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Displaying items by tag: James McCormack

On Saturday last with the weather favourable, members of Foynes Yacht Club raced in the annual Cappa fixture, which has been on the sailing calendar for a considerable time.

Unfortunately, the Glin Castle race was cancelled beyond Foynes Yacht Club control, but instead the Cappa race was held on Saturday instead of Sunday.

Two classes raced, Class 1 and 2. Class 1 were racing for the Cappa Cup, while Class 2 competed for the Sean Keating Trophy.

Eleven yachts 'took to the water', where Officer of the Day, Ray McGibney sent both fleets 'off' for an 11am start. A force 4 to 5 north-westerly wind made sailing quite tricky for the fleet. With the tide 'flushing' down the estuary and choppy seas made the race somewhat interesting, where the boats had to tack to reach the Clare coastal village of Cappa.

With a hard fought race and more or less neck and neck, in class 1 winners of the recent Carrigaholt cup, Battle, emerged victorious beating off John and Edward Conway in Golden Kopper, who came in second. Third was Andrew Bracken on Joyrider. 

In class 2 the Sean Keating Trophy was won by James McCormack on Alphara; second was Pat Finucane on Marengo and third Jazmin 2.

A crews race back up the estuary to Cooleen Point took place, where a Bar-B-Que was held in the clubhouse afterwards, where the culinary delights of the chef's kept the hungry sailors wanting more.

Next Sunday the September series of racing will commence for all classes, and it is envisaged that all boats will be racing in their respective classes. All crew and skippers are asked to be at the club at 1pm, where a briefing will take place before racing. First gun for all races will be 2.30pm.

Club racing continues every Wednesday evening with first gun at 7pm.


Published in Shannon Estuary

Coastal Notes Coastal Notes covers a broad spectrum of stories, events and developments in which some can be quirky and local in nature, while other stories are of national importance and are on-going, but whatever they are about, they need to be told.

Stories can be diverse and they can be influential, albeit some are more subtle than others in nature, while other events can be immediately felt. No more so felt, is firstly to those living along the coastal rim and rural isolated communities. Here the impact poses is increased to those directly linked with the sea, where daily lives are made from earning an income ashore and within coastal waters.

The topics in Coastal Notes can also be about the rare finding of sea-life creatures, a historic shipwreck lost to the passage of time and which has yet many a secret to tell. A trawler's net caught hauling more than fish but cannon balls dating to the Napoleonic era.

Also focusing the attention of Coastal Notes, are the maritime museums which are of national importance to maintaining access and knowledge of historical exhibits for future generations.

Equally to keep an eye on the present day, with activities of existing and planned projects in the pipeline from the wind and wave renewables sector and those of the energy exploration industry.

In addition Coastal Notes has many more angles to cover, be it the weekend boat leisure user taking a sedate cruise off a long straight beach on the coast beach and making a friend with a feathered companion along the way.

In complete contrast is to those who harvest the sea, using small boats based in harbours where infrastructure and safety poses an issue, before they set off to ply their trade at the foot of our highest sea cliffs along the rugged wild western seaboard.

It's all there, as Coastal Notes tells the stories that are arguably as varied to the environment from which they came from and indeed which shape people's interaction with the surrounding environment that is the natural world and our relationship with the sea.