Tall Ships Visit Dublin

I really like Tall Ships and have always looked forward to the annual Maritime festival in Dublin docklands but last year I was slightly disappointed with the selection of ships especially as there were so few of them.

This year the Dublin Maritime Festival started on Friday and it is claimed that there will be plenty to see and do, especially if you are interested in Tall Ships.

I had a quick look at the programme and am a bit disappointed by the fact the line up of ships is almost the same as last year which leads me to suspect that this festival is now operating according to a set formula repeated at a number of locations. I also noticed that they they are now charging for access to the ships which is a bit greedy as the festival generates a lot of cash.

(Adults:€ 5 for access to all ships/€2 for access to one ship Children: (under 16) Free). If you have already visited the ships in previous years there is little point in paying to see them again.

Below is a list of the visiting ships:

The LORD NELSON was the Jubilee Sailing Trust's first purpose built vessel. Constructed in 1986 she has taken over 23,000 people to sea, including 8,970 people with disabilities and continues to do so. She runs all year round providing adventure sailing holidays for a great number of different people with varied abilities. Since commencing voyages in 1986 the LORD NELSON has sailed 339,658 miles.

The 57metre ATLANTIS started life in 1905 in Hamburg. Originally a lightship ELBE 2 - for more than 70 year withstood all weather conditions until it was removed from service. In the early 1980s the ship was converted into an elegant three-masted barquentine and sailed with guests in Europe and the Caribben under its new name ATLANTIS. In 2006 ATLANTIS underwent general refurbishment while maintaining its unique, classy character.

In the thirties/forties ocean-sailing as recreation was hardly possible. As the professional Tall Ship's sailing disappeared the founders of the Eendracht wanted to preserve the possibility of training Dutch youngsters aboard Tall Ships. Based on the sailing with the first Eendracht various specialists formulated improvements and new ideas to build a fantastic "national sailing ship" with excellent sailing abilities.

The three masted schooner Eendracht (IMO: 8814275, Port of Registry: Rotterdam) is used to get anyone, especially young people, acquainted with the adventure of sailing at sea.

The vessel was built in 1989 by Damen Shipyards, Gorinchem, is 59 metres long, 12 metres wide, has a maximum sail area of 1,206 m2 and a mast height of 41.7 metres. The vessel has a crew of 13 and a passenger capacity of 40 for trips of more than one day. She has 15 two-person cabins, 6 four-person cabins and one single person cabin.

The Eendracht is currently making short trips on the North Sea and is sailing in and out of port almost daily.

I visited this ship last year and thought that it was badly maintained and all indications ware that their budget was very limited.They were more interested in selling wine than exhibiting the ship.

The Kathleen & May, at 109 years old, is the only wooden triple-masted sailing schooner still in existence and is unique among 60 famous tall ships listed on the UK's National Register of Historic Vessels. The schooner was built in 1900 near Chester and was launched as Lizzie May, the names of the daughters of the ship's owner, Captain John Coppack. In 1908 she was purchased by Martin J Fleming of Youghal and renamed Kathleen & May after his daughters. For the next 20 years she plied between Youghal and the Bristol Channel with coal until eventually ceasing trading in 1961 and was then abandoned.

The Kathleen & May was discovered in 1968 by the Duke of Edinburgh who established the Maritime Trust in London to preserve her. The vessel was in a bad state and it was intended to restore her as the last example of a typical West Country trading schooner.It was however not until 2001 that the restoration was finally completed after her current owners worked faithfully on the project at Bideford, Devon.

After an absence of 47 years, Kathleen & May in 2008 carried a commerial cargo of wine from France to Dublin and this will be repeated on her visit to the Maritime Festival. Wine-tasting opportunities will be available onboard with an admission charge, more info can be found at www.fairwindwine.com

The Loth Loriën is a modern three-masted fore-and-aft schooner, 48 metres in length.Built in the Norwegian town of Bergen in 1907, she sailed originally as a herring lugger. In 1989, Jaap van der Rest acquired the reliable working boat from the rugged North of Europe. Until 1992, he converted her into a two-masted lugger with modern rigging and provided her with a luxurious interior.

For more information log onto www.topchart.co.uk

Tenacious is owned by the Jubilee Sailing Trust Charity. The ship is purpose built to enable physically disabled people to work and live alongside one another on board. Tenacious has special facilities on board – from speaking compasses to vibrating pads in the hunks and flat wide decks and lifts to enable wheelchairs to get around easily.