Menu

Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Displaying items by tag: cancelled

Naval Service manpower crisis continues, writes Irish Examiner, with ships being delayed going on patrol because they are short of a specialist crew member.

LÉ Niamh was to go on patrol last Monday but was forced to cancel sailing when a communications specialist earmarked for the four-week patrol was unable to join the crew due to illness.

The Irish Examiner understands at least three such incidents have occurred in recent months and that it is becoming a growing problem associated with critical shortages of communications specialists, medics, marine engineers, engine-room fitters, and electronics and electrical technicians.

Nearly 15 months ago, a decision was made to take two ships out of operations and to disperse their crews around the rest of the fleet to ensure the remaining ships were adequately manned.

However, the continued exodus of personnel has meant some of the remaining operational ships are struggling to find the necessary skill-sets to go to sea.

For more on this crew crisis click here. 

Published in Navy

Corrib Head of the River, the rowing event scheduled for Galway on Saturday, has been cancelled because the flow of the river is too strong to safely hold the event. This means that all seven heads which should have been held this year have been cancelled.

 Meanwhile, Rowing Ireland has announced that it will limit access to the National Rowing Centre to high the Olympic training squad, coaches and “essential staff”.

 Rowing Ireland says that no one outside this group will be granted access until April 5th, when the decision will be reviewed.

 Development camps, trials for under-23 and juniors and club and schools activities will not be allowed.

   

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: The Neptune Head of the River, scheduled for Saturday, November 2nd, at Blessington Lakes, has been cancelled. The entry was low and the organisers decided not to go ahead. The Castleconnell Head, set for next Saturday, Ocober 2nd, has a huge entry and crews were unlikely to compete in both events.

 

Published in Rowing
26th April 2019

Limerick Regatta Cancelled

#Rowing: Plans to hold Limerick Regatta on Sunday have been abandoned. The regatta was scheduled for O’Brien’s Bridge on Saturday, but the forecast predicted the arrival of Storm Hannah. The organisers have announced that a proposal to move to Sunday faltered because they could not source an ambulance and safety launch for the venue at such short notice. They thanked those who entered.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: St Michael’s Head of the River, which was refixed for this Sunday, March 31st, has been cancelled. The event was originally scheduled for St Patrick’s weekend (March 16th) but fell to a bad weather forecast. The entries were low for the refixed event and it has been cancelled.

 St Michael's will hold a club event and have asked clubs which had entered to join them if they wish.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: The St Michael’s Head of the River, scheduled for Saturday, March 16th, has been cancelled. The weather forecast for Limerick changed, and the organisers felt they could not be certain of running a safe event. Monday was considered for a rescheduled event, but some clubs could not change their plans.   

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: The Skibbereen and Lagan heads of the river have both been cancelled. Both were scheduled for Saturday. The Belfast Rowing Club event was cancelled late on Thursday night, while Skibbereen waited until Friday morning to make the call on their head, set for the National Rowing Centre. The forecast of high winds led to the cancellations.  

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Bann Head has been cancelled. The organisers joined those of Skibbereen Head in deciding that the weather conditions might have endangered contestants. The Coleraine event and the Skibbereen Head at the National Rowing Centre were both set for tomorrow, Saturday.

Published in Rowing
15th November 2018

Skibbereen Head Cancelled

#Rowing: Skibbereen Head of the River, set for Saturday, November 17th, at the National Rowing Centre, has been cancelled. A forecast of high winds led the organisers to make the decision on safety grounds.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Metro Regatta has been cancelled. The weather forecast was for winds to rise to 20 to 25 kilometres in the afternoon at Blessington – with gusts. The organisers felt that these conditions might have made it unsafe to row. The cancellation is the third of a major regatta, following Skibbereen and Lough Rinn.  

Published in Rowing
Tagged under
Page 1 of 4

Howth 17 information

The oldest one-design keelboat racing class in the world is still competing today to its original 1897 design exclusively at Howth Yacht club.

Howth 17 FAQs

The Howth 17 is a type of keelboat. It is a 3-man single-design keelboat designed to race in the waters off Howth and Dublin Bay.

The Howth Seventeen is just 22ft 6ins in hull length.

The Howth 17 class is raced and maintained by the Association members preserving the unique heritage of the boats. Association Members maintain the vibrancy of the Class by racing and cruising together as a class and also encourage new participants to the Class in order to maintain succession. This philosophy is taken account of and explained when the boats are sold.

The boat is the oldest one-design keelboat racing class in the world and it is still racing today to its original design exclusively at Howth Yacht club. It has important historical and heritage value keep alive by a vibrant class of members who race and cruise the boats.

Although 21 boats are in existence, a full fleet rarely sails buy turnouts for the annual championships are regularly in the high teens.

The plans of the Howth 17 were originally drawn by Walter Herbert Boyd in 1897 for Howth Sailing Club. The boat was launched in Ireland in 1898.

They were originally built by John Hilditch at Carrickfergus, County Down. Initially, five boats were constructed by him and sailed the 90-mile passage to Howth in the spring of 1898. The latest Number 21 was built in France in 2017.

The Howth 17s were designed to combat local conditions in Howth that many of the keel-less boats of that era such as the 'Half-Rater' would have found difficult.

The original fleet of five, Rita, Leila, Silver Moon, Aura and Hera, was increased in 1900 with the addition of Pauline, Zaida and Anita. By 1913 the class had increased to fourteen boats. The extra nine were commissioned by Dublin Bay Sailing Club for racing from Kingstown (Dún Laoghaire) - Echo, Sylvia, Mimosa, Deilginis, Rosemary, Gladys, Bobolink, Eileen and Nautilus. Gradually the boats found their way to Howth from various places, including the Solent and by the latter part of the 20th century they were all based there. The class, however, was reduced to 15 due to mishaps and storm damage for a few short years but in May 1988 Isobel and Erica were launched at Howth Yacht Club, the boats having been built in a shed at Howth Castle - the first of the class actually built in Howth.

The basic wooden Howth 17 specification was for a stem and keel of oak and elm, deadwood and frames of oak, planking of yellow pine above the waterline and red pine below, a shelf of pitch pine and a topstrake of teak, larch deck-beams and yellow pine planking and Baltic spruce spars with a keel of lead. Other than the inclusion of teak, the boats were designed to be built of materials which at that time were readily available. However today yellow pine and pitch pine are scarce, their properties of endurance and longevity much appreciated and very much in evidence on the original five boats.

 

It is always a busy 60-race season of regular midweek evening and Saturday afternoon contests plus regattas and the Howth Autumn League.

In 2017, a new Howth 17 Orla, No 21, was built for Ian Malcolm. The construction of Orla began in September 2016 at Skol ar Mor, the boat-building school run by American Mike Newmeyer and his dedicated team of instructor-craftsmen at Mesquer in southern Brittany. In 2018, Storm Emma wrought extensive destruction through the seven Howth Seventeens stored in their much-damaged shed on Howth’s East Pier at the beginning of March 2018, it was feared that several of the boats – which since 1898 have been the very heart of Howth sailing – would be written off. But in the end only one – David O’Connell’s Anita built in 1900 by James Clancy of Dun Laoghaire – was assessed as needing a complete re-build. Anita was rebuilt by Paul Robert and his team at Les Ateliers de l’Enfer in Douarnenez in Brittany in 2019 and Brought home to Howth.

The Howth 17 has a gaff rig.

The total sail area is 305 sq ft (28.3 m2).

©Afloat 2020