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The Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series is set to return to Ireland on 12 September, with Downpatrick Head in Co Mayo hosting the fourth stop on this year’s international circuit.

It’s one of the four new locations for the elite cliff diving competition, along with spots in France, Norway and the Caucasus.

It also marks the fifth Irish edition of the event — following three visits to Inis Mór in the Aran Islands and 2019’s contest in Dun Laoghaire, which attracted an estimated 145,000 spectators.

Elite divers representing 18 nationalities will take part in the 2021 series, which kicks off at Cap Dramont, south-west of Cannes on France’s Mediterranean coast, on 12 June.

The athletes then head to Oslo in Norway (14 August) and Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina before their Irish stop, continuing on to Polignano a Mare in southern Italy (26 September) and Baku in Azerbaijan (16 October).

Published in Watersport

#redbull – The organisers of Red Bull Storm Chasers have scrambled all their crews and teams who had 48hrs to travel from across the globe to Ireland for the first "Mission" on the 3 mission challenge writes Brian Carlin.

Today saw the majority of the country hit with storm force winds. It's results included debris filled roads, heavy traffic, structural damage to buildings and generally unwanted among the most of the country.

Well, not quite the same could be said if you were standing on the back beach in Castlegregory, Co.Kerry locally known as "Dumps" this morning.

It's simple, Red Bull Storm Chase set a 4 month challenge where they require 3 "missions" to be completed. There is 7 possible locations, United States, Iceland, Ireland, Spain, France, Tasmania and Japan.

The conditions seemed just right for the organisers who pulled the trigger Saturday, a logistically nightmare to get the gear, teams, TV crews, helicopters to Ireland.

The first session of the day kicked off in Dumps, Co.Kerry at 7am. A dark morning that quickly brightened by mid-morning. There was a small gathering, massively understated as I read the event is "Windsurfing's Most Challenging Contest". It wasn't long before I understood the attitude, these guys were interested in the sport, they didn't care about hitting news headlines or making the papers, they spoke and were friendly but it was obvious the feeling was focused on the event and nothing else. Serious dedication. In fact I spoke with a competitor who told me his opposition flew in from Maui at 1.30am Monday to Dublin airport. He jumped straight into a car drove through the night. Had his breakfast and showered, then proceeded to suit up for the days challenge.

The crowds did begin to grow and by 12pm about 100 spectators looked on. The winds increased with gusts recorded over 50 knots. As the wind slightly shifted from south west to west south west the organisers decided to move the camp and head to "Hell's Gate". You couldn't build what seemed to be the God's natural Amphitheatre for this event. A little rocky cove that backed onto the North Atlantic, slightly sheltered which made launch and recovery much easier. The cliffs were lined with a variety of young and old, even the local farmers stopped traffic in their tractors to what must have been a rather unusual sight, Red Bull cars and vans, a low flying helicopter and handful of windsurfers who seemed to spend as much time in the air as in the water.

Six sailors now advance to the next mission, where and when? only the weather can decide the time and date.

Published in Surfing

#CLIFF DIVING - Russian cliff diver Artem Silchenko wowed the crowds on Inis Mor at the weekend, scoring big with a "breathtaking" new dive to take his second victory in a row in the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series.

As the Irish Independent reports, 700 lucky spectators who won tickets to the limited-capacity event in the Aran Islands saw the 28-year-old steal the thunder from veteran diver Orlando Duque on a weekend that witnessed some spectacular 28-metre dives at Poll na Peist.

"My armstand with blind entry was brilliant and I beat by Orlando by just four points," Silchenko told Red Bull after his victory, which came just two weeks after he topped Duque to claim his first win of the series in the Azores.

"When I came to the platform after Orlando dived I saw nine and nine-and-a-halfs from the judges but I knew what I had to do for my final dive [a back triple triple].

"You know it’s a good dive only when you’re underwater. You’re travelling so fast it’s impossible to take it all in. Only after the entry can you say 'yes, it’s a great dive.'"

Silchenko had to pull out all the stops with Duque putting together his best set of dives all year. And the Colombian, whose programme included a back triple triple and his trademark reverse twister, says it bodes well for the rest of the season.

"This was probably the best competition I’ve done this year," said Duque. "It’s a challenge the way Artem is performing but I’m also doing better.

"This was my highest score of the season. If I can keep up this level then it’s going to be difficult for the others."

Nine-time world champion Duque retains the lead of the overall ranking going into the second half of the 2012 series, which next heads to Boston at the end of August.

Published in Island News
Bulletin TV will be bursting onto your screens every Thursday from the 28th of October at 7pm on RTE 2. The adrenaline-jammed 8 part series brings The Red Bulletin Magazine to life and features extreme sports in full throttle from Ireland and around the world.

Aidan Power and newcomer Daniella Moyles guide viewers around the pulsating world of heroes, music, fashion and high energy sports meeting some of the worlds brightest stars and biggest risk takers along the way.

Aidan and Daniella delve deep into the world of culture and cover everything from rising music performers and fashion designers to getting down and dirty with Ireland's graffiti artists.
Bulletin TV will bring you through the USA, Switzerland, Austria and Italy as well as travelling the length and breadth of Ireland to experience firsthand events such as Rossnowlagh Irish Intercounties Surfing Championships and The Red Bull X Fighters. Along the way they meet Irish & international athletes and find out what dBUerives them beyond the amazing to achieve the incredible.
In programme 1, Aidan catches up with Ireland's top female surfer, Easkey Britton as she leads an all-girl team in the Rossnowalgh Intercounties Surfing Championships in Donegal; Daniella finds out from Karina Hollekim if BASE Jumpers are really as crazy as they seem; David Coultard burns rubber in Belfast City Centre; Keith Walsh tells us of the pain of skateboarding; with the help of Isaac Newton, Travis Pastrana jumps his car 82 meters in the air and Akte Blani demonstrates that if you don't like your seat on a plane you should move....to another plane.
In programme 2, Daniella joins one hundred motorcross and enduro riders as they do battle over the original steeple chase route in Co. Cork; Aidan talks to Felix Baumgartner about his plan to be the first person to break the sound barrier without a vehicle; Mountain Biker Aaron Chase tells us what his spinal chord and a doughnut have in common; and Daniella catches up with award winning Irish fashion designer Amanda Grogan.
So, sit back, belt up and enjoy the world of extreme sports and culture with Bulletin TV. It promises to be an unforgettable ride.

Bulletin TV is a fully funded television series produced by COCO Television for Red Bull Media House GmbH.

Published in Surfing

Ferry & Car Ferry News The ferry industry on the Irish Sea, is just like any other sector of the shipping industry, in that it is made up of a myriad of ship operators, owners, managers, charterers all contributing to providing a network of routes carried out by a variety of ships designed for different albeit similar purposes.

All this ferry activity involves conventional ferry tonnage, 'ro-pax', where the vessel's primary design is to carry more freight capacity rather than passengers. This is in some cases though, is in complete variance to the fast ferry craft where they carry many more passengers and charging a premium.

In reporting the ferry scene, we examine the constantly changing trends of this sector, as rival ferry operators are competing in an intensive environment, battling out for market share following the fallout of the economic crisis. All this has consequences some immediately felt, while at times, the effects can be drawn out over time, leading to the expense of others, through reduced competition or takeover or even face complete removal from the marketplace, as witnessed in recent years.

Arising from these challenging times, there are of course winners and losers, as exemplified in the trend to run high-speed ferry craft only during the peak-season summer months and on shorter distance routes. In addition, where fastcraft had once dominated the ferry scene, during the heady days from the mid-90's onwards, they have been replaced by recent newcomers in the form of the 'fast ferry' and with increased levels of luxury, yet seeming to form as a cost-effective alternative.

Irish Sea Ferry Routes

Irrespective of the type of vessel deployed on Irish Sea routes (between 2-9 hours), it is the ferry companies that keep the wheels of industry moving as freight vehicles literally (roll-on and roll-off) ships coupled with motoring tourists and the humble 'foot' passenger transported 363 days a year.

As such the exclusive freight-only operators provide important trading routes between Ireland and the UK, where the freight haulage customer is 'king' to generating year-round revenue to the ferry operator. However, custom built tonnage entering service in recent years has exceeded the level of capacity of the Irish Sea in certain quarters of the freight market.

A prime example of the necessity for trade in which we consumers often expect daily, though arguably question how it reached our shores, is the delivery of just in time perishable products to fill our supermarket shelves.

A visual manifestation of this is the arrival every morning and evening into our main ports, where a combination of ferries, ro-pax vessels and fast-craft all descend at the same time. In essence this a marine version to our road-based rush hour traffic going in and out along the commuter belts.

Across the Celtic Sea, the ferry scene coverage is also about those overnight direct ferry routes from Ireland connecting the north-western French ports in Brittany and Normandy.

Due to the seasonality of these routes to Europe, the ferry scene may be in the majority running between February to November, however by no means does this lessen operator competition.

Noting there have been plans over the years to run a direct Irish –Iberian ferry service, which would open up existing and develop new freight markets. Should a direct service open, it would bring new opportunities also for holidaymakers, where Spain is the most visited country in the EU visited by Irish holidaymakers ... heading for the sun!