Five boats participated in the annual Kinsale Yacht Club pilgrimage to Glandore, West Cork, during the June bank holiday weekend. Sailors were welcomed by abundant sunshine and calm seas.

The fleet of five starters included Chancer owned by Michael Carroll, Genesis belonging to Gavin and Grace Lawlor, Hansemer owned by Commodore Anthony Scannell, Atlantis II owned by Ted Power, and Swift owned by Paul Cotter and Dominic Falvey.

The event, sponsored by Dave and Michele Arkerlind, offered generous prizes to the participants.

The start of the race was greeted by little to no wind, and the weak tide made progress to the Old Head slow. Consequently, Hansemer and Atlantis II decided to retire early, choosing to motor down to Glandore. Chancer and Genesis managed to break away, leaving Swift to contend with a light breeze and a rising tide.

Chancer reached Glandore at 17:30, followed by Genesis at approximately 18:10. Unfortunately, Swift, after a prolonged struggle, finished just outside the cut-off time.

The Glandore Harbour Sailing Club was praised for their hospitality, which included a ferry service, delightful barbecue, and a well-stocked bar, providing the perfect conclusion to a splendid day on the water. The evening also saw a vibrant gathering as seven boats from the KYC cruising group joined the festivities, ensuring a memorable night for all involved.

It's the second such KYC cruise of the 2024 season with the group having visited the Naval Base at Haulbowline in late May.

The first West Cork interclub race of the season was staged over the holiday weekend in idyllic conditions.

Starting in Schull Harbour, the ten-boat fleet rounded Western Calf Island and travelled through the Gascanane Sound before finishing off the Wallis Buoy in Baltimore Harbour.

Commodore Peter O Flynn welcomed the competitors to the prizegiving at Baltimore Sailing Club and expressed his delight that the interclub competitions had resumed, having lapsed for a number of years.

Tony O'Brien's J109 Tighey Boy was a winner on IRC in the Inter Club Schull-Baltimore race Photo: Bob Bateman

Schull Harbour Sailing Club commodore Mark Murphy exchanged club pennants with his counterpart and confirmed that the next combined event would be the 3 Square Miles trophy, which will finish on Cape Clear Island on the 22nd of June.

The Eurostyle trophy for Echo was won by the Duggan family on Manzanita, while in IRC, it was another victory for Tony O'Brien, sailing with a large family crew on Tighey Boy.

The second race of the May league for the 'Genaveve Plate' was raced at Schull Harbour Sailing Club in West Cork on Saturday in near 'tropical' conditions, according to organisers.

The fleet started downwind from the harbour line in a light northerly breeze, rounding the Cush Buoy off Long Island and then heading for the Amelia Buoy.

On approaching the mark, the wind dropped to zero, which allowed the back markers to rejoin the fleet while they all drifted around for a period before restarting in a light northeasterly for a final leg into the harbour on a shortened course.

The Murphy family's  Shelly D, a Moody 30, took the win in the Schull Harbour Sailing Club for the 'Genaveve Plate' as part of the club's May League

Flor O Riordan's Three Cheers took line honours, however, victory in both IRC and Echo went to the Murphy family in Shelly D, with Peter Duggan's Manzanita and Schull Community College's Athena taking second and third in Echo, while Athena was second in IRC ahead of 3 Cheers in third.

The opening race of the 2024 summer sailing season at Schull Harbour Sailing Club in West Cork was staged on Saturday in near-idyllic weather as the mixed cruiser fleet competed for the Rossbrin Boatyard Trophy.

After starting in the inner harbour in a light easterly breeze, the course took the competitors around the Calf Islands and Amelia Buoy.

Peter Duggan's Quarter Tonner Manzanita (IRL 2076) and Tom Newman's Contessa 32, Sittelle (IRL 2323) 

Gabby Hogan's Growler led the fleet to take line honours but had to settle for second place in both IRC and Echo, from Peter Duggan's Manzanita, who showed the benefit of a major winter overhaul by winning both divisions.

Michael Murphy's Moody 30 Shelly D (IRL148) at the Perch mark during Schull Harbour Sailing Club Racing

The Murphy family sailing the veteran Shelly D for the 45th consecutive year finished third in both IRC and Echo.

 Winning Manzanita skipper Peter Duggan with crew Daniel Duggan and John Molloy (a former owner of Manzanita) at the Schull Harbour Sailing Club prizegiving for the Rossbrin Boatyard Trophy

The first cruise ship of the season in West Cork was welcomed by Cork County Council to its harbours, Schull and Kinsale, located in Ireland’s largest county.

The ultra-luxury expedition cruise ship Seabourn Venture, as Afloat previously reported visiting Killybegs, made another inaugural call to Schull on Tuesday, which represents the vessel’s first of two visits to Cork County Council’s harbours this week.

The 172-metre Seabourn Venture, which was launched in 2022 for US-based operator Seabourn Cruise Line, carries 264 passengers, offering their guests an intimate, private yacht-like atmosphere. All of the accommodations feature ocean-front suites with veranda, and among the expedition equipment is a 6-person submarine.

Seabourn Venture was built to polar class standards and has 120 crew members to operate in the Arctic and Antarctica. The visits of the 26,315 gross tonnage cruise ship to Schull and Kinsale come at the end of a 28-day cruise itinerary for passengers.

To mark the inaugural calls to West Cork, as of tradition, a delegation from Cork County Council was on board the Seabourn Venture, where Cllr. Caroline Cronin made a presentation to Captain Sasha Skladnoi on behalf of the council.

More from the Irish Independent on the rising number of small cruise ship calls to the region and to where cruise-goers went to various tourist attractions.

Baltimore RNLI in West Cork successfully rescued Dixie, a terrier mix dog, after she fell from the cliff at the Beacon on Tuesday morning.

The Irish Coast Guard requested the launch of their inshore lifeboat shortly before 10 am, after Dixie's owner raised the alarm. It was the first call out for the new helm, David Ryan, who launched the Atlantic 85 class lifeboat. The crew members Jerry Smith, Kieran Collins, and Eoin O’Driscoll assisted him.

The weather conditions were favorable at the time, with a force 2-3 wind and a calm sea with up to a half-meter swell and good visibility. The crew arrived at the scene to find Dixie sheltering under a rock ledge after swimming ashore. Kieran and Eoin braved the sea and retrieved the dog, safely bringing her back onto the lifeboat and to her owner.

Kate Callanan, Baltimore RNLI Lifeboat Press Officer, praised Dixie's owner for raising the alarm and reminded dog owners to be careful when walking their pets near the coast. She advised them not to go into the water or mud after their pets but to move to a safe place and call for help.

New Baltimore helm, David Ryan, who launched the Atlantic 85 class lifeboat with crew members Jerry Smith, Kieran Collins, and Eoin O’Driscoll 

Dixie, though shaken and cold, is safe and sound. The RNLI commended all their crew involved in the rescue and congratulated David on his first call out as helm.

It seems a new comedy movie, working title "Carry On Smuggling", may be in the early stages of production in West Cork. Articulated trucks being sent down one-lane cul de sacs near supposed "secret coves" that everyone happens to know about, giant fast RIBs conspicuously present in suspicious circumstances, and several other absurdities. Maybe it's horribly real, for you just couldn't make it up.

The Irish Times has the story here

In the latest edition of 200 Voices, the RNLI podcast, Pamela Deasy has vivid memories of January 2012 the loss of five crew on a fishing trawler in Glandore Harbour and the subsequent establishment of a lifeboat station at Union Hall, West Cork.

In My Lifeline, which became available on Thursday, 25 January, Pamela, who is a volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer at Union Hall RNLI, remembers the morning the ‘Tit Bonhomme’ foundered on Adam Island at the entrance to Glandore Harbour with the loss of five crew. She recalls the month-long search to recover the bodies of the lost fishermen and a letter she wrote to the RNLI appealing for a lifeboat station at Union Hall.

This year, in September 2024, Union Hall RNLI will celebrate its 10th birthday, supported by a team of volunteers and fantastic community support and fundraising.

In 2019, Pamela was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and in the podcast, which marks 200 years of the RNLI, she tells the story of her personal battle and recovery supported by the ‘RNLI family’ and eased by the comforting presence of the sea.

The unique podcast series hears from people connected to the RNLI in Ireland and those whose lives have been touched by the lifesaving charity. Hear from locals with a special kinship to their lifeboat station, a crew member who’s been on service for a generation, or the family of someone rescued by an RNLI frontline lifesaver – each episode is sure to take the listener on a journey through a touching story.

Available across all podcast platforms and the RNLI’s website, listeners can hear from survivors, supporters, volunteers, lifeguards, celebrity ambassadors, historians and many more from across Wales, England, Scotland, Ireland and beyond.

Listen to the RNLI’s 200 Voices, wherever you get your podcasts or at RNLI.org/200Voices.

ESB Networks has appealed for vigilance at sea in relation to submarine cables after a fishing vessel cut power to West Cork’s Bere Island last week.

ESB Networks restored power to some 280 affected islanders at 11 pm on Friday last, January 5th, some 31 hours after supplies were cut suddenly on January 4th.

The operator confirmed that the outage occurred “ as a result of a fishing vessel accidentally coming into contact with a cable running from Castletownbere to Bere island”.

It said that “repair efforts started immediately, which included a diver safely locating the damaged cable so ESB Networks crews could carry out the required restoration work”.

Power was restored to all impacted customers by 11pm on Friday night,it said, and it apologised to all those affected by the disruption.

There was considerable upset at the incident at a particularly difficult time of year and with islanders dependent on freezers to store food supplies.

An ESB Networks spokesman declined to confirm the cost of the repairs, or whether the fishing vessel had offered to contribute.

The non-governmental organisation Coastwtch said the incident illustrated the “damage large powerful fishing vessels can have on the fragile nature” of the seafloor.

It called on the State to recover costs from “those who caused the damage”, and said that “our heart goes out to families left without power in winter cold”.

Coastwatch co-ordinator Karin Dubsky questioned why the island was dependent on one power cable and said a Heritage Council study 20 years ago had flagged concerns about this.

Given that submarine cables are set to increase during offshore wind development, she said it was essential that the cable “isn’t just fixed but that the cause is determined and published with planned action” to avoid a recurrence.

The ESB said that “damage to our network by third parties can occur from time to time – generally on overhead and underground cables on land - and we run extensive public campaigns on staying safe and staying clear of our network”.

“This incident serves as a timely reminder that similar vigilance should be applied by those at sea to submarine cables”,it said.

More information on its public campaigns is here.

West Cork’s Bere island has been left without power for over 24 hours after an undersea electricity cable was damaged.

ESB Networks said a total of 281 customers remain affected by the power outage, which also affected the Castletownbere area of West Cork.

It said it was hoped to have all supplies restored late on Friday night as crews worked to identify the fault and make emergency repairs.

The power fault was reported at about 3.30pm on Thursday and affected some properties in Castletownbere and the entire island community on Bere.

While supplies were restored in Castletownbere, the ESB said it had to commission specialist divers to inspect the undersea cable.

It said it believed the damage was caused by a fishing vessel.