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Displaying items by tag: northern championships

Howth's Ben Duncan sailing Sharbait has etched another victory in the SB3 class following a weekend of very up and down conditions with some sizeable shifts and changes in pressure at the SB3 Northern Championships at Royal Ulster Yacht Club.

But the PRO team were well able and a full schedule of racing was completed on the Lough. Three of the top four Irish boats from the Worlds took three of the top four spots and had pace on pretty much every one, a further indication that going to Torbay has definitely given these boats a lift.

The Vaughan brothers continued their upward trajectory with a very solid second place. Andrew Ageo had a win in race 2 and pretty steady results to finish third. Dave Cheyne had an up and down regatta. The local sailors was very fast in patches but got buried a couple too many times to challenge.

Sharbait was lucky enough to not have to make too much of the conditions and sailed the fleet to produce another overall win.

Highlights of the weekend for the winners were winning the first race by 2:30 minutes and getting caught up in a match racine with Dave Cheyne for race 3. Cheyne pipped the Howth boat on the line by about a foot.

The next event in the SB3 calendar is the national champs in four weeks time. Flipper and Mel Collins are expected to be back in the fleet along with plenty of further competition.

1st Sharkbait
2nd Toucan 3
3rd Flutter
4th Team Cheyne

SB3NorthernswinnersBen_DuncanHowth_YC

Royal Ulster presents Sharkbait their winning prize. Photos: Ken Hunter

Published in SB20

The stranglehold that Flor O'Driscoll and his crew on 'Hard on Port' from the Royal St.George Yacht Club seem to have on the Irish J/24 Class was maintained with yet another win, this time the Northern Championships hosted by Lough Erne Yacht Club on August 7th/8th, writes Graham Smith.

After a slow start, with a 4th and 6th in the first two races, the Dun Laoghaire boat showed her transom to the other 11 boats in the fleet over the remaining four races in varied wind conditions. The result was an emphatic win by ten points from the runner-up, J.P.McCaldin of the host club sailing 'Jamais Encore'.

Class President Robin Eagleson sailed so consistently on his veteran 'Luder Too' that he tied on points with 'Jamais Encore' and only lost out on a countback, an impressive result considering a 30-year gap in the boats' ages. Third overall and winning the Silver Fleet award for the older J/24s was just reward for an outstanding series.

Current National Champion Mickey McCaldin ('Murder Picture') was consistently in the top six but never really got going and had to settle for 4th overall while the same could be said of Brian McDowell's 'Scandal' from Malahide in 5th place. 'Javlin' (Stan Bradbury from Lough Ree YC) started the event with a bang, recording a 1st and 2nd in the opening races, but two OCSs later on put paid to their chances.

Having already won the Western Championships at Lough Ree in mid-June and an impressive 2nd overall in Class 3 at the ICRA Nationals on Dublin Bay, Flor O'Driscoll and his crew are looking the outstanding favourites to add the national title to their year's tally.

The 2-day event takes place on September 11th/12th at Howth Yacht Club, venue for the J/24 European Championships next year. It will provide J/24 sailors, especially those from the inland lake clubs, to familiarise themselves with the tidal Howth waters before the big event in 2011.

Published in J24

Marine Leisure & Aquatic Tourism

Domestic coastal tourism expenditure was approximately €698 million in 2018, while domestic marine tourism generated €381 million.

Activities such as walking/ running along the coast, swimming and beach visitations are among the most popular activities for domestic visitors on both day and overnight trips.

While participation rates in pursuits such as bird and wildlife watching in coastal areas and visiting nature reserves, etc. in coastal areas were lower, these activities did see the highest frequency of both day and overnight trips for those active in these activities. 

According to the National University of Galway (NUIG) research the average expenditure per coastal day trip in 2018 was calculated at €95. The equivalent for coastal overnight trips was €310. The estimated water-based activity expenditure per person per trip across the sample was €56 rising to €73 for the subsample that actually undertake waterbased activities on their coastal visits. The results also indicate that domestic tourists undertake the majority of their marine activities on the West and South coasts of Ireland and that there are notable differences in participation rates across age groupings, social classes and by family makeup.

A domestic tourist is defined in this report as a person who spends at least one night away from home on their trip. Total expenditure by domestic tourists in coastal areas was estimated to be €698 million in 2018, which represents 35% of the total expenditure by domestic tourists (using the broader Fáilte Ireland measure for domestic tourists that includes business trips equating to 10.92 million in total trips and €2,006 million in total revenue).

The marine-related activity expenditure, or what might truly be referred to as domestic marine tourism, is estimated to generate revenue of €381 million with €172 million being spent on water-based activities. Marine tourism makes up an estimated 19% of total domestic tourism expenditure.

Marine Leisure Tourism - FAQ

Coastal tourism refers to land-based and water-based tourism activities taking place on the coast for which the proximity to the sea is a condition including also their respective services. Coastal and Marine Tourism & Leisure are seen as one of the Blue Economy (BE) sectors that can help unlock the potential of multi-use of space at sea by engaging with Blue Growth (BG) sectors such as Aquaculture and Marine Renewable Energy among others.

Sports: sailing, surfing, diving and fishing Heritage: Unesco coastal villages, archaeological sites of interest, biospheres and historical points of interest Arts: coastal museums, art galleries, museums, wrecks Education: Eco-tourism, field courses, NGOs. Food: Seafood restaurants, Seafood festivals

NUI Galway carried out a survey of domestic residents in Ireland in 2019 as part of a survey entitled "Valuing and understanding the dynamics of Ireland's Ocean Economy". The purpose of the household survey was to profile the domestic market for single-day trips (leisure) and overnight trips (tourism) for coastal and marine-related activities in Ireland. The results of the survey are also used to estimate what proportion of an Irish resident's total domestic tourism expenditure is in coastal areas (coastal tourism) and what proportion is spent on undertaking marine-related activities (marine tourism).

The NUI results highlight the important contribution that Ireland's marine and coastal resources make to the leisure experiences of the general population and the importance of the domestic tourism market to local coastal economies. The analysis indicates that domestic coastal tourism expenditure was approximately €698 million in 2018, while domestic marine tourism generated €381 million. Activities such as walking/ running along the coast, swimming and beach visitations are among the most popular activities for domestic visitors on both day and overnight trips. While participation rates in pursuits such as bird and wildlife watching in coastal areas and visiting nature reserves, etc. in coastal areas were lower, these activities did see the highest frequency of both day and overnight trips for those active in these activities. Satisfaction with the available marine-related leisure facilities was also found to be very high across all activities.

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