Eco sail freighter loses berth to gas-guzzling superyacht
- Tue, 22 May 2012
A sailing ship delayed by headwinds while on a transatlantic voyage to promote sustainable transport lost her berth to a gas-guzzling motor-yacht owned by the former NCP Car Parks tycoon!
The horrible irony dawned on the frustrated crew of Tres Hombres, a 103 ft engineless brigantine, as they entered Portsmouth Harbour two and a half weeks out from the Azores.
Their easily accessible berth at the show harbour Gunwharf Quays was already taken by the 75m super motor-yacht Leander G, owned by Sir Donald Gosling, former chairman of NCP.
Instead the engineless square-rigger had to be towed into an unsuitable berth wedged between the Spinnaker Tower and the overhanging bow of the motor-yacht.
Yachting Monthly's Dick Durham and YBW.com web supremo Laura Nineham joined the crew of the Tres Hombres for their final leg up the Solent from the Nab Tower. Click here to watch a video of the passage.
First aboard were Customs officers from the UK Border Agency who enjoyed scoffing some of the chocolate bars the ship is loaded with.
The ship, owned by the Sustainable Transport Company, is loaded with rum, coffee, wine and cocoa beans as well as chocolate from the Caribbean, and was chartered by the Grenada Chocolate Company.
Yachtsman Rohan Stedman, whose company HB Ingredients helped with the shipment, transhipped Dick and Laura from Portsmouth to the Tres Hombres aboard his Moody 41, Aeolus.
The brigantine, skippered by Dutchman Jorne Langelaan and his 11 crew, will discharge part of her freight today before sailing onto Belgium and Holland to discharge the remainder.
All concerned with the freight hope that more cargoes will be carried by sailing ships to prevent carbon build up.
You can read more about Tres Hombres and her unusual journey in the next issue of Yachting Monthly.
Photo: Bob Aylott
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Latest comments
May 22 16:20
Chris Beeson
Ha! That would be the same gas-guzzling Leander G that HM The Queen is chartering for her Jubilee Tour, I suppose.
May 22 17:55
Dan Crane
Is this actually a story? Even though I was all ready to be outraged by the NCP boss's megayacht taking the noble little sailing-ship's parking place...no such problem seems to have occurred. They're close together - no great loss of place or berth, for the Tres Hombres, surely?
May 23 08:05
John Dowling
I fear that is why freight by sailing ship died out - unreliable! But to have no engine at all, even just for docking, seems highly questionable on safety grounds. Sailing ships docking needed shore crews and capstans, not available today. Oh, and carbon dioxiode is a plant food.......
May 23 18:51
Caroline
Great initiative this First Ever Carbon-Neutral Trans-Atlantic Mass Chocolate Delivery! I was lucky enough to join and visit, read more about their trip on: http://www.thegrenadachocolatetales.com - enjoy!