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Displaying items by tag: Sandycove Bathers' Association

#FORTY FOOT - The Irish Times reports that a men-only bathing club at the famous Forty Foot swimming spot in Sandycove, south Dublin, has voted against a proposal to allow women members.

While the area is open for all - and has allowed both sexes for more than 25 years - the adjacent clubhouse and changing hut are owned by the Sandycove Bathers' Association, founded in the late 19th century.

The Dublin Bay club does not grant full membership to women, though many do contribute an annual maintenance fee.

At a meeting on Thursday to discuss the proposed motion - rejected by a vote of 24 to 17 - one unnamed member described what he perceived as "an underlying tone of misogyny".

The Irish Times has more on the story HERE.

Published in Forty Foot Swimming

Tom Dolan, Solo Offshore Sailor

Even when County Meath solo sailor Tom Dolan had been down the numbers in the early stages of the four-stage 2,000 mile 2020 Figaro Race, Dolan and his boat were soon eating their way up through the fleet in any situation which demanded difficult tactical decisions.

His fifth overall at the finish – the highest-placed non-French sailor and winner of the Vivi Cup – had him right among the international elite in one of 2020's few major events.

The 33-year-old who has lived in Concarneau, Brittany since 2009 but grew up on a farm in rural County Meath came into the gruelling four-stage race aiming to get into the top half of the fleet and to underline his potential to Irish sailing administrators considering the selection process for the 2024 Olympic Mixed Double Offshore category which comes in for the Paris games.