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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: Cork Regatta

#Rowing: The Cork Sculling Ladder is active, with races last weekend and challenges this Sunday, January 17th. Feargal O’Sullivan of Cork Boat Club came out on top in his race with David Higgins of Presentation College Rowing Club last Sunday.

2015 -2016  CORK  SCULLING  LADDER

Sponsored by  :  Hanley Calibration Ltd.

Result and Challenges.

  

Result.

Sunday 10.01.2016.

1. (17) Feargal O’Sullivan  -  Cork Boat Club.  2. (15) David Higgins  -  Presentation College Rowing Club.   4 L.

Challenges.

Sunday 17.01.2016.

08.30am.  FC. (77) Ross Cudmore  -  Cork Boat Club  v  (60) Jack O’Donovan  -  Presentation College Rowing Club.

08.40am.  (85) Kieran White  -  Cork Boat Club  v  (78) Cormac O’Connell  -  Presentation College Rowing Club.

12.00 noon.  (10) Barry O’Flynn  -  Cork Boat Club  v  (8) Stewart Channon  -  Shandon Boat Club.

Sunday 31.01.2016.

08.00am.  (13) Barry Connolly  -  Cork Boat Club  v  (11) Thomas Murphy  -  Lee Rowing Club.

08.10am.  (22) Cormac Corkery  -  Cork Boat Club  v  (21) Luke Guerin  -  Lee Rowing Club.

08.20am.  (15) Feargal O’Sullivan  -  Cork Boat Club  v  (14) David Breen  -  Lee Rowing Club.

08.30am.  (FC)(31) Liam O’Connell  -  Cork Boat Club  v  (12) Hugh Deasy  -  Lee Rowing Club.

08.40am.  (FC)(30) Evan Curtin  -  Cork Boat Club  v  (23) Peter Jackson  -  Lee Rowing Club.

08.50am.  (FC)(52) Conor Twohig  -  Cork Boat Club  v  (39) Ray Fitzgerald  -  Lee Rowing Club.

09.00am.  (89) Conor O’Callaghan  -  Cork Boat Club  v  (84) Luke Lee  -  Lee Rowing Club.

All races to take place at given times.  Racing depends on weather conditions.

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: The Afloat Rowers of the Month for June are Trinity’s men’s senior eight. The Dublin University Boat Club crew had a convincing win in the Division One final at Cork Regatta, outpacing UCD and NUIG/Gráinne Mhaol. They crew took the Leander trophy, one of the most impressive prizes on offer in Irish sport. Well done to: Gearóid Mahon, Ian Hurley, John Magan, Michael Corcoran, Patrick Moreau, Mark Kelly, Liam Hawkes, David Butler and cox Cian Flynn.

Rower of the Month awards: The judging panel is made up of Liam Gorman, rowing correspondent of The Irish Times and David O'Brien, Editor of Afloat magazine. Monthly awards for achievements during the year will appear on afloat.ie and the overall national award will be presented to the person or crew who, in the judges' opinion, achieved the most notable results in, or made the most significant contribution to rowing during 2015. Keep a monthly eye on progress and watch our 2015 champions list grow.

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: Trinity won the men’s eights impressively at the Cork Regatta at the National Rowing Centre today. The college crew took an early lead and extended it to a length at 500 metres. The chasing UCD and NUIG/Grainne Mhaol crews looked never likely to catch Trinity from that point on. The winning margin was over five seconds, with UCD taking second. NUIG’s intermediate crew won the women’s eights by an even bigger margin of over seven seconds from Skibbereen’s junior 18A eight.

Cork Regatta, National Rowing Centre (Selected Results)

Sunday

Men

Eight – Div One – A Final: 1 Trinity (senior) 5:40.667, 2 UCD (intermediate) 5:45.957, 3 NUIG/Grainne Mhaol 5:46.533; 4 Queen’s (Club One) 5:54.94; 5 St Joseph’s (jun 18A) 6:02.257. B Final: UCD (Club One) 6:01.593. C Final: Trinity (Club One) 6:28.997.

Four – Div One – A Final: 1 NUIG/Grainne Mhaol (sen) 6:07.807, 2 UCC A 6:10.83, 3 Carlow (sen) 6:15.543. Four, coxed – Div Two – A Final: Skibbereen (Club Two) 6:43.837. B Final: Trinity (Club Two) 7:04.517; 3 Col Iognaid (jun 16) 7:06.357.

Sculling

Quadruple – Div Two – A Final: Cork (jun 16) 6:45.45; 6 Lee (Club Two) 7:03.56. B Final: Workmans (jun 16) 6:59.8; 4 Workman’s (jun 18B) 7:06.817. C Final: Carlow (jun 16) 7:05.697.

Double – Div One – A Final: 1 Old Collegians (D Neale, S Jacob; sen) 6:29.50, 2 Portadown/Skibbereen (sen) 6:34.43, 3 Shandon (jun 18A) 6:44.873. B Final: Waterford (inter) 6:46.473. C Final: Lee (inter) 6:48.227; 4 Methody (Club One) 7:10.627.

Single – Div Two – A Final: Belfast BC (A Murray; jun 18B) 7:35.483, 2 Cappoquin (Aherne; club two) 7:5.052; 4 Lee (Jackson, jun 16) 7:49.427. B Final: Clonmel (Dundon; jun 16) 7:49.347. C Final: St Michael’s (O’Byrne; jun 16) 7:48.40.

Women

Eight – Div One – A Final: 1 NUIG (inter) 6:43.177, 2 Skibbereen (jun 18A) 6:50.87, Commercial (inter) 6:57.593. Four – Div One – A Final: 1 Skibbereen (jun 18A) 7:08.330, 2 Shannon (sen) 7:12.137, 3 Skibbereen (sen) 7:27.62. Div Two, coxed – A Final: Queen’s A (Club Two) 7:27.26; 6 St Michael’s (jun 16) 8:32.17.

Sculling

Double – Div One – A Final: 1 Skibbereen (A Casey, E Hegarty; jun 18A) 7:28.957, 2 Lee (jun 18A) 7:33.43, 3 St Michael’s (inter) 7:43.430. B Final: Belfast BC A (inter) 7:39.570.

Single – Div Two – A Final: Lee (Cremin; Club Two) 8:16.437; Workman’s (Burns; jun 16) 8:32.55; 6 Shandon (jun 18B) 8:59.37. B Final: Cork (jun 16) 8:52.337. C Final: Lee Valley (jun 16) 8:56.26.

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: UCC gave them a good race, but NUIG/Grainne Mhaol moved away in the closing stages to prove themselves the top men’s four at Cork Regatta. The experience of Sean Jacob and Dave Neale also told in the men’s double scull, with the Ireland under-23 double of Sam McKeown and Andrew Griffin had to give way to the Old Collegians men. The women’s four and double went to young Skibbereen crews: Aoife Casey and Emily Hegarty, who are both 16, were part of the winning four and then switched into the double and won again.

Cork Regatta, National Rowing Centre (Selected Results)

Sunday

Men

Four – Div One – A Final: 1 NUIG/Grainne Mhaol (sen) 6:07.807, 2 UCC A 6:10.83, 3 Carlow (sen) 6:15.543. Four, coxed – Div Two – A Final: Skibbereen (Club Two) 6:43.837. B Final: Trinity (Club Two) 7:04.517; 3 Col Iognaid (jun 16) 7:06.357.

Sculling

Double – Div One – A Final: 1 Old Collegians (D Neale, S Jacob; sen) 6:29.50, 2 Portadown/Skibbereen (sen) 6:34.43, 3 Shandon (jun 18A) 6:44.873. B Final: Waterford (inter) 6:46.473. C Final: Lee (inter) 6:48.227; 4 Methody (Club One) 7:10.627.

Single – Div Two – A Final: Belfast BC (A Murray; jun 18B) 7:35.483, 2 Cappoquin (Aherne; club two) 7:5.052; 4 Lee (Jackson, jun 16) 7:49.427. B Final: Clonmel (Dundon; jun 16) 7:49.347. C Final: St Michael’s (O’Byrne; jun 16) 7:48.40.

Women

Four – Div One – A Final: 1 Skibbereen (jun 18A) 7:08.330, 2 Shannon (sen) 7:12.137, 3 Skibbereen (sen) 7:27.62.

Sculling

Double – Div One – A Final: 1 Skibbereen (A Casey, E Hegarty; jun 18A) 7:28.957, 2 Lee (jun 18A) 7:33.43, 3 St Michael’s (inter) 7:43.430. B Final: Belfast BC A (inter) 7:39.570.

Published in Rowing

# Rowing: The composite quadruple from UCD and Old Collegians were impressive victors at Cork Regatta. Commercial, who beat them at Dublin Metropolitan, were left behind as the crew of Dave Neale, Albert Maher, Sean Jacob and new man Turlough Hughes won well. Skibbereen won the women’s Division One quadruple, while Commercial won the women’s Division Two eights in an exciting race. UCD’s intermediates were the top coxed four – beating Queen’s in a good race.

Cork Regatta, National Rowing Centre (Selected Results)

Saturday

Men

Four, coxed – Div One – A Final: 1 UCD (inter) 6:27.52, 2 Queen’s (inter) 6:28.52, 3 UCD B (inter) 6:29.16; 4 Skibbereen (sen) 6:38.0. B Final: St Michael’s (inter) 6:53.83; 2 St Michael’s (jun 18A) 6:39.19.

Sculling

Quadruple – Div One – A Final: 1 Old Collegians/UCD (sen) 5:58.95, 2 Commercial (sen) 6:06.11, 3 Castleconnell (jun 18A) 6:15.80. B Final: Cork B (jun 18A) 6:24.97.

Double – Div Two – A Final: 1 Cork C (jun 16) 7:07.81, 2 Lee (jun 16) 7:14.63, 3 Shandon A (club two) 7:20.63; 6 Carlow (jun 18B) 7:27.78. B Final: Waterford A (jun 16) 7:26.43. C Final: Shannon B (jun 18B) 7:22.38.

Women

Eight – Div Two – A Final: 1 Commercial (Club Two) 6:47.24, 2 Queen’s (Club Two) 6:51.15, 3 Col Iognaid (Jun 16) 7:06.11.

Four – Div One, coxed – A Final: 1 NUIG (inter) 7:15.85, 2 Shannon (sen) 7:20.47, 3 Commercial (inter) 7:21.80. B Final: Garda (Club One) 7:48.47.

Sculling

Quadruple – Div One – A Final: 1 Skibbereen (jun 18A) 6:51.67, 2 Lee (Jun 18A) 7:00.6, 3 Galway (jun 18A) 7:27.46.

Double – Div Two – A Final: 1 Workmen’s (jun 16) 7:43.13, 2 Cork (Club Two), Cork (jun 16) 7:48.08, 4 Shandon (jun 18B) 7:48.74. B Final: Lee (jun 18B) 8:05.00. C Final: Workmen’s (jun 18B) 8:41.15.

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: Paul O’Donovan of UCD and his brother Gary, representing Skibbereen, finished first and second in the single sculls at Cork Regatta at the National Rowing Centre today, with another Skibbereen oarsman, Erik Rowan, third. Reigning Irish champion John Keohane was fourth in a race run in a very strong tailwind. The women’s single also went to Skibbereen, in the form of 16-year-old Emily Hegarty. There were timing problems, which saw the men’s and women’s pairs finals run off on the draw made for the heats.

Cork Regatta, National Rowing Centre (Selected Results)

Saturday

Men

Eight – Div Two – A Final: 1 Commercial (Club Two) 6:07.87, 2 St Michael’s (Club Two) 6:14.16, 3 UCD (nov) 6:17.04. B Final: St Joseph’s (jun 16) 6:21.33.

Pair – Division One (run on heat seeding): 1 Skibbereen/Old Collegians (sen) 6:33.2, 2 UCC A (inter) 6:52.3, 3 Commercial (sen) 6:53.2; Jun 18A: St Joseph’s 7:09.2.

Sculling,

Single – Div One – A Final: 1 UCD (P O’Donovan, sen) 6:55.74, 2 Skibbereen (G O’Donovan) 7:03.20, 3 Skibbereen (E Rowan) 7:11.35; 5 Skibbereen (J Ryan; lightweight) 7:15.57. B Final: Athlone (Munnelly; jun 18A) 7:18.86; 4 Lee (O’Sullivan; inter) 7:30.85; 5 Carlow (Keating; Club One) 7:34.12. C Final: Skibbereen (McCarthy; light) 7:22.83.

Women

Pair – Div One – Final (run on heat seeding): 1 Trinity A (sen) 7:38.43, 2 Trinity B (sen) 7:48.19, 3 Shannon B (sen) 7:50.06; Jun 18A: Skibbereen 7:50.10; Club One: UCC 8:04.18.

Sculling

Quadruple – Div Two – A Final: 1 Cork A (jun 16) 7:26.15; 3 Methody (jun 18B) 7:43.65; 5 Garda (Club Two) 7:49.65. B Final: Galway (jun 16) 7:59.76. C Final: Clonmel (Nov) 8:37.90.

Single – A Final: Skibbereen (E Hegarty; jun 18A), 2 Belfast BC (S Quinn; light), 3 Belfast BC (K Turner; light); 6 Castleconnell (Vascotto; jun 18A). B Final: Skibbereen (A Casey; jun 18A); 2 St Michael’s (A O’Sullivan; sen); 6 Belfast BC (O Blundell; Club One). C Final: Neptune (C Feerick; jun 18A); 3 Methody (C Deyermond; inter).

 

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: Gráinne Mhaol/NUIG were pushed hard by UCD, but came away with the Division One eights title at Cork Grand League Regatta at the National Rowing Centre. NUIG came in third, despite having to do without the services of Kevin Neville, who had fallen ill during the heats. The experienced Gráinne Mhaol crew of Dave Mannion, Alan Martin, Cormac Folan and James Wall won the Division One four, while Skibbereen won the women’s four.

Andy Harrington of UCC won the Division One single sculls from Eimantas Grigalius of Three Castles and Fergus Fauvel, a New Zealander studying in Galway. Fauvel also rowed at number four for the winning eight.

Catríona Jennings of Commercial, who only took up rowing in the past two years after competing as a runner at the Olympic Games, won the Division One single sculls.

The timing system at the regatta, a bugbear at a number of Grand League events, caused some difficulties.  

Published in Rowing

# ROWING CORK REGATTA: Grainne Mhaol/NUIG dominated the final race of the day, the A Final of the men’s eight at Cork Regatta today, with NUIG’s intermediate eight second. Grainne Mhaol had also won the men’s four.

Trinity also had a good day, winning the women’s eight and shading the men’s coxed four – they had .6 of a second to spare over NUIG. Skibbereen were strong in the sculling events, with wins in the men’s and women’s quadruple sculls and the men’s double – the Ireland under-23 crew of Gary O’Donovan and Shane O’Driscoll.

The men’s junior four which was trialling for a place at the Coupe de la Jeunesse (Kevin Fallon and Jack Smyth of St Joseph’s, and twin brothers David and Brian Keohane of Presentation, Cork) landed their places. The women’s four which hopes to represent Ireland at the World Under-23 Championships (Lisa Dilleen, Aifric Keogh, Ailish Sheehan and Emily Tormey) also won their final.

Sinead Jennings and Claire Lambe impressed when they teamed up in a double scull, winning well and setting a good time of seven minutes 2.1 seconds.

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.”