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A Harbour Seal photographed at Dun Laoghaire Marina on Dublin Bay, Ireland. Also known as the common seal, is a true seal found along temperate and Arctic marine coastlines of the Northern Hemisphere. The most widely distributed species of pinnipeds, they are found in coastal waters of the northern Atlantic and Pacific oceans, Baltic and North seas. Photo: AfloatA photograph of a Harbour Seal taken at Dun Laoghaire Marina on Dublin Bay, Ireland. Also known as the common seal, this species can be found along temperate and Arctic marine coastlines throughout the Northern Hemisphere. They are the most widely distributed species of pinnipeds and can be found in the coastal waters of the northern Atlantic and Pacific oceans, as well as the Baltic and North Seas. Photo: Afloat

Displaying items by tag: Clonmel

#Rowing: Irish crews added four more wins to their haul over the weekend at the World Masters Regatta at Lake Velence in Hungary. The wins came on Saturday. Denis Crowley featured in a composite eight, which beat strong British opposition, and in a four – bringing his personal tally to eight wins. Brendan Smyth and Patrick Fowler of Commercial won in the double and Milo and Pat Murray of Cappoquin won the in the pair. A mixed eight finished second on Sunday.

World Masters Regatta, Lake Velence, Hungary (Selected Results; Irish interest; Winners)

Saturday

Men

Eight  (E – avg 55 or more): Galway, Belfast BC, Neptune, Clonmel, Commercial, Shannon (G Murphy, A McCallion, K McDonald, D Crowley, F O’Toole, O McGrath, G O’Neill, C Hunter, M McGlynn) 3:04.90

Four (D – avg 50 or more): Commercial, Neptune (B Smyth, F O’Toole, G Murphy, D Crowley) 3:24.72.

Pair (F – avg 60 or more): Cappoquin (P Murray, M Murray) 6:12.10.

Sculling, Double (C – avg 43 or more): Commercial (B Smyth, F Fowler) 3:28.39.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Denis Crowley of Commercial brought his tally of wins to a remarkable six after three days at the World Masters Regatta in Budapest. In just one day, the 57-year-old won in the coxless four and twice in the single sculls – in the C class (43 years or more) and the E class for 55 or more. The decision to form composite crews again paid off for the Irish, with wins in the C eight and the D coxed four, along with Crowley’s haul.

World Masters Regatta, Budapest, (Selected Results, Irish interest, winners)

Friday

Men

Eight

(C – 43 or more): Heat Four: Commercial, Cork, Neptune, Clonmel, Shannon, Galway, Castleconnell (B Crean, B Smyth, R Carroll, O McGrath, G O’Neill, P Fowler, B O’Shaughnessy, K McDonald; cox: M McGlynn) 3:09.75.

Four

(E – 55 or more) Heat Five: Commercial, Neptune, Belfast BC, Galway (D Crowley, G Murphy, C Hunter, A McCallion)

Four, coxed

(D – 50 or more) Heat 3: Galway, Neptune, Castleconnell, Clonmel (G O’Neill, O McGrath, B O’Shaughnessy, T Dunn; cox: M McGlynn) 3:35.89.

Sculling, Single

(C - 43 or more) Heat 19: Commercial (D Crowley) 3:49.92.

(E – 55 or more) Heat 8: Commercial (Crowley)

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: A composite of five crews – Galway, Neptune, Commercial, Clonmel and Cork – won in the men’s eight for 50 and over at the World Masters Regatta in Budapest. It was one of a sequence of wins for the Irish at the huge event.

 Brendan Smyth and Patrick Fowler, rowing for Commercial, won the Pair in the A class, while Denis Crowley and Tony Corcoran won in single sculls.

 Two C fours (43 or more) won and an E coxed four (55 or more) also took the honours.   

World Masters Regatta, Budapest, (Selected Results, Irish interest, winners)

Wednesday

Men

Four, coxed E (55 or more) – Heat Four: 1 Belfast BC, Commercial, Galway, Leichhardt RC (C Hunter, A McCallion, M Heavey, G Canning; cox: JM Marks) 8:05.40

Thursday

Men

Eight (D – 50 or more) – Heat Two: Galway, Neptune, Commercial, Clonmel, Cork (B Crean, B Smyth, R Caroll, O McGrath, G O’Neill, P Fowler, D Crowley, G Murphy; cox: M McGlynn) 3:05.06.

Four (C – 43 or more): Heat Three: Commercial, Galway, Clonmel, Neptune (R Carroll, O McGrath, P Fowler, G O’Neill) 3:15.28. Heat Six: Commercial/Neptune (D Smyth, F O’Toole, G Murphy, D Crowley) 3:15.54.

Pair (A – 27 or more): Heat Three: Commercial (P Fowler, B Smyth) 3:32.68

Sculling, Single – (D – 50 or more) – Heat 15: Commercial (D Crowley) 3:55.15.

(H – 70 or more) – Heat Eight: 1 T Corcoran 4:27.08.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: The C coxed four of Rob Forde, Patrick Fowler, Oisin McGrath, Gary O’Neill and Tony Corcoran won their heat. The Commercial, Clonmel and Neptune crew beat a Monmouth crew from Britain by almost two seconds.  

 Milo and Patrick Murray from Cappoquin brought Ireland’s win tally on the day to three when they won in the F Pair.

 Earlier an Irish composite eight had won in the E class.

World Masters Regatta, Bled, Slovenia, Day Four (Selected Results; Irish interest; all heats of 1,000 metres, winners only)

Men

Eight ‘E’ (Avg 55 or more) – Heat Three: Waterford, Neptune, Commercial, Belfast BC (A Penkert, J Hudson, D Crowley, G Murphy, M Heavey, C Dickson, C Hunter, F O’Toole, D McGuinness) 3:07.88.

Four, coxed ‘C’ (Avg 43 or more) – Heat Four: Commercial, Clonmel, Neptune (T Corcoran, R Forde, P Fowler, O McGrath, G O’Neill) 3:19.51.

Pair ‘F’ (Avg 60 or more) – Heat Five: Cappoquin (P Murray, M Murray) 3:46.64.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Irish composite crews had good wins on the first day of the World Masters Regatta in Bled in Slovenia. The Irish B eight (average age 36 or more), which is formed from six clubs won. Two fours in the E class (average age 55 or more) also won – the Galway/Neptune combination by just .26 of a second. The decision was initially given to their German opponents.

World Masters Regatta, Bled, Slovenia, Day One (Selected Results; Irish interest; all heats of 1,000 metres, winners only)

Men

Eight, B (avg 36 or more) – Heat Five: Galway, Commercial, Shandon, Clonmel, Neptune, Cork 3:05.51.

Four, E (avg 55 or more) – Heat One: Galway, Neptune 3:26.26.

Heat Four: Waterford, Neptune, Commercial, Belfast BC 3:28.1

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Clonmel were beaten in a phenomenally close race at Henley Royal Regatta today. In the second round of the Fawley Cup, Tideway Scullers’ took the lead early and had a length over the the four young men in the Clonmel junior quadruple. But Clonmel clawed their way back. The crews seemed to be on level terms as they came to the line, but Tideway Scullers’ got the verdict by four feet.   

Henley Royal Regatta, Day Two (Irish interest)

Diamond Sculls (Open Single Sculls): J Stimpson bt N Kenny 3¼ l.    

Temple Cup (College Eights): University of California, Berkeley bt Trinity 2½ l.

Wyfold (Club Fours): Commercial bt Curlew by 4¼ l .

Fawley (Under-18 Quadruple Sculls): Tideway Scullers’ School beat Clonmel by 4 ft.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Clonmel rowed well to overcome a slow start and win in the first round at Henley Royal Regatta today. The crew of Dylan Barry O’Donovan, Andrew Butler, Seán O’Donnell and Matt Dundon beat American crew Malvern Preparatory School B by two and a half lengths.

Henley Royal Regatta, Day One (Irish interest)

Prince Albert (College Coxed Fours): Deerfield Academy (United States) bt Trinity by 5ft; 6:59.

Fawley (Under-18 Boys’ Quadruples): Clonmel bt Malvern Preparatory School B, United States 2 ½ l.

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Cork Boat Club had a good day at Limerick Regatta at O’Brien’s Bridge today. They won the the men’s intermediate eight and senior pair and the women’s junior 18 eight. UCD won the women’s novice eight and Daire Lynch of Clonmel, who won the single sculls time trial in a very fast time (five minutes and nine seconds), went on to take the senior and intermediate singles titles.

Limerick Regatta, O’Brien’s Bridge (Selected Results)

Men

Eight – Intermediate: Cork. Club: Neptune. Jun 18: Neptune. Masters – Final One (b-c): St Michael’s A. Final Two (d-e): Athlone. Jun 16: Col Iognaid.

Four – Sen: St Michael’s. Inter, coxed: Cork. Jun 18A, coxed: St Michael’s.

Pair – Senior: Cork. Jun 18: Clonmel.

Sculling

Quad – Sen: Carlow. Nov, coxed: UCC. Jun 18A: Carlow. Jun 16, coxed: CRCC.

Double – Inter: Castleconnell B.

Single – Senior: Clonmel (D Lynch). Inter: Clonmel (D Lynch). Jun 18A: Clonmel (A Butler). Jun 16: Castleconnell (R O’Neill). Masters – Final One: Lady Elizabeth (B Smyth). Final Two: Cork (B Crean). Final Three: Galway (A McCallion).

Women

Eight – Nov: UCD. Jun 18: Cork. Jun 16: St Michael’s.

Four – Sen: Shannon. Inter, coxed: Shannon. Jun 18: Col Iognaid.

Pair – Sen: Fermoy. Jun 18: Fermoy.

Sculling

Quadruple Novice, coxed: Cappoquin. Jun 18: Cork. Jun 16, coxed: Killorglin. Masters, coxed: Univ of Limerick

Double – Inter: Carlow.

Single – Inter: Garda (B Larsen). Jun 18A: Carlow (C Nolan). Jun 16: Cork (C O’Sullivan). Masters: Offaly (C Nolan).

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Skibbereen took two of the three senior titles on offer in the evening session of the second day of the Irish Rowing Championships at the National Rowing Centre. The women's pair of Denise Walsh and Aoife Casey beat UCC, while the men's quadruple held off a late charge by a Queen's/Portadown composite.

 Monika Dukarska of Killorglin won the women's senior single. She was dominant all the way, with only Siobhan McCrohan of Tribesmen testing her to any degree.

 The junior women's eight gave Cork Boat Club a chance to impress. They led for most of the race, and while Bann held an overlap through the middle of the course, Cork were clear winners.

 Trinity were extraordinarily dominant in the men's novice eight - their win by 11 seconds was cheered lustily by their fans.

 Shandon fought through the opposition offered by Carlow to win the junior men's quadruple, and Roisin Maguire of Queen's was the best club single sculler.

 The man of the day was, arguably, the Clonmel competitor Daire Lynch. The teenager added the men's intermediate single scull to the club title he had won earlier in the day. He passed Declan O'Connor of St Michael's in the middle stages of the race and won well.

Irish Rowing Championships, National Rowing Centre, Cork

 Day Two (Selected results)

Men

Eight - Intermediate: Commercial 5:43.182. Novice: Trinity 6:00.157.

Four - Junior, coxed: 1 Cork A 6:29.20, 2 Portora 6:35.341, 3 Clonmel 6:40.716.

Pair - Senior: 1 Skibbereen 6:30.311, 2 UCD 6:33.546, 3 Portora 6:44.968.

Sculling, Quadruple - Senior: 1 Skibbereen 5:59.102, 2 Queen's/Portadown 5:59.790, 3 Shandon A 6:08.509. Junior: 1 Shandon 6:07.970, 2 Carlow B 6:13.361, 3 Three Castles 6:13.799.

Single - Inter: Clonmel (D Lynch) 7:04.573. Club: Clonmel (D Lynch) 7:15.463.

Women

Eight - Novice: Trinity 7:09.594. Junior: 1 Cork 1 Cork 6:39.271, 2 Bann 6:44.193, 3 Portora 6:49.287.

Pair - Senior: 1 Skibbereen 7:23.775, 2 UCC 7:29.369, 3 Trinity 7:46.166.

Sculling, Double - Inter: Lee 7:22.252.

Single - Senior: 1 Killorglin (M Dukarska) 7:35.069, 2 Tribesmen (S McCrohan) 7:50.320, 3 Skibbereen (O Hayes) 7:57.742. Club: Queen's (R Maguire) 8:15.155. Junior: 1 Skibbereen (E Hegarty) 8:05.674, 2 Neptune (C Feerick) 8:13.065, 3 Castleconnell (J Vascotto) 8:15.002.

 

Published in Rowing

#Rowing: Cork Boat Club won the men's junior 18 coxed four at the National Rowing Championships today. On Friday, Portora had beaten Cork in the junior eight by leading all the way, but Cork turned the tables - they took the lead early and won by over six seconds. Daire Lynch, who won the junior single on the first day, added the club title with an emphatic win.

 Emily Hegarty took the junior women's single by a huge margin, and her Skibbereen clubmates, Mark O'Donovan and Shane O'Driscoll, augmented the club's growing honour list by taking the men's senior pair. Their main rivals, UCD's Shane Mulvaney and David O'Malley, were over three seconds behind at the finish.

 Commercial had a stirring win in the men's intermediate eight. UCD led to half way, just holding off Commercial, and it looked like there might be a battle between the two crews from there. But Commercial, stroked by Neil Gahan, moved away and won well in an excellent time.

 In the women's novice eight Trinity won well, and Lee were commanding in their victory in the women's intermediate double. 

Irish Rowing Championships, National Rowing Centre, Cork

 Day Two (Selected results)

Men

Eight - Intermediate: Commercial 5:43.182.

Four - Junior, coxed: 1 Cork A 6:29.20, 2 Portora 6:35.341, 3 Clonmel 6:40.716.

Pair - Senior: 1 Skibbereen 6:30.311, 2 UCD 6:33.546, 3 Portora 6:44.968.

Sculling

Single - Club: Clonmel (D Lynch) 7:15.463.

Women

Eight - Novice: Trinity 7:09.594.

Sculling, Double - Inter: Lee 7:22.252.

Single - Junior: 1 Skibbereen (E Hegarty) 8:05.674, 2 Neptune (C Feerick) 8:13.065, 3 Castleconnell (J Vascotto) 8:15.002.

Published in Rowing
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For all you need on the Marine Environment - covering the latest news and updates on marine science and wildlife, weather and climate, power from the sea and Ireland's coastal regions and communities - the place to be is Afloat.ie.

Coastal Notes

The Coastal Notes category covers a broad range of stories, events and developments that have an impact on Ireland's coastal regions and communities, whose lives and livelihoods are directly linked with the sea and Ireland's coastal waters.

Topics covered in Coastal Notes can be as varied as the rare finding of sea-life creatures, an historic shipwreck with secrets to tell, or even a trawler's net caught hauling much more than just fish.

Other angles focusing the attention of Coastal Notes are Ireland's maritime museums, which are of national importance to maintaining access and knowledge of our nautical heritage, and those who harvest the sea using small boats based in harbours where infrastructure and safety pose an issue, plying their trade along the rugged wild western seaboard.

Coastal Notes tells the stories that are arguably as varied as the environment they come from, and which shape people's interaction with the natural world and our relationship with the sea.

Marine Wildlife

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. And 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 our location in the North Atlantic, there appears to be no shortage of marine life to observe. From whales to dolphins, seals, sharks and other ocean animals, the Marine Wildlife category documents the most interesting accounts around our shores. And we're keen to receive your observations, your photos, links and video clips, too!

Also valuable is the unique perspective of all those who go afloat, from coastal sailing to sea angling to inshore kayaking to offshore yacht racing, as what they encounter can be of great importance to organisations such as the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG). Thanks to their work we now know we share the seas with dozens of species who also call Ireland home. But as impressive as the list is, the experts believe there are still gaps in our knowledge. Next time you are out on the ocean waves, keep a sharp look out!

Weather

As an island in the North Atlantic, Ireland's fate is decided by Weather more so than many other European countries. When storm-force winds race across the Irish Sea, ferry and shipping services are cut off, disrupting our economy. When swollen waves crash on our shores, communities are flooded and fishermen brace for impact - both to their vessels and to their livelihoods.

Keeping abreast of the weather, therefore, is as important to leisure cruisers and fishing crews alike - for whom a small craft warning can mean the difference between life and death - as it is to the communities lining the coast, where timely weather alerts can help protect homes and lives.

Weather affects us all, and Afloat.ie will keep you informed on the hows and the whys.

Marine Science

Perhaps it's the work of the Irish research vessels RV Celtic Explorer and RV Celtic Voyager out in the Atlantic Ocean that best highlights the essential nature of Marine Science for the future growth of Ireland's emerging 'blue economy'.

From marine research to development and sustainable management, Ireland is developing a strong and well-deserved reputation as an emerging centre of excellence. Whether it's Wavebob ocean energy technology to aquaculture to weather buoys and oil exploration, the Marine Science category documents the work of Irish marine scientists and researchers and how they have secured prominent roles in many European and international marine science bodies.

Power From The Sea

The message from the experts is clear: offshore wind and wave energy is the future. And as Ireland looks towards the potential of the renewable energy sector, generating Power From The Sea will become a greater priority in the State's 'blue growth' strategy.

Developments and activities in existing and planned projects in the pipeline from the wind and wave renewables sector, and those of the energy exploration industry, point to the future of energy requirements for the whole world, not just in Ireland. And that's not to mention the supplementary industries that sea power projects can support in coastal communities.

Irish ports are already in a good position to capitalise on investments in offshore renewable energy services. And Power From The Sea can even be good for marine wildlife if done properly.

Aside from the green sector, our coastal waters also hold a wealth of oil and gas resources that numerous prospectors are hoping to exploit, even if people in coastal and island areas are as yet unsure of the potential benefits or pitfalls for their communities.

Changing Ocean Climate

Our ocean and climate are inextricably linked - the ocean plays a crucial role in the global climate system in a number of ways. These include absorbing excess heat from the atmosphere and absorbing 30 per cent of the carbon dioxide added to the atmosphere by human activity. But our marine ecosystems are coming under increasing pressure due to climate change.

The Marine Institute, with its national and international partners, works to observe and understand how our ocean is changing and analyses, models and projects the impacts of our changing oceans. Advice and forecasting projections of our changing oceans and climate are essential to create effective policies and management decisions to safeguard our ocean.

Dr Paul Connolly, CEO of the Marine Institute, said, “Our ocean is fundamental to life on earth and affects so many facets of our everyday activities. One of the greatest challenges we face as a society is that of our changing climate. The strong international collaborations that the Marine Institute has built up over decades facilitates a shared focusing on our changing ocean climate and developing new and enhanced ways of monitoring it and tracking changes over time.

“Our knowledge and services help us to observe these patterns of change and identify the steps to safeguard our marine ecosystems for future generations.”

The Marine Institute’s annual ocean climate research survey, which has been running since 2004, facilitates long term monitoring of the deep water environment to the west of Ireland. This repeat survey, which takes place on board RV Celtic Explorer, enables scientists to establish baseline oceanic conditions in Irish waters that can be used as a benchmark for future changes.

Scientists collect data on temperature, salinity, water currents, oxygen and carbon dioxide in the Atlantic Ocean. This high quality oceanographic data contributes to the Atlantic Ocean Observing System. Physical oceanographic data from the survey is submitted to the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) and, in addition, the survey contributes to national research such as the VOCAB ocean acidification and biogeochemistry project, the ‘Clean Atlantic’ project on marine litter and the A4 marine climate change project.

Dr Caroline Cusack, who co-ordinates scientific activities on board the RV Celtic Explorer for the annual survey, said, “The generation of long-term series to monitor ocean climate is vital to allow us understand the likely impact of future changes in ocean climate on ecosystems and other marine resources.”

Other activities during the survey in 2019 included the deployment of oceanographic gliders, two Argo floats (Ireland’s contribution to EuroArgo) and four surface drifters (Interreg Atlantic Area Clean Atlantic project). The new Argo floats have the capacity to measure dissolved ocean and biogeochemical parameters from the ocean surface down to a depth of 2,000 metres continuously for up to four years, providing important information as to the health of our oceans.

During the 2019 survey, the RV Celtic Explorer retrieved a string of oceanographic sensors from the deep ocean at an adjacent subsurface moored station and deployed a replacement M6 weather buoy, as part of the Irish Marine Data Buoy Observation Network (IMDBON).

Funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, the IMDBON is managed by the Marine Institute in collaboration with Met Éireann and is designed to improve weather forecasts and safety at sea around Ireland. The data buoys have instruments which collect weather and ocean data including wind speed and direction, pressure, air and sea surface temperature and wave statistics. This data provides vital information for weather forecasts, shipping bulletins, gale and swell warnings as well as data for general public information and research.

“It is only in the last 20 years, meteorologists and climatologists have really began to understood the pivotal role the ocean plays in determining our climate and weather,” said Evelyn Cusack, Head of Forecasting at Met Éireann. “The real-time information provided by the Irish data buoy network is particularly important for our mariners and rescue services. The M6 data buoy in the Atlantic provides vital information on swell waves generated by Atlantic storms. Even though the weather and winds may be calm around our shores, there could be some very high swells coming in from Atlantic storms.”