'Boaty McBoatface' Is Currently Leading An Open Vote To Name The New £200 Million Royal Research Ship

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Paul Vale - Deputy News Editor & Home Page Editor, The Huffington Post UK


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An open vote allowing the public to offer names for a new £200 million Royal Research Ship has thrown up a sensational frontrunner -- the RRS Boaty McBoatface.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Our current top 4 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NameOurShip?src=hash">#NameOurShip</a> suggestions. Have you voted yet? <a href="https://t.co/Vv5Or05r9l">https://t.co/Vv5Or05r9l</a> <a href="https://t.co/Uf4u1XyHYf">pic.twitter.com/Uf4u1XyHYf</a></p>&mdash; NERC (@NERCscience) <a href="https://twitter.com/NERCscience/status/710834620229672960">March 18, 2016</a></blockquote>
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The suggestion for the Natural Research Council’s polar explorer is currently beating the RRS Henry Worseley and the RRS David Attenborough.

The vessel, which is 128 metres long and is due to be in operation in the Arctic and Antarctic from 2019, will carry up to 90 scientists and support staff.

To cast your vote, click here. (https://t.co/Vv5Or05r9l)

[redred]

:lol: bet they didn't see that coming

[PorkChopSandwiches]

:lol:

[Muddy]

Its got my vote..!

[deebakes]

:rofl:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

BBC News


The name of a new polar research vessel will be chosen by a panel of experts, even if the public overwhelmingly votes to call it Boaty McBoatface.

Lord West, ex-First Sea Lord, said he was rather proud "silly names" had been suggested but hoped none were chosen.

The Natural Environment Research Council had urged people to name its ship in a competition, which saw Boaty McBoatface easily topping the poll.

The final name will be selected by the NERC, according to competition rules.

Boaty McBoatface is currently leading with more than 27,000 votes, while the second place pick trails with around 3,000.

The names Pingu, Usain Boat and It's Bloody Cold Here have also been put forward.

Lord West told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "It's a typical thing of the Brits going mad - normally silly season, rather than this time of the year."

He said the NERC had only expected "marine research fans" to get involved.

State-of-the-art

"I think I would probably go for an Arctic or Antarctic explorer - that would be appropriate - bearing in mind this is a key bit of research where we are probably leading the world, and we should all be very proud of it.

"I'm rather proud that we have silly names going around, but I hope we don't select one."

The state-of-the-art £200m vessel will be launched in 2019 to replace Royal Research Ships (RRS) Ernest Shackleton and James Clark Ross.

Launching the competition to name it last week, the NERC said it was looking for something inspirational - something that would exemplify the ship's work.

"We are excited to hear what the public have to suggest and we really are open to ideas," the chief executive said.

On Sunday, the poll website crashed under the weight of people trying to cast their votes.

'Very British thing'

James Hand, a former BBC Radio Jersey presenter, was behind the suggestion of Boaty McBoatface but says he has since apologised to the NERC.

"I've actually been speaking a bit to the people behind the website. I've apologised profusely.

"What I keep saying to people is, this is actually nothing to do with me. I made the suggestion but the storm that's been created, it's got legs of its own.

"I just feel it's a very British thing, which a lot of people have pointed out."

Julia Maddock, acting associate director of communications and engagement at the NERC, responded to Mr Hand's apology on Twitter, saying her organisation was "loving it".

In another tweet, she wrote: "We wanted people to talk about our ship and get involved. We are delighted!"

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Mr Hand said he was "still thoroughly rooting" for his idea to be chosen but understood the public's choices were only ever a suggestion.

In second place, with more than 3,000 votes, is RRS Henry Worsley. Worsley died trying to make the first unassisted solo crossing of the Antarctic in January.

Another of the more serious suggestions is RRS David Attenborough.

The 15,000-tonne, 128m-long vessel is being built at Cammell Laird on Merseyside.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Hannah Ellis-Petersen - The Guardian


Forget the EU referendum. The major test of modern democracy has fallen into the hands of the Natural Environment Research Council – over the naming of a boat.

As the polls finally closed for the naming of its new polar research ship, the NERC confirmed that the votes were overwhelmingly in favour of RRS Boaty McBoatface.

The suggestion, which sent the competition viral last month, received 124,109 votes, four times more than RRS Poppy-Mai – named after a 16-month-old girl with incurable cancer – which came in second place.

The chief executive of the NERC, Duncan Wingham, with whom the final decision lies, now faces the dilemma of choosing between the credibility of his organisation – and its £200m arctic explorer – and the overwhelming burden of public opinion.

If Wingham does bow to the Boaty McBoatface campaign, it will mark something of a departure from previous royal research ships named in honour of arctic explorer Ernest Shackleton and naval officer James Clark Ross.

The name was first put forward by former BBC radio presenter James Hand, who expressed surprise at the furore Boaty McBoatface has caused.

“This is actually nothing to do with me,” he said. “I made the suggestion but the storm that’s been created – it’s got legs of its own. I just feel it’s a very British thing, which a lot of people have pointed out.”

Hand added that while he stands by Boaty McBoatface as a “brilliant name” for the research ship, he actually voted for RRS David Attenborough, which came in fifth with 10,284 votes overall.

Tweeting after the poll closed on Saturday, Hand said it had been “a crazy few weeks”.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Thanks to everyone who took <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BoatyMcBoatface?src=hash">#BoatyMcBoatface</a> in right spirit. Final say goes to <a href="https://twitter.com/NERCscience">@NERCscience</a>, and there&#39;s plenty of worthy winners.</p>&mdash; James Hand (@JamesHand) <a href="https://twitter.com/JamesHand/status/721612536353857536">April 17, 2016</a></blockquote>
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The NERC thanked everyone for their suggestions on its website, posting: “We are no longer accepting suggestions to name our ship as we have now reached the closing date of 16 April.

“We’ve had an extremely high volume of suggestions and will now review all of the suggested names. The final decision will be announced in due course.”

The research council received more than 7,000 entries during the month-long competition period, including RRS Onion Knight, RRS I Like Big Boats & I Cannot Lie, and RRS Capt’n Birdseye Get Off My Cod.

The Boaty McBoatface saga is not the first time online polls have gone awry. Greenpeace launched a campaign to name a humpback whale in the South pacific in an attempt to keep them from being poached by the Japanese. The poll prompted a voting frenzy after Mr Splashy Pants was put forward – and ended up winning 78% of the vote.

Similarly in 2012, soft drinks brand Mountain Dew was forced to abandon a poll to name its new apple-flavoured drink after it was hijacked by message board 4chan who ensured that “Hitler did nothing wrong” won the vote.

The city of Austin, Texas, also learned the perils of public voting after a poll to rename the Solid Waste Services Department ended up with an overwhelming number of votes to call it The Fred Durst Society of the Humanities and Arts as an ode to the Limp Bizkit singer.

Despite an endorsement from Durst himself, the city shunned democracy in favour of Austin Resource Recovery.

The top five suggestions are:


RRS Boaty McBoatface – 124,109
RRS Poppy-Mai – 34,371
RRS Henry Worsley – 15,231
RRS It’s bloody cold here – 10,679
RRS David Attenborough – 10,284

[Goofy]

:woot:

[deebakes]

:dance: