SailRail to Ireland with an overnight break of journey

[whole diary]

[Steven]

I'm back from my trip to Ireland. 
In the end I came to the conclusion that it was valid to have an overnight stop on the sailrail ticket.  It is possible to get the national rail journey planner to give an itinerary that starts before the earlier departure time using the advanced search and allowing an extra 2 hours for connections and travelling via Sandwell & Dudley.  I also looked up the ticket restrictions which are no break of journey except for connections purposes.  Finally I found the following condition in part 16 of the conditions of carriage about break of journey

(ii) stay in overnight accommodation when you cannot reasonably complete your journey within one day

 
My ticket was only checked once on the trains and it was accepted without any questions. 
I hope my experience is useful for someone else in future.

[ChrisB]

In the Sail/Rail leaflet on Advances

You may not start, break, resume or end your journey at any intermediate station except to change from/to connecting trains shown on ticket or itinerary

[Brucey]

In the Sail/Rail leaflet on Advances

You may not start, break, resume or end your journey at any intermediate station except to change from/to connecting trains shown on ticket or itinerary

An overnight stop where a journey cannot be completed in one day is not considered a break of journey:

For the purposes of this Condition and Condition 11, you will be treated
as breaking your journey if you leave a Train Company’s or Rail Service Company’s stations after you start your journey other than to:
(i) join a train at another station, or
(ii) stay in overnight accommodation when you cannot reasonably complete your journey within one day, or
(iii) follow any instructions given by a member of a Train Company’s or Rail Service
Company’s staff.

[John R]

I think it's quite clear what the intent is though with the caveat on the ticket about not breaking your journey.  If you've booked a ticket that involves a ferry leaving at 0230 then you are expected to use it.

[Steven]

Chris makes a good point about advances.  I should have made it clear that I was talking about the SailRail standby tickets. 

I find the wording printed on the standby ticket a bit confusing.  The route is given as HOLYHD STENA_S ON DATE SHOWN.  I find that confusing because the date on the ticket and the date on the ferry reservation are different. It also misses the important fact that the ferry leg is a reserved leg and  you must travel on that particular ferry.  Instead it gives the impression that any Stena ferry on that date can be used. 

If you can get a ferry reservation for the 0855 sailing with a journey starting the previous day.  The overnight stop in a hotel does seem to be allowed. 

Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this thread and helped me find my way through some opaque ticket rules

 

[TonyK]

It is truly easier to navigate the ferry from Holyhead to Ireland on a dark and foggy night with reports of icebergs. At least you have a rough idea of the direction before you leave.