Belfast, Northern Ireland has been chosen as the finishing port of the Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge in 2009. The annual race organised by Sail Training International brings together some of the worlds finest tall ships. The first race was held in July 1956 from Torbay on the English south coast, to Lisbon in Portugal. Since then the event has flourished and now involves 70 to 100 vessels from 20 countries.

Four thousand young people are given the opportunity to join the professional crews to live life on the ocean waves. The purpose is to give them an unforgettable experience and to promote friendship and understanding between different nationalities and traditions.

This year’s event is based in the North Atlantic covering some 7000 nautical miles, following the traditional trading routes of sailing ships over the centuries. Starting in Vigo, Spain in late April they will sail to Charleston on the US East coast, via Tenerife and Bermuda. From Charleston they will follow the East coast to Boston before reaching further north to Halifax in Canada. From Halifax they will cross the Atlantic to arrive in Belfast in mid August for the grand finale celebrations. The fleet will include 12 'Class A' vessels which are the largest of the tall ships and include square-riggers and classic sailing ships.
Belfast has big plans for the arrival of the Tall Ships, last seen in Northern Ireland in 1991 when 400,000 visitors swarmed the Pollock Dock to visit the ships. This time around Belfast is expecting far in excess of 400,000 visitors and have arranged a four day Maritime Carnival of street music, street theatre, fireworks and international food and drink markets. If it's anything like the last time, it is sure to be an extravaganza for all ages.

Here is another video from the KTM guys doing their tour of Ireland with lots of great on bike footage from their motorbike cameras. The video shows the twisty roads of rural Ireland which as you can see are great fun to ride. The KTM guys certainly seem to be enjoying them.

If you would like to do your own motorcycle tour of Ireland, why not rent one of our motorcycles?

I found this great video on YouTube showing a couple of guys on their motorbike tour of Ireland. It looks like they are riding a KTM 640 Adventurer and a KTM 690 Enduro. They certainly did the full tour because I spotted Dublin in the East, the Cliffs of Moher in the West and Portrush in the North. Along the way they seem to have found some of the smallest roads and lanes in Ireland to test out their KTM’s rough road handling.

Their motorbike trip finished up at the North West 200 which is Ireland’s premier motorcycle road racing event. Held every May in Portrush on the North coast, it attracts more than 150,000 spectators as well as some of the biggest names in motorcycling including Michael Rutter, Steve Plater and John McGuinness. The North West 200 circuit runs between the towns of Portrush, Portstewart and Coleraine, in an area of outstanding natural beauty which includes the world famous Giant’s Causeway. The triangle circuit is one of the fastest in the world and in 2005 Michael Rutter recorded the fastest speed in the history of the event at 201.1mph.

If you would like to taste the thrills and spills of the North West 200 or do your own motorcycle tour of Ireland, why not rent one of our motorcycles?

Well here we go!
Irish Motorcycle Adventures has finally added a blog. We hope this will be somewhere to take a light hearted look at the fun of motorbiking in Ireland. I hope you enjoy our random scribbles.