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Displaying items by tag: Catherine Ennis

The first ever ISA Women's Match Championship was completed on Sunday, October 10th at Kinsale in Ireland sailing J/80's.
Saturday racing was postponed due to the strong wind gusting up to 37 knots. An early start on Sunday morning, 09.30, proved to of be little deterrent to the ten enthusiastic sailing teams. With no delays between flights each round was completed in under two hours and the schedule was completed in the mid afternoon.

Laura

The 'Really Naughty' team with the inaugural trophy in Kinsale

The winners Laura Dillon's 'Really Naughty' team, who were unbeaten during the event, were presented with the 'Kinsale Regatta Cup' by ISA President Peter Crowley. They were followed in second place by Mary O'Loughlin and the 'Ladies Who Launch' team who beat all except the Really Naughty girls. Proving the all-round ability of an ISA bosun Sue Smithwick stepped in when one of the Ladies Who Launch had to be taken ashore for treatment. In a tiebreak on 4 points for third place 'The Sailing West Ladies' of Laura Adamson beat Carol O'Kelly and her 'NautiGals' on 4 points. In their first race one of Audrey's crew decided to try swimming west and test the teams MOB drill. She was promptly recovered by the crew of the boat and completed the day's sailing damp but unbowed. Audrey's team wore their WIMRA T-shirts for the occasion.
The race management team with International Race Officers Alan Crosbie (PRO) and Peter Crowley were busy starting and finishing a race every 12 minutes and there was no rest for the umpire team either with many matches decided by their promptly signalled protest decisions.

This was an ISAF Grade 3 Women's Match Race and all eyes will be on the next World Ranking release on October 27 to see how these teams compare on the world stage.

Final Scores
1 Laura Dillon Really Naughty 8
Crew: Catherine Ennis, Ciara Dowling, Carol O'Kelly, Breffni Jones

2 Mary O'Loughlin Ladies Who Launch 6
Crew: alice cowman, Hazel Ruane, Sam Burrows, Caoimhe Burns, Susan Smithwick

3 Audrey Adamson Sailing West Ladies 4
Crew: Chris Nolan, Michelle Rowley, Emily McManus, Laura Greer

4 Carol O'Kelly NautiGals 4
5 Alice Cowman Launched Ladies 3
6 Chris Nolan West Sailing Girls 2
7 Emma Geary Royal Cork 1
8 Frances Lynch Glandore-Kinsale 1
9 Yvonne Sheehan Emma's Choice 1
10 Choryna Kiely Kinsale Glamour 0

Published in Match Racing

Marine Wildlife Around Ireland 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. 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 the location of our beautiful little island, perched in the North Atlantic Ocean there appears to be no shortage of marine life to observe.

From whales to dolphins, seals, sharks and other ocean animals this page documents the most interesting accounts of marine wildlife around our shores. We're keen to receive your observations, your photos, links and youtube clips.

Boaters have a unique perspective and all those who go afloat, from inshore kayaking to offshore yacht racing that what they encounter can be of real value to specialist organisations such as the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) who compile a list of sightings and strandings. The IWDG knowledge base has increased over the past 21 years thanks in part at least to the observations of sailors, anglers, kayakers and boaters.

Thanks to the IWDG work we now know we share the seas with dozens of species who also call Ireland home. Here's the current list: Atlantic white-sided dolphin, beluga whale, blue whale, bottlenose dolphin, common dolphin, Cuvier's beaked whale, false killer whale, fin whale, Gervais' beaked whale, harbour porpoise, humpback whale, killer whale, minke whale, northern bottlenose whale, northern right whale, pilot whale, pygmy sperm whale, Risso's dolphin, sei whale, Sowerby's beaked whale, sperm whale, striped dolphin, True's beaked whale and white-beaked dolphin.

But as impressive as the species list is the IWDG believe there are still gaps in our knowledge. Next time you are out on the ocean waves keep a sharp look out!