The Tall Ships Race 2011 is off to a great start. The race was kicked off with a festival in Waterford, Ireland, which was declared ‘an awesome success’ by the chairman of Fáilte Ireland, the national tourism authority. (See our previous post.) During the four day festival, an estimated 500,000 visited the ships and other festival events alongside the city quays or lining up on either side of the Suir Estuary to watch the Parade of Ships, which began the race last Sunday.
The Norwegian tall ship Christian Radich has won the first leg of the race from Waterford to Greenock. Another ship participating in the race, Irene of Bridgwater, was not so fortunate, running aground in Lamlash Bay. There were no injuries reported and the ship has been refloated and is reported to be on her way to Greenock. The tall ships depart on the next leg of the race on Tuesday.
Just returned from ten (10) days in Waterford. By staying at ‘The Granville Hotel’ I saw all the preparations for the event right outside the door. The arrival of the Tall and not so Tall ships which started on Thursday was completed on Friday. On Sunday after the morning fog cleared the LE Aoife P22 departed at 0745 followed by all the vessels. By 0930 all were headed seaward down the river Suir. Assembling off Dunmore East, (charts BA 2046 & BA 2049)were those who had Pilots dropped them off and headed to sea for the Race start off Hook Lighthouse.
Originally the plan was to sail west along the south coast of Ireland up the west coast and east along the north coast. However the wind did not cooperate. The Race Committee decided to sail eastwards along the south coast and up the Irish Sea. At around 1500 sails were hoisted for the 1600 start. There was concern about coastal and ferry traffic in the Irish Sea. Marine warnings were transmitted and there were Naval escorts. The crowds were unbelievable with most roads around the city of Waterford closed to traffic with a Park & Ride system. Several hundred people were in line at any one time to visit the Tall Square Rigged ships berthed on the North Quays and the pontoons, accessed by gangways, on the South Quays of the Port of Waterford. NAUTICAL LOG will have some Posts coming up once the 260 photos taken are sorted and I catch up on my sleep.
Good Watch
Sounds like a great time. Thanks for the report.
So you think waiting in a line of 100’s is a good time? How about paying £6 for a burger and £6 for a beer? How about £3.50 for a short fun park ride? Here in Greenock people did park and ride and still walked for miles… the closed streets made getting about a journey into the ridiculous. Personally I did not find one person who enjoyed the Tall Ships… word got around quick… we Scots are not amused by £6 pints.