#boatstorage – Winter storage for boats is at a premium in Dun Laoghaire this winter with yacht club platforms packed and no boat storage on the Carlisle Pier available leaving boat owners looking around for secure locations in Dublin this winter. Thankfully there are some local options available.

A decision by Dun Laoghaire Harbour Company not to store boats on the Carlisle pier this Winter has forced waterfront yacht clubs to look elsewhere for winter boat storage after the annual lift out was successfully completed last Saturday.

Traditionally each club DMYC, RIYC, RStGYC and NYC offers its members storage on its own hard standing but space is limited and the Carlisle pier served as a convenient overflow for yachts and boats of all different sizes in recent years.

Dun Laoghaire has the biggest boating stock in the country, with over 2,500 boats stored ashore and afloat so boat storage in a city is always an issue but a number of good alternative storage options have surfaced however. (Please also see comments below – Ed).

Boats on moorings in the harbour are lifted out each October with the onset of winter for maintenance and insurance purposes.

One option is to use the town's 800-berth marina that offers berthing all year round for those wanting to keep their boat in the water but others will want to haul out in order to carry out essential hull maintenance work.

Other storage options are also available and these include  leading Irish marine firm MGM Boats who are offering hard standing storage at their Boat yard near the Coal Harbour in Dun Laoghaire.

MGM have limited storage for boats of all sizes on cradles and trailers. MGM can also supply cradles. The yard offers secure storage, close proximity to Dun Laoghaire, power and water is available and access to work on boats as required. Costs are €20 p/metre for a typical Ruffian keelboat that works out as (€840) and a Shipman 28 (€1023).

MGM will also provide complete service of lift out, power-wash and storage Example of cost €30 p/meter Ruffian (€1260)Shipman 28 (€1530)

Dalkey firm Western Marine is also offering both uutdoor and indoor storage for sail boats on trailers up to 30ft and powerboat/ ribs up to 40ft.

Western marine say they offer Secure storage, Close proximity to Dun Laoghaire and power and water is available on site.

Access to work on boats as required, crane on site. An example of costs are as follows: SB20 €395 Ruffian (€495) Shipman €595

The company says it will have a full range of services on site, including full chandlery, boat valeting, antifouling service, rigging service etc.

Western marine have also launched a trailer a tow bar service, specialising in the servicing and repair of all trailers, including bearings and brakes, as well as fitting tow bars to all makes of cars.

If you know of any other boat storage options for readers please leave details in the comment box below

#DUN LAOGHAIRE NEWS - Save Our Seafront will hold a public meeting this evening Thursday 4 October at The Kingston Hotel in Dun Laoghaire to discuss a number of issues such as the redevelopment of the harbour baths, the demolition of Blackrock Baths and repairs at Coliemore Harbour.

The South Dublin campaign group - featuring People Before Profit Alliance TD Richard Boyd Barrett and Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown Councillor Melisa Halpin - has circulated a newsletter outlining its position on these concerns.

Among its claims is that Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council (DLRCC) wants to abandon its previous commitments to provide a public swimming pool on the site of the historic Victorian sea baths, opting instead for a €1.5 million 'Badeschiff' or floating pool in the harbour with no permanent construction.

The group also describes as a "disgrace" the abandonment of the Blackrock Baths site, which faces imminent demolition due to public health and safety concerns, and takes issue with DLRCC councillors' apparent declaration that Coliemore Harbour in Dalkey - the main departure point for boat trips to Dalkey Island - is unsafe for passenger boats.

The public meeting under the title 'What Is Happening To Our Seafront?' takes place tonight at 8pm in The Kingston Hotel on Haddington Terrace.

#sailing/cycle – Dun Laoghaire's Royal St George Yacht Club is hosting a cycling/sailing event that features a 70km cycle plus three Laser races on Sunday. The novel races takes full advatantage of Dun Laoghaire's unique location between the mountains and the sea. Entries close tomorrow and you can download a poster for the event below as a pdf.

Sailing and cycling are proving popular combination sports appealing to a wide range of sailors, even our London Olympians.

Well known sailing names such as Sean Craig and Colin Galavin have turned their hand to sailing Lasers these days and have been training for the event.

Other class stalwarts Chris Arrowsmith and Theo Lyttle have been seen far from the sea in the Wicklow mountains on their bikes. Paul Keane will be challenging hard for the title after his week training in the south of France.

Earlier this month Olympians Annalise Murphy and Scott Flanigan returned to competition as they competed in a sprint distance triathlon - 750m swim, 20K bike, 5K run, held in Collinstown, Co. Westmeath. They both gave a good account of themselves, results here.

The two day Laser Masters Sail/Cycle Challenge takes places on Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th October 2012. Details below.

Day 1, Cycle, Saturday 6th October

Start: 13:00 sharp from the Club forecourt.

http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/51168846

Route: The event will feature a cycle of about 70km, starting at 13:00 on Sat 6th October from the Club. The cycle will finish back at the Club at about 17:00. Have a look at the route on the link for full details.

We invite everyone to come along. You may participate in the cycle or the Laser racing alone, but as the weekend is all about the social we would encourage everyone to jump on a bike and do a few km. The cycle route will take us up to Enniskerry in the Wicklow mountains, so the roads are quiet and the scenery great. This year the challenge has been increased, with the route taking us to the summit of Kippure. It is a tarmac road to the top, but it is steeeep! Total altitude for the cycle is 996m.

There are good places to stop for coffee (or other drink) in Enniskerry and Glencree.

Scoring:

Kippure Summit 1 point

Sally Gap 3 points

Glencree 5 points

Enniskerry 7 points

DNC 10 points

Back to the Club to watch the Leinster Vs Munster Rugby match at 18:30.

Dinner

There is a 3 course dinner in the Club room at 20:00, with a few prizes for the cycling afterwards. The dinner is 25 euro per person. Book early as the dinner was popular last year and the Club room is limited to about 40 people.

Day 2, Sail, Sunday 7th October

On Sunday there will be 3 Laser races starting at 11:00. The races will be short (about 30 minutes), with the emphasis on skill rather than endurance!

The aim is to finish at about 14:00 with prize giving. If 3 races are sailed there will be 1 discard, with your two best races and the cycle score to count.

The entry fee for the sailing/cycling is 15 euro, and for the cycling alone is 5 euro.

Enter online at www.rsgyc.ie

#isaf – The small print for world sailing comes under scrutiny this November in Dun Laoghaire when the town and four yacht clubs welcome back the world sailing body back to the Irish east coast for the second time this year. The world youth sailing champs having sailed on Dublin Bay in July.

The agendas, supporting papers and submissions which will be discussed at the 2012 ISAF Annual Conference in Dun Laoghaire have been published online on the ISAF Meetings microsite.

The 2012 ISAF Annual Conference takes place from 1-11 November 2012 and will bring together the ISAF Council, Committees and Commissions along with other leading figures from the sailing world to debate, discuss and decide upon the key issues in the sailing world.

Over 100 Submissions - proposals to either change an existing ISAF policy or introduce a new policy in the sport - have been received from ISAF Member National Authorities (MNAs), ISAF Classes, Committee Chairmen and the Executive Committee covering many aspects of the sport. These will be debated alongside the other items addressed on each Committee's Agenda at the meetings in November.

For ease, there are various options by which you can download papers - by a specific Committee, by Submission, by Agenda, by Supporting Paper - and the papers can be downloaded individually or as a bulk download, which is provided by a zip file download. The meeting papers are available to access here.

On the ISAF Meetings microsite, you can find more details on the 2012 Annual Conference and General Assembly. There's also a simple guide to ISAF's decision-making process and a full database of past meeting papers.

#mod70 – Like giant exotic creatures from another planet the MOD70 Trimaran fleet arrived in Dun Laoghaire overnight after their first leg from Kiel in Germany. With one colourful hull suspended in air even early morning joggers on Dun Laoghaire's East Pier stopped to view the new arrivals into the Carlisle basin. Sails down and safely berthed near the town bandstand the five boat fleet there is no sign of life on board this morning as the 70-foot long craft dwarf all locally based craft at the National Yacht Club, adding a touch of Autumn glamour to the East coast port.

After around 1400 miles and three and a half days of hard racing from Kiel to Dun Laoghaire, Ireland just 77 seconds finally separated the top three MOD70 one design trimarans when the MOD70 European Tour leaders broke the finish line in a dying breeze just after midnight on Dublin Bay.

Four of the Trimarans are along side the Carlisle pier and one is berthed on the National Yacht Club pontoon

It was a heart-stopping conclusion to the first of the five offshore legs which takes the fleet from Germany to Genoa, Italy with stops in Dublin, Cascais and Marseille. Michel Desjoyaux's crew of FONCIA had only seized the lead from long-time pacemakers Spindrift racing within the final 15 miles of the finish.

But within 50 metres of the finish line in the fickle, patchy breeze they had slowed to a crawling two knots.

They only just squeezed across the finish line, 31 seconds ahead of Yann Guichard's Spindrift racing which in turn only just held off Sébastien Josse's hard driving young crew on Groupe Edmond de Rothschild who missed out on second by only 46 seconds.

"It was tough the whole time." Commented double Vendée Globe winner Desjoyeaux, skipper of FONCIA" We kept in contact with Spindrift in particular most of the time and then Groupe Edmond de Rothschild seemed to be the biggest threat, but we just never gave up and it paid off on the finish. We played all the little wind shifts and our sail trimming to get ahead and had to constantly trim and adapt to the conditions to get ahead of Spindrift racing."

For Desjoyeaux's crew there was the satisfaction of adding to their Betfair City Race series points win in Kiel, whilst for the Guichard team there was the disappointment at losing out on a leg which they lead for most of the 1238miles distance, through the full range of conditions. But, equally, Guichard reflected that the finish was so close that they might as easily have finished third. And for Josse and his Groupe Edmond de Rothschild team there is the considerable satisfaction of having put together an accomplished performance that came so close to winning.

In fact it was a fitting climax to an engaging first leg which has offered the five strong fleet of MOD70 trimarans a good share of each type of wind conditions, from a robust beat around the Skagen point on the tip of Denmark, a tactical light winds beat in the North Sea, through a high speed plunge down the Channel to Land's End, averaging close to 30kts for a sustained period, and finally a 200 mile beat up the Celtic Sea to the nerve shredding finish.

Though FONCIA lead out of Kiel last Sunday night, Spindrift racing took the lead on the W coast of Denmark on the speedy descent to the North Sea. And from there until the final miles they had looked like the team most likely to win.

In contrast Stève Ravussin's crew on fourth placed Race for Water started only modestly, finishing their Monday morning with a deficit of some 70 miles or so on the leaders. But they worked hard to come back and in the end they were just over 34 minutes behind the winner.  Spindrift racing had FONCIA within sight for most of the race and it turn Groupe Edmond de Rothschild were close to the FONCIA since the Channel.

Sidney Gavignet and his crew of Musandam-Oman Sail were unfortunate to lose the breeze as it shut down. Finishing fifth they had been duelling for the entire course with Race for Water, which counts with Volvo Ocean Race winner Franck Cammas and Thomas Coville on board.

MOD70 European Tour, Leg 1 Kiel to  Dun Laoghaire, 1238 miles (times inGMT)

1-Michel Desjoyeaux (FONCIA) 23h 19 '09 Sept. 5 in 3d 10h 49' 09

2-Yann Guichard (Spindrift racing) at 23h 19 '40 in 3d 10h 49' 40 (+31secs)

3-Sébastien Josse (Groupe Edmond de Rothschild) at 23h 20 '26 in 3d 10h 50' 26 (1min 17secs)

4-Steve Ravussin (Race for Water) at 23h 54 '25 in 3d 11h 24' 25 (+35min 16sec)

5-Sidney Gavignet (Musandam, Oman Sail) at 00h 54 '00 Sept. 6 in 3d 12h 24' 00 (1h 34m 51sec

Coastal rowing in Ireland is a varied sport, but early September sees a very special race come to the shores of Dublin Bay. At 28km, this is the longest annual single-crew rowing race in the country. Around a dozen crews will start from the Hobblers' Memorial in Dun Laoghaire harbour, leave the bay, round the Kish lighthouse, and pull back to the finish line at the harbour mouth in Dun Laoghaire, battling hard for the Hobblers' Challenge cup.

The 2012 Hobblers' Challenge will take place on Saturday 8th September, starting at 1.30pm at Dún Laoghaire's East Breakwater. The race is open to mens, ladies, or mixed crews, most rowing the traidtional wooden clinker-built east coast skiffs of the region. However, this year the event has been opened up to include a wider variety of boat types, from Currach to 6-oar Cornish Pilot Gig, to modern fibreglass designs, make the race even more colourful.

Lined up and ready at last years Hobblers Cup

Proudly organised by St. Michael's Rowing Club in Dún Laoghaire, The Hobblers' Challenge is an annual race run as a memorial to the hobblers of Dublin Bay, who during the 18th and 19th centuries invented what could be considered as the original rowing race. These men would leave Dún Laoghaire, Ringsend and other nearby harbours to meet ships arriving into Dublin. The first crew to the ship would win the business of pilotage and unloading, a tradition continuted by the east coast's 10 skiff racing clubs to this day.

The Hobblers Perpetual Cup and crews racing to the Kish in last years event.

In 2010 Stella Maris Rowing Club took home the coveted cup with a time of 3hrs 3mins and 3 seconds from a field of 5 skiffs. 2011 saw their Ringsend neighbours St. Patricks Rowing Club take the cup in a time of 2hrs 57mins from a field of 10 skiffs. With 15 boats of varying types already entered at time of print, from Skerries in the north to Arklow in the south, 2012 promises to be a hotly contested race. Will the cup go back to Ringsend for a 3rd year running? Will the winning time be quicker again? Will one of the home crews mount a challenge? We'll find out very soon but what can be guaranteed is a fun day out.

Dún Laoghaire will also host the exciting MOD 70s race on the same day so there will be plenty to watch and get involved in on the East Pier. St. Michael's Rowing Club will be fundraising for the RNLI on the day. In 2011, over €1,600 was raised by the generosity of the people of Dún Laoghaire.

St. Michael's crew in action

#BOAT THEFT - A boat owned by the Garda Sub-Aqua Club worth €25,000 was last week stolen in broad daylight, as the Evening Herald reports.

Smooth criminals removed the Tornado RIB from its mooring at Coal Harbour in Dun Laoghaire and loaded onto a trailer on Friday afternoon.

The "brazen" theft went unnoticed till gardaí arrived at the mooring later that evening.

The top-of-the-range boat, used by the sub-aqua club for diving training, is fitted with VHF radios and specialist GPS equipment.

A source told the Herald that the thieves "were very calm and professional in how they removed the boat and left without being in any kind of panic."

The Evening Herald has more on the story HERE.

#DUN LAOGHAIRE NEWS - Dun Laoghaire will play host to sailing’s most exciting new global championship series when the MOD70 European Tour visits from Wednesday 5 to Sunday 9 September.

Ireland has hosted many of the world’s top sailing events during 2012 and the welcoming of this new series surely positions Ireland as one of the best sailing locations in the world. The MOD70 fleet - Race For Water, FONCIA, Groupe Edmond de Rothschild, Spindrift Racing and Musandam-Oman Sail - will be hosted by the National Yacht Club (NYC) and the Dun Laoghaire Harbour Company (DLHC), and a five-day family festival will be held on the East Pier to celebrate the arrival of the most innovative racing trimarans in the world.

The festival will include food courts, a farmers' market, Fairtrade and ethnic stalls, craft stalls, street entertainers and vintage amusements.

On Friday 7 September and Saturday 8 September the MOD70s will be competing in Dublin Bay in the Dublin City Race and Speed Match Races, and there will be live commentary from the East Pier. The trimarans will then leave Dun Laoghaire at 3pm on Sunday 9 September for the start of the second leg of the European Tour from Dun Laoghaire to Cascais.

Gerry Dunne, CEO of the DLHC, said: "We are delighted to welcome the world’s most innovative trimarans to Dun Laoghaire Harbour which has witnessed 200 years of maritime history. 1.4 million people walk the East Pier on an annual basis and we hope that the hosting of this global event will attract many more people to our beautiful harbour in September."

The high-speed MOD70 class of trimarans are a new innovation for sailing, and have already proven to be the fastest offshore one-design class in the world. Each MOD70 is completely identical, built from the same moulds, so that success – both inshore and offshore – reflects the skills of the sailing crew and not any technological advantage.

"The National Yacht Club has played host to many world championships and in July this year we co-hosted the ISAF Youth World Championships. We are delighted that the MOD70s has chosen Dun Laoghaire to host a stopover on the European Tour and we look forward to thousands of people visiting Dun Laoghaire to enjoy the spectacle," said Paul Barrington, Commodore of the NYC.

The MOD70 European Tour starts in Kiel, Germany before visiting Dublin, Cascais near Lisbon and Marseille before finishing in Genoa, Italy. Over the five weeks of the MOD70 European Tour the teams will sail nearly 5,000 miles over five offshore stages.

The tour is the second event of the Multi One Championship, following on from July’s inaugural Krys Ocean Race which saw the MOD70s race the Atlantic from New York to Brest in France at remarkable speeds. The first three boats finished within less than two hours after traversing the Atlantic in less than five days, with the winning boat making more than 711 miles in one 24-hour period.

Already the MOD70 fleet has attracted a cross-section of some of the best ocean racing sailors in the world. Michel Desjoyeaux of France has twice won the Vendée Globe solo round the world race and skippers FONCIA. There are more than eight sailors across the different boats who hold round the world records including Britain’s Brian Thompson who sails for Musandam-Oman Sail.

Thompson has more than 20 offshore sailing speed records to his name and was the only Briton on board Banque Populaire V when the giant multihull set a new record for sailing non-stop around the world in January.

Marco Simeoni, president of MOD SA, said of Dun Laoghaire's hosting of the tour: "Local knowledge and local expertise in hosting world-class sailing events is widely appreciated. We thank all the institutions involved in this stopover and we look forward to spending five wonderful days in the heart of the local culture. Sports and entertainment is guaranteed in the Dublin Bay from 5-9 September!"

Programme of events

Wednesday 5/Thursday 6 September

• All day Wednesday: Estimated arrival of MOD70s
• 10am–6pm: Food courts, farmers market, Fairtrade and ethnic stalls, craft stalls, family entertainment, vintage amusements (every day)

Friday 7 September

• 2pm: Dublin City Races and Speed Matches Day 1 (vantage points from the East Pier to Sandycove with live commentary from the East Pier)
• 10pm: Firework display in Dun Laoghaire Harbour

Saturday 8 September

• 2pm: Dublin City Races and Speed Matches Day 2

Sunday 9 September

• 3pm: Start of Leg 2 from Dublin (Dun Laoghaire) to Cascais (vantage points from the East Pier to Sandycove with live commentary from the East Pier)

#optimist – The International Optimist Dinghy Association yesterday awarded its 2014 European Championship to Dun Laoghaire. The championship was this year attended by 264 sailors from 45 countries.

The choice was made at the Optimist Worlds in the Dominican Republic in competition with the Polish venue of Kamien Pomorski and followed enthusiastic reports of the ISAF Youth World Championship which concluded last week.

The European Championship is one of the largest Optimist events on the annual calendar and the award was made to the Royal St George Yacht Club.

The IODA vote took place at the Optimist World Championships in Boca Chica, Dominican Republic, where five of Ireland's top Optimist sailors are currently competing.

This year's European Championships were held in July in Lignano Sabbiadoro near Venice in Italy, and 265 sailors qualified from 46 nations to take part.

#ISAF YOUTH WORLDS - Four years of hard graft by the Dublin Bay 2012 organisers comes to a head tomorrow with the start of the Four Star Pizza Youth Worlds, the 42nd ISAF Youth Sailing World Championships.

Dun Laoghaire welcomes 350 sailors aged 14-19 years of age from 63 nations, plus their coaches and team leaders, for the annual highlight of the youth sailing calendar, known as the Youth Olympics of sailing, which begins tomorrow Saturday 14 July running till 21 July.

After a highly competitive bidding process, organisers in Dublin were honoured that Ireland was chosen to host this much celebrated event, which is renowned for providing the world with its first glimpse of future sailing stars and Olympians.

“We have been waiting four years for this, so it is really exciting,” says Brian Craig, chairman of the Dublin Bay 2012 organising committee. “Everyone is buzzed up - there is great enthusiasm among the sailors. It’s great. For us it is a chance of a lifetime to run an event like this.”

A five-boat Irish team will join the sailors competing in a total of eight classes, including the Laser Radial singlehander, the 420 doublehander, the RS:X windsurfer, the 29er skiff and the SL 16 multihull.

These classes are directly relevant to the Olympic Games, the 420 being the small version of the Olympic 470, the 29er being the same equivalent to the 49er and so on. This is no coincidence, as Craig explains.

“This is the pathway to the Olympics, so to get an event like that here in Ireland is superb for us. It is bringing all the top sailors here. For all our youth sailors around the country, they are going to see all these role models.”

In fact, some of the world’s top sailors are former Youth Worlds winners. Stu Bannatyne, recently arrived into Galway as a watch leader on CAMPER in the Volvo Ocean Race, won in 1989, while his skipper Dean Barker won in 1990.

Others include Tessa Parkinson, who won the 420 girls’ title in 2004 with Elise Rechichi before both graduated up to the 470, winning Olympic gold for Australia at Beijing 2008. Parkinson is in Dun Laoghaire as a coach for the Australian team. 

“There is a high correlation between people that win medals at the Youth Worlds who then go on and win Olympic medals,” she says “It definitely is a big platform. In Australia if you get a good result at youth level, you can get a position in the development squad for the Australian Sailing Team and it is a way to progress up through the Olympic classes.”

Parkinson has fond memories of Ireland as here she sailed her first ever international regatta in 2001. “This is a great venue for the Youth Worlds. The courses are so close to the club and everyone has been so friendly.”

An impressive aspect of the ISAF Youth Worlds is the number of sailors from overseas taking part, with 63 nations being represented in Dun Laoghaire - including some first timers such as Oman.

Moreovr, 25 sailors have been subsidised to be here by the ISAF’s Athlete Participation Programme. Among the nations supported are Chile, Guatemala, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Serbia and Ukraine.

Racing sets sail tomorrow for all eight classes, with two races scheduled for the start at 12pm.

The Royal St George Yacht Club, the National Yacht Club and the Royal Irish Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire have been appointed to host the championship in association the Irish Sailing Association (ISA), and the weekend kicks off with a public celebration to complement the first races in the championship.

For further information visit www.isafyouthworlds.com and www.dublinbay2012.com.