Last night the captains of the Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge fleet, together with the captains of the Small Ships Races, which also finished in Belfast, gathered together in the Belfast Harbour Commissioners building for a gala dinner. The Lord Mayor of Belfast, Naomi Long, and Len O’Hagen, Chairman of the Belfast Harbour Commissioners, both welcomed [...]
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Alistair McRoberts , a medical student from Lisburn, Northern Ireland, currently studying at Aberdeen University, has just enjoyed an epic adventure sailing across the Atlantic. Alistair joined the other trainees to work as crew on Europa and as he had quite a bit of experience sailing before this trip he knew that this was going to [...]
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ASTA intern Matthew Maples, who has been sailing on board Europa and keeping us all entertained with his blog entries, has filed his final report:
“Here we are, Belfast. The relative quiet of the deckhouse on Europa barely conceals the roiling festivities of the opening day of the Belfast Maritime Festival. A short glance to my [...]
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The first official day of the Maritime Festival in Belfast to celebrate the end of the Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge has seen huge crowds making their way down to the quaysides to see the Tall Ships.
Unconfirmed reports indicate that today’s attendance figures have far exceeded initial expectations with upwards of 100,000 said to have visited the Festival [...]
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Lee Price of Rona II, provides an update of their activities:
“The day started with another delicious breakfast from white watch, cereal, hot dogs, tomatoes and most importantly pancakes. Also of note is the fact that Rona II have almost completed testing every variety of coco pops. From the plain original to the Coco Rocks, and the most recent [...]
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The Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge fleet have been continuing to arrive into Belfast today ready for the four day festival which will start tomorrow, 13 August. As the fleet arrive the captains and crews have been comparing notes on their experiences as they crossed the Atlantic in storm conditions.
Winds of up to 48 knots, which [...]
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Jolie Brise has sent the following update on their past few days, prior to coming to Belfast where they are due to arrive today, Wednesday 12 August:
“We entered Ballycastle at 0800hrs on Saturday morning after a fast sail from the finish line. Our reactions to land were very different to what we had anticipated, [...]
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The Dutch family vessel Tecla is now on its way to Belfast, due to arrive this afternoon. Jet Sluik sends us the following update:
“Ballycastle was a lot of fun. We had a very nice welcome, even a reception with the major! We were moored up with the Belle Poule and the Etoile, the Jolie Brise [...]
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The tall ships taking part in the Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge are now either in Belfast or enjoying a few days R&R and some sightseeing in ports around Northern Ireland. All are due to be in Belfast before the official start of the event on Thursday 13th, and the following table shows when the vessels are [...]
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The following is the latest update from the UK’s Rona II:
“We awoke this morning to find that the rain that had cut short last night’s beach BBQ had continued right through the night and everything was just as
wet and sandy as we had left it the previous night. However red watch made breakfast and [...]
