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Displaying items by tag: Irish National Sailing School (INSS)

#inss – The Irish National Sailing Club (INSC) Race Training Team that usually competes on a Sunday morning in the DBSC Spring Chicken series were welcomed yesterday morning in Dun Laoghaire by gusts of 30-40 kts writes Kenneth Rumball.

The mood in the INSC was of disappointment that for the second time in this series the race training crews would be unable to go racing on the INSC 1720 Sportsboats. Later while travelling over to the Royal Irish Yacht Club (RIYC) pontoons where the boats are kept during the winter months in our launch, the lack of activity of boats on the marina and in the Royal Irish Yacht Club coupled with code flag N flying from the marina flagstaff confirmed our suspicions that racing would indeed be cancelled for the day.

Undeterred our crews returned to the INSC clubhouse where Kenneth gave an brief lecture on how to use a compass most effectively in inshore yacht racing both pre-start and during the race. During this one of the crew members of Adelie a 34.7 from the National Yacht Club that is now crewed by a mixture of INSC staff and INSC graduates suggested a race between the current crew of Adelie and the INSC Race Training Team.

Challenge Accepted!

A quick agreement that Kenneth and Alexander would act as race officer and mark layer respectively, our Race Training Team and the Adelie crew left the INSC Clubhouse to take our fleet of Squibs out for some racing inside the Harbour.

Despite gust of 30+ kts, 5 squibs with two reefs and crewed by two persons headed out for three races. INSC staff were put under pressure by INSC graduates with one particular staff member only winning a race due to an INSC graduate coming a little too close to the last leeward mark! Close racing in our fleet of identical modified Squib keelboats ensured it was the best sailors who won the races and not the fastest boat! The Race Training Team who would usually expertly crew the 1720s were now putting their helming skills to the test while Alexander gave race coaching during the races to ensure everybody learnt as much as possible from the day!

A fantastic morning that meant our sailors were still able to take to the water and learn despite both the DBSC Spring Series and DMYC Frostbites being held ashore.

Published in Dublin Bay

#inss – There were plenty of thrills and spills in Dun Laoghaire harbour last weekend when local youths took to the chilly February waters as part of the Irish National Sailing School's year round sailing syllabus.

The Irish National Sailing School Junior Club is a way for young sailors to keep sailing during the school terms. Sailors have a choice of sailing either from 10am to 1pm or from 2pm-5pm on Saturdays. 

While they primarily sail in dinghies, on the particular cold days children take out fleet of keelboats (1720s and Squibs) allowing them to keep sailing and stay warm in the colder conditions. Sailing on the bigger keelboats also broadens the children's skills and allows them to venture further afield.

Children from as young as 7 are out sailing in the club every Saturday combining the fun and skills of sailing while making new friends and socialising says centre principal Kenneth Rumball. 'There are always plenty of spaces available with new sailors welcome to sign up at any stage', he adds.

The Summer term is running on the following Saturdays February 1, 8, 15, 22 March 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 April 5, 26 May 3, 10. During the 13 weeks children build on their sailing skill and progress through their logbooks to ensure they are learning all the time and gaining extra valuable skills along the way.

 For full dates, time and prices see the Junior Club Sailing website 

Published in Youth Sailing

#ON THE TV-It's just over a year ago to when filming took place for parts of the TV Movie "Treasure Island" off Dalkey Island, as previously reported on Afloat.ie. Fans of the classic Robert Louis Stevenson 18th century tale can look forward to this new two-part adaptation starring Eddie Izzard as the one-legged pirate, Long John Silver, on New Year's Day on Sky 1 HD at 7pm and also at the same time on 2nd January, writes Jehan Ashmore.

Joining the Emmy award winning Izzard is BBC TV series Spooks actor Rupert Penry-Jones and Hollywood stars Donald Sunderland and Elijah Wood.

The nautical scenes where set on board Square Sails tallship, the barque Earl of Pembroke which used Dun Laoghaire Harbour as a base. During the Irish scenes, the production crew and members of the cast had to endure the bitterly artic-like conditions of last winter's big freeze as the 174-tonnes barque was off The Muglins Lighthouse with a camera-equipped helicopter whirling above.

Following the shoot in Ireland which involved Dun Laoghaire based Parallel Film Productions and the Irish National Sailing School (INSS) which provided marine co-ordination services for the drama commissioned by Sky 1 HD TV Chanel, the shoot re-located to Puerto Rico in the Caribbean.

To watch a first look-official trailer of the long-awaited swashbuckling adventure click HERE and for more about the drama including a Q&A with the cast click HERE.

Published in Maritime TV
In a letter to The Irish Times last week, the principal of Ireland's largest sailing school hails the introduction of the new 'master plan' for Dun Laoghaire Harbour.
Alistair Rumball, director of the Irish National Sailing School (INSS), argues that the harbour's current financial model "cannot bring us forward".
He highlights the seasonal nature of the harbour's core businesses, which include a ferry service, four private yacht clubs, the Commissioners of Irish Lights and the public marina and boat yard.
"Due to seasonality these operations cannot financially support the harbour all year," he writes. "We need the same numbers of the public to be using harbour facilities at mid- summer as mid-winter."

In a letter to The Irish Times last week, the principal of Ireland's largest sailing school hails the introduction of the new 'master plan' for Dun Laoghaire Harbour.

Alistair Rumball, director of the Irish National Sailing School (INSS), argues that the harbour's current financial model "cannot bring us forward". 

He highlights the seasonal nature of the harbour's core businesses, which include a ferry service, four private yacht clubs, the Commissioners of Irish Lights (CIL) and the public marina and boat yard.

"Due to seasonality these operations cannot financially support the harbour all year," he writes. "We need the same numbers of the public to be using harbour facilities at mid- summer as mid-winter."

Published in Dublin Bay
22nd October 2010

Hello 'Halloween' Sailors

As the mid-term break looms, need something to do? The Irish National Sailing School & Club have some remaining places available on their Halloween Multi Activity Camp week (Tuesday 26-Friday 29 October) between 9am-5pm daily. The week is for 7-18 year olds and will be similar to the Summer Camps.

The week will feature sailing, kayaking, surfing, body boarding, power-boating, arts & crafts and orienteering. Prices start from €99 per child* (where multiple children are booked).

For further information about the Dun Laoghaire based sailing activity centre and bookings contact the INNS Tel: 01 2844195 or logon to www.inss.ie/Halloween_2010/Default.284.html

Published in Coastal Notes
Ahoy me hearties...Dublin Bay is to become the setting for "Treasure Island", the classic adventure story by Robert Louis Stephenson, with filming scheduled next month, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The 145-foot Earl of Pembroke, a three-masted barque will be centre-stage. Shooting is expected to start in early November for the made for TV movie which is to be broadcast in two parts.

Dun Laoghaire's strategic location on Dublin Bay with close proximity of Dalkey Island, Killiney Bay and Wicklow Mountains to the south coupled with the backdrop of Howth Peninsula, will provide plenty of scope for cinema-photography.

With the Earl of Pembroke to be based in Dun Laoghaire, the harbour town is also home to the film's production company Parallel Film Productions which has included works such as Amongst Women, Breakast on Pluto and the TV series, The Clinic for RTE. In addition the locally based Irish National Sailing School (INSS) on the West Pier, aside from operating sailing activities, have also built up a strong reputation in marine-support and equipment services for film, TV and advertising. Projects have included the films, Saving Private Ryan, Into The West and TV series The Tudors.

The 350-tonnes, Earl of Pembroke is by no means just a floating prop. Launched as Orion, the vessel was built at Pukvik, Sweden in 1948 and for nearly three decades she sailed the North Sea on the timber trade from the Baltic Sea to British ports until laid-up in Denmark in 1974.

The vessel lanquished for several years but in 1979, Cornwall based Square Sail purchased her. In 1985 the vessel underwent a complete restoration programme and in 1994 the vessel re-emerged as a 18th century barque. Among the many film roles, she became the HMS Hotspur in the TV series 'Hornblower'. This year the vessel was involved in a major pirate themed mini-series for French TV which was shot in Corsica. Square Sail's specialisation in providing 'tall-ships' for the film industry also includes the vessels, Keskalot and Pheonix.

Published in Dublin Bay
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Sharks in Irish waters

Irish waters are home to 71 species of shark, skates and rays, 58 of which have been studied in detail and listed on the Ireland Red List of Cartilaginous fish. Irish sharks range from small Sleeper sharks, Dogfish and Catsharks, to larger species like Frilled, Mackerel and Cow sharks, all the way to the second largest shark in the world, the Basking shark. 

Irish waters provide a refuge for an array of shark species. Tralee Bay, Co. Kerry provides a habitat for several rare and endangered sharks and their relatives, including the migratory tope shark, angel shark and undulate ray. This area is also the last European refuge for the extremely rare white skate. Through a European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) project, Marine Institute scientists have been working with fishermen to assess the distribution, diversity, and monthly relative abundance of skates and rays in Tralee, Brandon and Dingle Bays.

“These areas off the southwest coast of Ireland are important internationally as they hold some of the last remaining refuges for angel shark and white skate,” said Dr Maurice Clarke of the Marine Institute. “This EMFF project has provided data confirming the critically endangered status of some species and provides up-to-date information for the development of fishery measures to eliminate by-catch.” 

Irish waters are also home to the Black Mouthed Catshark, Galeus melastomus, one of Ireland’s smallest shark species which can be found in the deep sea along the continental shelf. In 2018, Irish scientists discovered a very rare shark-nursery 200 nautical miles off the west coast by the Marine Institute’s ROV Holland 1 on a shelf sloping to 750 metres deep. 

There are two ways that sharks are born, either as live young or from egg casings. In the ‘case’ of Black Mouthed Catsharks, the nursery discovered in 2018, was notable by the abundance of egg casings or ‘mermaid’s purses’. Many sharks, rays and skate lay eggs, the cases of which often wash ashore. If you find an egg casing along the seashore, take a photo for Purse Search Ireland, a citizen science project focusing on monitoring the shark, ray and skate species around Ireland.

Another species also found by Irish scientists using the ROV Holland 1 in 2018 was a very rare type of dogfish, the Sail Fin Rough Shark, Oxynotus paradoxus. These sharks are named after their long fins which resemble the trailing sails of a boat, and live in the deep sea in waters up to 750m deep. Like all sharks, skates and rays, they have no bones. Their skeleton is composed of cartilage, much like what our noses and ears are made from! This material is much more flexible and lighter than bone which is perfect for these animals living without the weight of gravity.

Throughout history sharks have been portrayed as the monsters of the sea, a concept that science is continuously debunking. Basking sharks were named in 1765 as Cetorhinus maximus, roughly translated to the ‘big-nosed sea monster’. Basking sharks are filter feeders, often swimming with their mouths agape, they filter plankton from the water.

They are very slow moving and like to bask in the sun in shallow water and are often seen in Irish waters around Spring and early Summer. To help understand the migration of these animals to be better able to understand and conserve these species, the Irish Basking Shark Group have tagged and mapped their travels.

Remarkably, many sharks like the Angel Shark, Squatina squatina have the ability to sense electricity. They do this via small pores in their skin called the ‘Ampullae of Lorenzini’ which are able to detect the tiny electrical impulses of a fish breathing, moving or even its heartbeat from distances of over a kilometre! Angel sharks, often referred to as Monkfish have a distinctively angelic shape, with flattened, large fins appearing like the wings of an angel. They live on the seafloor in the coastal waters of Ireland and much like a cat are nocturnal, primarily active at night.

The intricate complexity of shark adaptations is particularly noticeable in the texture of their skin. Composed of miniscule, perfectly shaped overlapping scales, the skin of shark provides them with protection. Often shark scales have been compared to teeth due to their hard enamel structure. They are strong, but also due to their intricate shape, these scales reduce drag and allow water to glide past them so that the shark can swim more effortlessly and silently. This natural flawless design has been used as inspiration for new neoprene fabric designs to help swimmers glide through the water. Although all sharks have this feature, the Leafscale Gulper Shark, Centrophorus squamosus, found in Ireland are specifically named due to the ornate leaf-shape of their scales.