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Dublin Bay Boating News and Information

Displaying items by tag: 5o5

Thirteen Class 1 dinghies sailed the penultimate day of league racing at Monkstown Bay Sailing Club in Cork Harbour.

Racing for the season will conclude this Saturday, with prizegiving afterwards in the clubhouse.

Dinghies are the club’s only racing boats and, despite the varying weather patterns this season, there has been strong support. For many sailors, dinghies are the introduction to the sport, so are a vital step into sailing and, often, lead to a lifetime in the sport.

With final league racing scheduled for this Saturday, the Class 1fleet is led by the 505 crew of Ewen Barry, Charles Dwyer, John Coakley on 5 points, seven clear of second-placed Laser sailor, Brendan Dwyer on 12. Veteran Laser sailor, Davy O’Connell, who has been a monthly winner during the season, is third on 21 points.

In Class 2 the leader is Olin Bateman, sailing a Laser 4.7 and looking the certain overall winner on 5 points, well clear of second-placed Ethel Bateman in another Laser 4.7 on 25. Third is the RS Feva XL of Isobelle Clarke Waterman and Conor Donald Kelly on 56 points.

Measurement and registration is underway at the Royal Cork Yacht Club in Crosshaven today (Weds) and tomorrow (Thursday) for the 505 World Championships, in which racing gets underway on Monday.

This is the fourth time the Championships will be held at the RCYC.

“80 boats, now fully carbon, have travelled from across the globe to compete,” say the RCYC organisers.

12 Irish boats are entered, including three Barry brothers under the Royal Cork & Monkstown Bay burgees; Peter Scannell and John Dunlea who currently live on the East Coast of the US but return to Cork for the event; Monkstown Bay Commodore Sandy Rimmington teams up with John Downey and an unmissable name on the list is Denis O’Sullivan with crew Jan Van Der Puil. The Irish fleet will be under pressure to beat Harold Cudmore and Chris Bruen’s podium finish in the 1969 Worlds in Argentina.

The entry list is a who’s who of World Sailing; Luke Payne of Australia joins us fresh from the Sail GP event in the UK, multiple World Champions and Rolex Yachtsmen of the year Mike Martin and Adam Lowry are here along with fierce rivals and fellow multiple World Champions Mike Holt and Rob Woelful, all round sailing legend Howie Hamlin has come from California, Olympic medallist Caleb Paine teams up with Olympian and Melges 24 World Champion Stu McNay from the USA.

There will be pre-Worlds sailing on Friday and Saturday.

The Championships will be raced on Monday and Tuesday, there is a Lay Day on Wednesday and racing will continue on Friday and conclude on Saturday of next week.

Published in Royal Cork YC

The launch of the long-awaited 5o5 Book telling the story of the 5o5 and how it has come to dominate the performance dinghy scene will finally be launched at the World Championship in Cork.

2022 is already shaping up to be a great year for the 5o5 Class, for after being forced by Covid to cancel their last two World Championships, scheduled for Sweden and Bermuda, the good news is that this event will return to Cork, in Southern Ireland next August.

As Afloat reported previously, this will be the fourth time that the Royal Cork Yacht Club will have hosted this prestigious event, with 1959, 1964 and the 1982 World Championships being regarded as classics, held across a wide range of conditions.

With the Royal Cork being acknowledged as the world's oldest yacht club, it is fitting that mid-championship next year that they will be hosting the launch of the long-awaited book telling the story of the 5o5, and how it has come to dominate the performance dinghy scene.

There is a very good saying that warns readers to 'not judge a book by its cover' but this is one occasion when the cover itself will have a big part to play, as it will lead the reader into the detailed narrative set out in the book. There are lots of fantastic pictures of FiveOs out there, as the boat has always been very photogenic, but for the book cover something special will be needed.

Luckily, Christophe Favreau, the famous international marine photographer has long enjoyed a close association with the 5o5 Class, and over the years has captured the best of the action at events around the world. Now, as the book moves towards being launched, Christophe has generously donated a selection of some of his iconic photos, one of which will be selected on the book cover.

The 12 cover shots to be posted starting December 25.

More here

Published in Royal Cork YC
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Dublin Bay

Dublin Bay on the east coast of Ireland stretches over seven kilometres, from Howth Head on its northern tip to Dalkey Island in the south. It's a place most Dubliners simply take for granted, and one of the capital's least visited places. But there's more going on out there than you'd imagine.

The biggest boating centre is at Dun Laoghaire Harbour on the Bay's south shore that is home to over 1,500 pleasure craft, four waterfront yacht clubs and Ireland's largest marina.

The bay is rather shallow with many sandbanks and rocky outcrops, and was notorious in the past for shipwrecks, especially when the wind was from the east. Until modern times, many ships and their passengers were lost along the treacherous coastline from Howth to Dun Laoghaire, less than a kilometre from shore.

The Bay is a C-shaped inlet of the Irish Sea and is about 10 kilometres wide along its north-south base, and 7 km in length to its apex at the centre of the city of Dublin; stretching from Howth Head in the north to Dalkey Point in the south. North Bull Island is situated in the northwest part of the bay, where one of two major inshore sandbanks lie, and features a 5 km long sandy beach, Dollymount Strand, fronting an internationally recognised wildfowl reserve. Many of the rivers of Dublin reach the Irish Sea at Dublin Bay: the River Liffey, with the River Dodder flow received less than 1 km inland, River Tolka, and various smaller rivers and streams.

Dublin Bay FAQs

There are approximately ten beaches and bathing spots around Dublin Bay: Dollymount Strand; Forty Foot Bathing Place; Half Moon bathing spot; Merrion Strand; Bull Wall; Sandycove Beach; Sandymount Strand; Seapoint; Shelley Banks; Sutton, Burrow Beach

There are slipways on the north side of Dublin Bay at Clontarf, Sutton and on the southside at Dun Laoghaire Harbour, and in Dalkey at Coliemore and Bulloch Harbours.

Dublin Bay is administered by a number of Government Departments, three local authorities and several statutory agencies. Dublin Port Company is in charge of navigation on the Bay.

Dublin Bay is approximately 70 sq kilometres or 7,000 hectares. The Bay is about 10 kilometres wide along its north-south base, and seven km in length east-west to its peak at the centre of the city of Dublin; stretching from Howth Head in the north to Dalkey Point in the south.

Dun Laoghaire Harbour on the southside of the Bay has an East and West Pier, each one kilometre long; this is one of the largest human-made harbours in the world. There also piers or walls at the entrance to the River Liffey at Dublin city known as the Great North and South Walls. Other harbours on the Bay include Bulloch Harbour and Coliemore Harbours both at Dalkey.

There are two marinas on Dublin Bay. Ireland's largest marina with over 800 berths is on the southern shore at Dun Laoghaire Harbour. The other is at Poolbeg Yacht and Boat Club on the River Liffey close to Dublin City.

Car and passenger Ferries operate from Dublin Port to the UK, Isle of Man and France. A passenger ferry operates from Dun Laoghaire Harbour to Howth as well as providing tourist voyages around the bay.

Dublin Bay has two Islands. Bull Island at Clontarf and Dalkey Island on the southern shore of the Bay.

The River Liffey flows through Dublin city and into the Bay. Its tributaries include the River Dodder, the River Poddle and the River Camac.

Dollymount, Burrow and Seapoint beaches

Approximately 1,500 boats from small dinghies to motorboats to ocean-going yachts. The vast majority, over 1,000, are moored at Dun Laoghaire Harbour which is Ireland's boating capital.

In 1981, UNESCO recognised the importance of Dublin Bay by designating North Bull Island as a Biosphere because of its rare and internationally important habitats and species of wildlife. To support sustainable development, UNESCO’s concept of a Biosphere has evolved to include not just areas of ecological value but also the areas around them and the communities that live and work within these areas. There have since been additional international and national designations, covering much of Dublin Bay, to ensure the protection of its water quality and biodiversity. To fulfil these broader management aims for the ecosystem, the Biosphere was expanded in 2015. The Biosphere now covers Dublin Bay, reflecting its significant environmental, economic, cultural and tourism importance, and extends to over 300km² to include the bay, the shore and nearby residential areas.

On the Southside at Dun Laoghaire, there is the National Yacht Club, Royal St. George Yacht Club, Royal Irish Yacht Club and Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club as well as Dublin Bay Sailing Club. In the city centre, there is Poolbeg Yacht and Boat Club. On the Northside of Dublin, there is Clontarf Yacht and Boat Club and Sutton Dinghy Club. While not on Dublin Bay, Howth Yacht Club is the major north Dublin Sailing centre.

© Afloat 2020