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Displaying items by tag: Nora Bheag

6th July 2012

Exotic Sailing Dhows Join Volvo Ocean Race in Galway

Exotic Sailing Dhows Join Volvo Ocean Race in Galway

#VOLVO OCEAN RACE - In final dash of colour and excitement to mark the end of Volvo Ocean Race finale week, two high performance sailing dhows – the distinctive Arabian sailing boats often compared to the famous Galway hookers – will bring an exotic flavour to the City of the Tribes.

The dhows, which are being presented to Galway City by the United Arab Emirates, will race on Galway Bay tomorrow Saturday 7 and on Sunday 8 July, crewed by 10 Emirati sailors who have flown in for the occasion.

The boats were earlier air-freighted from the UAE to Shannon Airport and taken by road to Galway where they were assembled and prepared for their weekend racing display.

The gift of the dhows to Galway is part of a newly inaugurated maritime heritage cultural exchange programme between the Galway Hooker Association and the Emirates Heritage Club in Abu Dhabi that has already seen the famous Nora Bheag and her crew set sail in the Persian Gulf city, as previously reported on Afloat.ie.

Padraic De Bhaldraithe, joint co-ordinator of the unusual exchange programme, said: “We were really delighted to take Nora Bheag and her crew to sail in Abu Dhabi and we were amazed by the amount of interest they attracted.

It was to be the first step in a partnership which has now seen two dhows make their way to Galway. Abu Dhabi and Galway have much in common when it comes to their maritime traditions.”

Enda O’Coineen - chairman of Let’s Do It Global, the organising committee of the nine-day festival built around the Volvo Ocean Race finale - says the arrival of the dhows is already creating huge excitement in the city, and the weekend racing should be spectacular.

“Dhows are built on lines similar to the traditional Galway hooker and are capable of very high speeds when raced in the hands of experienced sailors," he explained. “They are often fixed in the western imagination as a romantic Arabian seacraft of the past but they are still used for the transport of goods today and are also undergoing a dramatic revival among sailors in the UAE who don't want to lose their traditional past.”

Clifden-based Dr Peter Vine, who has been closely involved in the Irish-Abu Dhabi partnership, says the 'Dhows for Galway' project has huge potential and could add impetus to the move to revived and foster traditional boat-building skills that were on the verge of dying out.

The exchange programme has been co-ordinated with support of Let’s Do It Global; Emirates Heritage Club; Abu Dhabi Sailing and Yacht Club; Galway Hooker Association, Cóilín Hernon and family; Royal Galway Yacht Club; long-time Irish resident of Abu Dhabi, Noeleen Saeed; Etihad Airways; AlHosn University; Peter Vine; and Padraic De Bhaldraihe.

Published in Ocean Race
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8th January 2012

Showcase for Galway at VOR 'Irish Day' in Adu Dhabi

Showcase for Galway at VOR 'Irish Day' in Adu Dhabi

#VOLVO OCEAN RACE - Galway was showcased on Friday 6 January as part of special a 'Irish Day' celebration in Abu Dhabi, where the Volvo Ocean Race fleet is getting ready to embark on its next leg.

Galway Bay FM reports that the City of the Tribes was highlighted as a top international tourism destination - with the 'VOR Village' at Nimmo's Pier being a focus of discussions, according to Galway Mayor Hildegarde Naughton.

Earlier in the week saw the first sailing in Arab waters of the near-century-old Galway hooker Nora Bheag, which is in Abu Dhabi as part of a cultural exchange between these host ports of the 2011/2012 Volvo Ocean Race.

The race is set to finish in Galway on Tuesday 3 July 2012, attracting the world's media and thousands of visitors to Ireland's fifth largest city for the final prize-giving.

Published in Ocean Race
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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.

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