Tall Ships on the Lagan.
Lagan Legacy’s biographies of the tall ships at Belfast’s Maritime Festival.
GRAND TURK
Built in 1996 in Turkey. Flagship of the mini-fleet will be the majestic ‘Grand Turk'. The ship will be familiar to television viewers, as it has featured in a host of acclaimed programmes such as ‘Hornblower' (as Captain Horatio Hornblower's flagship, ‘Indefatigable'), ‘Longitude' and ‘Coast'.
She is a full-size replica of HMS Blandford, a Royal Navy frigate from the late 18th century which was a three-masted sixth-rate frigate. She is 46.3 m long and has a beam of 10.4 m. Her mainmast reaches 35.66 m high and her draught, 3.1 m. She has a permanent crew of sixteen. As well as the sails, she is powered by 2 450 hp (340 kW) diesel engines.
The Grand Turk has 12 working sails. The foremast and the mainmast are square rigged, each with three sails. The mizzenmast is square rigged on top, while below it carries a spanker sail. The bowsprit carries a flying jib and an outer jib. A figurehead adorns the bow. The Grand Turk was built in Marmaris, Turkey in 1996 for the price of £2 million.
ZEBU
ZEBU was built in 1938 at Raa, Sweden, as a Baltic Timber Trader and then converted to an International Training Ship in the 1980's to Circumnavigate the World on a 4 year Voyage of 69,000 miles for Operation Raleigh.
ZEBU is one of the finest examples of an authentic sailing merchantman available for Adventure Training. Her 1850's style brigantine rig was rebuilt by a team headed up by Square Rig Master Godfrey Wicksteed, who also rigged the Cutty Sark at Greenwich. Zebu is rigged exactly as she would have been at the time of the Cutty Sark herself.
Godfrey Wicksteed who died in 1997 at the age of 98 is believed to have been the last man to hold a Board of Trade extra master's ticket in sail. He was still working on the Cutty Sark, often high up in the rigging, when he was 87 years old! Her master is a lady -Susan Hanley-Place.
RUTH
Zebu is be moored alongside another Swedish vessel, the ‘Ruth'. Built in 1914. She was baptised Ruth, by the owner Sven Petter Persson, after his wife. Her home port was originally Fortuna, Sweden. Her main cargo at the time was ceramic pots and stoneware, delivering for a famous Swedish company called Höganas. She is said to have travelled as far as France and Iceland in the second world war.
KASKELOT.
Kaskelot' built in 1938 in Greenland. She is a three-masted barque and one of the largest remaining wooden ships in commission. The Kaskelot was built by J. Ring Andersen for the Royal Greenland Trading Company and brought supplies to remote coastal settlements in East Greenland. During the 1960s, Kaskelot worked as a support vessel for fisheries in the Faroe Islands.
JEANIE JOHNSTON.
Ireland's own replica famine ship, the ‘Jeanie Johnston' is here for her second successive year. Built in 2002. Quebec shipbuilder John Munn built the original Jeanie Johnston in 1847. He loaded the barque with timber and sailed to Liverpool where the cargo was sold and the vessel surveyed by Lloyds before being sold to a Tralee merchant, Nicholas Donovan. Donovan used the vessel to import timber from North America to Europe. On the return voyages to the USA and Canada Jeanie Johnston carried passengers from Tralee. During the 1840's and 1850's Ireland was devastated by famine and disease resulting in mass emigration, often under horrendous conditions aboard "coffin ships". While large numbers of emigrants died on these coffin ships, the Jeanie Johnston never lost a soul, despite carrying an average of 200 people on voyages of approximately 47 days. In all Jeanie Johnston carried over 2,500 people on 16 voyages to North America.
ARTEMIS
Dutch-built ‘Artemis' is here for her first time.
She has her name from the goddess of the hunt, and it was as a whaler she began her career on the high seas. The Artemis was built in Norway in 1926 and served as a whaling ship until the end of the forties, operating mainly in the northern and southern polar seas. From her home port of Oslo, she sailed to Spitsbergen and into the Bering Sea, fitted with a steam engine, two auxiliary masts and a variety of harpoon guns. In the fifties, the Artemis was refitted to haul cargo and operated mainly as a tramp freighter between Asia and South America until she was bought by a Danish captain from Marstal.
THALASSA
The Spanish ‘Thalassa' (Greek word for sea) is on show in Belfast for the first time. The stunning tall ship Thalassa was built in 1980 and underwent a major refurbishment in 1995, creating a superb ship for sailing, corporate hospitality and events further afield. She has a large deck house saloon and bar area capable of seating up to 40 guests for dinner and a second saloon on the lower deck with seating for a further 36 guests. There is a large open deck that can be covered with an awning to give a great outdoor space protected from the elements. The Thalassa also has 18 comfortable twin cabins with en-suite showers making her a great venue for team building events, all inclusive receptions or hospitality.
Specifications: Type of Ship:3-masted Barquentine
Length Overall:50 metres, Beam:8 metres. Draught:4 metres. Mast Height:38 metres
Sail Area:800 sq. m. Tonnage (GRT):282. Crew:3.
Day Guests:120
Cabins:18 twins