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Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

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In sunny weather, Ireland is one of the most beautiful places but the author, Kevin Dwyer, sometimes waited a whole summer for suitable weather to be rewarded with a day from heaven. The stunning photographs are gathered to share the beauty of Ireland as it unfolded on various flights over the years. They do not represent all of Ireland but are quite simply an aerial miscellany.
Kevin's wife, Fie, also took photographs from the 'other side of the helicopter'. The result is this stunning collection inviting one to explore this beautiful island country for oneself. Kevin captures the spirit and colour of Ireland, its varied landscape of rivers and lakes, coast and mountains, the tranquillity of ancient monasteries and vibrant cities and towns.

Dwyer is a member of the Irish Cruising Club and has achieved much recognition for his contribution to appreciation of the Irish coastline and countryside.

Dwyers_Ireland

Dwyer's Island 'A View From Above' was published in October 2010 by Collins Press www.collinspress.ie/ and is Priced: €14.99 / £12.99

Published in Book Review

The ISAF World Match Racing Tour (WMRT), sailing's global match racing tour, has today opened the bidding process for cities, regions and countries from around the globe to enter the race for the right to host a stage of sailing's leading world series.

WMRT is an exciting and spectator friendly discipline with leading skippers and their teams taking each other on in short, sharp, high adrenalin, head-to-head battles in identical boats. Recognised by the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) with special event status, WMRT is a professionally managed tour currently consisting of nine events worldwide. The Tour culminates in the crowning of a World Champion.

The bidding process, which will be managed by venue acquisition consultancy Regatta International, will see six new venues selected to join the Tour from the 2012-2013 seasons. The new venues will win the right to hold a World Championship stage, each lasting for 5 days.

Cities, countries and regions interested in finding out more about WMRT, the benefits associated with being a host venue, and what the application process is, can find full details and register their interest at http://application.wmrt.com/.

Commenting on the opening of the bidding process, WMRT CEO Jim O'Toole commented, "The World Match Racing Tour is a well proven marketing platform for destinations wishing to showcase their facilities, infrastructure and organisational capacities, increase their international tourism profile and attract inward investment.

"We are currently undergoing an intense period of expansion and are looking forward to partnering with venues who share our ambition. We have already fielded strong levels of interest from potential venues and by opening up the bidding process we'll be requiring bidding venues to meet certain criteria.

"These will range from essential requirements such as proving they can ensure good winds, to logistical, marketing and financial commitments, as well as guaranteeing they can provide the level of infrastructure associated with a world class level sporting event."

Regatta International's Director Terry Newby said, "The World Match Racing Tour is already one of sailing's most respected brands with outstanding events around the world. The opportunity to work with interested parties to develop the series to 15 stages by 2013 is a hugely exciting prospect.

"Over the past 10 years WMRT has developed into a very well organised series which attracts top class sailors while drawing a huge global audience and media footprint. The benefits for venues looking to host a stage are numerous, ranging from strong economic returns to developing international awareness. We look forward to collaborating with bidding cities to maximise their chances of success."

Published in Match Racing

Marine Institute Research Vessel Tom Crean

Ireland’s new marine research vessel will be named the RV Tom Crean after the renowned County Kerry seaman and explorer who undertook three major groundbreaking expeditions to the Antarctic in the early years of the 20th Century which sought to increase scientific knowledge and to explore unreached areas of the world, at that time.

Ireland's new multi-purpose marine research vessel RV Tom Crean, was delivered in July 2022 and will be used by the Marine Institute and other State agencies and universities to undertake fisheries research, oceanographic and environmental research, seabed mapping surveys; as well as maintaining and deploying weather buoys, observational infrastructure and Remotely Operated Vehicles.

The RV Tom Crean will also enable the Marine Institute to continue to lead and support high-quality scientific surveys that contribute to Ireland's position as a leader in marine science. The research vessel is a modern, multipurpose, silent vessel (designed to meet the stringent criteria of the ICES 209 noise standard for fisheries research), capable of operating in the Irish Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The Tom Crean is able to go to sea for at least 21 days at a time and is designed to operate in harsh sea conditions.

RV Tom Crean Specification Overview

  • Length Overall: 52.8 m
  • Beam 14m
  • Draft 5.2M 

Power

  • Main Propulsion Motor 2000 kw
  • Bow Thruster 780 kw
  • Tunnel thruster 400 kw

Other

  • Endurance  21 Days
  • Range of 8,000 nautical miles
  • DP1 Dynamic Positioning
  • Capacity for 3 x 20ft Containers

Irish Marine Research activities

The new state-of-the-art multi-purpose marine research vessel will carry out a wide range of marine research activities, including vital fisheries, climate change-related research, seabed mapping and oceanography.

The new 52.8-metre modern research vessel, which will replace the 31-metre RV Celtic Voyager, has been commissioned with funding provided by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine approved by the Government of Ireland.

According to Aodhán FitzGerald, Research Vessel Manager of the MI, the RV Tom Crean will feature an articulated boom crane aft (6t@ 10m, 3T@ 15m), located on the aft-gantry. This will be largely used for loading science equipment and net and equipment handling offshore.

Mounted at the stern is a 10T A-frame aft which can articulate through 170 degrees which are for deploying and recovering large science equipment such as a remotely operated vehicle (ROV’s), towed sleds and for fishing operations.

In addition the fitting of an 8 Ton starboard side T Frame for deploying grabs and corers to 4000m which is the same depth applicable to when the vessel is heaving but is compensated by a CTD system consisting of a winch and frame during such operations.

The vessel will have the regulation MOB boat on a dedicated davit and the facility to carry a 6.5m Rigid Inflatable tender on the port side.

Also at the aft deck is where the 'Holland 1' Work class ROV and the University of Limericks 'Etain' sub-Atlantic ROV will be positioned. In addition up to 3 x 20’ (TEU) containers can be carried.

The newbuild has been engineered to endure increasing harsher conditions and the punishing weather systems encountered in the North-East Atlantic where deployments of RV Tom Crean on surveys spent up to 21 days duration.

In addition, RV Tom Crean will be able to operate in an ultra silent-mode, which is crucial to meet the stringent criteria of the ICES 209 noise standard for fisheries research purposes.

The classification of the newbuild as been appointed to Lloyds and below is a list of the main capabilities and duties to be tasked by RV Tom Crean:

  • Oceanographic surveys, incl. CTD water sampling
  • Fishery research operations
  • Acoustic research operations
  • Environmental research and sampling operation incl. coring
  • ROV and AUV/ASV Surveys
  • Buoy/Mooring operations