#windsurfing – Galway's top junior windsurfers battled it out over 10 races and a freestyle session for the 2012 Rusheen Bay Windsurfing Junior Academy Awards titles on Saturday.

The winners were Diarmuid Mc Cormack and Fiona Reidy.

The academy began in April and ran every Saturday and Sunday morning. Participants were coached by some of the country's top windsurfers and all showed excellent progress towards the end of the season.

Notable performances also on the day came from Oisin Concannon who won several races. Inline with the competition results, the 2012 Rusheen Bay Junior Mens and Ladies Windsurfer of the year prizes were awarded to Diarmuid McCormack and Fiona Reidy.

The 2013 Junior Windsurfing Academy will recommence again in April.

Scott Kennedy (Manager, RBW), Fiona Reidy (RBW 2012 Ladies Windsurfer of the Year), Diarmuid McCormack (RBW 2012 Mens Windsurfer of the Year), Danny Mulryan (RBW)

#WATERFRONT PROPERTY - Two wonderful properties overlooking Rusheen Bay near Galway city are sure to tempt those looking for a home with stunning views and salty air.

Coole is a spacious (201 sqm) five-bed detached family home on an elevated setting overlooking the bay and close to the amenities of Salthill, Barna and the city, on the market for €360,000.

Accommodation comprises an entrance hall with tile and timber floor, solid timber stairs and under-stairs storage; a living room also with timber flooring, a bay window and gas fireplace; and a kitchen with tiled floor, quality solid timber fittings, islands and all mod cons.

The dining area comes with solid timber floor and double doors to the rear patio, while the utility room to the rear of the kitchen has built-in presses and is plumbed for a washing machine and dryer. It also houses an oil boiler and guest toilet, and has a door to the rear patio and garden.

Solid timber flooring continued on the first floor, with four bedrooms, the main bathroom and a walk-in hot press. The second floor hosts the fifth and largest bedroom, with extensive built-in wardrobes and a tiled en-suite shower.

Outside, a tarmac driveway provides parking for two or three vehicles, and steps lead to a raised lawn and patio at the front, with access to the private rear garden.

Viewing is by appointment only with Sherry FitzGerald Kavanagh at 091 569123. More details on the property, including images, are available HERE.

Nearby, The Irish Times highlights another luxury family home in an area where houses "rarely come to market".

Set just 200 yards from the beach and surfing school, this four-bed home with an asking price of €740,000 stands on a quarter-acre of landscaped gardens and boasts "spectacular" views of Rusheen Bay.

Designed to maximise light, the property of two levels includes a dining room, two sizeable reception areas with marble fireplace and wood-burning stove respectively, and four double-bedrooms (two with bay views).

Viewing is by appointment only with O'Donnellan Joyce at 087 288 7446 or 086 817 3335. More details on the property, including images, are available HERE.

A penthouse apartment in a classic Georgian house on the shores of Galway Bay is now on the market.

Boasting "breathtaking views from every window" according to the Galway Advertiser, the penthouse at Barna House covers the entire top floor of the restored building on around 30 acres of woodland and sweeping lawns beside Rusheen Bay.

Inside the property comprises an entrance hall with cream Travertine tiled floors, high ceilings and moulded cornices; a bedroom wing with two large double bedrooms and two bathrooms, plus an adjoining drawing room that could serve as a third bedroom; and a spacious living and dining area with an "unusually large" kitchen, fully fitted with high gloss light cream units and granite worktops complete with top-of-the-range Neff appliances and burnished walnut floors.

The Galway Advertiser has more details HERE on this "mint condition" property, which is available through James Heaslip at Property Partners Maxwell Heaslip & Leonard (Tel: 091 565261) with an AMV of €650,000.