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Displaying items by tag: boat songs

One of the great enjoyments is sailing along on a pleasant, sunny day, with nice music adding to the occasion but what is the best music aboard a boat? There have been strong disagreements about my choices as Skipper, so I am intrigued by the first published list of top "boating" music. It has been compiled by the National Marine Manufacturers' Association of America, which has nearly 1,500 member companies which produce nearly every conceivable boating product.

It runs a "Discover Boating" national awareness project creating interest amongst the public in going afloat. "We identified the most popular nautical-themed songs from a variety of artists and genres, all of which illustrate why boating and music go hand-in-hand," said Carl Blackwell, the Association's Vice-President running the project. "They illustrate why boating and music go hand-in-hand, the wind in your hair, sun on your face, friends and family aboard. Music and boating provide an escape from the pressures of life."

Kenny Chesney's song 'Boats' has been voted the top boating son in the USA

These are the Top Ten Boating Songs:

BOATS – sung by KENNY CHESNEY;
BRANDY YOU'RE A FINE GIRL BY LOOKING GLASS;
COME SAIL AWAY BY STYX;
IF I HAD A BOAT BY LYLE LOVETT;
INTO THE MYSTIC BY VAN MORRISON;
PROUD MARY BY CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL;
REDNECK YACHT CLUB BY CRAIG MORGAN;
SITTIN' ON THE DOCK OF THE BAY BY OTIS REDDING;
SON OF A SON OF A SAILOR BY JIMMY BUFFETT;
SOUTHERN CROSS BY CROSBY, STILLS & NASH.

These are chosen from an American viewpoint, I wonder what an Irish list would include? Let me know in the comment box below.

WIND PLAN WILL CHANGE THE HARBOUR

Wind turbines have become an established feature on the coastline and around many parts of the country. Controversy has often surrounded their construction as an alternative energy supply. Wind turbines nearly four hundred feet high which would change the appearance of Cork Harbour are being proposed by four pharmaceutical companies in Ringaskiddy. They want cheaper energy and have formed the Lower Harbour Energy Group. GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, Centocor and DePuy plan to construct a total of turbines between their sites. Public response to the proposals will be interesting. Indications are that the body of the turbines would be 78 metres, the blades a further 40 metres high, making a total of around 118 metres.

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A cargo ship navigates Cork Harbour. Photo: Bob Bateman

There are serious concerns about 336 offshore turbines around the UK coastline, because their foundations are suffering from subsidence, sinking into the sea. Checks are being made on a wind farm off Essex
another in Liverpool Bay, of turbines at Blyth, Northumberland and Robin Rigg in the Solway Firth. If repairs have to be made to all of them, the total bill could be £50m. stg.

The Scottish Government is attempting to encourage Norwegian Statoil to locate the world's first floating windfarm either off the Isle of Lewis or the Aberdeenshire coastline. Statoil is also considering sites in Norway and the USA for the development, intended to have a capacity of up to 100 megawatts.

• This article is reprinted by permission of the CORK EVENING ECHO in which Tom MacSweeney writes maritime columns twice weekly. Evening Echo website: www.eecho.ie

Published in Island Nation

Howth Yacht Club information

Howth Yacht Club is the largest members sailing club in Ireland, with over 1,700 members. The club welcomes inquiries about membership - see top of this page for contact details.

Howth Yacht Club (HYC) is 125 years old. It operates from its award-winning building overlooking Howth Harbour that houses office, bar, dining, and changing facilities. Apart from the Clubhouse, HYC has a 250-berth marina, two cranes and a boat storage area. In addition. its moorings in the harbour are serviced by launch.

The Club employs up to 31 staff during the summer and is the largest employer in Howth village and has a turnover of €2.2m.

HYC normally provides an annual programme of club racing on a year-round basis as well as hosting a full calendar of International, National and Regional competitive events. It operates a fleet of two large committee boats, 9 RIBs, 5 J80 Sportboats, a J24 and a variety of sailing dinghies that are available for members and training. The Club is also growing its commercial activities afloat using its QUEST sail and power boat training operation while ashore it hosts a wide range of functions each year, including conferences, weddings, parties and the like.

Howth Yacht Club originated as Howth Sailing Club in 1895. In 1968 Howth Sailing Club combined with Howth Motor Yacht Club, which had operated from the West Pier since 1935, to form Howth Yacht Club. The new clubhouse was opened in 1987 with further extensions carried out and more planned for the future including dredging and expanded marina facilities.

HYC caters for sailors of all ages and run sailing courses throughout the year as part of being an Irish Sailing accredited training facility with its own sailing school.

The club has a fully serviced marina with berthing for 250 yachts and HYC is delighted to be able to welcome visitors to this famous and scenic area of Dublin.

New applications for membership are always welcome

Howth Yacht Club FAQs

Howth Yacht Club is one of the most storied in Ireland — celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2020 — and has an active club sailing and racing scene to rival those of the Dun Laoghaire Waterfront Clubs on the other side of Dublin Bay.

Howth Yacht Club is based at the harbour of Howth, a suburban coastal village in north Co Dublin on the northern side of the Howth Head peninsula. The village is around 13km east-north-east of Dublin city centre and has a population of some 8,200.

Howth Yacht Club was founded as Howth Sailing Club in 1895. Howth Sailing Club later combined with Howth Motor Yacht Club, which had operated from the village’s West Pier since 1935, to form Howth Yacht Club.

The club organises and runs sailing events and courses for members and visitors all throughout the year and has very active keelboat and dinghy racing fleets. In addition, Howth Yacht Club prides itself as being a world-class international sailing event venue and hosts many National, European and World Championships as part of its busy annual sailing schedule.

As of November 2020, the Commodore of the Royal St George Yacht Club is Ian Byrne, with Paddy Judge as Vice-Commodore (Clubhouse and Administration). The club has two Rear-Commodores, Neil Murphy for Sailing and Sara Lacy for Junior Sailing, Training & Development.

Howth Yacht Club says it has one of the largest sailing memberships in Ireland and the UK; an exact number could not be confirmed as of November 2020.

Howth Yacht Club’s burgee is a vertical-banded pennant of red, white and red with a red anchor at its centre. The club’s ensign has a blue-grey field with the Irish tricolour in its top left corner and red anchor towards the bottom right corner.

The club organises and runs sailing events and courses for members and visitors all throughout the year and has very active keelboat and dinghy racing fleets. In addition, Howth Yacht Club prides itself as being a world-class international sailing event venue and hosts many National, European and World Championships as part of its busy annual sailing schedule.

Yes, Howth Yacht Club has an active junior section.

Yes, Howth Yacht Club hosts sailing and powerboat training for adults, juniors and corporate sailing under the Quest Howth brand.

Among its active keelboat and dinghy fleets, Howth Yacht Club is famous for being the home of the world’s oldest one-design racing keelboat class, the Howth Seventeen Footer. This still-thriving class of boat was designed by Walter Herbert Boyd in 1897 to be sailed in the local waters off Howth. The original five ‘gaff-rigged topsail’ boats that came to the harbour in the spring of 1898 are still raced hard from April until November every year along with the other 13 historical boats of this class.

Yes, Howth Yacht Club has a fleet of five J80 keelboats for charter by members for training, racing, organised events and day sailing.

The current modern clubhouse was the product of a design competition that was run in conjunction with the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland in 1983. The winning design by architects Vincent Fitzgerald and Reg Chandler was built and completed in March 1987. Further extensions have since been made to the building, grounds and its own secure 250-berth marina.

Yes, the Howth Yacht Club clubhouse offers a full bar and lounge, snug bar and coffee bar as well as a 180-seat dining room. Currently, the bar is closed due to Covid-19 restrictions. Catering remains available on weekends, take-home and delivery menus for Saturday night tapas and Sunday lunch.

The Howth Yacht Club office is open weekdays from 9am to 5pm. Contact the club for current restaurant opening hours at [email protected] or phone 01 832 0606.

Yes — when hosting sailing events, club racing, coaching and sailing courses, entertaining guests and running evening entertainment, tuition and talks, the club caters for all sorts of corporate, family and social occasions with a wide range of meeting, event and function rooms. For enquiries contact [email protected] or phone 01 832 2141.

Howth Yacht Club has various categories of membership, each affording the opportunity to avail of all the facilities at one of Ireland’s finest sailing clubs.

No — members can join active crews taking part in club keelboat and open sailing events, not to mention Pay & Sail J80 racing, charter sailing and more.

Fees range from €190 to €885 for ordinary members.
Memberships are renewed annually.

©Afloat 2020