Schull Community College Team 1 were the victor at the Munster Schools Team Racing event hosted by the Fastnet Marina Outdoor Education Centre (FMOEC) at Schull in West Cork on Saturday, the 18th of March.

The team Captain was Rory Harrap, Lille Kingston, Daniel Copithorne, Fionn Keogh, Rocio Garcia Coello and Lara Goerner completed the winning line-up.

On a bright sunny morning and not a raindrop in sight, 18 teams (a record number of entries) competed in the Championships.

With a Northerly wind blowing over from Mount Gabriel with a wind speed of 11 to 14 knots, Eimear O'Reagan and her group of volunteers set the course, and by 10.00 am, racing commenced.

At approximately 12.30, the wind shifted North Westerly, and there was a short delay while the course was reset.

Conditions throughout the day were squally of 20 up to 23 knots which resorted to the use of storm sails at the Munster Schools Team Racing Championships in Schull, West Cork

Conditions throughout the day were squally of 20 up to 23 knots which resorted to the use of storm sails at the Munster Schools Team Racing Championships in Schull, West Cork

Conditions throughout the day were squally of 20 up to 23 knots, which for some sailors was a bit difficult to handle even with storm sails, and there were some capsizes.

Overall the competitors had good boat-handling skills as they negotiated the heaviest squalls.

The umpires were kept quite busy throughout the day, and the event was expertly umpired by Dave Sheahan, Eunice Kennedy and Tim O'Connor.

Robbie Dwyer did an excellent job of calling the finish line and was ably assisted by his two recorders.

 Close racing in TR3.6 dinghies at the Munster Schools Team Racing Championships in Schull, West Cork

Meanwhile, Tim Lowney, the Principal Race Officer and Beach Master ensured the smooth running of the change-over boats and the management of the flight sheet.

Siobhan Scully and her volunteers looked after registration and ensured all the competitors, while not racing, were kept in good form ashore. Harriett Emmerson did a fantastic job of inputting the results and providing us with the final placed team.

The Schull community rowed in to give the staff in F.M.O.E.C. a helping hand by providing hot soup and sandwiches to everyone when they came in off the water, home-baking cakes and supplying the volunteers with cups of tea and coffee. It was fantastic to see such community spirit.

The top-placed teams will now go forward to compete at the Schools Nationals in the Royal St. George on the 29th and 30th of April.

2023 Munster Schools Team Racing Championships results 

(Results after 80% of the Round Robin was completed)

• 1st Schull Community College Team 1
• 2nd Christan Brothers Cork Team 1
• 3rd Bangor Grammar School Team 2
• 4th Colaiste Mhuire Cork
• 5th Skibbereen Community School Team 2
• 6th Schull Community College Team 3
• 7th Skibbereen Community School Team 1
• 8th Bangor Grammar School Team 1
• 9th Bandon Grammar School Team 4
• 10th Bandon Grammar School Team 3
• 11th Scoil Mhuire 1
• 12th Christian Brothers 2
• 13th Schull Community College 2
• 14th Colaiste Mhuire 2
• 15th Regina Mundi 2
• 16th Rochestown College
• 17th Colaiste Spioraid Naoimh & St. Aloysius
• 18th Regina Mundi 1

Having sold two of its vessels - the fast Ferry Dún na Séad II and the Dún Aengus, Cape Clear Ferries in West Cork is buying the Spirit of Doolin from O’Brien’s Ferry Company in Clare. This will replace the previous fast ferry, while the Dún Aengus is being replaced by another purchase, the Carraig Mhór.

Manager Séamus Ó Drisceoil says the company is upgrading its fleet and “working with Comharchumann Chléire Teo and other service providers to develop an outstanding maritime tourism experience based around the Fastnet Rock and Cape Clear Island. This will bring new business to the Island and its mainland hinterland.”

Spirit of Doolin is a modern stylish vessel with a 200-passenger capacity. It will operate mostly from Schull to Cape Clear and around the Fastnet Rock Lighthouse.”

The vessel called to Baltimore and Cape to be shown to the island and the local community. The purchase is subject to approval trials.

“Irish people of the sea have called for generations on the Blessed Virgin Mary as a guiding spirit while they are at sea.” That aspect of Irish maritime tradition refers to the use of the name Stella Maris on boats. However, I had not seen the name used before on an English boat, so I was particularly interested in an unusual-looking boat on Crosshaven Boatyard Marina in Cork Harbour. The stern was open as was the bow area. Her midships had a canvas/tarpaulin cover. To me, she seemed very much an open boat.

At the bow and stern and along the hull, she had an appearance reflecting design aspects of Galway Hookers and Irish currachs.

“That’s exactly what I think,” her owner Michael Hart, who likes the ‘open’ concept, told me: “Stella Maris is a Northumbrian coble, built in 1971 and one of the last of that 200-year-old tradition of building cobles in Yorkshire and Northumberland. She fished off the Northumbrian coast for the last 50 years. She is a big open boat at 32 feet LOA, though she does have that quality of indeterminate scale bestowed on certain boats by their designer/builders.”

Michael had brought her from East Anglia along the River Thames, through the Kennet & Avon Canal down to Bristol (the canal is 87 miles long - 140 kilometres - linking London with the Bristol Channel) then along the Welsh Coast, crossing to Kilmore Quay in Wexford and worked his way South to Crosshaven, en route to Rosbrin in West Cork, where she will be laid up. In Suffolk, where he lives, he is involved in running river trips with another boat from the Snape Maltings.

The Stella Maris coble is clinker built – the planks slightly overlap each other. The planking is made of larch timber and the frames of oak. In traditional fishing Northumbrian cobles often used sails and could also be rowed. The Scarborough Maritime Heritage Centre says the name ‘coble’ is “thought to be rooted in the Celtic 'Ceubal' or the Breton 'Caubal', both of which meant 'boat'.

Mike told me that he is particularly interested in the relationship of the coble design to the Galway Hookers and the currachs. He has “an abode” in Rosbrin and intends to be back in West Cork in September to do a bit of local cruising and lay Stella Maris up.

The connections between Northumbria and Ireland are interesting. Northumbria was an early medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom in what is now Northern England and South-East Scotland. The name derives from the Old English Norþanhymbre language meaning "the people or province north of the Humber.” Those people were once known as the ‘Celtic-Britons’. The area has a strong maritime, fishing tradition and Irish connections. One of the region’s harbours is Whitby, to the south of the Tees and north of the Humber, which will be known to followers of the Heartbeat television series. In 664, King Oswiu called the Synod of Whitby to determine whether to follow Roman or Irish customs. Northumbria had been converted to Christianity by Celtic clergy and the Celtic tradition for determining the date of Easter and Irish tonsure were supported by many clergy, particularly at the Abbey of Lindisfarne. However, Roman practice won out and those who favoured Irish customs refused to conform. Led by the Celtic Bishop Colman of Lindisfarne they moved to the island of Iona in Scotland

More from Michael Harte on my Podcast here

After a miserable 48 hours of fog and rain, the weather gods finally cast a benevolent eye on Schull on Wednesday. Calves Week competitors were greeted with a clear blue sky and steady 15 knots of westerly wind.

Race Officer Alan Crosbie started all seven fleets in the inner harbour with a short cross harbour beat to the weather mark before the fleets split into various courses before all rounding the Fastnet Rock.

The Calves Week 2022 fleet in Schull Harbour Photo: Mary Malone

In Class 0 IRC, ISORA champion Paul O'Higgins' JPK 10.80 Rockabill VI held off the challenge of Royal Cork's Jelly Baby, with the Jones family having to settle for the ECHO prize.

Irish Sea Offshore champion Rockabill VI leads Class Zero at Calves Week after the Fastnet Race Photo: Bob Bateman 

Two Cape 31s are racing at Calves Week, including Anthony O'Leary's striking red-hulled Antix Photo: Bob Bateman

The pace of the new high tech Cape 31s is clearly seen in this drone image of Antix leading Dan O'Grady's blue-hulled Aja from Howth with Afloat's photographer Bob Bateman in pursuit by RIB Photo: Tom Newman

The visiting J121 Darkwood from Cowes (left) and the Jones family's J122 Jelly Baby from Royal Cork Photo: Mary Malone

In Class 1 IRC, it was an all-east coast affair with the Parnell family on Black Velvet from the Royal Irish YC coming home ahead of Snapshot of Howth.

Leslie Parnell's Beneteau First 34.7 Black Velvet (3471) wins the first Calves Week 2022 Class One start for the opening race round the Fastnet Rock Photo: Bob Bateman

In ECHO, victory went to Gabby Hogan's Growler, followed by another local Schull boat crewed by the O'Brien family in Tighey Boy.

Gabby Hogan's Growler Photo: Bob Bateman

The O'Brien family's J109 in Tighey Boy is a local West Cork entry Photo: Bob Bateman

Class 2 saw Joe Kiernan's Gambit representing Foynes YC on the Shannon Estuary, winning both divisions from the Royal Cork's Bad Company.

The Collins' family Dehler 34 Ealu from Baltimore Photo: Bob Bateman

In Class 3 IRC, the Collins family from Baltimore sailing their Dehler 34 Ealu took the trophy, while in ECHO, victory went to Martin Lane's Chatter Box.

 Rob O Reilly's Dynamo 25 BonJourno! Part Deux from Monkstown Bay Sailing Club Photo: Bob Bateman

Class 4 saw a runaway victory for Rob O Reilly's Bon Journo in both divisions.

In White sail 1, it was back to winning ways for the Murphy family in Nieulargo, sailing this time in an unfamiliar fleet. 

Royal Cork's Yacht of the Year, the Grand Soleil 40, Nieulargo, is competing in the White Sails Division Photo: Bob Bateman

The loudest cheer of the evening presentation went to the old lady of the fleet when Simon O Keefe was presented with the White sail 2 Trophy for sailing the Schull-based 120-year-old Lady Min to victory, passing the finishing line on the beach from which she was originally launched in 1902.

An early decision is expected on Thursday morning on whether to schedule an additional series of races to compensate for Tuesday's cancellation.  

Bob Bateman's Calves Week 2022 Photo Gallery Day Two (Fastnet Race)

Results are below

The pace of this first full post-pandemic sailing season in Ireland has been such that when we reached what might be thought of as the mid-point around July 15th, there was a real need for a rapid re-charging of the batteries or whatever it is that keeps your personal boat show energised and on the move.

And yet again the Afloat.ie Spiritual Renewal Service came up trumps with a special rapid-revitalising item. However, we don’t mean the piece about zapping through the tunnel in the Bull Rock under power in a RIB or under sail in a Laser. That certainly stimulated a lively response on an otherwise somnolent day. But it was an outpouring of righteous indignation that we should suggest in our first mistaken version of the story that the Bull Rock is in Kerry, whereas it is the last pinpoint of West Cork in an area where the boundaries between the Republic of Cork and the Kingdom of Kerry are somewhat fuzzy.

The majestic sea inlet of Kenmare – is it a river or is it a bay?

And another line of attack was our reference to the Kenmare River. There may well be a growing movement down in the southwest to revert to that magnificent inlet being re-named Kenmare Bay like all the other rias of West Cork and Kerry. But the fact is that it has officially been the Kenmare River since around 1655, when the remarkable polymath William Petty was the Surveyor-General. 

HAVING THE RIGHT PLACE NAME MAKES MONEY

In travelling through and mapping out Ireland for his comprehensive Down Survey (so named because absolutely every snippet of property information acquired was written down) he came upon Kenmare, aka Neidin – the Little Nest.

He saw that it was good, and he saw that everywhere about it was good, so he promptly allocated vast swathes of the area to himself. And in a stroke of genius he renamed Kenmare Bay as the Kenmare River. For had it remained a bay, he would only have had ownership of the fishery rights close along the shores. But when it was accepted as a river, he acquired exclusive fishery rights the whole way to the open ocean, down towards the dentally-challenged Bull Rock.

The “dentally-challenged” Bull Rock

It may well be that in the furthest areas of the Beara and Iveragh peninsulas, there is a movement afoot to revert to the Kenmare Bay name in line with a de-colonisation programme. If we accept this, we wouldn’t be obliterating the memory of Sir William Petty in the world of sailing, for by the 1660s he was comfortably set up in the considerable lands he’d also found to allocate to himself in what is now largely Dublin 4.

Eternally curious and energetic, he was experimenting with the catamaran Simon & Jude, built for Petty in 1663 in Arklow, successfully tested that year in Dublin Bay against a couple of representative local craft of renowned performance, and re-created in 1981 by current “International Classic Boater of the Year” Hal Sisk of Dun Laoghaire in the midst of what is now a lifetime of historic maritime projects.

Hal Sisk’s re-creation of the 1663-vintage catamaran Simon & Jude racing against a Bantry Boat in 1981. Photo: W M Nixon

Model of the Simon & Jude. This 17th Century line of development by William Petty came to an end when a much larger version, The Experiment, was lost in stormy weather in the Bay of Biscay

WEST CORK FESTIVAL AFLOAT

We could go on for the rest of the day along this line of thought. But invigorating and complex as all these many lines of semi-nautical notions may be, it was a much more straightforward Afloat.ie item that raised the spirits, and that was Bob Bateman’s comprehensively-illustrated preview of the upcoming Calves Week 2022 & West Cork Festival of Yacht Racing from Saturday, July 30th until Friday, August 5th at Baltimore and Schull.

It gets underway with a SCORA day passage race on Saturday, July 30th from Kinsale to Baltimore, where they’ll find the brilliantly revitalized International 1720s and the locally-based Heir Island Sloops already into their three-day Baltimore Bank Holiday Championship.

A 30-year-old idea finds new life. With David Love leading the class organisation, the much-revived 1720s were stars in Cork Week 2022. Photo: Rick Tomlinson

Heading west for a re-charging of energy levels in the second half of the season has been part of Irish sailing ever since the early days of the Water Club of the Harbour of Cork in the 1700s, and the local regattas the length of the Atlantic seaboard – all the way from Kinsale to Moville in Donegal – are an integral part of our shared sailing experience, with arguably the most characterful being the Cruinniu na mBad – the Gathering of the Boats – at Kinvara in the southeast corner of Galway Bay, which is marked in for the weekend of August 13-14th after two years in abeyance.

The mighty boats of Connemara – Galway Hookers racing at Kinvara

Nevertheless, it is the bizarre world of West Cork – which is as much a state of mind as a place – where most sailing thoughts will be re-locating as August makes in. There is something about sailing and racing in the waters of Roaring Water Bay and the seas out toward the Fastnet Rock under the eternal presence of Mount Gabriel that gives you the feeling of being at the very heart of existence, with the rest of the cosmos rotating around certain connoisseurs’ bars in Schull.

You can live for the moment or allow the past to intrude. After all, what’s happening at the beginning of August goes back to 1884 and the first Schull Regatta. In doing so, you have to acknowledge a very grim era of Irish history, as Schull was one of the places worst hit by the Great Famine. It arguably wasn’t over until 1854, and its long term ill effects were still much in evidence in 1864, yet just twenty years after that enough life had returned to stage the first Schull Regatta.

We went to the Schull Centenary Regatta in 1984 with the 30-footer I had at the time, getting there after an entertaining cruise to southwest Wales, Lundy, west Cornwall, and the Isles of Scilly. And in Schull, there was a real sense of a very meaningful Centenary.

The ultimate summer place – Schull Harbour with Roaringwater Bay and Carbury’s Hundred Isles beyond

Admittedly Schull in 1984 wasn’t the hyper-prosperous “Dublin 38” it is now, but it was doing very nicely and was glad to have long since moved on from the horrors of the mid-19th Century. And the very fact of staging the Centenary Regatta was such a quietly joyful occasion that it didn’t really matter that the wind fell away completely at mid-race.

THE ALL-MOVING FINISH LINE

For lo, the Race Officers looked out from the Committee Boat and saw that the legendary Imp – at that time owned and skippered by Michael O’Leary of Dun Laoghaire – appeared to have a handsome lead. So they moved the Committee Boat and the pin mark out to a location about fifty yards ahead of the almost totally stationary Imp, and when the slight tide carried Michael and his Merry Men & Women through this ad hoc finish line, they celebrated this winner of the Schull Centenary Regatta with a fusillade of gunfire.

Imp will of course be back in Schull in August thanks to the restoration by George Radley of Cobh. And in the event of total calm, it’s perfectly reasonable to expect the finish line to be re-located precisely as it was 38 years ago.

Data from the M3 and M5 buoys off the South Coast is being recovered for analysis by the Marine Institute to ascertain whether it can explain the cause of a tidal drop of 70 cms reported at Union Hall and Courtmacsherry in West Cork last Saturday afternoon.

Local people described the tide level dropping in a few minutes and then flooding back in.

There have been further reports of similar happenings on the Wexford coast and in Wales.

As Afloat reported earlier, descriptions of what happened in the area of Glandore Harbour where Union Hall is located have varied, from some people describing water levels leaving boats temporarily touching bottom where they were moored, to others who claimed the tide “came in and out several times…” and another comment: “the tide was going the wrong way…”

A fishing boat in Glandore Harbour

Amongst reports of seismological activity on Saturday were a 2.6 magnitude earthquake before noon near the Azores. That was logged at the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre.

Historical context records a 1755 earthquake off the coast of Portugal, which was reported to have caused damage on the Irish South Western coast.

Amongst suggestions for the cause is atmospheric pressure, northerly wind and known water actions at the areas involved. Oceanography sources have tended to discount the incidents in West Cork being associated with the seismic action off Portugal. “It would not be big enough to have that effect,” I was told. “Rare, unusual, possibly driven by a number of factors that may lead to an unusual event, but in this case the cause is so far not clear, so examining date from the buoys at sea may help to indicate it.”

No other Cork coastal areas have reported anything similar.

A Marine Institute statement said: "An unusual tidal event was observed on Saturday 18th June 2022 at Union Hall (West Cork) at 14.40 (UTC) with a low water of -2.629m measured by the Irish Tide Gauge Network.”

Martin Lane’s Chatterbox won the May Cruiser League at Schull Harbour Sailing Club (SHSC) in West Cork.

Michael Murphy’s Shelly D was second and Frank O’Hara’s Samphire third.

The Summer Series begins at SHSC on Saturday, June 11th.

“There was a lot of work, hull planking, fitting the stem post, caulking, filling, fairing, sanding, priming and painting. We lost over two years on the project due to Covid and this old girl was in a worse condition than we initially realised. It was a big undertaking for us but we have got there.”

So say the members of Allihies Men’s Shed on the western tip of the Beara Peninsula in West Cork, who will launch the ‘Dursey Clipper’ this weekend.

It is a seine boat, sixty to seventy years old, which had lain unused for about eleven years on nearby Dursey Island. It was given to them by the oldest resident of the island, Jimmy Harrington, who will be 81 years old next month.

Dursey is the island which made headlines earlier this year when Ireland’s only cable car service there had to be halted for maintenance works. This led to controversy as the island had two permanent residents and farms owned by mainland residents. After discussion, the cable car was replaced by a State-funded ferry.

Allihies Men’s Shed is a strong part of the Beara community. From its maritime tradition, former fishermen are among its members.

Putting the final touches to the Dursey Clipper Seine Boat in the Allihies mens shed on the Beara Peninsula in West Cork

“We were looking for a project and the boat was given to us. We have members who are former fishermen and were delighted to get it,” David Dudley of the Shed told me on my maritime programme/podcast, Maritime Ireland. “Seine boats were used extensively around West Cork for netting, potting and other traditional fishing activities.

The boats would have been up to 27 feet long. This one is shorter at 18 feet. Inshore fishing was strong when they were in use. Herring and mackerel were caught.”

Historical records describe “huge shoals of pilchards that came to the comparatively warm, sheltered waters of West Cork islands during the summer months. There were curing stations in villages to prepare the fish for sale. There was a lot of employment in a vibrant fishing industry and there could be two boats using a seine net, such were the catches.”

Painted in blue with a topside broad, black line. the restored boat is impressive and will be launched this Sunday at 2 pm at a community gathering on Garnish Pier.

It took a bit of discussion to decide on the name!

“We pondered and mulled over the name for the past month and couldn't agree. Then we whittled it down to a shortlist and put it to a vote. ‘Dursey Clipper’ won out,” David Dudley told me. “All are welcome at the launch.”

Listen to him on the Podcast here.

Baltimore RNLI was called out to provide assistance to a yacht with four people on board that got into difficulty 52 miles off the coast of Baltimore, West Cork, yesterday (Sunday 5 June).

The volunteer lifeboat crew launched their all-weather lifeboat just before 1 pm, following requests from the Irish Coast Guard and the UK Coastguard to go to the assistance of a 36-foot motor yacht, with four people on board, which had encountered difficulties and was 52 miles south of Baltimore.

The Baltimore all-weather lifeboat crew arrived at the casualty vessel at 3.22 pm. After making sure all four people on board were okay, Coxswain Aidan Bushe assessed the situation and decided that undertaking a tow was necessary and the safest way to assist the casualties.

Crew members from the lifeboat passed a tow to the yacht and the lifeboat and casualty vessel were underway by 3.30 pm. The lifeboat then proceeded to Baltimore Harbour, the nearest safe and suitable port, and secured the casualty vessel at the pontoon at 10.14pm. The lifeboat then returned to the station, arriving at 10.25 pm.

There were six volunteer crew onboard the lifeboat, Coxswain Aidan Bushe, Mechanic Micheal Cottrell and crew members Pat Collins, David Ryan, Colin Whooley and Jim Griffiths. Conditions at sea during the call were choppy with an easterly force 3-4 wind, a 1.1m sea swell and good visibility.

Speaking following the call out, Kate Callanan, Baltimore RNLI Volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer said: ‘It was a long callout for our volunteer lifeboat crew who spent over 9 hours at sea, but the occupants of the yacht did the right thing in requesting assistance. We wish them well with the rest of their journey. If you get into difficulty at sea or on the coast, call 999 or 112 and ask for the Coast Guard.’

Funds to help regions 'adjust' to Brexit will be used to fund major improvements at 14 harbours across West Cork it was announced earlier this week.

As Afloat reported earlier, the grant is the largest ever funding announcement of its kind for local authority marine infrastructure for piers and harbours right around Ireland's coast.

As a result, many West Cork piers, slipways and pontoons are set to undergo major improvements with 14 out of 15 projects submitted getting green-lit for funds from the Brexit Adjustment Local Authority Marine Infrastructure Scheme 2022-2023.

The funding will go into marine amenities in Kinsale, Courtmacsherry, Glengarriff, Baltimore and some other areas too.

 (Above and below) Glandore Pier - safety improvement works and repairs to the existing slipway are to be carried out Photos: Bob Bateman

Minister Charlie McConalogue T.D.announced the approval of €32.7m in funding for 110 projects around the Irish coast (see table below) which will fund projects worth over €40m in total. The scheme is proposed for funding under the EU Brexit Adjustment Reserve.

Cork South West Deputy Christopher O’Sullivan said it was a very welcome boost for the harbours that will see investment that will benefit all who use them. "I’ve consistently said west Cork’s potential in terms of marine activities is completely untapped," Deputy O’Sullivan told media.

"A way of accessing that is by funding and improving our small piers and harbours, the provision of extra pontoons and more. This will benefit the inshore fishing sector and marine activities such as boat tours, whale watching and kayaking", he said. 

Brexit Adjustment: West Cork's Marine Infrastructure Scheme 2022-2023

• Kinsale - Fisherman's pontoon €1,291,492
• Courtmacsherry - dredging for the reinstallation of the pontoon. €552,000
• Baltimore - Safety improvement works €170,000
• Laheratanvally pier - €202,000
• Turk Head pier - remedial works to pier deck €82,429
• Kinsale Slipways - improvement to various slips €179,254
• Glengarriff - dredging works €212,500
• Cunnamore pier - various works including storage area, handrails, signage, line marking - €90,607
• Glandore Pier - safety improvement works - €84,487, repair to the existing slipway, a new concrete section at toe €68,406

(Above and below) Baltimore Harbour - Safety improvement works to the value of €170,000 will be carried out Photos: Bob Bateman

Download the full Brexit Adjustment: Local Authority Marine Infrastructure Scheme 2022-2023 here