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Displaying items by tag: KYC

Kinsale Yacht Club held their Laying Up Supper for the 2023 season in the clubhouse on Friday night (3 November).

Commodore Matthias Hellstern welcomed Irish Sailing president John Twomey and Julian Renault, Cork County Council senior harbour master, before the awards from the season were announced by Tony Scannell, the club’s Vice Commodore.

Club Person of the Year was awarded to Patrick Beckett, club treasurer and company secretary, for his enormous contribution to Kinsale Yacht Club on a daily basis.

Other prize-winners on the night were James and Harvey Matthew (Squib Class Boat of the Year); Cameron Good, Simon Furney and Henry Kingston (Dragon Class BOTY); Freya Conor Doyle and crew (International BOTY); Apache’s Alan Mulcahy and crew (White Sails) who were also winners in the Royal Cork’s Autumn League; Valfreya David Riome and crew (White Sails); Saoirse Richard Hanley and crew (Cruiser Spinnaker Class); and Swift’s Paul Cotter and crew (Cruiser Spinnaker Class).

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Kinsale Yacht Club advises members that next Monday 24 April, LCF Marine Services will be on site to add new support piles to the marina access walkway.

Working from a barge, they will be driving new tubular steel piles and also carry out cutting and welding of brackets and new cross beams.

This work will commence at 8am on Monday 24 and will be completed by 6pm on Friday 28 April.

During this time period, there will be no access to the marina via the entrance gate and walkway. In addition, the pontoon sections between the bottom of the gangway and Leg A will not be in place.

All members are requested not to use the marina unless absolutely necessary.

If access is required between the hours of 9am and 5pm, members are requested to call to the clubhouse and speak to Brian Hunt who will arrange for you to be taken from the main slip on the pier head over to the marina, or if necessary directly to Leg A.

Kinsale Yacht Club apologises for the inconvenience which this work may cause for members wishing to access the marina.

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Kinsale Yacht Club in West Cork is now recruiting instructors and assistants for its 2023 junior sailing courses.

These courses will run for six weeks from 26 June to 5 August 2023.

Interested parties should send an email to [email protected] containing your CV and copies of all your valid qualifications/certificates.

The closing date for submissions is Friday 5 January and candidates will be called for interview throughout the month of January.

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Kinsale Yacht Club says it is examining an initiative with Kinsale Outdoor Education Centre (KOEC) and Kinsale Community School to develop a team racing programme for teenagers.

It’s envisaged that up to six boats will be made available by KOEC who will provide training and safety boat cover.

The boats would be stored in the dinghy park of KYC and all participants would be students of Kinsale Community School.

Training sessions would take place on Wednesday afternoons and some Saturdays. And places would be limited on the programme.

KYC is now seeking feedback from members to assess the level of interest “in what should be a great scheme”. Get in touch with KYC Vice Commodore Anthony W Scannell at [email protected].

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Entry for the Axiom Private Clients Spring Series in Kinsale Yacht Club is now open online.

The series starts on Sunday 3 April and runs for five weeks, finishing on Saturday 30 April. One race per day is scheduled for both Spinnaker and White Sail classes.

This series is a SCORA event and KYC says it’s looking forward to welcoming participants from other South Coast yacht clubs.

The club is also delighted to welcome Axiom Private Clients once again as title sponsor for the series for 2022.

Former KYC commodore Tom Roche is director of the company, which was founded in 2004 and specialises in dealing with clients with unique circumstances who wish to take control of their personal or corporate finances.

Tom and his wife Ursula look forward to seeing all competitors on the water from their own Solona 45, Meridian, and Axiom wishes all competitors a very enjoyable sailing season.

Published in Kinsale

The coronavirus pandemic forced a sudden change of plans for Kinsale Yacht Club’s day skipper course last March.

But after jumping in at the deep end and working out on the fly how to adapt the usual on-the-water lessons to the world of Zoom and remote learning, the club saw 12 participants graduate across two courses held in spring and autumn.

“As we progressed, the Zoom platform became more comfortable and the use of screen sharing, breakout rooms, etc helped to add interest and depth to the course,” says course tutor Victor Fusco.

KYC is now headed back online for the first RYA/Irish Sailing day skipper course of 2021, running for eight weeks on Monday and Thursday evenings from next Monday 18 January.

Once again Zoom will be the platform for the classroom-based course to develop skills for navigation within sight of land by day, covering key topics from chart work to meteorology.

The course fee is €355 for KYC members (€425 for non-members) and this includes all course notes, handbooks and a chart.

But those interested must act fast as the spring course is limited to eight participants to ensure everyone involved can get the most from the experience.

For details of how to book see the KYC website HERE.

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Kinsale Yacht Club has announced details of its Mary P September Saturday Series for cruisers and White Sails which starts next weekend.

Races will take place each Saturday in September starting next Saturday 5 September, with first gun for Cruisers 1 and 2 at 15.55 and for White Sails at 16:00.

KYC cruiser sailing instructions apply, as do Echo standard handicaps, and the Mary P trophy will be awarded to the best performing boat in Echo at the end of the four Saturdays of racing.

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Kinsale Yacht Club’s marina is now open to all Irish visitors upon the latest lifting of coronavirus restrictions today, Monday 29 June.

In the latest letter to members from KYC Commodore Mike Walsh, it’s also confirmed that the club premises are open for tea, coffee and snacks from today, with the restaurant opening for advance bookings only from Wednesday 1 July.

The racing calendar has been updated with club races set to resume this Wednesday evening with the Cramer Stockford Race (FG 18:55). Dragons and Squibs will race on Thursday 2 while White Sails return to the water on Friday 3 July.

In addition, the cut-off date for white card has been extended to 31 December 2020

The club notes that a register of attendance will be kept to assist with contract tracing, and also directs its members to its Return to Sailing guidelines for the safety of everyone in the clubhouse and on the water.

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It was a strong seventh-place finish overall for Howth Yacht Club’s Rocco Wright at the International Palamós Optimist Trophy, which concluded yesterday (Sunday 17 February) on Spain’s Costa Brava.

The youngster remained in medal contention among a 110-boat gold fleet all the way till the final day’s racing, following a phenomenal week where he was rarely out of the top three of his groups.

James Dwyer Matthews of the Royal Cork and Kinsale Yacht Clubs also had a strong showing bettering his performance in last month’s Torrevieja Trophy, placing 12th overall.

Jessica Riordan (Royal St George YC), Anna O’Connor (Royal Irish YC), Lucia Cullen (NYC/RStG), Rachel Flood (NYC), Trevor Bolger (RStG) and Peter Williams comprised the rest of the Irish contingent on the Costa Brava during the week.

Published in Optimist

With winds blowing up to 30 knots to close out its Spring Series the Kinsale Yacht Club season on Saturday, the south coast club's season is off to a great start with both the Sovereign's Cup in June and the Half–Ton Worlds in August in prospect reports Bob Bateman 

Busy pro–sailor Maurice O'Connell steered the JPK10.80 Rockabill to victory in DBSC's first Thursday night (with Mark Pettit on tactics) on Dublin Bay before joining Jump Juice (Ker 37) on mainsheet for the final race in Kinsale on Saturday. See Afloat.ie's photo gallery here.

Jump skippered by Conor Phelan had to come from behind as she missed first two races so had to win. 'We got the old girl up to 17.9 knots with our new S3 kite up, O'Connell told Afloat.ie

Rival Freya (X442) Conor Doyle was going well at the windward mark at Black Head but then lost her boom in the blustery conditions. Boomless Freya still managed to finish and did enough to win class one on ECHO handicap and to be second on IRC.

The White Sail division had two races starting inside the Harbour such were the blustery conditions. 

One of the smallest boats in Class 3, White Magic (Alan Mulcahy) clocked 14.3 knots on a downwind leg. James Matthew was showing real ability in flyng a kite on the downwind (see our photo gallery here), also achieving some great speeds on the new–to–Kinsale quarter–tonner, Diamond.

Early indications indicate a buoyant entry for June's Sovereign's Cup with up to ten J 109's planning on doing the three day event, Up to 15 1720s and up ten half tonners who will be gearing up for their worlds in August also in Kinsale. The biennial event may also benefit from the timing of the Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race which allows Dublin race partcipants to stop off and do the Sovereigns Cup on the way north.

Full results on the KYC website here

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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