The prestigious club, which was founded in 1838, is hosting the week-long SF Marina IRL Squibs National Sailing Championships from June 18th. Over 100 boats and 600 sailors from Ireland and the UK will descend on Dun Laoghaire for the event, providing a welcome boost to the local economy.
Today Kilkenny based company, SF MARINA IRL, who build floating concrete pontoons and breakwaters for marinas, will embark on the task of putting into place 4 permanent pontoons weighing 252 tons each and measuring 5 metres wide and 80 metres in length.
The pontoons were manufactured in Sweden and shipped by coaster to Ireland. They were offloaded by crane at Dublin Port last week and were floated across Dublin Bay to Dun Laoghaire for installation today. A team of experienced riggers from Bere Island in Cork who have worked closely with SF Marina Irl for the past 12 years will be anchoring the pontoons today. Because of the difficult wave conditions in Dunlaoghaire the pontoons will be anchored with 30 tonnes of heavy steel chain and twenty four five tonne anchor blocks buried in the mud in the sea bed.
The pontoons have a core of styrofoam encased in high quality reinforced concrete. They are designed to endure storms, floods and hurricanes and are unsinkable.
SF Marina Irl, sponsors of this year National Squib Championships - are the only company of its type in Ireland, and has built marinas and installed floating pontoons and breakwaters all over the country, north and south, as well as the UK. The directors are Rod and Julie Calder-Potts who trade under Milford Marina Systems and are based in Cuffesgrange, Co Kilkenny.
Recently the company designed and fitted concrete pontoons weighing 1,000 tonnes on the River Liffey to service the Waterbuses Spirit of Docklands and Liffey Voyage . The project consisted of a megayacht visitors berthing facility on the Custom House Quay and three waterbus landing stages - one at The Point, one south-east of The Ha’Penny bridge and one at the mouth of George’s Dock on Custom House Quay.
The pontoons have been praised for the fact they merge perfectly with the backdrop of the cityscape.
Other projects have included breakwaters in Garrykennedy, Cahirciveen, Lough Allen, Lough Erne, Inisturk beg, Dinish Island, the lower Ban River and Stangford Lough, to name but a few. SF Marina Irl are also involved in project management of marina installation in the UAE using Irish expertise and personnel.
SF Marina Irl is the sole Irish agent for Swedish company SF MARINA Sweden specializing in the supply and installation of floating concrete breakwaters that can stand up to the rigorous maritime conditions.
Rod Calder Potts of SF Marina Irl said today: “We are very proud to be associated with the Historic Royal Saint George Yacht club and with the Squibs national Championships. This is our third major installation in Dunlaoghaire Harbour and the eighth in the Dublin Bay area. We enjoy the challenge of dealing with the difficult Irish tides, winds and waves. It is a pleasure and a privilege dealing with the wonderful sailing clubs around Dublin Bay. “
The annual National Squib Championship, with competitors from all over Britain and Ireland, is held in Ireland every Fifth year, and this years event will be the biggest sailing event on the 2010 calendar in Dublin Bay.
The Squib Class fleet is one of the largest one-design fleets in Britain and Ireland, with over 810 boats. The National Squib Owners Association (NSOA) has 640 members from all over the UK and Ireland. Squib Sailors at the Championships will range in ages from mid 20s to 60s.
Squibs- which are two-man keelboats measuring 7 metres long - are also owned in many other parts of the world and are favoured both as an exciting racing boat and, because of their strength and safe design, as a teaching boat.
A National Championship has been held for the Squib Class every year since 1972. Every fifth year it is held in Ireland, where the Class is expanding and is this year attracting interest from a wide range of clubs from Royal North of Ireland YC to Kinsale YC. There are particularly strong fleets in Dun Laoghaire and Howth.
With such superb facilities, both on and off the water, the Royal St George Yacht Club says it is confident that the SF Marina Irl. Squib National Championships will be a most memorable event.
The club has a long history and tradition in Irish Sailing and is Ireland’s current Sailing Club of the Year, reflecting its magnificent waterside setting, attractive Clubhouse and full range of sailing, social and race activities.
