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Displaying items by tag: Sail School NI

Russell McGovern, known generally as Rusty, started Stratus sailing school in 2016 out of Bangor Marina on Belfast Lough, with a 31-footer and two 25 footers. He has now moved on to a new venture, replacing those three with a 40-footer which he will bring back soon from Killybegs. 

Sail School NI is an RYA accredited training establishment offering training in the form of RYA Cruising Scheme with some dinghy race training on demand as well. Sail School NI already has a crew lined up and in training for Bangor Town Regatta in June. They will probably race in the Coastal Races class.

Russell 'Rusty' McGovern Russell 'Rusty' McGovern

Rusty says Sail School NI strives to make the learning process a fun. “I want to offer sailing to everyone, for people to experience the thrill of gliding through the waves; to offer an escape for a while from the everyday grind. And to use it as a platform to bring people together in an environment where we all work together as a team. And to have a blast!”.

Rusty operates Sail School NI out of Bangor Marina, using the harbour slipway for launching the dinghies. And Harbour Master Kevin Baird is keen to encourage sailing out of Bangor. "We're here to share our passion for boating with everyone and are delighted that Rusty will be operating his school sea from Bangor Marina. We look forward to supporting and helping him make this venture a real success. We know that those undertaking training with him will have great experiences and they’ll tell others and that means more people having fun afloat".

Published in Bangor Town Regatta

Marine Wildlife Around Ireland One of the greatest memories of any day spent boating around the Irish coast is an encounter with marine wildlife.  It's a thrill for young and old to witness seabirds, seals, dolphins and whales right there in their own habitat. As boaters fortunate enough to have experienced it will testify even spotting a distant dorsal fin can be the highlight of any day afloat.  Was that a porpoise? Was it a whale? No matter how brief the glimpse it's a privilege to share the seas with Irish marine wildlife.

Thanks to the location of our beautiful little island, perched in the North Atlantic Ocean there appears to be no shortage of marine life to observe.

From whales to dolphins, seals, sharks and other ocean animals this page documents the most interesting accounts of marine wildlife around our shores. We're keen to receive your observations, your photos, links and youtube clips.

Boaters have a unique perspective and all those who go afloat, from inshore kayaking to offshore yacht racing that what they encounter can be of real value to specialist organisations such as the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) who compile a list of sightings and strandings. The IWDG knowledge base has increased over the past 21 years thanks in part at least to the observations of sailors, anglers, kayakers and boaters.

Thanks to the IWDG work we now know we share the seas with dozens of species who also call Ireland home. Here's the current list: Atlantic white-sided dolphin, beluga whale, blue whale, bottlenose dolphin, common dolphin, Cuvier's beaked whale, false killer whale, fin whale, Gervais' beaked whale, harbour porpoise, humpback whale, killer whale, minke whale, northern bottlenose whale, northern right whale, pilot whale, pygmy sperm whale, Risso's dolphin, sei whale, Sowerby's beaked whale, sperm whale, striped dolphin, True's beaked whale and white-beaked dolphin.

But as impressive as the species list is the IWDG believe there are still gaps in our knowledge. Next time you are out on the ocean waves keep a sharp look out!