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Displaying items by tag: Royal St George Yacht Club

Race Officer Barry O'Neill will try and get the first races of the 16-boat SB20 Easterns underway this Sunday lunchtime after cancelling Saturday's programme due to lack of wind on Dublin Bay.

O'Neill says there is no point in planning an earlier start as the forecast for the morning is poor. 

O'Neill and his race committee went to sea on Saturday at 9.30 hours but kept the fleet ashore using a rolling AP. 

Even though a gentle five-knot breeze filled around the Bay's East Mark at noon and the fleet came out, it was to no avail as, by the time they got to the race track, the breeze had turned off.

The fleet returned to shore without racing at 2.30 pm as per the Sailing Instructions.

Royal St George Yacht Club event organisers had planned to run more short races in a new format Championships, but this looks likely to be curtailed by the light winds.

A change to the sailing instructions has been made to extend racing until 4 pm on Sunday to give some chance of completing a series.

Published in SB20

Royal St. George Yacht Club youth ILCA ace Fiachra McDonnell has finished seventh in Italy's Eurilca Europa Cup.

The Irish champion, who has had a busy start to 2023, earned the ILCA 6 male division result after seven races in a 75-boat fleet at the Fraglia Vela Riva regatta on Lake Garda.

A consistent scoreline saw McDonnell count six results in the top ten, but it was the host nation's Antonio Pascali who stole the show by winning six out of seven races. The Fraglia Vela Riva athlete lined up with his teammate Mattia Cesana and the Swede Erik Norlen on the podium.

The Next round of the Europa Cup Trophy will be the 2023 EurILCA Europa Cup FRA in Canet en Roussillon, France, from May 26 at Club Nautique Canet Perpignan.

Results are downloadable below

Published in Laser

Michael O’Connor, David Taylor and Ed Cook sailing Ted from the Royal St George Yacht Club, finished second overall in last weekend’s SB20 Grand Slam held in Cascais, Portugal.

The local team of Vasco Serpa, Diogo Pinto and Pedro Alemão led the event from the first race and won convincingly in the end with a total of 16 points.

Ted ended the 9 race, 1 discard series in second on 24 points, 4 points ahead of reigning World Champion Jose Paulo Ramada (sailing with Henrique Brites, Luis Pinheiro and Miguel Leal Faria) on 28 points in third.

After racing concluded on Monday, the team on Ted were all smiles and thoroughly delighted with the event. “We had three days of champagne sailing conditions, 20-24 degrees Celsius and 10-24 knots of wind. Some of the best racing that we’ve had in years.” according to crew member Edward Cook.

“The first two days were held on the inner course in Cascais, close to the shore in an offshore breeze. The wind there is very shifty, swinging through 40 degrees over the course of the day, and the gusts are twice the average wind strength. In a planing boat like the SB20, massive gains can be made by hooking into the extra pressure and getting on the right side of a shift, so it really keeps you on your toes. The race is not over until it's over.” added Davy Taylor. “The third and final day looked like it was going to be lighter than the first two days, so the Race Committee brought us out to the offshore course, where the wind tends to be that bit stronger and steadier in direction. In the end, we were treated to gusts of over 20 knots and were hitting speeds of over 17 knots on the downwind legs,” beamed Taylor.

 RStGYC trio Michael O’Connor, David Taylor and Ed Cook at the SB20 Cascais Grand Slam in Portugal Photo: Joao Saraiva Mendes/SB20 Grand Slam RStGYC trio Michael O’Connor, David Taylor and Ed Cook at the SB20 Cascais Grand Slam in Portugal Photo: Joao Saraiva Mendes/SB20 Grand Slam

Next up for the RStGYC trio will be the pre-worlds event in May 2023 followed by the worlds in June 2023, to be held in Sheveningen, The Netherlands.

Meanwhile, The local Irish SB20 fleet looks to build on the success of the recent Northern Championships with their Eastern Championships on 20/21 May 2023, hosted by the RStGYC.

Published in SB20

The Royal St. George Yacht Club of Dun Laoghaire Harbour has earned itself the name of Ireland’s foiling hub. In recent years, they have become the leaders in driving modern foiling in Ireland, mainly in the ever-growing Waszp class.

Wanting to accelerate the participation and level in foiling classes in Ireland, the RSGYC has set out to create an all-new Youth Foiling programme led by foiling champion Charlie Cullen.

The programme aims to create a world-class team to ultimately challenge for the Youth America's Cup in Barcelona 2024. This will be the first time an Irish Team will have been involved in the America's Cup in its 170-year history.

“This is an exciting concept that will be the very first of its kind in Ireland. I’m looking forward to leading this team to become Ireland's first-ever Youth America’s Cup challenger”, Charlie told Afloat.

The Youth Programme plans to be the breeding place for the next generation of world-class professional Irish sailors, with the aim of creating a cohesive team, that will challenge and race against the likes of the New York Yacht Club and the Royal Yacht Squadron on the biggest sailing stage.

Royal St George foiling champion Charlie CullenRoyal St George foiling champion Charlie Cullen

All U25, the team will be represented by the top youth talent that Ireland has to offer. The team also aims to be fully gender equal with a 50/50 split of male and female sailors.

There will be seven invited teams as well as the six represented Cup teams participating in the Youth Americas Cup. All teams will race in the new AC40 foiling monohull inspired by the AC75’s.

The Youth America's Cup for 2024

“We are very excited to support this initiative. Being an all-Ireland programme we want the best sailors from around the country, to get involved”, Ronan Adams of the RStGYC told Afloat.

If you are interested in getting involved and born after the 12th October 1998, email your sailing CV and a motivation letter to [email protected], applications close on 16th January 2023.

Published in RStGYC

Day two of the Mapfre Euromed International Championships in Malta yielded mixed results for the Irish competitors.

Little wind meant only one race for the Laser group and none for Optimists.

Daniel O’Connor is Ireland’s best-placed boy in the ILCA 6 fleet of 19 in fifth overall. The Royal St George Sailor earned second place behind Ukrainian sailor Dmytro Karabadzhak. The strong Maltese fleet hold the top three positions before the first discard kicks in. With a maximum of 12 races to be sailed, the organisers will hope for stronger winds today.

In the ILCA 4 fleet, Lucy Ives, sailing under the Carlingford Sailing Club burgee, stays 9th after four races sailed. Howth’s Charlie Keating is in 11th.

The Royal St George pair of Jessica Riordan and Emily Conan are in 14th and 17th, respectively. 

In the 138-boat Optimist Fleet, Carolina Carra of the Royal St George Yacht Club is lying in 64th place after four races sailed. Jude Hynes-Knight is 65th.

Full results here:

ILCA 6

ILCA 4

Optimist

Published in RStGYC

The Dun Laoghaire Laser Masters fleet gathered over the weekend for a glitzy award ceremony to celebrate what they’re calling an “epic” season for the class. Hosted by the Royal St. George Yacht Club, the fleet’s end-of-season event recognised the achievements of adult Laser sailors from across the Dun Laoghaire clubs.

Adult Laser sailing has been on the rise in recent times, especially since the Pandemic when at one point, it was one of the few boats that could be sailed under government regulations. In order to encourage continued adult participation through 2022, local fleet organisers laid on a range of additional racing formats to supplement the regular winter and summer sailing offered by the DMYC and DBSC clubs, respectively.

In addition to the ever-popular DBSC summer schedule, sailors were treated to four one-day sprint regattas sponsored by Grant Thornton, an eight-week Friday night series sponsored by MGM Boats plus three ILCA Ireland national and regional events. The National Yacht Club hosted the ILCA Ireland Masters National Championships in May, while the Royal St. George Yacht Club hosted the ILCA Ireland Leinsters in July and the ILCA Ireland End of Season regatta in October.

Last weekend’s award ceremony recognised the achievements of local Laser sailors across Dun Laoghaire events, plus at national and international events. A roll of honour highlighted the top achievers, including stalwarts such as Royal St. George member Sean Craig. Sean was the leading adult sailor nationally in 2022 taking more masters titles than any other sailor, having won masters titles at the ILCA Ireland Munsters, Masters Championship, Connachts, Ulsters, Leinsters and End of Season events, in the ILCA 6. Sean also took Bronze at the Eurilca European Masters Championship held in L’Escala, Spain.

Other notable achievements across the season included George member Judy O’Beirne, who took the Female Masters title at the ILCA Ireland Munsters and Masters Championship. Judy was also the leading lady locally this year winning the DMYC Frostbites and DBSC series in the female category. It was announced on the night that Judy will be taking over as local class captain in 2023. Hot on Judy’s heels for silverware in the Female category was Shirley Gilmore (winner of ILCA Ireland Ulsters and Leinsters) and Ali Robinson (winner of ILCA Ireland End of Season regatta).

In the ILCA 7, Dan O’Connell led the way with the most national and regional events. Dan won the ILCA Ireland National Championships in Tralee Bay Sailing Club in August. Other silverware on his sideboard this year include the ILCA Ireland Leinsters and End of Season events. Locally, Gavan Murphy scooped up most of the prizes having won the DMYC Frostbites, the DBSC series, the MGM Boats Friday Night R&R series, in addition to being the leading master at the ILCA Ireland Ulsters.

A special mention on the night went to the “Ones to Watch for 2023”, including Michael Norman (winner of the DBSC series and the MGM Boats Friday Night R&R) and Conor Clancy (winner of the DMYC frostbite series); both in the ILCA 6 category. Rachel Crowley, who recently graduated from the local “Kindergarten” for adult beginner sailors, won the MGM Boats Friday Night R&R series and many are expecting more silverware for her in 2023.

Speaking at the awards ceremony, outgoing class captain of the fleet locally, Brendan Hughes, said “We’ve had an epic season in 2022 with really great racing provided to us through the DBSC summer series, the DMYC frostbite series and the range of events hosted by the George and National Yacht clubs this year. In addition, we had the four local club regattas, so really there was an unparalleled opportunity to race in Dun Laoghaire this summer. A massive thanks goes out to everyone who made this possible.”

The local sailing community also demonstrated the true spirit of camaraderie this summer with the fundraising activities that took place for a Royal St. George Yacht Club member, Kevin Doyle, who was sadly injured while competing in a Laser earlier in the season. It was revealed at the award ceremony by Royal St. George Commodore Richard O’Connor that a total of €25,000 was raised through the combined efforts of the club and ILCA Ireland.

Published in Laser

The Royal St George Yacht Club is currently looking to recruit a number of committed sailing instructors for 2023.

The Dun Laoghaire waterfront club requires active sailors/instructors “with a positive attitude, complete professionalism and a passion for sailing and fun”.

Instructors will be responsible for the improvement of the club’s junior and youth sailors, a role that is held in the highest regard by the club.

Both dinghy and advanced instructors must have one or more years’ instruction experience for the position they are applying for.

Online application forms for dinghy instructor and assistant dinghy instructor are now available. Note that you will need copies of your relevant certificates.

The club is also seeking keelboat instructors for weekday evenings and weekends from April, sailing coaches for weekends and holidays, coaches for team racing and skiffs (including 29ers) and coaches for week-long class-specific clinics.

For more information, contact the club’s sailing administrator Karin Ryan at 01 280 1180 or [email protected].

Interviews will be scheduled for early in the year. The club advises prospective candidates to apply as early as possible to avoid disappointment.

Published in RStGYC

Arguably the highlight of the Royal St George Yacht Club’s junior calendar comes this weekend with the annual dinner for the Dun Laoghaire waterfront club’s junior and youth sailors from 7pm this Saturday 22 October.

As the club says, it’s a chance to get dressed up — ‘smart’ dress is a must — and enjoy a meal and a night of fun, including the awards ceremony and prize-giving for the 2022 season.

Meanwhile, as their charges celebrate in the main dining room, up to 40 parents can be accommodated in the bar to eat and socialise together.

Places are €20 per person and can be booked online HERE.

Published in RStGYC

Martin Byrne’s Jaguar Sailing Team dropped to tenth overall after the final day of Dragon class racing at the Régates Royales, in Cannes on Friday.

Byrne’s Jaguar Sailing Team from the Royal St. George, Dun Laoghaire and Daniel Murphy’s Fortitude from Kinsale were fighting it out at the front of the fleet for most of the week, with Byrne crewed by Adam Winkelmann and John Simms as high as fourth overall before the penultimate day.

Murphy finished 13th overall from 32-starters.

 

Published in Dragon

An early morning start on Wednesday was delayed for the Dragon fleet at Régates Royales, in Cannes as the anticipated Mistral gale took its time to materialise.

Eventually, the fleet got away in a stiff 25-knot breeze that took its toll as many boats retired on the first leg with gear failure. Two of the casualties were Irish Dragons, Tarasque and Sir Ossis.

But Martin Byrne’s Jaguar Sailing Team from the Royal St. George, Dun Laoghaire and Daniel Murphy’s Fortitude from Kinsale were fighting it out at the front of the fleet, eventually finishing fifth and 11th, respectively. The fleet was sent ashore after just one race.

Jaguar Sailing Team moved up to fourth overall and first Corinthian. Fortitude are now 13th overall.

Byrne told Afloat that he was disappointed with the decision not to hold the planned second race - “this was an important day for us as we anticipated a strong performance in the heavier breezes. We were hoping for two low-scoring results that might bring us into the top three overall. Our speed and boat handling were good, but we got caught out twice on the downwind legs where covering competitors cost us places”.

Racing continues on Thursday and Friday when more moderate breezes are expected to return.

Published in Dragon
Page 2 of 21

Ireland's Offshore Renewable Energy

Because of Ireland's location at the Atlantic edge of the EU, it has more offshore energy potential than most other countries in Europe. The conditions are suitable for the development of the full range of current offshore renewable energy technologies.

Offshore Renewable Energy FAQs

Offshore renewable energy draws on the natural energy provided by wind, wave and tide to convert it into electricity for industry and domestic consumption.

Offshore wind is the most advanced technology, using fixed wind turbines in coastal areas, while floating wind is a developing technology more suited to deeper water. In 2018, offshore wind provided a tiny fraction of global electricity supply, but it is set to expand strongly in the coming decades into a USD 1 trillion business, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). It says that turbines are growing in size and in power capacity, which in turn is "delivering major performance and cost improvements for offshore wind farms".

The global offshore wind market grew nearly 30% per year between 2010 and 2018, according to the IEA, due to rapid technology improvements, It calculated that about 150 new offshore wind projects are in active development around the world. Europe in particular has fostered the technology's development, led by Britain, Germany and Denmark, but China added more capacity than any other country in 2018.

A report for the Irish Wind Energy Assocation (IWEA) by the Carbon Trust – a British government-backed limited company established to accelerate Britain's move to a low carbon economy - says there are currently 14 fixed-bottom wind energy projects, four floating wind projects and one project that has yet to choose a technology at some stage of development in Irish waters. Some of these projects are aiming to build before 2030 to contribute to the 5GW target set by the Irish government, and others are expected to build after 2030. These projects have to secure planning permission, obtain a grid connection and also be successful in a competitive auction in the Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS).

The electricity generated by each turbine is collected by an offshore electricity substation located within the wind farm. Seabed cables connect the offshore substation to an onshore substation on the coast. These cables transport the electricity to land from where it will be used to power homes, farms and businesses around Ireland. The offshore developer works with EirGrid, which operates the national grid, to identify how best to do this and where exactly on the grid the project should connect.

The new Marine Planning and Development Management Bill will create a new streamlined system for planning permission for activity or infrastructure in Irish waters or on the seabed, including offshore wind farms. It is due to be published before the end of 2020 and enacted in 2021.

There are a number of companies aiming to develop offshore wind energy off the Irish coast and some of the larger ones would be ESB, SSE Renewables, Energia, Statkraft and RWE.

There are a number of companies aiming to develop offshore wind energy off the Irish coast and some of the larger ones would be ESB, SSE Renewables, Energia, Statkraft and RWE. Is there scope for community involvement in offshore wind? The IWEA says that from the early stages of a project, the wind farm developer "should be engaging with the local community to inform them about the project, answer their questions and listen to their concerns". It says this provides the community with "the opportunity to work with the developer to help shape the final layout and design of the project". Listening to fishing industry concerns, and how fishermen may be affected by survey works, construction and eventual operation of a project is "of particular concern to developers", the IWEA says. It says there will also be a community benefit fund put in place for each project. It says the final details of this will be addressed in the design of the RESS (see below) for offshore wind but it has the potential to be "tens of millions of euro over the 15 years of the RESS contract". The Government is also considering the possibility that communities will be enabled to invest in offshore wind farms though there is "no clarity yet on how this would work", the IWEA says.

Based on current plans, it would amount to around 12 GW of offshore wind energy. However, the IWEA points out that is unlikely that all of the projects planned will be completed. The industry says there is even more significant potential for floating offshore wind off Ireland's west coast and the Programme for Government contains a commitment to develop a long-term plan for at least 30 GW of floating offshore wind in our deeper waters.

There are many different models of turbines. The larger a turbine, the more efficient it is in producing electricity at a good price. In choosing a turbine model the developer will be conscious of this ,but also has to be aware the impact of the turbine on the environment, marine life, biodiversity and visual impact. As a broad rule an offshore wind turbine will have a tip-height of between 165m and 215m tall. However, turbine technology is evolving at a rapid rate with larger more efficient turbines anticipated on the market in the coming years.

 

The Renewable Electricity Support Scheme is designed to support the development of renewable energy projects in Ireland. Under the scheme wind farms and solar farms compete against each other in an auction with the projects which offer power at the lowest price awarded contracts. These contracts provide them with a guaranteed price for their power for 15 years. If they obtain a better price for their electricity on the wholesale market they must return the difference to the consumer.

Yes. The first auction for offshore renewable energy projects is expected to take place in late 2021.

Cost is one difference, and technology is another. Floating wind farm technology is relatively new, but allows use of deeper water. Ireland's 50-metre contour line is the limit for traditional bottom-fixed wind farms, and it is also very close to population centres, which makes visibility of large turbines an issue - hence the attraction of floating structures Do offshore wind farms pose a navigational hazard to shipping? Inshore fishermen do have valid concerns. One of the first steps in identifying a site as a potential location for an offshore wind farm is to identify and assess the level of existing marine activity in the area and this particularly includes shipping. The National Marine Planning Framework aims to create, for the first time, a plan to balance the various kinds of offshore activity with the protection of the Irish marine environment. This is expected to be published before the end of 2020, and will set out clearly where is suitable for offshore renewable energy development and where it is not - due, for example, to shipping movements and safe navigation.

YEnvironmental organisations are concerned about the impact of turbines on bird populations, particularly migrating birds. A Danish scientific study published in 2019 found evidence that larger birds were tending to avoid turbine blades, but said it didn't have sufficient evidence for smaller birds – and cautioned that the cumulative effect of farms could still have an impact on bird movements. A full environmental impact assessment has to be carried out before a developer can apply for planning permission to develop an offshore wind farm. This would include desk-based studies as well as extensive surveys of the population and movements of birds and marine mammals, as well as fish and seabed habitats. If a potential environmental impact is identified the developer must, as part of the planning application, show how the project will be designed in such a way as to avoid the impact or to mitigate against it.

A typical 500 MW offshore wind farm would require an operations and maintenance base which would be on the nearby coast. Such a project would generally create between 80-100 fulltime jobs, according to the IWEA. There would also be a substantial increase to in-direct employment and associated socio-economic benefit to the surrounding area where the operation and maintenance hub is located.

The recent Carbon Trust report for the IWEA, entitled Harnessing our potential, identified significant skills shortages for offshore wind in Ireland across the areas of engineering financial services and logistics. The IWEA says that as Ireland is a relatively new entrant to the offshore wind market, there are "opportunities to develop and implement strategies to address the skills shortages for delivering offshore wind and for Ireland to be a net exporter of human capital and skills to the highly competitive global offshore wind supply chain". Offshore wind requires a diverse workforce with jobs in both transferable (for example from the oil and gas sector) and specialist disciplines across apprenticeships and higher education. IWEA have a training network called the Green Tech Skillnet that facilitates training and networking opportunities in the renewable energy sector.

It is expected that developing the 3.5 GW of offshore wind energy identified in the Government's Climate Action Plan would create around 2,500 jobs in construction and development and around 700 permanent operations and maintenance jobs. The Programme for Government published in 2020 has an enhanced target of 5 GW of offshore wind which would create even more employment. The industry says that in the initial stages, the development of offshore wind energy would create employment in conducting environmental surveys, community engagement and development applications for planning. As a site moves to construction, people with backgrounds in various types of engineering, marine construction and marine transport would be recruited. Once the site is up and running , a project requires a team of turbine technicians, engineers and administrators to ensure the wind farm is fully and properly maintained, as well as crew for the crew transfer vessels transporting workers from shore to the turbines.

The IEA says that today's offshore wind market "doesn't even come close to tapping the full potential – with high-quality resources available in most major markets". It estimates that offshore wind has the potential to generate more than 420 000 Terawatt hours per year (TWh/yr) worldwide – as in more than 18 times the current global electricity demand. One Terawatt is 114 megawatts, and to put it in context, Scotland it has a population a little over 5 million and requires 25 TWh/yr of electrical energy.

Not as advanced as wind, with anchoring a big challenge – given that the most effective wave energy has to be in the most energetic locations, such as the Irish west coast. Britain, Ireland and Portugal are regarded as most advanced in developing wave energy technology. The prize is significant, the industry says, as there are forecasts that varying between 4000TWh/yr to 29500TWh/yr. Europe consumes around 3000TWh/year.

The industry has two main umbrella organisations – the Irish Wind Energy Association, which represents both onshore and offshore wind, and the Marine Renewables Industry Association, which focuses on all types of renewable in the marine environment.

©Afloat 2020