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A Sigma 33 One Design keelboat racing on Dublin Bay Photo: AfloatA Sigma 33 One Design keelboat racing on Dublin Bay Photo: Afloat

Displaying items by tag: Search

#NEWS UPDATE - Breaking News reports that the search for a 38-year-old man who went kayaking near Cromane in Co Kerry in the early hours of yesterday will resume this morning.

The alarm was raised yesterday morning after the man - named locally as Nealie O'Connor, and the father of a two-month-old baby - failed to return from his lake kayaking trip.

Published in News Update

#NEWS UPDATE - The Irish Coast Guard told RTÉ News that it has received an "overwhelming" response from the diving community to its appeal to join the search in West Cork for two missing fishermen.

Skipper Michael Hayes and crewman Saied Ali Eldin are still missing after the fishing vessel Tit Bonhomme ran aground in rough seas near Adam's Rock at the mouth of Glandore Harbour.

Only one of the six-person crew - 43-year-old Abdul Mohammed – is confirmed to have survived. The bodies of Kevin Kershaw (21) and Attia Shaban (26) were recovered last week, while the remains of Wael Mohammed (35) were found by civilian divers near the wreck site last Sunday.

Coastguard manager Declan Geoghegan said that search teams now have the 48 divers required to conduct an exhaustive search of the wreck area and urged further volunteers not to travel for the moment.

The search will concentrate on the waters between Adam's Rock and Long Point, where much of the debris from the trawler has washed up.

RTÉ News reports that more than 200 volunteers are assisting the coastal search by boat and on land, which is being co-ordinated from the village of Union Hall.

Published in News Update

#RESCUE - The search resumed this morning for five men missing after their fishing boat went down in rough seas in West Cork early yesterday, The Irish Times reports.

One of the six-person crew of the Tit Bonhomme was rescued when he was able to reach the shore, after the boat ran aground near Adam's Rock at the mouth of Glandore Harbour.

The missing include skipper Michael Hayes from Helvic Head in Co Waterford, Dubliner Kevin Kershaw (21) and Egyptians Said Mohammed (23), Wael Mohammed (35) and Attea Ahmed Shaban (26).

Abdul Mohammed (43) was airlifted by Irish Coast Guard helicopter to Cork University Hospital, where he is in a stable condition.

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the fishing boat was returning to its home port of Union Hall early on Sunday in strong force 7-8 southeasterly winds when the incident occurred.

Naval Service and Garda divers were scheduled to search the sunken vessel today after postponing yesterday due to poor light and big swells.

The Irish Times has more on the story HERE.

Published in Rescue

#NEWS UPDATE - A fisherman whose body was found in a Scottish harbour on St Stephen's Day has been identified as that of a 34-year-old Donegal man, the Belfast Telegraph reports.

Philip Anthony Toland, from Glengad in Inishowen, Co Donegal, was last seen on Christmas Day near the pier at Ullapool harbour in the Scottish Highlands.

As BBC News reports, concerns were raised later that evening and a search was launched involving police, coastguard and RNLI lifeboat teams.

The body was located by a police dive team in the sea near the pier when the search resumed on Monday morning.

It is being speculated that Toland - who has an eight-year-old son - may have slipped and fallen into the water while returning to his boat.

Published in News Update

#NEWS UPDATE - The search was set to resume this morning for a missing man feared drowned in Cork city, the Irish Examiner reports.

Search efforts were mounted last night after the man's family notified gardaí. The man, believed to be in his 60s, is thought to have disappeared from Ballincollig Regional Park in the west of the city, where his car and phone were found.

Waterford's Irish Coast Guard helicopter joined the search along with gardaí and the Crosshaven coastguard, concentrating on the River Lee where water levels were high due to heavy rain.

Published in News Update
#SWANLAND–Eleven coastguard rescue teams and an RAF helicopter have completed a search of the north Wales coast this morning, following the loss of the cargo carrier 'Swanland' in the early hours of yesterday morning. Although some additional wreckage including a lifejacket and a lifering have been found, the missing seafarers have still not been located.

This morning's search for the five seafarers began at 8.00 am and covered 105 miles of coastline from Holyhead to Aberdovey. Although that search is now complete, coastguards will carry out a short low water search from 3.00 pm until dusk.

Five lifeboats, six helicopters, four coastguard rescue teams, three merchant vessels, an Irish naval patrol vessel and a fixed wing aircraft searched an area of approximately 300 square miles yesterday. However, the only sign of the missing seafarers was their two liferafts, a lifebuoy from the vessel and a survival suit.

Holyhead Coastguard Watch Manager, Ray Carson says:

"Sadly we still have not been able to locate the missing seafarers. We will carry out one final search at low water today."

Published in Coastguard
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A search and recovery operation is being conducted from Banagher bridge downstream towards Meelick Lock. A number of vessels are involved including a dive vessel and a sonar search craft.

Waterways Ireland request masters of vessels to proceed at slow speed and with minimum wash when in the area to avoid hindering or upsetting the search craft.

Published in Inland Waterways
A major search for a man thought to have gone missing while kayaking on Carlingford Lough has ended for the night, UTV News reports.
Emergency services will decide this morning whether to resume the search for a kayaker who went missing on Carlingford Lough earlier this week.
Area man Mark McGowan, 37, was last seen kayaking in the lough at 7.30pm on Monday evening.
His blue kayak was spotted by the Irish Coast Guard on Tuesday at Killowen Point, on the north side of the lough.
Dundalk Gardaí are co-ordinating the cross-border search operation, which was interrupted by bad weather early yesterday.
Also assisting are the Irish rescue helicopter, Greenore coastguard, Kilkeel's RNLI lifeboat, the south Down coastguard team and the Community Rescue Service.
Meanwhile the PSNI has appealed for anyone who might have information on McGowan's disappearance to get in touch.
McGowan is described as 5'7" tall, medium build, with a clean shaven, tanned complexion and short bleached blonde hair. He was last seen wearing a red jacket, blue jeans and white trainers.

Emergency services were set to decide this morning whether to resume the search for a kayaker who went missing on Carlingford Lough earlier this week, UTV News reports.

Area man Mark McGowan, 37, was last seen kayaking in the lough at 7.30pm on Monday evening.

His blue kayak was spotted by the Irish Coast Guard on Tuesday at Killowen Point, on the north side of the lough.

Dundalk Gardaí are co-ordinating the cross-border search operation, which was interrupted by bad weather early yesterday.


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Also assisting are the Irish rescue helicopter, Greenore coastguard, Kilkeel's RNLI lifeboat, the south Down coastguard team and the Community Rescue Service.

Meanwhile, the PSNI has appealed for anyone who might have information on McGowan's disappearance to get in touch.

McGowan is described as 5'7" tall, medium build, with a clean shaven, tanned complexion and short bleached blonde hair. He was last seen wearing a red jacket, blue jeans and white trainers.

Published in News Update
Red Bay RNLI Lifeboat crew joined the search this morning for Ballycastle woman who has been missing since Sunday evening.

The volunteer lifeboat crew assisted in an intensive shoreline search today along the coastline around Ballycastle from Fair Head to Kinbane head.

The lifeboat was joined in the shoreline search by local Coast Guards and the Police helicopter in the search, which lasted several hours.

Red_Bay_Lifeboat

Red Bay RNLI Lifeboat searching near Ballycastle

Weather conditions for the search were difficult with strong gusty winds.

Nothing was found in the operation, which lasted several hours.

The search continues throughout the Ballycastle area.

 

Published in RNLI Lifeboats
The US Coast Guard has called off the search for an Irishman who was swept out to sea in Maine last Friday.
The Irish Independent named the man as Thomas Clarke, originally from Kilnaleck in Co Cavan.
The 32-year-old was reportedly knocked into the water on Friday afternoon by a huge wave near Monhegan Island, 12 miles off the Maine coast.
He was apparently attemping to take pictures of the waves swollen by the passing Hurricane Katia when he was struck and pulled out in a riptide.
Four friends tried to rescue him to no avail, with one needing to be rescued from rocks by helicopter.
According to WABI TV, rescue crews spent nearly two days scouring 600 miles of coastline before calling off the search on Saturday night.
Clarke had been in the area with friends sightseeing before a wedding. A long time resident of the US, he had returned more than a year ago after several years in Ireland.
The Irish Independent has more on the story HERE.

The US Coast Guard has called off the search for an Irishman who was swept out to sea in Maine last Friday.

The Irish Independent named the man as Thomas Clarke, originally from Kilnaleck in Co Cavan.

The 32-year-old was reportedly knocked into the water on Friday afternoon by a huge wave near Monhegan Island, 12 miles off the Maine coast.

He was apparently attemping to take pictures of the waves swollen by the passing Hurricane Katia when he was struck and pulled out in a riptide.

Four friends tried to rescue him to no avail, with one needing to be rescued from rocks by helicopter.

According to WABI TV, rescue crews spent nearly two days scouring 600 miles of coastline before calling off the search on Saturday night.

Clarke had been in the area with friends sightseeing before a wedding. A long time resident of the US, he had returned more than a year ago after several years in Ireland.

The Irish Independent has more on the story HERE.

Published in News Update
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How to sail, sailing clubs and sailing boats plus news on the wide range of sailing events on Irish waters forms the backbone of Afloat's sailing coverage.

We aim to encompass the widest range of activities undertaken on Irish lakes, rivers and coastal waters. This page describes those sailing activites in more detail and provides links and breakdowns of what you can expect from our sailing pages. We aim to bring jargon free reports separated in to popular categories to promote the sport of sailing in Ireland.

The packed 2013 sailing season sees the usual regular summer leagues and there are regular weekly race reports from Dublin Bay Sailing Club, Howth and Cork Harbour on Afloat.ie. This season and last also featured an array of top class events coming to these shores. Each year there is ICRA's Cruiser Nationals starts and every other year the Round Ireland Yacht Race starts and ends in Wicklow and all this action before July. Crosshaven's Cork Week kicks off on in early July every other year. in 2012 Ireland hosted some big international events too,  the ISAF Youth Worlds in Dun Laoghaire and in August the Tall Ships Race sailed into Dublin on its final leg. In that year the Dragon Gold Cup set sail in Kinsale in too.

2013 is also packed with Kinsale hosting the IFDS diabled world sailing championships in Kinsale and the same port is also hosting the Sovereign's Cup. The action moves to the east coast in July with the staging of the country's biggest regatta, the Volvo Dun Laoghaire regatta from July 11.

Our coverage though is not restricted to the Republic of Ireland but encompasses Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the Irish Sea area too. In this section you'll find information on the Irish Sailing Association and Irish sailors. There's sailing reports on regattas, racing, training, cruising, dinghies and keelboat classes, windsurfers, disabled sailing, sailing cruisers, Olympic sailing and Tall Ships sections plus youth sailing, match racing and team racing coverage too.

Sailing Club News

There is a network of over 70 sailing clubs in Ireland and we invite all clubs to submit details of their activities for inclusion in our daily website updates. There are dedicated sections given over to the big Irish clubs such as  the waterfront clubs in Dun Laoghaire; Dublin Bay Sailing Club, the Royal Saint George Yacht Club,  the Royal Irish Yacht Club and the National Yacht Club. In Munster we regularly feature the work of Kinsale Yacht Club and Royal Cork Yacht Club in Crosshaven.  Abroad Irish sailors compete in Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) racing in the UK and this club is covered too. Click here for Afloat's full list of sailing club information. We are keen to increase our coverage on the network of clubs from around the coast so if you would like to send us news and views of a local interest please let us have it by sending an email to [email protected]

Sailing Boats and Classes

Over 20 active dinghy and one design classes race in Irish waters and fleet sizes range from just a dozen or so right up to over 100 boats in the case of some of the biggest classes such as the Laser or Optimist dinghies for national and regional championships. Afloat has dedicated pages for each class: Dragons, Etchells, Fireball, Flying Fifteen, GP14, J24's, J80's, Laser, Sigma 33, RS Sailing, Star, Squibs, TopperMirror, Mermaids, National 18, Optimist, Puppeteers, SB3's, and Wayfarers. For more resources on Irish classes go to our dedicated sailing classes page.

The big boat scene represents up to 60% of the sail boat racing in these waters and Afloat carries updates from the Irish Cruiser Racer Association (ICRA), the body responsible for administering cruiser racing in Ireland and the popular annual ICRA National Championships. In 2010 an Irish team won the RORC Commodore's Cup putting Irish cruiser racing at an all time high. Popular cruiser fleets in Ireland are raced right around the coast but naturally the biggest fleets are in the biggest sailing centres in Cork Harbour and Dublin Bay. Cruisers race from a modest 20 feet or so right up to 50'. Racing is typically divided in to Cruisers Zero, Cruisers One, Cruisers Two, Cruisers Three and Cruisers Four. A current trend over the past few seasons has been the introduction of a White Sail division that is attracting big fleets.

Traditionally sailing in northern Europe and Ireland used to occur only in some months but now thanks to the advent of a network of marinas around the coast (and some would say milder winters) there are a number of popular winter leagues running right over the Christmas and winter periods.

Sailing Events

Punching well above its weight Irish sailing has staged some of the world's top events including the Volvo Ocean Race Galway Stopover, Tall Ships visits as well as dozens of class world and European Championships including the Laser Worlds, the Fireball Worlds in both Dun Laoghaire and Sligo.

Some of these events are no longer pure sailing regattas and have become major public maritime festivals some are the biggest of all public staged events. In the past few seasons Ireland has hosted events such as La Solitaire du Figaro and the ISAF Dublin Bay 2012 Youth Worlds.

There is a lively domestic racing scene for both inshore and offshore sailing. A national sailing calendar of summer fixtures is published annually and it includes old favorites such as Sovereign's Cup, Calves Week, Dun Laoghaire to Dingle, All Ireland Sailing Championships as well as new events with international appeal such as the Round Britain and Ireland Race and the Clipper Round the World Race, both of which have visited Ireland.

The bulk of the work on running events though is carried out by the network of sailing clubs around the coast and this is mostly a voluntary effort by people committed to the sport of sailing. For example Wicklow Sailing Club's Round Ireland yacht race run in association with the Royal Ocean Racing Club has been operating for over 30 years. Similarly the international Cork Week regatta has attracted over 500 boats in past editions and has also been running for over 30 years.  In recent years Dublin Bay has revived its own regatta called Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta and can claim to be the country's biggest event with over 550 boats entered in 2009.

On the international stage Afloat carries news of Irish and UK interest on Olympics 2012, Sydney to Hobart, Volvo Ocean Race, Cowes Week and the Fastnet Race.

We're always aiming to build on our sailing content. We're keen to build on areas such as online guides on learning to sail in Irish sailing schools, navigation and sailing holidays. If you have ideas for our pages we'd love to hear from you. Please email us at [email protected]