Displaying items by tag: Royal Cork Yacht Club
Dinghy Fest Photo Gallery at Royal Cork – Day One
The 2017 Dinghy Fest opened today at Royal Cork Yacht Club. A delayed start due to high winds saw 420s and RS200s race at 3pm.
Bob Bateman captured the Cork Harbour action.
Racing continues tomorrow
Royal Cork Dinghy Fest Attracts Multiple Championships for Weekend of Centreboard Action
Cork Harbour's own Alex Barry will be out to retain his southern title in the RS400 class as part of Royal Cork's Dinghyfest that starts tomorrow. It's one of a number of championships being staged as part of the Crosshaven initiative to foster dinghy sailing.
Barry, the current holder of the ISA's All Ireland Sailing title is also a keen National 18 sailor but campaigning his RS400 takes priority this weekend. The passionate centreboard sailor has spoken previously to Afloat.ie about plans to keep dinghy sailing alive. 'Friendships Through RS Sailing is the key to future of dinghy classes', the All Ireland Champ told Afloat.
Running as part of the weekend – that looks certain to attract over 100 boats – is the RS 200 Euro Cup & Irish National Championships, the National 18 National Championships, the RS Feva and RS 400 Southern Championships plus a PY fleet and an Optimist fun Fleet.
In the RS400, Ballyholme's Gareth Flanigan leads the challengers with Baltimore's top Laser sailor Fionn Lyden also entered in the double–hander.
There will be four course areas with two inside Roche’s Point at Cuskinny and the Curlane Banks while two more course areas will be in the outer harbour between Roche’s Point and Power Head.
The RS200 and the larger RS400 will sail together while the International 420s and the National 18s will be in the same group on an outer courses. The Irish 420 fleet is buoyed up by some international results scored last week at Kiel Regatta, Germany.
Prizes are provided by event sponsors CH Marine and their Zyck range of sailing gear.
Racing gets underway on Friday for the start of the national championships in the RS200 and 420 classes while the total DinghyFest will be afloat over the weekend including the foiling Moth class from 2.30pm on Saturday where John Chambers is also expected to debut his Waszp dinghy too.
Govt Dept Doesn't Recognise RCYC As ‘Oldest in the World’
Apparently someone in the Department of the Marine doesn’t accept that the Royal Cork Yacht Club at Crosshaven is correct when the club says it is “the oldest in the world...” writes Tom MacSweeney.
On behalf of Marine Minister Michael Creed the Department issued a press release today congratulating Cork on being chosen as the city to host European Maritime Day in 2020. The press release said: “European Maritime Day 2020 will also coincide with the 300 year anniversary of the Royal Cork Yacht Club (RCYC), one of the oldest yacht clubs in the world.”
The RCYC has always stated itself to be “the oldest yacht club in the world.....” The club describes itself as: “The Royal Cork Yacht Club is based in Crosshaven, Cork, Ireland and is the world's oldest yacht club founded in 1720.”
Cork City Council repeated the Department statement in its press release. A few years ago at the opening of Sea Fest in the National Maritime College in Ringaskiddy a Junior Minister used the same Department description of the RCYC. Seems somebody up there in Dublin doesn’t appreciate the RCYC!!! My information is that it the Department disputes the RCYC claim and references the Neva Yacht Club in St Petersburg!!!! Whatever about the Department, does Cork City Council take the same view, I wonder?
The Neva Yacht Club, is a sailing club located in Saint Petersburg, close to the Neva River. Wikipedia says it that was founded in 1718, and was re-established as a club in 1958. There is no evident claim to this on its own club website. Could Putin have his eye on the RCYC’s claim?
Tom MacSweeney is a member of RCYC
Cork Announced as Host City for European Maritime Day 2020, Coincides With Royal Cork Yacht Club 300th Anniversary
The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed T.D., has congratulated Cork City on being designated as the host city for European Maritime Day in 2020 by the Council of the European Union. European Maritime Day is the flagship event in the European Union’s maritime calendar, consisting of a two day conference with over 1,000 stakeholders from across the European Union coming together to discuss the development of this sector.
This will be the first time that Ireland has hosted this flagship event. SeaFest, Ireland’s national maritime festival, will take place in Cork Harbour in conjunction with the conference.
Speaking on foot of the announcement, Minister Creed said “My congratulations to Cork City on securing this prestigious event for the city. Cork is the ideal location for European Maritime Day and it was my honour to support the nomination. Cork is a vibrant, bustling port city with a dynamic and energetic marine community, as well as rich maritime history.”
The Minister continued ”European Maritime Day in 2020 will coincide with the 300th anniversary of the Royal Cork Yacht Club, one of the oldest yacht clubs in the world. 2020 also coincides with a target date set in our national integrated maritime plan, Harnessing Our Ocean Wealth, and so presents an opportunity to demonstrate to our European colleagues how Ireland has developed this vital sector of our economy. In conjunction with the conference our national maritime festival, SeaFest, will take place in Cork. This festival has truly captured the public imagination with an attendance of 60,000 in Galway in July in 2016. It is this enthusiasm, this embracing of our maritime culture that we can bring to the hosting of European Maritime Day in 2020.”
Yachtsman in Hospital After Being Washed Overboard On Return Voyage From Royal Cork ICRA Championships
An ICRA competitor is in hospital today after being washed overboard on the return voyage from the championships at Royal Cork Yacht Club yesterday.
The Dublin Bay competitor ran into problems off the Waterford/Wexford coast last night.
Yesterday's last day of the ICRA event was cancelled due to strong winds.
It is the second serious accident to befall yachts on passage to and from this year's event.
Nine days ago, a Scottish competitor sank off the Saltee Islands on their way to the championships.
Rescue helicopter 117 was sent on a mission to rescue a crew member of the 33–foot yacht that was 'washed overboard by a large wave'.
The accident happened 15–miles offshore. A westely gale was blowing and sea conditons at the time were decribed as 'rough' by the Coastguard.
The remaining two crew onboard the yacht managed to recover their crew–mate from the water in very difficult circumstances.
The wave activated the yachts life raft which then trailed astern of the yacht.
According to the Coastguard, in the rough sea conditions, the R117 helicopter crew decided the safest place to put their winchman was into the life raft. The winchman then climbed onto the yacht and winched the 'ill' crew member from the yacht and brought him back to Waterford Airport where he was taken to hospital by the Ambulance Service.
Dunmore East RNLI lifeboat escorted the yacht to Dunmore East harbour. Local sources say the racing yacht will remain at the harbour for the coming days.
Further updates as we have them.
Bob Bateman's photo–gallery from this afternoon's second day of racing at the 2017 ICRA National Championships at Royal Cork Yacht Club is below.
WM Nixon's second day race report is here.
ICRA Nationals At Royal Cork: Photo Gallery – Day One
A highly anticipated ICRA National Championships got underway at Royal Cork Yacht Club this afternoon with two races successfully completed before the weather is expected to take a turn for the worse tomorrow.
WM Nixon has wrapped up the first day in his report and results here and Bob Bateman's ICRA day one photo gallery is below:
Did Failed Seacock Sink Inis Mor?
While everyone is very relieved and grateful that the crew of the Scottish-owned Ker 39 Inis Mor were saved after their boat sank at the Saltees at the weekend while on passage to Cork for the up-coming ICRA Nationals, there is still a sense of shock that a boat which was a successful veteran of three Round Ireland Races should have gone down so suddenly writes W M Nixon.
Inis Mor is best known in Irish sailing for her years campaigned by the Gouy family of France, who won an RORC Championship with her thanks to their overall win in the 2012 Round Ireland Race. She was always in the frame, as her other two circuits of Ireland notched her a second and a third. And her gallant owners further endeared themselves to the Irish sailing community through being entered for the Round Ireland Race as representing the Clifden Boat Club, as they have a property in Connemara.
Inis Mor was sold to top Scottish skipper Jonathan Anderson, whose own formidable track record at the sharp end of the fleet made the Anderson/Inis Mor equipe’s debut in Cork a keenly-anticipated event. Thus the news of this sinking, apparently caused by a failed toilet seacock with an ingress of water which was not obvious until it was too late to do anything to effectively seal it off, brings a sense of shock, and an added awareness that in a stripped-down racing boat, almost any equipment failure can have cumulative and potentially disastrous effects if not immediately dealt with.
ICRA Commodore Thankful to Coast Guard & RNLI for Rescue of Crew From Sunken Scottish Yacht Inis Mor
ICRA Commodore Simon McGibney has expressed relief that everyone is safe after the weekend loss of Scottish competitor Inis Mor on its way to the ICRA National Championships at Royal Cork Yacht Club.
As Afloat.ie reported on Saturday, the Cruisers Zero Ker 39 sank off the Saltee Islands. All three crew were rescued by Coast Guard Helicopter.
“We are saddened by the loss of Inis Mór and the absence of our Scottish friends from the championship but we are enormously relieved that nobody was injured or worse during the sinking,” said McGibney. “We are thankful, as always for the professionalism of the Irish Coast Guard crew on Rescue 117 for winching the sailors to safety and to the Kilmore Quay RNLI lifeboat crew for their efforts to save the yacht.”
Bright and breezy conditions are on the cards for next weekend’s Irish Cruiser Racing Association’s annual championships at Crosshaven where a fleet of 60 boats from around Ireland are expected to contest four national titles.
A steady stream of boats arriving by road at the Royal Cork Yacht Club marked the build-up to the event over the weekend with several crews expected on the water on Thursday for training practice.
All four national champions will be defending their titles led by ICRA Boat of the Year, John Maybury’s Joker 2 from the Royal Irish YC who is aiming for a hat-trick victory in Class 1 this year. Class Zero champion Conor Phelan on Jump Juice will be without the Scottish challenger Inis Mor. Howth YC’s David Cullen arrived by road with Checkmate XV on Monday while Ken Lawless and Sybil McCormacks’ Cartoon from the Royal Irish YC is also ready to defend their Class 3 title. Read more in Afloat's runners and riders preview here.
Foynes based McGibney says 'safety will be upper-most in the ICRA event organisers’ thoughts' this weekend as current forecasts suggest winds in the upper-range of racing conditions for at least part of the event.
Now the largest stand alone dinghy festival event in the country, the official launch of Cork Dinghy Fest took place in the Royal Cork Yacht Club last week with representatives from event sponsors, CH Marine, Zhik and the Port of Cork all present. Chairman for the event Nicolas O’Leary was accompanied by Royal Cork Yacht Club Vice Admiral Pat Farnan and Rear Admiral for Dinghies Stephen O’Shaughnessy.
Nicolas O’Leary, event chairman is looking forward to another great event and was very excited with the new introduction of the extreme fleet for the 2017 event, the arena style racing for foiling Moths and 29’er etc. will be a great spectacle for everyone.
2017 is gearing up to be a great event, says O'Leary, who says it was great to have such support from our sponsors this year.
As previously reported by Afloat.ie, returning to Cork Dinghy Fest are the ever strong and growing RS fleet of RS 400’s, 200’s and Fevas. The feature event this year is the RS 200 National Championships and Euro Cup, and having seen a surge in popularity in Cork this winter, over 30 boats are expected in the RS 200 fleet alone.
Also return is the 420 class, they will be deciding their national champion again during Cork Dinghy Fest. While the National 18-foot class will be holding their National Championships.