Menu

Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Displaying items by tag: Autumn League

#hyc – Another afternoon of fresh winds provided 118 boats with testing racing conditions for Howth Yacht Club's second weekend of Autumn League racing. A consistent south-easterly wind afforded the race management teams the opportunity of setting long race courses for all 10 classes. Scroll down for more photos by Gareth Craig.

On the 'inshore course', the Etchells were first away and Mike Evans's 'Valkyrie' wasted no time by taking first place and leading the fleet overall after the two races of this series. After a hard-fought race, Mossy Shanahan and his crew on "Crazy Horse' finished ahead of the J24 'Hard on Port' (Flor O'Driscoll) to trail them by one point on overall standings.

Following a disappointing result in their first week on the Puppeteer 'Harlequin', Dave Clarke and Liam Egan took line honours this week but have some work to do to catch 'Gold Dust' and 'Yellow Peril' at the top of the leaderboard. 'Mayfly' leads the Handicap scoreboard by 3 points.

By keeping within one and a half minutes of race winner 'Kerfuffle', Ronan McDonnell in his Squib "Fantome' remains on top in that class in both scratch and handicap.

Peter Courtney's 'Oona' led the Howth Seventeen class all the way around the course, but Brian and Conor Turvey's 'Isobel' still leads the class after last week's win, albeit on equal points with 'Pauline'. The 'two Kevins' (O'Byrne and Finucane) in 'Eileen' took handicap honours this week.

Pat Kelly's 'Storm' was a decisive victor in both IRC and ECHO divisions of Class 1 on the offshore course and Ross McDonald's 'Equinox' will be pushing 'Crazy Horse' all the way for the next place.

While 'Maximus' with Paddy Kyne and crew continue to dominate Class 2 with victories again in both IRC and ECHO divisions, Vince Gaffney's 'Alliance II' looks like the boat that all Class 3 IRC competitors will be seeking to beat - 'Starlet and 'Goyave' share top spot on ECHO.

In White Sails Class 4, 'Tiger' and 'Orna' will continue to share the spoils - 'Orna' won the IRC race and 'Tiger' took the prize for ECHO. In Class 5, Harry Byrne's 'Alphida' won the IRC race while Andy Knowles's 'Sandpiper' was uncatchable in the ECHO division race, winning by a margin of over 4 minutes.

In a division that will demand consistent results throughout the series, team prize leaders 'Orna', 'Valkyrie' and 'King One' lead by 36 points.

Published in Howth YC

#hyc – Boat of the year, Pat Kelly's J109 'Storm', reveled in lively conditions to take first place in Class 1 IRC of Howth's Autumn league yesterday, but had to share the honours for the ECHO prize with the Reilly-Chambers owned 'Crazy Horse'. Autumn league race one results here.

Third was Stephen O'Flaherty's Spirit 54 'Soufriere' and Ross McDonald and his team on 'Equinox', who will have been pleased to take 3rd place in IRC by a margin of 19 seconds after over two hours of racing.

A fresh westerly wind provided the 114 entries to the 2012 League with a lively start on the first of this 6-race series.

Nine classes in two separate fleets enjoyed perfect conditions with 15-20 knot conditions and race officers David Lovegrove and Richard Kissane made the most of the opportunity that facilitated ideal 'round the cans' racing.

In Class 2 Patrick Kyne's 'Maximus' dominated both IRC and ECHO divisions and only 11 seconds separated 'Dux', 'Sunburn' and 'King One' in that sequence in IRC. Malahide Yacht Club's Vincent O'Shea and James O'Brien in Buskwakka proved that the weather was on their side with a 2nd place in ECHO.

Howth's Vince Gaffney in 'Alliance II' showed the other boats in Class 3 that he will be the one to watch over the next 5 weeks, beating 'Starlet' and 'Goyave' in IRC with more than 3 minutes to spare - quite a margin in a day full of very close results. Eddie Bourke and his team on 'Starlet' were 1st in the ECHO division, with Malahide's 'Goyave' and 'Tobago' keeping the pressure up immediately behind.

Paul Tully and his crew on Dun Laoghaire's 'White Lotus' must have had the Harris-Hughes owned 'Tiger' baring their teeth when they finished ahead of them in the White Sails Class 4 ECHO division by just 1 second. They will be strongly challenged in this series by NYC's Philip Dilworth and crew on his Grand Soleil 42 'Orna' who finished 3rd but took 1st prize in the IRC division and their record in recent Howth events means that they will certainly be the boat to beat in this class.

The Class 5 White Sails race was won by Peter and Declan McCabe's 'Arcturus', narrowly pushing 'Sandpiper' into second place in ECHO. Stephanie Ennis and Windsor Laudan's classic Club Shamrock 'Demelza' took the honours in IRC and will be a tough boat to beat in this class.

On the one-design racecourse, Simon Knowles and team on his Etchells 'Jabberwocky' just finished ahead of Mike Evans's 'Valkyrie', with a gap of only 16 seconds separating them.

Howth's Flor O'Driscoll in the J24 'Hard on Port' won a close race from Stefan Hyde and his team on RCYC's 'Nyah', closely followed by Mossy Shanahan's 'Crazy Horse' and Brian McDowell and Noel Davidson's 'Scandal'.

Twenty entries and a very busy start line for the Puppeteer class saw two boats OCS at the start gun, but not Susan Sheridan's 'Ibis', which finished 1st ahead of 'in-form' boats 'Gold Dust' and 'Eclipse', with Susan and team also taking the Handicap prize.

In the Squib Class, Ronan MacDonnell's 'Fantome also did 'the double' winning both Scratch and Handicap divisions.

Turvey brothers Brian and Conor with their crew in the Howth 17 'Isobel' took line honours from 'Pauline' while the winner on handicap was Bryan and Harriette Lynch's 'Echo'.

Ten teams are be competing for the Olympus Team Trophy and the standings after this first week show the Howth trio of 'Crazy Horse' (Class 1), 'Bite the Bullet' (Class 4) and 'Voyager' (Class 5) leading the field by 14 points.

Published in Howth YC

Southerly gales put paid to racing on the final day of the WD-40 Autumn League, sponsored by Team PR Reilly, leaving the series to be decided on the results of the three races sailed on previous weekends. With one Sunday abandoned for lack of wind and the last day a complete blow-out, the League was, for the first time in many years, reduced to half of its schedule of races.

 

In some classes, it didn’t really matter a lot, with a number of three-wins-in-a-row crews on target to wrap up their particular series. In Class 1, for instance, ‘Storm’ (Pat Kelly) and ‘Tiger’ (Harris/Hughes) had treble successes on IRC and ECHO respectively so were clear winners in those categories while Anthony Gore-Grimes’ ‘Dux’ had the same score-sheet on IRC in Class 2. Nearest rival was ‘Indigo’ (Ritchie/Eadie) which had the satisfaction of reversing that order to win the ECHO prize.

 

Class 3 showed the best results for visitors, with Alfred Mayrs’ ‘Quickflash’ from Antrim securing the IRC title by a single point from Russell Camier and Colm Fitzpatrick’s ‘Goyave’ from Malahide, with the latter enjoying success on ECHO by winning that division, also by a point, from Ed Bourke’s Starlet.

 

Colm Bermingham’s ‘Bite the Bullet’ won Class 4 IRC by the narrowest of margins from ‘Changeling’ (Kieran Jameson), which had to settle for second again on ECHO, this time behind the impressive debutant ‘Sojourn’ (Lacy/Blandford). Harry Byrne and the crew of ‘Alphida’ retained their Class 5 IRC title, a point ahead of ‘Demelza’ (Ennis/Lauden), but the veteran Shamrock enjoyed a second successive series victory on ECHO.

 

Three straight wins gave the Etchells top prize to Jay Bourke in ‘Dirty Protest’ while despite missing the second race because he was competing in the All-Ireland Sailing Championship at Lough Derg, Flor O’Driscoll (‘Hard on Port’) took the J/24 title from Mossy Shanahan’s ‘Crazy Horse’ (on the same points) because of winning the other two races.

 

It was success on the double in the Puppeteers for the Walls/Browne partnership on ‘Gold Dust’, with a narrow win over ‘Mojo’ (Callen/Stanley) on scratch and a bigger four point gap on handicap over the same opposition.

 

It was a similar story in both the Squibs and 17s, with Kerfuffle (Craig/Ruane) winning the former and ‘Oona’ (Peter Courtney) the latter both on scratch and handicap. 

Published in Howth YC

In stark contrast to the previous weekend, when lack of wind prevented racing, the second race of the WD-40 Autumn League at Howth Yacht Club was sailed in fresh and gusty south-westerlies which had a bearing on a dozen non-finishers among the 150 boats on the entry list.

Half of the classes witnessed second successive wins for the leading boats, with Class 1, 2 and 3 being headed again by ‘Storm’ (Pat Kelly), ‘Dux’ (Anthony Gore-Grimes) and ‘Quickflash’ (Alfred Mayrs) respectively. In the one-design classes, there were wins on the double for Jay Bourke in the Etchells, Callen & Stanley in the Puppeteers, Craig & Ruane in the Squibs and Peter Courtney in the 17s.

Indeed, the latter two had impressive victories, with Craig & Ruane winning by over 5 minutes and Courtney having almost the same margin over second-placed ‘Deilginis’, results which also gained them handicap wins too.

‘Mojo’ (Callen & Stanley) had a minute and a half to spare over ‘Gold Dust’ (Walls & Browne) and that was enough to win on handicap as well and Mossy Shanahan’s ‘Crazy Horse’ had a similar gap at the top of the J24 fleet ahead of ‘Scandal’, the Malahide boat loaned to the HYC Development Squad (Red Team) who were a mere 12 seconds behind the other HYC Development Squad in the borrowed ‘Kilcullen’.

A notable absentee was J/24 National Champion Flor O’Driscoll who was in Lough Derg at the ISA All-Ireland Sailing Championship where he finished 5th overall, just one place behind another HYC representative, SB3 champion Ben Duncan.

Jay Bourke’s ‘Dirty Protest’ had almost two minutes on ‘Jabberwocky’ (Simon Knowles) in the Etchells although Simon’s father Andy (‘Sandpiper’) fared better in Class 5, winning by over 3 minutes corrected (on ECHO) from ‘Demelza’  (Ennis/Laudan)(which now holds the overall lead), while Harry Byrne’s ‘Alphida’ recorded another IRC win.

Class 4 saw ‘Sojourn’ (Lacy/Blandford) win fairly handily from ‘Changeling’ (Kieran Jameson) on ECHO while ‘Changeling’ took the IRC honours to head that division overall.

Class 3 has the distinction of having the most visiting boats of any class and the local boats are finding it difficult to disrupt the performances of the visitors. Alfred Mayrs ‘Quickflash’ from Antrim won again on IRC, although only narrowly from Malahide’s ‘Goyave’ (Camier/Fitzpatrick), with the positions reversed on ECHO.

It was a top three repeat performance in Class 2, where ‘Dux’ (Anthony Gore-Grimes) again headed the 14-boat fleet, with ‘Indigo’ (Ritchie/Eadie) and ‘Maximus’ (Paddy Kyne) against 2nd and 3rd respectively on IRC, with the top two swapping positions on ECHO both in the race and in the overall rankings.

Unsurprising, ‘Crazy Horse’ took line honours in Class 1 but it was Pat Kelly’s ‘Storm’ which enjoyed a comfortable IRC win over ‘Tiger’ (Harris/Hughes) although the positions were the other way around on ECHO.

The third race in the WD-40 Autumn League sponsored by Team PR Reilly, is schedule for next Sunday morning, October 16th.  

HOWTH YACHT CLUB.  AUTUMN LEAGUE (RACE) 09/10/2011   Class 1  IRC:  1, Storm P Kelly HYC;  2, Tiger Harris/Hughes HYC;  3, Crazy Horse Chambers/Reilly HYC;  Class 1  ECHO:  1, Tiger Harris/Hughes HYC;  2, Storm P Kelly HYC;  3, Makutu Doyle/Others HYC;  Class 2  IRC:  1, Dux A Gore-Grimes HYC;  2, Indigo Ritchie/Eadie HYC;  3, Maximus P Kyne HYC;  Class 2  ECHO:  1, Indigo Ritchie/Eadie HYC;  2, Dux A Gore-Grimes HYC;  3, Maximus P Kyne HYC;  Class 3  IRC:  1, Quickflash A Mayrs ABSC;  2, Goyave Camier/Fitzpatrick MYC;  3, Starlet E Bourke HYC;  Class 3  ECHO:  1, Goyave Camier/Fitzpatrick MYC;  2, Quickflash A Mayrs ABSC;  3, Starlet E Bourke HYC;  Class 4  ECHO:  1, Sojourn Lacy/Blandford HYC;  2, Changeling K Jameson HYC;  3, Trinculo M Fleming HYC;  Class 4  IRC:  1, Changeling K Jameson HYC;  2, Trinculo M Fleming HYC;  3, Bite the Bullet C Bermingham HYC;  Class 5  ECHO:  1, Sandpiper A Knowles HYC;  2, Demelza Ennis/Laudan HYC;  3, Alphida H Byrne HYC;  Class 5  IRC:  1, Alphida H Byrne HYC;  2, Demelza Ennis/Laudan HYC;  3, Sandpiper A Knowles HYC;  Puppeteer  SCRATCH:  1, Mojo Callen/Stanley HYC;  2, Gold Dust Walls/Browne HYC;  3, Trick or Treat A Pearson HYC;  Puppeteer  HPH:  1, Mojo Callen/Stanley HYC;  2, Gold Dust Walls/Browne HYC;  3, Weh Hey T Kennedy HYC;  Squib  SCRATCH:  1, Kerfuffle Craig/Ruane HYC;  2, Too Dee D Sheahan HYC;  3, Puffin E Harte HYC;  Squib  HPH:  1, Kerfuffle Craig/Ruane HYC;  2, Too Dee D Sheahan HYC;  3, Puffin E Harte HYC;  17 Footer  SCRATCH:  1, Oona P Courtney HYC;  2, Deilginis Deilginis HYC;  3, Leila R Cooper HYC;  17 Footer  HPH:  1, Oona P Courtney HYC;  2, Deilginis Deilginis HYC;  3, Leila R Cooper HYC;  Etchells  SCRATCH:  1, Dirty Protest J Bourke HYC/GSC;  2, Jabberwocky S Knowles HYC;  3, Glance O'Reilly/Dix HYC;  J 24  SCRATCH:  1, Crazy Horse M Shanahan HYC;  2, Scandal HYC Dev Sq Red HYC;  3, Kilcullen HYC Dev Sq White HYC

Published in Howth YC

Day One of the Autumn Sailing Regatta commenced at 8.30 am yesterday when Royal Cork Yacht Club was jam packed and rocking with the excitement of the Ireland vs Italy rugby match writes Claire Bateman. (SCROLL DOWN FOR GALLERY)

After the glorious Irish victory the fleets headed out into the mist hoping that a bit of breeze would fill in. The mood was buoyant and the atmosphere sizzling but alas and alack on attempting to set a course the hard working David O'Brien, Principal Race Officer for Classes 3, 4 and whitesail, on Admiral Paddy McGlade's Sabone, would appear to have encountered the wrath of the weather gods who must have been rooting for the Italians today! As the Race Officer described it "the fog would roll away for some 200 yards and some minutes later it would roll back in again" and at times it was raining and other times it was dry.

autumn_league1

Once the fog lifted, there was some breeze for racing. Photo: Bob Bateman. More photos below.

The fog descended and visibility was so reduced he couldn't even see the pin end of the line that had just been laid. However, after a short delay the a small breeze filled and the fog lifted sufficently to enable a start. Class 3 were first away with the exception of Outrigger who had to return to start having been over the line. Then it was the turn of the Whitesail fleet who headed off into the mist accompanied by a number of dolphins.

Meanwhile Classes 0, 1, 2 and 1720s, under PRO Richard Leonard, stayed in the harbour where they sailed windward/leeward courses with a start off Spike and despite the conditions they managed two races . The committee boat for these fleets was kindly provided by Paschal Healy who had on board the Senior partner of the sponsor firm, Irene O'Donovan, assisting with Race duties. In the second race for these fleets Buoys 10 and 16 were used for the windward/leeward course giving Classes 0 and 1720s three rounds and Class 1 two rounds. Towards the final round the wind died and crews struggled to round 16 before the wind filled in enough to get all boats finished.

Given the conditions it was a wonderful achievement to get in any racing at all for the large fleet on the day and hopefully next Sundays' racing will enjoy better conditions and will return to the scheduled start time of 11.55am.

Published in Royal Cork YC

Howth Yacht Club’s ever-popular 6-race Autumn League, which will attract over 130 entries in 11 classes, starts next Sunday (25th September), with Team PR Reilly as the title sponsor using its WD-40 brand.

 

Team PR Reilly is Ireland’s largest distributor of motor parts and car accessories and its sponsorship continues a close association with Howth Yacht Club, having supported previous years’ Autumn Leagues with its WD-40 and Green Works brands.

 

Additional sponsorship will be provided by HB Dennis Airside, the Range Rover, Land Rover and Volvo dealer, who will use the Volvo brand with which it supported the Puppeteer Nationals earlier in the year. Prizes of a number of 1-year Windguru PRO subscriptions have also been offered by Windguru.

 

Event Chairman, Brian O’Neill said, “We are delighted to receive offers of sponsorship from Team PR Reilly, HB Dennis and Windguru.  Their support is crucial to the success of events like this and we truly value that support.  The stage is now set for an exciting competition for competitors, club and sponsors alike.”

 

In a repeat of last year’s successful format, the WD-40 Autumn League will include four Sunday ‘round the cans’ races and culminate with two back-to-back windward-leeward races on Saturday 22nd October. The Sunday start times have been put back by one hour to accommodate competitors wishing to watch Irish World Cup Rugby matches earlier each morning.

 

The event will again feature a Mini Series for Cruiser classes over the last three weekends to encourage southside entries after the Dublin Bay season ends.

 

Six one-design classes will be given starts, including the J24 Class just after its BMW European Championships at Howth. The Heineken Trophy will be presented to the best overall winner and the Olympus Trophy will go to the best team of three boats (each boat from a different class) declared before the first race.

 

Entries can be made online at www.hyc.ie

 

 

Published in Howth YC

HOWTH YACHT CLUB. AUTUMN LEAGUE (O'ALL) 16/10/2010 Class 1 IRC: 1, Storm P Kelly HYC (6.00); 2, Equinox R McDonald HYC (12.00); 3, Crazy Horse Chambers/Reilly HYC (14.00); Class 1 ECHO: 1, Equinox R McDonald HYC (7.00); 2, Storm P Kelly HYC (10.00); 3, Tiger Hughes/Harris HYC (16.00); Class 2 IRC: 1, Kinetic Colwell/Murphy HYC (11.50); 2, King One D Cullen HYC (17.50); 3, Impetuous Noonan/Chambers HYC (19.00); Class 2 ECHO: 1, Impetuous Noonan/Chambers HYC (14.00); 2, Kinetic Colwell/Murphy HYC (17.50); 3, C'est la Vie Flannelly/Others HYC (20.50); Class 3 IRC: 1, Alliance V Gaffney HYC (7.00); 2, Gecko K Darmody HYC (11.00); 3, Holly B MacMahon HYC (14.00); Class 3 ECHO: 1, Tobago Ray/Others MYC (14.00); 2, Gecko K Darmody HYC (14.00); 3, Rossinver C Scott HYC (16.00); Class 4 ECHO: 1, Bite the Bullet C Bermingham HYC (9.00); 2, On the Rox C & J Boyle HYC (12.00); 3, FanatiX R Fanning HYC (12.00); Class 4 IRC: 1, Flashback Hogg/Others HYC (8.00); 2, Bite the Bullet C Bermingham HYC (8.00); 3, Trinculo M Fleming HYC (12.00); Class 5 ECHO: 1, Demelza Ennis/Laudan HYC (8.00); 2, Harmony D & H Toomey HYC (16.00); 3, Force Five R & J McAllister HYC (17.00); Class 5 IRC: 1, Alphida H Byrne HYC (8.00); 2, Voyager J Carton HYC (10.00); 3, Force Five R & J McAllister HYC (14.00); Puppeteer SCRATCH: 1, Harlequin Clarke/Egan HYC (8.00); 2, Ibis G May HYC (16.00); 3, Yellow Peril N Murphy HYC (17.00); Puppeteer HPH: 1, Harlequin Clarke/Egan HYC (25.00); 2, Flycatcher Wright/Dillon HYC (26.00); 3, Gepetto E O'Reilly HYC (27.00); Squib SCRATCH: 1, Klipbok E Dalton HYC (5.00); 2, Kerfuffle Craig/Raune HYC (7.00); 3, Shadowfax P Merry HYC (11.00); Squib HPH: 1, Puffin E Harte HYC (11.00); 2, Shadowfax P Merry HYC (12.00); 3, Kerfuffle Craig/Raune HYC (13.00); 17 Footer SCRATCH: 1, Aura I Malcolm HYC (6.00); 2, Rita Lynch/Curley HYC (9.00); 3, Oona P Courtney HYC (19.00); 17 Footer HPH: 1, Aura I Malcolm HYC (7.00); 2, Sheila D Bothwell HYC (10.00); 3, Rita Lynch/Curley HYC (20.00); Etchells SCRATCH: 1, Northside Dragon J Bourke RStGYC (12.00); 2, Jabberwocky S Knowles HYC (13.00); 3, Kootamundra O'Grady/Reilly HYC (15.00); J 24 SCRATCH: 1, Jibberish O'Kelly/Others HYC (8.00); 2, Scandal B McDowell MYC (9.00); 3, Hard on Port F O'Driscoll RStGYC (10.00)

Published in Howth YC
10th October 2010

Storm Wins IRC 1 in Howth

HOWTH YACHT CLUB. AUTUMN LEAGUE (RACE) 10/10/2010 Class 1 IRC: 1, Storm P Kelly HYC; 2, Crazy Horse Chambers/Reilly HYC; 3, Equinox R McDonald HYC; Class 1 ECHO: 1, Storm P Kelly HYC; 2, Equinox R McDonald HYC; 3, Aztec P Beamish RIYC; Class 2 IRC: 1, Xebec T Giles HYC; 2, Dux A Gore-Grimes HYC; 3, Sunburn I Byrne HYC; Class 2 ECHO: 1, Xebec T Giles HYC; 2, Maximus P Kyne HYC; 3, Impetuous Noonan/Chambers HYC; Class 3 IRC: 1, Starlet E Bourke HYC; 2, Alliance V Gaffney HYC; 3, Holly B MacMahon HYC; Class 3 ECHO: 1, Tobago Ray/Others MYC; 2, Shenanigans Douglas/Keane MYC; 3, Rossinver C Scott HYC; Class 4 ECHO: 1, FanatiX R Fanning HYC; 2, Bite the Bullet C Bermingham HYC; 3, Trinculo M Fleming HYC; Class 4 IRC: 1, Flashback Hogg/Others HYC; 2, Bite the Bullet C Bermingham HYC; 3, Trinculo M Fleming HYC; Class 5 ECHO: 1, Sandpiper A Knowles HYC; 2, Walter Mitty S & D Mullaney HYC; 3, Harmony D & H Toomey HYC; Class 5 IRC: 1, Sandpiper A Knowles HYC; 2, Alphida H Byrne HYC; 3, Harmony D & H Toomey HYC; Puppeteer SCRATCH: 1, Gold Dust Walls/Browne HYC; 2, Harlequin Clarke/Egan HYC; 3, Trick or Treat A Pearson HYC; Puppeteer HPH: 1, Gepetto E O'Reilly HYC; 2, Gold Dust Walls/Browne HYC; 3, Trick or Treat A Pearson HYC; 17 Footer SCRATCH: 1, Leila R Cooper HYC; 2, Aura I Malcolm HYC; 3, Oona P Courtney HYC; 17 Footer HPH: 1, Leila R Cooper HYC; 2, Aura I Malcolm HYC; 3, Sheila D Bothwell HYC; Etchells SCRATCH: 1, Northside Dragon J Bourke RStGYC; 2, Jabberwocky S Knowles HYC; 3, Gelert J Flynn HYC; J 24 SCRATCH: 1, Hard on Port F O'Driscoll RStGYC; 2, Jibberish O'Kelly/Others HYC; 3, Scandal B McDowell MYC
Published in Howth YC
Images by Bob Bateman from the first race of Royal Cork's Autumn league are on the gallery HERE. Was all that sunshine really here only last Sunday? Brrrr.....
Published in Royal Cork YC

An 80 boat fleet set sail for the opening day of the Autumn League at the Royal Cork Yacht Club Regatta today writes Claire Bateman.

While conditions setting out were typical of a lovely Autumn day, the wind, however, was to prove fickle going up and down changing direction. As a consequence of this Race Officer David O'Brien with the Red fleet made up a course to suit the conditions and Race Officer Richard Leonard brought the Green fleet to the Eastern bank where they were to sail a laid course. The Whitesail fleets sailed an extra leg to their race as they have decided to have only one race each day.

The Red fleet started their first race at Whitebay and went to a laid mark on the eastern shore before spinnkaers were hoisted to be dropped shortly afterwards as they headed for OFE 2 before fetching across to Ringabella and running in to a finish at no. 5. Race 2 saw a beat out to W2 for Classes Zero, One and 1720s and a run back to No.11 where the course was shortened. Shortly after the start of the race a shower came and with it some wind but when the rain stopped the wind died resulting in the shortening of the course. Class 2 were also given a beat out to W2 but they were given a shorter course finishing at No. 7.

As usual we had welcome visitors from Kinsale, Dungarvan, Waterford and Cobh participating. It was good to see Jump Juice back in the water as it also was to see Indulgence back in action again. And perhaps best of all was to see a resurgence of 1720s back on their home waters in Cork Harbour.

Prize giving took place immediately after racing and the prizes were distributed by Irene O'Donovan a Partner in the sponsor firm of O'Flynn Exhams Solicitors.

Racing will continue next Sunday with first gun at 10.55am.

_81Y4830

_81Y4838

_81Y4840

_81Y4848

_81Y4856

_81Y4862

_DSC3475

_DSC3483

_DSC3485

_DSC3501

_DSC3504

_DSC3507

_DSC3512

_DSC3575

_DSC3559

 

First Race Results on Royal Cork Site HERE

More Bob Bateman Photos on the Gallery HERE

 

Published in Royal Cork YC
Page 5 of 6

The Irish Coast Guard

The Irish Coast Guard is Ireland's fourth 'Blue Light' service (along with An Garda Síochána, the Ambulance Service and the Fire Service). It provides a nationwide maritime emergency organisation as well as a variety of services to shipping and other government agencies.

The purpose of the Irish Coast Guard is to promote safety and security standards, and by doing so, prevent as far as possible, the loss of life at sea, and on inland waters, mountains and caves, and to provide effective emergency response services and to safeguard the quality of the marine environment.

The Irish Coast Guard has responsibility for Ireland's system of marine communications, surveillance and emergency management in Ireland's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and certain inland waterways.

It is responsible for the response to, and co-ordination of, maritime accidents which require search and rescue and counter-pollution and ship casualty operations. It also has responsibility for vessel traffic monitoring.

Operations in respect of maritime security, illegal drug trafficking, illegal migration and fisheries enforcement are co-ordinated by other bodies within the Irish Government.

On average, each year, the Irish Coast Guard is expected to:

  • handle 3,000 marine emergencies
  • assist 4,500 people and save about 200 lives
  • task Coast Guard helicopters on missions

The Coast Guard has been around in some form in Ireland since 1908.

Coast Guard helicopters

The Irish Coast Guard has contracted five medium-lift Sikorsky Search and Rescue helicopters deployed at bases in Dublin, Waterford, Shannon and Sligo.

The helicopters are designated wheels up from initial notification in 15 minutes during daylight hours and 45 minutes at night. One aircraft is fitted and its crew trained for under slung cargo operations up to 3000kgs and is available on short notice based at Waterford.

These aircraft respond to emergencies at sea, inland waterways, offshore islands and mountains of Ireland (32 counties).

They can also be used for assistance in flooding, major inland emergencies, intra-hospital transfers, pollution, and aerial surveillance during daylight hours, lifting and passenger operations and other operations as authorised by the Coast Guard within appropriate regulations.

Irish Coastguard FAQs

The Irish Coast Guard provides nationwide maritime emergency response, while also promoting safety and security standards. It aims to prevent the loss of life at sea, on inland waters, on mountains and in caves; and to safeguard the quality of the marine environment.

The main role of the Irish Coast Guard is to rescue people from danger at sea or on land, to organise immediate medical transport and to assist boats and ships within the country's jurisdiction. It has three marine rescue centres in Dublin, Malin Head, Co Donegal, and Valentia Island, Co Kerry. The Dublin National Maritime Operations centre provides marine search and rescue responses and coordinates the response to marine casualty incidents with the Irish exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

Yes, effectively, it is the fourth "blue light" service. The Marine Rescue Sub-Centre (MRSC) Valentia is the contact point for the coastal area between Ballycotton, Co Cork and Clifden, Co Galway. At the same time, the MRSC Malin Head covers the area between Clifden and Lough Foyle. Marine Rescue Co-ordination Centre (MRCC) Dublin covers Carlingford Lough, Co Louth to Ballycotton, Co Cork. Each MRCC/MRSC also broadcasts maritime safety information on VHF and MF radio, including navigational and gale warnings, shipping forecasts, local inshore forecasts, strong wind warnings and small craft warnings.

The Irish Coast Guard handles about 3,000 marine emergencies annually, and assists 4,500 people - saving an estimated 200 lives, according to the Department of Transport. In 2016, Irish Coast Guard helicopters completed 1,000 missions in a single year for the first time.

Yes, Irish Coast Guard helicopters evacuate medical patients from offshore islands to hospital on average about 100 times a year. In September 2017, the Department of Health announced that search and rescue pilots who work 24-hour duties would not be expected to perform any inter-hospital patient transfers. The Air Corps flies the Emergency Aeromedical Service, established in 2012 and using an AW139 twin-engine helicopter. Known by its call sign "Air Corps 112", it airlifted its 3,000th patient in autumn 2020.

The Irish Coast Guard works closely with the British Maritime and Coastguard Agency, which is responsible for the Northern Irish coast.

The Irish Coast Guard is a State-funded service, with both paid management personnel and volunteers, and is under the auspices of the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport. It is allocated approximately 74 million euro annually in funding, some 85 per cent of which pays for a helicopter contract that costs 60 million euro annually. The overall funding figure is "variable", an Oireachtas committee was told in 2019. Other significant expenditure items include volunteer training exercises, equipment, maintenance, renewal, and information technology.

The Irish Coast Guard has four search and rescue helicopter bases at Dublin, Waterford, Shannon and Sligo, run on a contract worth 50 million euro annually with an additional 10 million euro in costs by CHC Ireland. It provides five medium-lift Sikorsky S-92 helicopters and trained crew. The 44 Irish Coast Guard coastal units with 1,000 volunteers are classed as onshore search units, with 23 of the 44 units having rigid inflatable boats (RIBs) and 17 units having cliff rescue capability. The Irish Coast Guard has 60 buildings in total around the coast, and units have search vehicles fitted with blue lights, all-terrain vehicles or quads, first aid equipment, generators and area lighting, search equipment, marine radios, pyrotechnics and appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE). The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) and Community Rescue Boats Ireland also provide lifeboats and crews to assist in search and rescue. The Irish Coast Guard works closely with the Garda Siochána, National Ambulance Service, Naval Service and Air Corps, Civil Defence, while fishing vessels, ships and other craft at sea offer assistance in search operations.

The helicopters are designated as airborne from initial notification in 15 minutes during daylight hours, and 45 minutes at night. The aircraft respond to emergencies at sea, on inland waterways, offshore islands and mountains and cover the 32 counties. They can also assist in flooding, major inland emergencies, intra-hospital transfers, pollution, and can transport offshore firefighters and ambulance teams. The Irish Coast Guard volunteers units are expected to achieve a 90 per cent response time of departing from the station house in ten minutes from notification during daylight and 20 minutes at night. They are also expected to achieve a 90 per cent response time to the scene of the incident in less than 60 minutes from notification by day and 75 minutes at night, subject to geographical limitations.

Units are managed by an officer-in-charge (three stripes on the uniform) and a deputy officer in charge (two stripes). Each team is trained in search skills, first aid, setting up helicopter landing sites and a range of maritime skills, while certain units are also trained in cliff rescue.

Volunteers receive an allowance for time spent on exercises and call-outs. What is the difference between the Irish Coast Guard and the RNLI? The RNLI is a registered charity which has been saving lives at sea since 1824, and runs a 24/7 volunteer lifeboat service around the British and Irish coasts. It is a declared asset of the British Maritime and Coast Guard Agency and the Irish Coast Guard. Community Rescue Boats Ireland is a community rescue network of volunteers under the auspices of Water Safety Ireland.

No, it does not charge for rescue and nor do the RNLI or Community Rescue Boats Ireland.

The marine rescue centres maintain 19 VHF voice and DSC radio sites around the Irish coastline and a digital paging system. There are two VHF repeater test sites, four MF radio sites and two NAVTEX transmitter sites. Does Ireland have a national search and rescue plan? The first national search and rescue plan was published in July, 2019. It establishes the national framework for the overall development, deployment and improvement of search and rescue services within the Irish Search and Rescue Region and to meet domestic and international commitments. The purpose of the national search and rescue plan is to promote a planned and nationally coordinated search and rescue response to persons in distress at sea, in the air or on land.

Yes, the Irish Coast Guard is responsible for responding to spills of oil and other hazardous substances with the Irish pollution responsibility zone, along with providing an effective response to marine casualties and monitoring or intervening in marine salvage operations. It provides and maintains a 24-hour marine pollution notification at the three marine rescue centres. It coordinates exercises and tests of national and local pollution response plans.

The first Irish Coast Guard volunteer to die on duty was Caitriona Lucas, a highly trained member of the Doolin Coast Guard unit, while assisting in a search for a missing man by the Kilkee unit in September 2016. Six months later, four Irish Coast Guard helicopter crew – Dara Fitzpatrick, Mark Duffy, Paul Ormsby and Ciarán Smith -died when their Sikorsky S-92 struck Blackrock island off the Mayo coast on March 14, 2017. The Dublin-based Rescue 116 crew were providing "top cover" or communications for a medical emergency off the west coast and had been approaching Blacksod to refuel. Up until the five fatalities, the Irish Coast Guard recorded that more than a million "man hours" had been spent on more than 30,000 rescue missions since 1991.

Several investigations were initiated into each incident. The Marine Casualty Investigation Board was critical of the Irish Coast Guard in its final report into the death of Caitriona Lucas, while a separate Health and Safety Authority investigation has been completed, but not published. The Air Accident Investigation Unit final report into the Rescue 116 helicopter crash has not yet been published.

The Irish Coast Guard in its present form dates back to 1991, when the Irish Marine Emergency Service was formed after a campaign initiated by Dr Joan McGinley to improve air/sea rescue services on the west Irish coast. Before Irish independence, the British Admiralty was responsible for a Coast Guard (formerly the Water Guard or Preventative Boat Service) dating back to 1809. The West Coast Search and Rescue Action Committee was initiated with a public meeting in Killybegs, Co Donegal, in 1988 and the group was so effective that a Government report was commissioned, which recommended setting up a new division of the Department of the Marine to run the Marine Rescue Co-Ordination Centre (MRCC), then based at Shannon, along with the existing coast radio service, and coast and cliff rescue. A medium-range helicopter base was established at Shannon within two years. Initially, the base was served by the Air Corps.

The first director of what was then IMES was Capt Liam Kirwan, who had spent 20 years at sea and latterly worked with the Marine Survey Office. Capt Kirwan transformed a poorly funded voluntary coast and cliff rescue service into a trained network of cliff and sea rescue units – largely voluntary, but with paid management. The MRCC was relocated from Shannon to an IMES headquarters at the then Department of the Marine (now Department of Transport) in Leeson Lane, Dublin. The coast radio stations at Valentia, Co Kerry, and Malin Head, Co Donegal, became marine rescue-sub-centres.

The current director is Chris Reynolds, who has been in place since August 2007 and was formerly with the Naval Service. He has been seconded to the head of mission with the EUCAP Somalia - which has a mandate to enhance Somalia's maritime civilian law enforcement capacity – since January 2019.

  • Achill, Co. Mayo
  • Ardmore, Co. Waterford
  • Arklow, Co. Wicklow
  • Ballybunion, Co. Kerry
  • Ballycotton, Co. Cork
  • Ballyglass, Co. Mayo
  • Bonmahon, Co. Waterford
  • Bunbeg, Co. Donegal
  • Carnsore, Co. Wexford
  • Castlefreake, Co. Cork
  • Castletownbere, Co. Cork
  • Cleggan, Co. Galway
  • Clogherhead, Co. Louth
  • Costelloe Bay, Co. Galway
  • Courtown, Co. Wexford
  • Crosshaven, Co. Cork
  • Curracloe, Co. Wexford
  • Dingle, Co. Kerry
  • Doolin, Co. Clare
  • Drogheda, Co. Louth
  • Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin
  • Dunmore East, Co. Waterford
  • Fethard, Co. Wexford
  • Glandore, Co. Cork
  • Glenderry, Co. Kerry
  • Goleen, Co. Cork
  • Greencastle, Co. Donegal
  • Greenore, Co. Louth
  • Greystones, Co. Wicklow
  • Guileen, Co. Cork
  • Howth, Co. Dublin
  • Kilkee, Co. Clare
  • Killala, Co. Mayo
  • Killybegs, Co. Donegal
  • Kilmore Quay, Co. Wexford
  • Knightstown, Co. Kerry
  • Mulroy, Co. Donegal
  • North Aran, Co. Galway
  • Old Head Of Kinsale, Co. Cork
  • Oysterhaven, Co. Cork
  • Rosslare, Co. Wexford
  • Seven Heads, Co. Cork
  • Skerries, Co. Dublin Summercove, Co. Cork
  • Toe Head, Co. Cork
  • Tory Island, Co. Donegal
  • Tramore, Co. Waterford
  • Waterville, Co. Kerry
  • Westport, Co. Mayo
  • Wicklow
  • Youghal, Co. Cork

Sources: Department of Transport © Afloat 2020