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Displaying items by tag: Whitegate

A local surfing school instructor raced to the rescue of a teenage boy caught in a rip current off a Co Cork beach at the weekend, as CorkBeo reports.

Luke Chambers of the Swell Surf School was with a surf class off Inch Beach near Whitegate on Sunday (26 July) when he spotted three teen sea swimmers in distress nearby.

Acting fast, Chambers got his surf students back on the beach safely before paddling out to the three boys as they were dragged out to sea by the sudden tide.

One of the stricken trio had managed to get onto a rocky reef, and the surfer assisted a second to climb onto the same reef.

Meanwhile, another man whom Chambers describes as an “angel” was keeping the third boy’s head above water, and they used the surfboard to bring him back to the beach where he was attended to by paramedics.

The boy, since named as Joey Kinahan, was taken to hospital as a precaution but has made a full recovery depite coming close to drowning.

CorkBeo has more on the story HERE.

Published in Rescue
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#Rowing: The 2019 Irish Coastal Rowing Championships have been officially launched. The event, on August 23rd and 24th, will be hosted by Whitegate Rowing Club from east Cork. The launch was at the regatta venue, the National Rowing Centre at Farran Wood, on Tuesday. The special guest was Ireland rower Monika Dukarska. The Killorglin woman has been a world coastal rowing champion.

The regatta director, Shane Russell, said the NRC was a superb facility. “I would like to thank Rowing Ireland, Whitegate Rowing Club and everyone who is assisting us in this event.”

The Jones Engineering Group, Port of Cork, Cash and Carry Kitchens and Passive Sills were all announced as main sponsors with a further announcement due in the coming weeks.

Published in Coastal Rowing

#Rowing: Whitegate Rowing Club are delighted to have been selected to host the 2019 Irish Coastal Rowing Championships.  This event is one of the largest rowing regattas in Ireland and it is an honour for the club to have been nominated as this year’s host club.

The event will take place on the weekend of August 23rd and 24th  and it will be held at the National Rowing Centre, Farran Woods.  

The committee of Whitegate Rowing Club cordially invites our local community, club supporters and anyone who simply loves sports to the launch of their hosting of the Irish Coastal Rowing Championships at their cubhouse in Whitegate, Co. Cork on Saturday, April 20th at 6.30 pm.

This launch event coincides with a club open day, where those interested in taking park in the sport are more than welcome to come along and find out what it is all about!  The open day runs from 5.30 pm to 7.00 pm and light refreshments will be served

Club Chairperson Rachel Barry said: “Coastal rowing is a fantastic sport and our members range from junior rowers of 10 years, right up to our Masters members (over 55) with incredible experience. We work hard to promote the sport of coastal rowing and are extremely proud of our club’s ethos of inclusion and strong sportsmanship. To be selected to host this year’s Championships is a huge honour and a matter of pride for our local community.”

Whitegate Rowing Club is one of east Cork’s premier coastal rowing venues. The club have been rowing out of their base at the Sawmills in Whitegate since 1991. The club are now looking forward to hosting their third All Ireland Coastal Rowing Championships and have a reputation as a strong and successful club in the sport of coastal rowing.

WRC’s mission is simple: to train and instruct members in the sport of Coastal Rowing. The club strives to foster, promote and develop the sport and create a positive and encouraging environment for all.

Published in Coastal Rowing

Marine Institute Research Vessel Tom Crean

Ireland’s new marine research vessel will be named the RV Tom Crean after the renowned County Kerry seaman and explorer who undertook three major groundbreaking expeditions to the Antarctic in the early years of the 20th Century which sought to increase scientific knowledge and to explore unreached areas of the world, at that time.

Ireland's new multi-purpose marine research vessel RV Tom Crean, was delivered in July 2022 and will be used by the Marine Institute and other State agencies and universities to undertake fisheries research, oceanographic and environmental research, seabed mapping surveys; as well as maintaining and deploying weather buoys, observational infrastructure and Remotely Operated Vehicles.

The RV Tom Crean will also enable the Marine Institute to continue to lead and support high-quality scientific surveys that contribute to Ireland's position as a leader in marine science. The research vessel is a modern, multipurpose, silent vessel (designed to meet the stringent criteria of the ICES 209 noise standard for fisheries research), capable of operating in the Irish Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The Tom Crean is able to go to sea for at least 21 days at a time and is designed to operate in harsh sea conditions.

RV Tom Crean Specification Overview

  • Length Overall: 52.8 m
  • Beam 14m
  • Draft 5.2M 

Power

  • Main Propulsion Motor 2000 kw
  • Bow Thruster 780 kw
  • Tunnel thruster 400 kw

Other

  • Endurance  21 Days
  • Range of 8,000 nautical miles
  • DP1 Dynamic Positioning
  • Capacity for 3 x 20ft Containers

Irish Marine Research activities

The new state-of-the-art multi-purpose marine research vessel will carry out a wide range of marine research activities, including vital fisheries, climate change-related research, seabed mapping and oceanography.

The new 52.8-metre modern research vessel, which will replace the 31-metre RV Celtic Voyager, has been commissioned with funding provided by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine approved by the Government of Ireland.

According to Aodhán FitzGerald, Research Vessel Manager of the MI, the RV Tom Crean will feature an articulated boom crane aft (6t@ 10m, 3T@ 15m), located on the aft-gantry. This will be largely used for loading science equipment and net and equipment handling offshore.

Mounted at the stern is a 10T A-frame aft which can articulate through 170 degrees which are for deploying and recovering large science equipment such as a remotely operated vehicle (ROV’s), towed sleds and for fishing operations.

In addition the fitting of an 8 Ton starboard side T Frame for deploying grabs and corers to 4000m which is the same depth applicable to when the vessel is heaving but is compensated by a CTD system consisting of a winch and frame during such operations.

The vessel will have the regulation MOB boat on a dedicated davit and the facility to carry a 6.5m Rigid Inflatable tender on the port side.

Also at the aft deck is where the 'Holland 1' Work class ROV and the University of Limericks 'Etain' sub-Atlantic ROV will be positioned. In addition up to 3 x 20’ (TEU) containers can be carried.

The newbuild has been engineered to endure increasing harsher conditions and the punishing weather systems encountered in the North-East Atlantic where deployments of RV Tom Crean on surveys spent up to 21 days duration.

In addition, RV Tom Crean will be able to operate in an ultra silent-mode, which is crucial to meet the stringent criteria of the ICES 209 noise standard for fisheries research purposes.

The classification of the newbuild as been appointed to Lloyds and below is a list of the main capabilities and duties to be tasked by RV Tom Crean:

  • Oceanographic surveys, incl. CTD water sampling
  • Fishery research operations
  • Acoustic research operations
  • Environmental research and sampling operation incl. coring
  • ROV and AUV/ASV Surveys
  • Buoy/Mooring operations