Six months on from the Fermanagh floods local lass ‘Shooter’ aims to raise funds for flood stricken SHARE by paddling around Ulster and Ireland.

Ulster Woman – Elaine Alexander (aka Shooter) starts training to tackle her toughest challenge to date. Her long term goal for 2011 is a 1000 mile clockwise circumnavigation of Ireland by Sea Kayak to raise funds for SHARE whose leisure suite was flood stricken last year. However the first step in her long term training programme is to circumnavigate Ulster. Departing on June 26^th, Shooter aims to paddle from SHARE via the Erne/Shannon link to Ballyshannon where she leaves the shelter of the inland waterways to brave the rolling seas. Paddling around the West, North and East Coast, Shooter will finally come back to the sheltered inland waters via the Fane River below Dundalk bay before starting the homeward leg through Monaghan (where she grew up) and back to SHARE.

The Monaghan born lass has worked in the Outdoor Industry (at SHARE) for 15 years and has previously represented Ireland in surf kayaking in Mundaka and Costa Rica and regularly features on the podium in the CANI league. This experience should help her as she suggests

“Paddling in big seas is very different to the sheltered waters of Lough Erne that I train on, but hopefully the experience of paddling in the sea and surf will help me on the trip. There will more than likely be days where the weather is too bad to go out, which I can use as rest days, but hopefully not too many to halt my progress altogether.”

Shooter’s training involves paddling 4 evenings per week on Upper Lough Erne along a ten mile stretch from SHARE to Crom. The picturesque paddle is full of wildlife and forms part of the Lough Erne Canoe Trail which Shooter believes to be one of the best paddling destinations in the world.

“The training is quite easy to get hooked on when you see the scenic beauty of the area. There are lots of islands, one of which plays host to the headquarters of Hare Krishna Community who come out and wave as you pass! There are swans, pine martin and deer as well as Ireland’s oldest Yew Trees, Crom Castle and Gad Island Tower along the route so the scenic beauty is unrivalled. This forms the first section of the route. The Coastline of Ireland is also beautiful, so the element of exploration will keep me motivated!”

Although the initial paddle forms part of her training, Shooter’s goal is to complete the 1000 mile clockwise circumnavigation of Ireland in 2011 as a fundraiser for SHARE. The Charity, set up to promote the inclusion of disabled and non-disabled persons, which has already faced a difficult financial year in the current economic climate will have to overcome the financial burden of the flood damage and lost revenue due to the closure of their gym and leisure suite as Oliver Wilkinson -  Share Chief Executive suggests;

“The leisure suite which has been open for around 14 years was the only fully accessible gym facility in the local area which welcomed many people with disabilities and held a lot of specialist equipment. It is estimated that the damage will total in the region of £700,000.  We are hopeful that a newly refurbished state of the art leisure suite and gym will be open for our peak season and work is already well underway. Shooter’s fundraiser is the first of many challenges that staff and friends of SHARE have decided to undertake over the coming year and we wish her the best of luck on her challenge”

It is estimated that the paddle will take three weeks to complete. If you are interested in following Shooter’s Challenge you can join her facebook group: Canoe Around Ireland which will have regular updates on her progress as well as blogs for each day and photos and video footage en route.

Inniscarra Sailing and Kayaking Club

Inniscarra Sailing and Kayaking Club was set up in 2002. We operate from a recreation area called Innisleana with the kind permission of the ESB. In 2004 the club put in its own dedicated slipway and boat holding area and plans further improvements in the years ahead.

The club is just three miles from Ballincollig (six from Cork City) on the Lee Valley reservoir. We have a small but very keen local membership. Kayaking and sailing events take place throughout the year, mainly at weekends, with some mid-week sailing.

The flagship event of the year is the Commodore's Cup. Kayak races in the morning are followed by a sailing race up the lake from Innisleana to Farran.

The Inniscarra Sailing Club runs ISA accredited sail training in the summer months. 

(The above information and images courtesy of Inniscarra Sailing & Kayaking Club) 

 
Inniscarra Sailing & Kayaking Club, Innisleana, Ballincollig, Co. Cork. For membership information contact: 021 4873994

Have we got your club details? Click here to get involved

West Cork Sailing & Powerboat Centre – 1998 to 2009

In 1998 we discovered an old breezeblock shed next to Adrigole pier and slipway. We thought the location of a building by the edge of a sheltered harbour, surrounded in hills and mountains was perfect for a sailing school.

So, West Cork Sailing Centre was set up and our first 8 dinghies bought.  We operated for two years from the old shed, with no running water. Customers enjoyed the atmosphere, quality of equipment and expert tuition, and recommended us to their friends and family to provide us with more bookings.

In 2000 we got planning permission for our new centre and construction started in December of 2000. Paddy Bat and his team of builders worked hard to complete the building for June of 2001.

The luxury of hot showers, toilets and underfloor heating was wonderful.

The new building has lecture room, offices and cafe area, so The Boat House Cafe was opened for passing customers to enjoy a cappuchino while watching the boats sail by. In 2002 we received our Wine Licence.

2004 was a very busy summer and one of our children was very ill, so we closed the cafe to passing trade at the end of the summer and the comfortable dining area is now for our sailors only. We provide a buffet lunch with lovely home made soup to our sailors every day.

In 2004, the fleet increased to 40 boats and a team of ten instructors working in the summer. The cafe is now known as the Bistro and is now only open to our customers or parties.  This gives our customers their own relaxing lounge room to catch up on the days events at lunch time and at the end of the day.

The local area has taken a great interest in the development of sailing and to try and increase the availability of boats to the area we have linked up with Bere Island Sailing Club with three 20ft Sun 2000's from Jeaneau, which are in our fleet.  We also take care of Beara Community Schools fleet of six Toppers.

2005 and our dream boat joins the fleet – A Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 37 Legende. She is just perfect for comfortable sail training. So, we now offer the ISA Cruising Scheme training courses – Yachtmaster, Day Skipper and Competent Crew. The centre also became RYA approved to provide dinghy, keelboat, powerboat and cruising RYA certificates to our UK customers.

In September 2006 the Commercial Yachtmaster Intensive training course was launched and the centre is now busy throughout each winter training complete beginners to become Yachtmasters on a six-month course.

It is now 2008 and we have a total fleet of 50 boats, kayaks, dinghies, keelboats, powerboats and yacht.

The future is bright, as we plan to build the West Cork Adventure Centre with high ropes, low ropes, indoor climbing, archery, underground mazes, orienteering, climbing and much more. All inconjunction with the development of accommodation designed specifically for the outdoor enthusiast. So watch this space as this new dream develops.

We are open to new projects and ways of developing sailing within the area, so if you have any ideas please get in touch.

We hope to see you on the water with us soon.

Gail and Niall Mac Allister

THE NEW BUILDING HAS:
DINING ROOM- with Balcony overlooking harbour and Hungry Hill
HOT SHOWERS - peel your wet suit off in a hot shower!
HEATED CHANGING ROOMS - luxury
HEATED CLASSROOMS - with French doors out to pier
HEATED DRYING ROOM - dry wet suits

Open Hours: September to June – 10am to 5pm, Monday to Friday, and July to August – 10am to 5pm, every day

West Cork Sailing Centre, The Boat House, Adrigole, Beara, Co Cork. Tel: + 353 (0)27 60132, Email: [email protected]