Belfast Man in Command as Lord Nelson Sails to City for Maritime Festival
On Friday 27th June spectators at Belfast docks will witness the arrival of the unique tall ship Lord Nelson as she arrives into port under the command of local man, Captain Neil Duncan.
Lord Nelson is an impressive 55 meter, three masted barque which is owned and operated by the Jubilee Sailing Trust (JST). As well as being one of the largest tall ships at the festival, she is the only one purpose designed and built to enable people of all physical abilities to sail the oceans side by side as equals.
Neil, who grew up in Lambeg has worked for the Southampton based JST since 1998 and first sailed aboard the Lord Nelson as a Bosun (lowest rank aboard) but now has the honour of returning to his home port as Captain.
Lord Nelson was designed by internationally renowned naval architect Colin Mudie in the early 1980's after a pilot scheme on board the adapted tall ships TS Royalist and SV Soren Larsen proved how successful integrating able bodied and disabled people through the medium of tall ship sailing could be.
On 19 October 1984 at Wivenhoe in Essex the keel of the Lord Nelson was laid and on 4 July 1986, after completion by Vosper Thornycroft UK (Ltd) Lord Nelson was named in the presence of the JST's patron HRH The Duke of York.
Since her maiden voyage in 1986, the Lord Nelson has taken almost 24,000 people on voyages. Nearly 9,305 of these people have had a physical disability and of these 3,611 were wheelchair users.
Lord Nelson and the JST’s second tall ship, Tenacious are groundbreaking with their unique design which enables able bodied and disabled people to sail together as equals.
Lord Nelson and Tenacious are the only ships of their type in the world which have special facilities aboard to allow the mixed ability crew to play a full and active role in every aspect of running a ship from helming and setting sails to cleaning the ship, known as ‘happy hour’.
Members of the public are invited to tour the ship from 1400- 1700 on Saturday the 28th June, and 0900- 1100, 1500-1700 on Sunday 29th where they will be able to see for themselves the splendour of a working tall ship.
Getting a close up view and a tour will be a real treat for those interested in the historic art of tall ship sailing. Some will also have the added bonus of meeting Captain Duncan and speaking to him about his amazing story.
For those who are interested to get more hands on, the JST provides year round sailing adventures for all. These amazing opportunities give anyone the chance to sail regardless of physical ability or sailing experience.
For more information on this and the many other sailing opportunities with the JST please call the Voyages Department on: 023 8044 9138 or email: voyages@jst.org.uk
The Belfast Maritime Festival will take place from 28 June to 29 June 2008. The festival will be a taster of what Belfast has to offer in 2009 when the Tall Ships Race comes to Belfast.
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