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Displaying items by tag: Rocco Wright

The intensely-fought multi-race Youth Sailing Nationals at Howth in April saw many classes go right to the wire, with only a point or two separating the leaders after the championship concluded.

But in the “Senior Junior” class, the large-fleet ILCA 6, Rocco Wright of the host club was literally in a class of his own, with the international Gold winner of 2022 returning to full competition in runaway style with a ten-point overall lead.

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Rocco Wright won a home waters victory at the Investwise Youth Sailing National Championships in Howth on Sunday.

Wright took the ILCA 6 Youth National Champion title by a clear margin of ten nett points after ten races sailed across a range of conditions that concluded in light winds.

The Howth Yacht Club sailor was followed by his clubmate Luke Turvey on 25 points. One-time series leader Tom Coulter of (East Antrim Boat Club) was third on 29 points in the 33-boat fleet.

Wright, of Howth Yacht Club, adds the domestic title to his recently won bronze in the ILCA 6 Men’s class at the ILCA European Championships in Andora, Italy, as Afloat reported here.

ILCA 4 Title for Pierse

The ILCA 4 title was won by Royal Cork’s Oisin Pierse, with Krzysztof Ciborowski (Royal St George YC) and Cillian Twomey (Howth YC) in second and third place.

Results are below

Published in Laser

Defending title-holder Rocco Wright of Ireland faces a two-race challenge in the ILCA6 Men's European Championships climax in Andora, Italy.

The Howth Yacht Club star has work to do to regain his overall lead but, at the same time, has almost certainly done enough to be on the podium this Friday evening.

Greek sailor Athanasios Kyfidis and Mattia Cesana of Italy edged ahead of Wright today, but just seven points separate first to third places in their event.

Kyfidis recovered first place after scoring a 4-3 and leads with 31 points. Cesana ITA (7-2) is second with 33. Third place for the overnight leader and reigning ILCA 6 Men Senior European champion Wright is on 38 points.

The top three are all Under 21, thus leading the Overall and U21 championships.

They have opened up a large gap on the points table to the remainder of the 71-boat class that includes Fiachra McDonnell (Royal St. George Yacht Club) in eleventh overall.

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Reigning ILCA 6 Men's Senior European champion Rocco Wright of Howth Yacht Club took the lead today in Andora, Italy, with 21 points.

Overnight leader Athanasios Kyfidis GRE and Mattia Cesana ITA follow him two points behind.

They are all Under 21, so leaders of both the overall and U21 championships.

Wright's lead would be slightly better, but for a capsize in the final race of the day when he placed eighth, his worst result of the series so far, which he discards. Nevertheless, his fourth day of competition still counted another race win and all top ten results.

There was a further strong showing for Fiachra McDonnell (Royal St. George Yacht Club), who had a very consistent day with a fifth, sixth and third places that shifted him to sixth overall.

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Athanasios Kyfidis GRE is heading the fleet with 7 points (3-1-17-3), followed 1 point behind by the reigning European champion Rocco Wright IRL (4-6-3-1) with 8. Mattia Cesana ITA is third with 14. They are all Under 21 and lead both the overall and U21 championships.

Wright rounded off his qualification round with a race win. As defending champion, the young Howth Yacht Club sailor overcame a shaky start to the day when he capsized while in second place but recovered to finish sixth. In the next race, he placed third before going on to his race win. As the lowest-scoring boat in his 71-boat event, he is well placed for three days of racing to decide the championship.

Medium air conditions were quite shifty, with the breeze up and down in big seas on the Riviera delle Palme.

Royal St. George Yacht Club's Fiachra McDonnell also lies 14th overall with 14th place in the final race.

Three races are scheduled for Wednesday, with the first warning signal at 09:00. Coaches meeting at 07:00.

ILCA 6 Men – Full results below

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Sixteen-year-old Rocco Wright has won the ILCA6/Laser Men's European Championship on the Côte d'Azur today.

The Howth Yacht Club youth also won the U21 division, and this event is added to his Youth World Championship Gold won in the Netherlands in July.

His result came down to the final race on the last day that he started on level points but ahead on a tiebreak from Cypriot Georgios Yiasemides. Wright kept his nerve to place fourth while staying well in front of his main rival, who placed 13th.

 "I'm just speechless to be world and European champion this year. It was always a dream of mine to win a worlds and a Europeans and to do it the same year... I'm just over the moon!"

Wright's immediate goal is to resume working on his skills at a training camp in Valencia next weekend.

As Afloat reported earlier, Wright regained full control of the fleet and led both the overall and Under 21 European championships from the penultimate day.

2022 EurILCA 6 Men Senior European Overall Podium:

  1. Rocco Wright IRL 55
  2. Georgios Yiasemides CYP 64
  3. Kacper Stanislawski POL 93

2022 EurILCA 6 Men Senior European Under 21 Podium:

  1. Rocco Wright IRL 55
  2. Georgios Yiasemides CYP 64
  3. Daniel Cardona Balsa ESP 11

Full results below

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Irish sailor Rocco Wright of Howth (1-13-5) regained full control of the fleet and leads both the overall and Under 21 European championships again with 32 points at the ILCA 6 European Championships in Hyeres France on the penultimate day.

Having won the Gold at the Youth World Championships earlier this year, Wright has his sights firmly set on the Under 21 title as he leads his 64-boat fleet by a comfortable 20-point advantage with the final day to sail.

The overnight leader Ben Elvin GBR (25-35-23), is now third overall with 66.

Georgios Yiasemides CYP (3-11-39) is second on both the overall and U21 championships with 51.

Daniel Cardona Balsa ESP (third U21 sailor) and Mario Novak CRO complete the overall Top 5 with 73 and 77 points, respectively.

Results are downloadable below

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The National Yacht Club's Finn Lynch scored a 16th-39th-32nd dropping him to 32nd place overall in a light wind three race penultimate day of the ILCA/Laser European Championships in Hyeres, France.

Three more races were held today by all the fleets, with shifty and patchy 8-12 knots of breeze. There were many ups and downs that made the sailing conditions very tricky for all the 350 competitors, with significant changes in the standings.

"We just didn't find the right mode to get in front of the fleet at the beginning," commented Vasilij Zbogar, Lynch's Laser coach. "The truth is... I don't know; we were going so well before the event, but now we have different conditions.

"Finn mentally was prepared well and is feeling well. We're struggling a little bit for speed in these conditions for the set-up we have could be a little bit better."

Zbogar, a triple Olympic medallist, pointed to Lynch's improved performance in the upper wind range earlier in the week, calling it a "huge step forward." Normally, the Rio veteran would be expected to perform well in the conditions of the past two days.

"I'm not feeling great - I need to be doing better," Finn Lynch said after racing ended. "There is a lot of luck involved in these conditions, but I need to be better so that I can afford to have bad luck."

For the remaining two races, Lynch will be aiming to finish on a high with individual best results though both the podium and, most likely, the top ten are beyond his reach.

It was not a good day for the overnight leader and reigning 2021 Senior European champion Michael Beckett GBR (22-25-2), losing the top spot for the first time in the event. He’s now in second place but only 2 points behind the new leader Pavlos Kontides CYP (4-3-1), who’s counting 32.

Finland’s Kaarle Tapper FIN (5-23-3) is now third with 50. 7 points after him is Jonatan Vadnai HUN (8-18-17) on fourth.

Lorenzo Chiavarini ITA (6-17-13) and Sam Whaley GBR (24-6-10) are tied in 66 points on places fifth and sixth.

Provisional ILCA 7 European Top 10 after 10 races:

  1. Pavlos Kontides CYP 32
  2. Michael Beckett GBR 34
  3. Kaarle Tapper FIN 50
  4. Jonatan Vadnai HUN 57
  5. Lorenzo Chiavarini ITA 66
  6. Sam Whaley GBR 66
  7. Niels Broekhuizen NED 72
  8. Tonci Stipanovic CRO 74
  9. Hermann Tomasgaard NOR 75
  10. Jean Baptiste Bernaz FRA 85

Download results below

Published in Laser

Howth Yacht Club's Rocco Wright retained his overnight lead in the non-Olympic ILCA6/Laser Men's Euro event in Hyeres, France. 

A second place followed by an eighth means he has a ten-point lead at this early stage of the regatta in a 64-boat fleet.

There are two Senior European titles at stake in the ILCA 6 Men’s competition: the Overall champion and the Under 21 champion, and both are held by Wright  (1-2-2-SCP27). 

The second place is for Ben Elvin GBR (4-1-9-2) with 7. Alastair Brown GBR (18-8-3-1) completes the Overall podium with 12.

Georgios Yiasemides CYP (9-5-1-19) and Lovre Bakotic CRO (27-7-4-11) complete the provisional U21 podium in places fourth and sixth overall with 15 and 22 points, respectively.

Xavier Leclair FRA (46-3-6-10) is fifth overall with 19 units.

Friday is the last day of the qualifying series, with the first warning signal at 12:00.

The forecast is for even stronger winds. 

Six days of races are scheduled in total, with the last ones coming on Monday 21st to decide the new 2022 EurILCA Senior European champions.

Results are downloadable below

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Howth Yacht Club sailor Rocco Wright leads both rankings after an impeccable 1-2 in the opening races of the ILCA 6/Laser Men's European Championships in Hyeres, France.

The 2022 EurILCA Senior European Championships & Open European Trophy started today at Cercle d’Organisation du Yachting de Compétition Hyèrois (COYCH) in Hyeres, France.

Wright, the reigning World Youth Gold medalist, is followed two points behind by Ben Elvin GBR (4-1). Georgios Yiasemides CYP is third overall and second U21 after scoring a 9-5.

More than 350 sailors from 65 countries enjoyed great sailing conditions today for the first two races, with winds varying from 10 to 14 knots in the beginning and 18 to 22 knots at the end. of the second race.

Elia Stocco ITA (7-9) and Mario Novak CRO (12-6) complete the provisional European Top 5.

Terry Hacker GBR (6-12) is third Under 21 and 6th overall.

Download the results below

Published in Laser
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Irish Fishing industry 

The Irish Commercial Fishing Industry employs around 11,000 people in fishing, processing and ancillary services such as sales and marketing. The industry is worth about €1.22 billion annually to the Irish economy. Irish fisheries products are exported all over the world as far as Africa, Japan and China.

FAQs

Over 16,000 people are employed directly or indirectly around the coast, working on over 2,000 registered fishing vessels, in over 160 seafood processing businesses and in 278 aquaculture production units, according to the State's sea fisheries development body Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM).

All activities that are concerned with growing, catching, processing or transporting fish are part of the commercial fishing industry, the development of which is overseen by BIM. Recreational fishing, as in angling at sea or inland, is the responsibility of Inland Fisheries Ireland.

The Irish fishing industry is valued at 1.22 billion euro in gross domestic product (GDP), according to 2019 figures issued by BIM. Only 179 of Ireland's 2,000 vessels are over 18 metres in length. Where does Irish commercially caught fish come from? Irish fish and shellfish is caught or cultivated within the 200-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ), but Irish fishing grounds are part of the common EU "blue" pond. Commercial fishing is regulated under the terms of the EU Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), initiated in 1983 and with ten-yearly reviews.

The total value of seafood landed into Irish ports was 424 million euro in 2019, according to BIM. High value landings identified in 2019 were haddock, hake, monkfish and megrim. Irish vessels also land into foreign ports, while non-Irish vessels land into Irish ports, principally Castletownbere, Co Cork, and Killybegs, Co Donegal.

There are a number of different methods for catching fish, with technological advances meaning skippers have detailed real time information at their disposal. Fisheries are classified as inshore, midwater, pelagic or deep water. Inshore targets species close to shore and in depths of up to 200 metres, and may include trawling and gillnetting and long-lining. Trawling is regarded as "active", while "passive" or less environmentally harmful fishing methods include use of gill nets, long lines, traps and pots. Pelagic fisheries focus on species which swim close to the surface and up to depths of 200 metres, including migratory mackerel, and tuna, and methods for catching include pair trawling, purse seining, trolling and longlining. Midwater fisheries target species at depths of around 200 metres, using trawling, longlining and jigging. Deepwater fisheries mainly use trawling for species which are found at depths of over 600 metres.

There are several segments for different catching methods in the registered Irish fleet – the largest segment being polyvalent or multi-purpose vessels using several types of gear which may be active and passive. The polyvalent segment ranges from small inshore vessels engaged in netting and potting to medium and larger vessels targeting whitefish, pelagic (herring, mackerel, horse mackerel and blue whiting) species and bivalve molluscs. The refrigerated seawater (RSW) pelagic segment is engaged mainly in fishing for herring, mackerel, horse mackerel and blue whiting only. The beam trawling segment focuses on flatfish such as sole and plaice. The aquaculture segment is exclusively for managing, developing and servicing fish farming areas and can collect spat from wild mussel stocks.

The top 20 species landed by value in 2019 were mackerel (78 million euro); Dublin Bay prawn (59 million euro); horse mackerel (17 million euro); monkfish (17 million euro); brown crab (16 million euro); hake (11 million euro); blue whiting (10 million euro); megrim (10 million euro); haddock (9 million euro); tuna (7 million euro); scallop (6 million euro); whelk (5 million euro); whiting (4 million euro); sprat (3 million euro); herring (3 million euro); lobster (2 million euro); turbot (2 million euro); cod (2 million euro); boarfish (2 million euro).

Ireland has approximately 220 million acres of marine territory, rich in marine biodiversity. A marine biodiversity scheme under Ireland's operational programme, which is co-funded by the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund and the Government, aims to reduce the impact of fisheries and aquaculture on the marine environment, including avoidance and reduction of unwanted catch.

EU fisheries ministers hold an annual pre-Christmas council in Brussels to decide on total allowable catches and quotas for the following year. This is based on advice from scientific bodies such as the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea. In Ireland's case, the State's Marine Institute publishes an annual "stock book" which provides the most up to date stock status and scientific advice on over 60 fish stocks exploited by the Irish fleet. Total allowable catches are supplemented by various technical measures to control effort, such as the size of net mesh for various species.

The west Cork harbour of Castletownbere is Ireland's biggest whitefish port. Killybegs, Co Donegal is the most important port for pelagic (herring, mackerel, blue whiting) landings. Fish are also landed into Dingle, Co Kerry, Rossaveal, Co Galway, Howth, Co Dublin and Dunmore East, Co Waterford, Union Hall, Co Cork, Greencastle, Co Donegal, and Clogherhead, Co Louth. The busiest Northern Irish ports are Portavogie, Ardglass and Kilkeel, Co Down.

Yes, EU quotas are allocated to other fleets within the Irish EEZ, and Ireland has long been a transhipment point for fish caught by the Spanish whitefish fleet in particular. Dingle, Co Kerry has seen an increase in foreign landings, as has Castletownbere. The west Cork port recorded foreign landings of 36 million euro or 48 per cent in 2019, and has long been nicknamed the "peseta" port, due to the presence of Spanish-owned transhipment plant, Eiranova, on Dinish island.

Most fish and shellfish caught or cultivated in Irish waters is for the export market, and this was hit hard from the early stages of this year's Covid-19 pandemic. The EU, Asia and Britain are the main export markets, while the middle Eastern market is also developing and the African market has seen a fall in value and volume, according to figures for 2019 issued by BIM.

Fish was once a penitential food, eaten for religious reasons every Friday. BIM has worked hard over several decades to develop its appeal. Ireland is not like Spain – our land is too good to transform us into a nation of fish eaters, but the obvious health benefits are seeing a growth in demand. Seafood retail sales rose by one per cent in 2019 to 300 million euro. Salmon and cod remain the most popular species, while BIM reports an increase in sales of haddock, trout and the pangasius or freshwater catfish which is cultivated primarily in Vietnam and Cambodia and imported by supermarkets here.

The EU's Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), initiated in 1983, pooled marine resources – with Ireland having some of the richest grounds and one of the largest sea areas at the time, but only receiving four per cent of allocated catch by a quota system. A system known as the "Hague Preferences" did recognise the need to safeguard the particular needs of regions where local populations are especially dependent on fisheries and related activities. The State's Sea Fisheries Protection Authority, based in Clonakilty, Co Cork, works with the Naval Service on administering the EU CFP. The Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine and Department of Transport regulate licensing and training requirements, while the Marine Survey Office is responsible for the implementation of all national and international legislation in relation to safety of shipping and the prevention of pollution.

Yes, a range of certificates of competency are required for skippers and crew. Training is the remit of BIM, which runs two national fisheries colleges at Greencastle, Co Donegal and Castletownbere, Co Cork. There have been calls for the colleges to be incorporated into the third-level structure of education, with qualifications recognised as such.

Safety is always an issue, in spite of technological improvements, as fishing is a hazardous occupation and climate change is having its impact on the severity of storms at sea. Fishing skippers and crews are required to hold a number of certificates of competency, including safety and navigation, and wearing of personal flotation devices is a legal requirement. Accidents come under the remit of the Marine Casualty Investigation Board, and the Health and Safety Authority. The MCIB does not find fault or blame, but will make recommendations to the Minister for Transport to avoid a recurrence of incidents.

Fish are part of a marine ecosystem and an integral part of the marine food web. Changing climate is having a negative impact on the health of the oceans, and there have been more frequent reports of warmer water species being caught further and further north in Irish waters.

Brexit, Covid 19, EU policies and safety – Britain is a key market for Irish seafood, and 38 per cent of the Irish catch is taken from the waters around its coast. Ireland's top two species – mackerel and prawns - are 60 per cent and 40 per cent, respectively, dependent on British waters. Also, there are serious fears within the Irish industry about the impact of EU vessels, should they be expelled from British waters, opting to focus even more efforts on Ireland's rich marine resource. Covid-19 has forced closure of international seafood markets, with high value fish sold to restaurants taking a large hit. A temporary tie-up support scheme for whitefish vessels introduced for the summer of 2020 was condemned by industry organisations as "designed to fail".

Sources: Bord Iascaigh Mhara, Marine Institute, Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine, Department of Transport © Afloat 2020