Sir Bob's Dunkirk crusade for poor

BOB Geldof has made a personal plea to Southampton's sailors to recreate the Dunkirk spirit and send an armada of little boats to France to help the world's starving millions.

In a repeat of 1940s historic event, Sir Bob wants a massive flotilla to leave the port and set off across the Channel on another world-changing mission.

This time the boats will be picking up thousands of French anti-poverty demonstrators en route to Edinburgh for the G8 economic summit at Gleneagles on July 6.

But the mass crossing plan - called Sail 8 - has already raised safety concerns among the maritime community.

Associated British Ports, who oversee safety along much of the Solent, has asked for an urgent meeting with the Geldof team to assess any risk to the port activities, while the RNLI has urged inexperienced sailors not to make the journey.

In addition, the Maritime Coastguard Agency (MCA) first heard of the Geldof plan when informed by the Daily Echo.

However in a typically passionate message to the city, the Band Aid founder said: "Your grandparents and great-grandparents threw risk and caution to the wind by going to rescue 380,000 trapped men and allowing this country to live. It's cheap to compare that heroism to this effort but it is heroic to stand up on behalf of a dying continent." He added: "Go to sea again and bring back this new army of allies so that a dispossessed people can be helped."

And he had a message for those without a boat: "Throw open your doors and welcome the visitors on their way to Edinburgh. When they get here what I'd really like to do is a "Bed and Breakfast Aid" - a Mrs Miggins Aid - and get all the landladies on the south coast to open their places for free for the French so they are not totally bewildered about which way to go".

The former Boomtown Rats singer said he hoped the vessels involved in Portsmouth's Festival of the Sea would also join the huge flotilla and added coaches would be lined up to take demonstrators to Scotland once they arrived in Britain.

Geldof admitted he had no idea how many people would be involved in Sail 8 but said: "It will be beautiful, it will be amazing it will be fun. It will be many hours of sailing and picking up people they may not even be able to communicate with, but the symbol of that effort will be a great symbol of unity and friendship."

The Irishman, who outlined his Sail 8 initiative during a press conference at Moody's Yachts International in Swanwick Marina, dismissed growing safety fears.

He said: "The shippers will be informed and lanes set aside, we will contact the Lifeboat Association and the Maritime Coastguard Agency. All measures will be taken and the authorities informed.

"They have been contacted and obviously the sailors in the south ports are already very familiar with their own home waters."

He said of the south's boat owners: "This will be the biggest yachting experience they will participate in during their lives. Even if you've got a rowing boat, go and get as far as you can and then turn back but at least make the effort.

"This will be seen around the world and it can only happen on the south coast. It can only happen if men, women and children with boats say 'we're coming.' Get the boat ready and go". He similarly countered questions about the possibility of the armada bringing back asylum seekers. He said that scenario was "such an unlikely thing" and also diffused concerns about violence on the streets of Edinburgh on July 6. "It's going to be wonderful", he said.

Geldof has joined forces with France's largest radio station NRJ - which broadcasts to 6 million - to ensure an army of people are waiting on the Normandy beaches for collection.

NRJ's Emmanuel Jayr said he would be urging listeners to make for designated embarkation points and encouraging French boat owners to set sail for the UK too.

Meanwhile, a website has been set up where boat owners can register for Sail 8 and obtain the latest information and advice on joining Geldof's Channel crusade. The Sail 8 plan will form part of Geldof's "Long Walk to Justice" - a huge movement of protesters to Edinburgh which will begin after the Live 8 music concerts on July 2.

"The rich world will be on the move on behalf of those who cannot even crawl", said Geldof.

He hopes the massive demonstration in the Scottish capital will persuade the leaders of the world's richest nations to scrap Third World debt, double aid and facilitate fair trade.

Sail 8 and Live 8 are part of the Make Poverty History campaign which, in turn, is part of the huge global Action Against Poverty campaign involving 70 nations.

BOB Geldof's plans to launch a mass flotilla from the south coast are "bordering on lunacy" a leading member of Southampton's seafaring community has warned.

John Ridgewell, secretary of the Hythe (Southampton) Sailing Club branded Sail 8, Geldof's call to recreate the 1940s poignant Dunkirk rescue operation, as "nonsense" and believes the plan "just won't work".

He said: "People may agree with what Geldof is saying but the practicalities just won't work. He should get in the real world and hire a cross-Channel ferry instead, offload them at Dover and they can get a train there to Scotland.

"Some people might be enthusiastic but they might not have the knowledge. It is a long way across the Channel from here, about 65 miles and there are lots of rules and regulations about crossing. I would say it is ill-advised and bordering on lunacy."

The waters off the Hampshire coastline contain some of the busiest shipping lanes in Europe with some 5,000 separate vessel movements taking place on a busy day in the Solent from Spithead to Calshot.

And there are fears that crews and passengers could put themselves in danger if the Sail 8 craft are not controlled properly.

Hampshire's leading maritime authorities are meanwhile calling for urgent talks with organisers to avoid a major safety incident after revealing they had yet to be approached by the Sail 8 team.

In a statement issued in response to Geldof's announcement yesterday, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said: "We are warning members of the public to take safety precautions before setting to sea as part of Bob Geldof's Sail 8 initiative.

"The agency is happy to discuss these and other issues with Bob Geldof's team before the event and look forward to their early contact to discuss the safety arrangements for this operation."

And Associated British Ports' Southampton harbourmaster Captain Steven Young echoed the MCA's plea.

He said: "I hope these people approach us and ask for a meeting to make sure we know exactly what they are planning to do and so a proper risk assessment can be undertaken."

ABP, owners and operators of Southampton docks, is the area's official harbour control authority and has the responsibility for managing activities in the south-west and central Solent together with Southampton Water.

Capt Young added: "The number of large commercial ships serving the port and the number of recreational craft afloat in local waters is increasing.

"As a result, it's essential that there's the right management control of any large event as it must not impede the main channel and we can make sure all safety regulations are enforced."

The RNLI and the Solent Coastguard are also urging people to think carefully before pledging their boat to Sail 8.

A spokesman for the lifeboat association, which rescues on average 21 people a day around the UK, said: "We would say if anyone's thinking of going to sea and they are not experienced, don't do it.

"If people feel the need to demonstrate that is fine, but don't put yourself or anyone else in danger.

"We do have cover at lifeboat stations 24/7 but they couldn't all be sent out to sea in case they had another emergency to respond to.

"Because we know there will be boats out on the water we may be able to provide added cover with strategically placed boats at sea once we have more details of what is going to happen."

And a coastguard spokesman added: "If people are going to go to sea to support this campaign they must make sure their vessels are capable of carrying out the journey.

"Not everybody will heed that warning. You will always get the odd idiot out there and you can prepare to do a journey but with a lot of vessels on the water there are always going to be accidents."

YACHTSWOMAN Ellen MacArthur has backed the cross-Channel venture "because all of us are responsible for the world and the environment we live in."

Speaking from just off the coast of France, she told the Swanwick press conference: "Although I can't claim to understand everything about the issues it isn't too complicated."

Ellen, who is based on the Isle of Wight, said: "Anyone who has qualifications and a safe boat can go across the Channel and July is a good time to do it. There are many ways to cross the Channel - the Channel tunnel, the ferries - it just doesn't have to be boat owners."

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

Boat owners and sailors will be able to register support for Sail 8 at www.sail8.ybw.com where a registration form and further details will be posted. Visit the Make Poverty History Campaign at www.makepovertyhistory.org