Displaying items by tag: Cork Harbour
Latest Photos From Royal Cork's October League
Bob Bateman's latest photos from yesterday's Royal Cork's October League are over the fold. Having sailed six races in the O'Flynn Exhams Autumn League and, with a discard applied, a trend is emerging writes Claire Bateman. The exception to this is White Sail 1 and 2 who have had four races and at the wish of the classes have reverted to two races each day. It was another light day with yachts waiting patiently for the breeze to fill and when it did it was a light breeze from the west going further into the south as the day went on. Richard Leonard's Green Fleet were on a laid course outside the harbour and having postponed the first race during the start sequence, he eventually got the fleet going when the west breeze settled. Class Three and White Sail 1 were started together followed by Class Four and White Sail 2. The mixing of classes made for interesting racing as it kept the boats in close proximity to one another and a second race was sailed successfully thereafter.
On David O'Brien's harbour course with the Red Fleet the breeze was slower to fill in. However, when it did Class 2 and the 1720s were sent on a course to Ringabella against the flood tide. The Class Zero and Class One fleets were over eager and suffered a general recall so they started last. Again they were over anxious and were bunched at the pin end of the line but after some manoeuvering a clear start was called and they too set off for Ringabella, the boats heading for the western shore to avoid the tide faring best. First to reach Ringabella was Jump Juice but she obviously didn't feel like leaving as she clung to the mark having to suffer the fate of watching many of the class rounding before she eventually got free. In Class One IRC Donal O'Leary's D-Tox is on 7 points but David Scott's EOS is on 20 points with Michael Wallace just one point adrift on Felix.
The position in Class Three IRC appears to be the most obvious with the prowling Kenefick/O'Brien Tiger leading with five first places followed by Ian Traver's Bandit on 9 points and in Class Zero IRC the same equally obvious situation pertains with Kieran Twomey's Gloves Off on 5 points and Conor Phelan's Jump Juice on 9 points. In Class Four IRC Mike Sexton's Granny Knot and Alan Mulcahy's Sundancer are tied on 7 points each.
This league is also counting for the SCORA 2010 League as is the April league from Kinsale a total of fifteen races overall with three discards so this also adding spice and competition to the event.
To-day's day prizes were presented by Eamonn Muldoon of O'Flynn Exham's and racing will continue next Sunday with first gun at 10.55 am.
Ballycotton Lifeboat Rescues Fishing Vessel
Ballycotton lifeboat was launched last night, 11 October, to a fishing vessel with a fouled propeller, near rocks off Ballycroneen Bay, east of Cork Harbour. The boat's skipper put out an anchor and contacted the owner, who in turn contacted the lifeboat station. Ballycotton lifeboat was launched at 19:55 and arrived on-scene at 20:15. They pulled the fishing vessel away from the rocks and any possible fishing gear that was in the area. A tow line was established and the fishing vessel was towed into Ballycotton harbour, arriving at 21:20.
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Commodores' Cup Celebration Dinner to be Held at Royal Cork
Team Ireland boats, Antix - Anthony O Leary, Marinerscove.ie - Dave Dwyer and Roxy 6 - Rob Davies and Andrew Creighton, will be represented on the night.
The dinner cost will be €30 and booking will be on first come/first served basis. Book with [email protected] or call 021 4831023.
All Ireland's Eye New Date at End of November
Following the abandonment of the Irish Sailing Association's All Ireland Sailing Championships in the last weekend of September the national authority is still seeking a suitable resail date. "Currently we're in touch with the competitors. It's looking like the end of November", Racing manager Ed Alcock told Afloat.ie this week. The event was scrubbed due to lack of wind but a junior event was completed elsewhere in Cork Harbour.
A new Notice of Race (NOR) will be published for the event. Eight helmsmen, including the double winner Nicholas O'Leary will be invited in a new final consisting of five races. The eight finallists are Anthony O'Leary, Neil Kenefick, Nicholas O'Leary, Garrett May, Niall Henry, James Espey, Nick Walsh, Ewen Barry.
Cruising Sailor Rescued off Cork Harbour
A sailor who got into difficulty cruising from Wales to the Canary Islands was rescued and brought to safety in Cork Harbour yesterday.
The 10-metre yacht hit poor weather conditions near the Pollock Rock east of Power Head and lost the use of its VHF radio. The skipper was heading for Cork Harbour when he also encountered steering problems.
A passing fishing boat lent assistance and contacted the Coastguard. The vessel was towed to Crosshaven by Ballycotton lifeboat.
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Crotty Stays on Top in 1720s
The sun may have been missing from the scene this morning at Crosshaven and the skies may have been dark and overcast but the wind was blowing, the buzz was very definitly in the the air and the spring was in every sailors'step as they arrived in their droves to set forth on the second day of the O'Flynn Exhams Autumn League at the Royal Cork Yacht Club writes Claire Bateman. Photos from race two on the gallery click HERE
The wind was gusting some 26 knots on the marina but by the time the boats had reached the comittee boats for the start of racing the east wind had moderated to some 10/12 knots and later went north easterly, was obviously going to provide a good day of sailing. The two Race Officers had put their minds together on the courses and decided to sail both fleets within the harbour and this proved to be an outstanding success. Race Officer David O'Brien was today on Classes Three, Four and Whitesail one and two and his boat "Sabrone" was kindly provided by Admiral Paddy McGlade who was on board for the racing. Richard Leonard's committee boat "Capta Ventum" was kindly provided by Pat Healy who was also on board to watch the day's events unfold.
Tight handling in the second day of Cork's Autumn League races. Photo: Bob Bateman. More on the gallery HERE
There are exceptionally high spring tides at the moment and this exercised the minds of the all sailors to keep out of the strong tide and on the other hand to avoid going aground on any of the banks around the harbour. In this regard the one casualty was Peter Webster's Thistle from Class Four which went aground and spent some time waiting for the incoming tide.
The tight courses and the racing tide coupled with the sufficient breeze made for close racing. John Crotty was a very happy man sailing the 1720 Two 2 Tango and winning the class for the second week in a row. Class One is of course a very competitive class and there was close racing between the 4 X332s. In Class Two it was good to see Bad Company and wicked so close together but the day in Class Two belonged to Shane Statham of Waterford Harbour in Slack Alice who ended first overall in IRC and ECHO. In Whitesail 2 Clive Doherty had an excellent day winning IRC1 and Ernie Dillon received a tumultous reception when his name was called out in the same class for wining ECHO.
The combination of the fleets racing in the magnificent harbour today added greatly to the buzz with yachts flying everywhere and the fleets moving around with the greatest of ease. Some were up off Cobh while others went to a laid mark off the Aghada shore and Whitesaill one and two were given a course which should have taken in the OFE2 buoy outside the harbour but given the fear would lighten even further race officer David O'Brien decided to shorten the course so the white sail fleets hada somewhat easy day of sailing and returned early to the warmth of the club house. It was certainly a huge success on the part of the race officers and added greatly to the enjoyment as was heard from the sailors in their apés sail get totether. There were three protests from the racing today but one was withdrawn and the other two were resolved amicably so all was well and the prize giving presided over by Aeibhín Cahalan of O'Flynn Exhams brought a fitting finish to the day.
Five Incidents in Four Days for Cork Harbour Lifeboat
Crosshaven Volunteer RNLI Lifeboat has had a very busy few days as they were tasked to five incidents in four days.
On Thursday evening at 17.59, the Lifeboat was tasked to the upper reaches of Cork Harbour near the city to check out an unidentifiable object in the water. On arrival, the object was found to be a large bag containing foam. Friday evening, saw the Lifeboat heading up the Owenabue River to rescue two punts which had been floated off on the very high Spring tides and were perceived a danger to shipping.
Saturday evening at 20.34, the Lifeboat was again tasked to the North side of Great Island where a 55' Motor Launch with 3 persons on board had mechanical difficulties and drifting in high winds of force 7. On arrival at scene, the crew decided that because of the size and weight of the vessel and the high winds it was safer to anchor the vessel and take off the crew. They were safely landed at East Ferry Pier. As the Lifeboat was returning to Crosshaven, The Coastguard at Valentia again tasked the Lifeboat to search the area between Cobh and Monkstown for an overdue Rigid Inflatable Boat (RIB). After searching for a period, and with nothing found, the Coastguard stood down the volunteer Lifeboat crew to return to station.
Sunday afternoon, and the pagers were again activated at 16.33 to go to the aid of a small boat with engine problems at East Ferry. On arrival in the area, it was noticed that the casualty boat had managed to restart and head into East Ferry Marina.
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Department Denies Haulbowline Report
The spokesman told RTE news there is no likelihood of fines being imposed.
He added that the notice, which was issued last week, is part of a long standing legal case being taken against Ireland relating to other waste legacy sites.
Haulbowline was mentioned because it had no waste license.
Cork Institute of Technology Win 2010 Student Yachting Nationals
Last weekend saw the Student Yachting Nationals take place at the Royal Cork Yacht Club. The students had the use of the ISA J80 Sailfleet for the event. Six college teams entered for the Nationals which was the Qualifier for the Student Yachting World Cup 2011.
Racing was scheduled for Cuskinny on Friday and conditions were ideal with 17-20 knots of breeze. Race Officer, Nathan Kirwan, got in four good races lasting some 40 to 50 minutes each. However, spinnakers were banned as some wipeouts had been observed by the ISA Bosun who exercised his judgment in this regard. Some two minutes after the start of the first race UCC skippered by Robert O'Leary suffered a snapped halyard but were refused redress. CIT skippered by George Kenefick lost their only winch handle overboard some three minutes before the start in race 1 but still managed to win the race by a comfortable margin. In race 2 UCC came back strongly to take the gun and pushing CIT into second place. At this stage match racing had begun between the two Cork colleges with each throwing dummy tacks to try to clear their air. In Race 3 TCD skippered by Alistair Kissane took the win with CIT in second and UCC third. The final race of the day was won by CIT with UCC third. Overall standings for Day One were: CIT 6pts, with UCC and TCD on 12 pts each. UCD had got off to a shaky start which was to prove costly for them as they were on form on days two and three.
On day two the Race Officer moved the course to the Curlane Bank and spinnakers were permitted. CIT found their rythym taking the bullet in race 5 with UCD in second and a poor mark rounding relegated UCC to third place. Race 6 saw the O'Leary and Kenefick teams doing circles at the pre start as the competition was intensifying and it was looking like a two horse race. UCC took first place with NUIG taking second and CIT third. Donagh Good of CIT went for a quick dip in the cold water but managed to grab on and was pulled back on board by George Kenefick and Kevin Goulding. Later during day 2 the wind was rising to 22 knots so spinnakers were once again banned. UCC found the conditions very much to their liking, taking the win, with TCD in second, UCC third and CIT fourth. Race 8 proved to be rather interesting with CIT managing to relegate UCC to last position and managing to keep UCC in their sight for the duration of the race. Downwind was difficult for CIT with UCC right on their tail but UCC were not successful in finding a passing lane. Again, UCD took their second bullet of the day with CIT and UCC in fifth and sixth positions some four to five minutes behind the rest of the fleet. CIT were able to discard their fifth position but UCC were unlucky in having to count their sixth as they also had a sixth from day one. TCD again got a second position. Results after day two were: CIT 14pts, UCC 19pts, UCD and TCD on 21pts each.
Day 3 was a non discardable coastal race from Crosshaven to Kinsale counting for 1.5pts. The start line was just off Roches Point with five knots of breeze and brilliant sunshine. UCC led the fleet and NUIG and CIT were in last position 300 metres behind the rest of the fleet. As the race went on the wind increased to a nice south westerly breeze of 12 to 14 knots. As this stage it looked as if it might be UCC's lucky day but Team CIT maintained their composure and by tacking close to the shore and keeping out of the tide managed to finish in third position at the Bulman Buoy with UCC first and UCD second. This result was to prove sufficient to give CIT the national student title for 2010.
Overall Results:
CIT 18.5pts
UCC 20.5pts
UCD 24pts
TCD 28.4pts
NUIG 33pts
UL 40pts
Salute the Cup Team at the 2010 ICRA Conference
