and the other officers, crew members and trainees for their great openness, interest and friendly reception. They all have given me a good insight into the great work they do, and it truly made my day.

May the Gunilla and all that sail in her always have a save voyage with good wind, high spirits and educational as well as maritime success. And on a personal note I hope that one day we will be honoured to welcome her also to the port of Waterford.

The Emerald Islander

Vacuum Cleaner caused Cutty Sark Fire

One has not to be a sailor or tall ships enthusiast to know the name Cutty Sark. This world-famous former British tea clipper - and the last existing ship of its type - has entered the realm of general knowledge a long time ago.

Built in 1869 in Dumbarton/Scotland and commissioned in February 1870, she was constructed as a fast three-master for the China tea trade. This trade was at the time intensely competitive and involved a race across the globe from China to London, with immense profits to the ship that arrived with the first tea of the year.

In the most famous race, against the Thermopylae in 1872, both ships left Shanghai together on June 18th, but two weeks later Cutty Sark lost her rudder after passing through the Sunda Strait. She arrived in London on October 18th, a week after Thermopylae, with a total passage time of 122 days. Her legendary reputation comes from the fact that her captain chose to carry on with an improvised rudder instead of putting into a port for a replacement. And though she was seriously disadvantaged, she was only beaten by one week.

Later the ship had a mixed history, carrying wool from Australia to Britain and sailing for some years for a Portuguese owner. Under the respected Captain Richard Woodget she did very well, posting Australia-to-Britain times of as little as 67 days. Her best run, 360 nautical miles (666 km) in 24 hours (an average of 15 kn or 28 km/h), was said to have been the fastest of any ship of her size. In 1916 she was dismasted off the Cape of Good Hope, sold, re-rigged in Cape Town as a barquentine, and re-named Maria do Amparo.

Then - in 1922 - she was bought by Captain Wilfred Dowman, who restored her to her original appearance as a three-masted fully-rigged ship and used her as a stationary training ship. In 1954 she was moved to a custom-built dry-dock at Greenwich and has been there ever since as a museum ship and tourist attraction. Hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world have visited her and admired her exceptional beauty.

Unfortunately this great ambassador from the past was almost destroyed in a fire last year. On the morning of May 21st, 2007 the Cutty Sark, which had been closed and partly dismantled for substantial conservation work, caught fire and burned for several hours before the London Fire Brigade could bring the blaze under control. Initial reports indicated that the damage was extensive, with most of the wooden structure in the centre having been lost.

Richard Doughty, chief executive of the Cutty Sark Trust, revealed the next day that at least half of the "fabric" (timbers, etc.) of the ship had not been on site, as it had been removed during the preservation work. The trust was most worried about the state of iron framework to which the fabric was attached. But at least the ship was not lost after all and could be restored again, although at the price of an additional £ 10 million, which brought the total costs of the ship's restoration to about £ 35 million.

Fortunately the project received a substantial financial boost by winning the 'Museum of the Year' award, and many donations - large and small - came in from private individuals. This included school children who gave £ 1 of their pocket money, and the Israeli shipping magnate Sammy Ofer, who donated £ 3.3 million. A further £ 10 million came from the British Heritage Lottery Fund and the full restoration of the Cutty Sark is now secured. Work is expected to be complete by 2010.

For more than a year the cause of the fire was not clearly established. After initial analysis of CCTV footage from the area suggested the possibility of arson, further investigation over the following days by Scotland Yard failed to find conclusive proof that the fire was set deliberately.

After a long forensic investigation it has now been established that the devastating fire was not caused by human hands directly, but by an overheated industrial vacuum cleaner, which was used by foreign contractors to remove waste from the ship as part of the renovation work.
The vacuum cleaner was left switched on for two days over the weekend, overheated and then caused an electrical fire.

Police said the vacuum cleaner did not have a vital cut-off switch that prevents overheating, because it had been adapted for a lower UK power voltage.
Detective Chief Inspector Dave Garwood, who led the inquiry, said that two private 'security guards' on duty at the site failed to spot the fire in its early stages. They could have reported it sooner and a fire marshal inspection before the weekend could also have helped to prevent it.

The two men, who had been dismissed after the incident, were - according to DCI Garwood - "vague and inconsistent" witnesses.
He also said that (mostly foreign) renovation workmen were responsible for dangerous practices onboard, including electrical equipment often left plugged in, debris not removed immediately and loose electrical connections.
It was also not clear if fire alarm tests were completed properly in the weeks before the blaze.

All this shows once again how dangerous - and in the end for more costly - the modern business practice of cost-cutting, employing cheaper foreign workers and 'out-sourcing' of specialist work to contractors can be. Had the restoration work been done by a dedicated team of UK experts, the wage bill would certainly have been higher, but the devastating fire would most likely never have happened.

The now revealed details of the incident also prove that the use of private 'security guards' does not guarantee or enhance security. Quite the opposite is often the case, as most of these so-called 'guards' have little education, almost no training and usually no experience in the security field. It is evident that the old phrase still stands: If you pay peanuts, you will only get monkeys.

However, the good news after all the trauma and devastation is that in two years' time the Cutty Sark will be on display again, probably more beautiful than ever. And that will be appreciated by many, including

The Emerald Islander

Funchal 500 Regatta reaches Madeira

The Funchal 500 Tall Ships' Regatta, organised by Sail Training International (STI), is coming to its end, three days earlier than expected.

Having been scheduled to arrive at Funchal, the capital of Madeira, on October 2nd, good winds have sped up the fleet's progress in the second race (from Ílhavo/Port of Aveiro to Funchal) and so most of the tall ships and vessels have meanwhile crossed the finishing line near the island.

The regatta was started on the 13th off the English port of Falmouth (see my entry of September 13th) and the first race was set from the south-west coast of England to Ílhavo and the Port of Aveiro in northern Portugal, where the fleet arrived before and on the 20th.

After the usual days of rest, recreation and celebrations in port, they left for the second race to Funchal. But a lack of wind delayed the start several times and the fleet had to motor towards their destination for a while, until eventually a good breeze came up and made it a true sailing event again. (see my entry of September 25th)

As I write this, eight vessels are already in the port of Funchal. They are the class A vessels Kaliakra (Bulgaria), Pogoria (Poland) and Shabab Oman (Oman), accompanied by five Class B vessels.

Four other of the large class A vessels - Creoula (Portugal), Cuauhtemoc (Mexico), Mir and Sedov (both Russia) - have finished the race, but not yet entered the port. They stayed outside at anchor overnight and will be arriving in Funchal this morning in half-hourly intervals between 0800 and 1000 hrs. Other vessels are expected in port today as well, but their arrival times have not been specified yet.

Yesterday evening the Gedania (Poland) and Astrid (Netherlands) had not yet crossed the finishing line, but were well under way towards Madeira.

In the port and city of Funchal the preparations for the shore celebrations are in full swing. The city's organising team has been working hard to be ready for the earlier than expected arrival of the fleet, and they have already arranged an island tour for the crews of the Class B vessels.

Madeira is celebrating this year the 500th anniversary of Funchal's elevation to city status by King Manuel I of Portugal in 1508. It was founded in 1421 as an initially small settlement by the explorer and sea captain João Gonçalves Zarco.

The Madeira archipelago - some 650 km west of the North African coast and some 955 km south-west of Portugal's mainland - is considered to be the first new discovery of the Portuguese main exploratory period, initiated by Prince Henry the Navigator (right). It was discovered - almost by accident after a heavy storm - by Portuguese sailors under the command of João Gonçalves Zarco and Tristão Vaz Teixeira between 1418 and 1420.

Funchal's celebrations have been going on already throughout the whole year, but the Funchal 500 Tall Ships' Regatta is certainly the high point of the festivities. The arrival of the fleet will start the Festival do Mar 2008, and even though I am not there now myself, I know that the tall ships' crews will enjoy the experience, participate in their usual great style and bring with them the true spirit of the sea, which is still the same today as it has been in the ships and vessels Prince Henry sent out to explore the world in the early 15th century.

The Emerald Islander

T/S Gunilla to visit Cork

Less than three weeks after the sad loss of our own national sail training ship Asgard II, which sank on September 11th off the coast of Brittany (see my entries from September 11th and September 13th), one of the most beautiful and impressive tall ships in northern Europe will stop in Ireland for a brief visit.

The T/S Gunilla, a three-masted barque and - with 49 metres length - Sweden's largest sail training vessel, is due to arrive on Monday (September 29th) in Cork.
She is expected to berth at Horgan's Quay, close to the Customs House.
This will give people the chance to have a good look at her, before she leaves the port again on October 5th and sails on to Spain. Later she is set to cross the Atlantic and head for the northern coast of South America, which will be an interesting voyage and challenging for the trainees.

Gunilla was originally launched as a three-master with triangular bermuda sails (see archive photo below left) at the Oskarshamn Shipyard in 1940 and built of pre-war top-quality steel, but was put into service only in 1945, after the end of the war. As a cargo vessel under several owners she sailed mainly along the Swedish coast and in the Baltic, carrying all kinds of goods, from cars and lead to wheat and mud.

In 1954 she was lengthened by 8 metres and became a motor ship. She continued operating as a regional trader until 1997, when she carried her last cargo of grain and was then sold to the Association MBV at Öckerö.
MBV, which has 20 years of experience in sail training, created the Rederiaktiebolaget GUNILLA and transformed the ship into a modern sail training vessel for the 21st century.

She was re-launched in August 1999 as a three-masted barque and is now chartered by Den Seglande Gymnasieskolan (The Sailing High School) for about nine months of each year. This sailing school represents an educational programme which combines theory and practice in a new and exciting concept for students. The regular crew of 12 is augmented by 38 sailing students.

On the inside the barque is now a floating classroom, equipped with a sufficient number of computers connected to the ship's LAN, other teaching equipment and space for studies. She has all the modern navigational equipment money can buy, as well as an advanced communication system, including a satellite link.

But on the outside the T/S Gunilla is an eye-catching square-rigged vessel. Her original clipper bow has been restored and forms a beautiful ensemble together with the deck house and the poop. The classic rig, designed by Allan Palmer from Åland, is large (with 1040 sqm of sails) and well balanced with the ship’s lines.

This is a rare opportunity for sailors and tall ship enthusiasts to encounter this unique Swedish vessel. If you can manage to take a day off, then a trip to Cork's city port before October 5th is highly recommended. Cork citizens should also be aware of the rare visitor and make the barque and her crew welcome in Ireland's second-largest city.

The Emerald Islander


P.S. Philatelists might also be interested in the fact that the Royal Swedish Post Office issued a series of stamps depicting famous Swedish tall ships on May 15th of this year. The T/S Gunilla is one of the vessels honoured in this series, and it is possible that the purser or other members of the crew might carry some of these stamps.