What is The Irish Coast Guard?

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.

What is its main role of the Irish Coast Guard?

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).

Is the Irish Coast Guard service 24/7?

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.

How many emergencies does the Irish Coast respond to each year?

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.

Does it also handle medical emergencies?

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.

Is the Irish Coast Guard an all-island body?

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

How much does the Irish Coast Guard cost?

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.

What resources does the Irish Coast Guard have?

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.

How quickly can Irish Coast Guard assets respond?

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.

How are Irish Coast Guard units managed?

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.

Are Irish Coast Guard volunteers paid?

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.

Does the Irish Coast Guard charge for rescue?

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

What communications systems do the Irish Coast Guard use?

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.

Is the Irish Coast Guard responsible for pollution response?

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.

What is the Irish Coast Guard's safety record?

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.

What was the Government response to the Coast Guard fatalities?

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.

When was The Irish Coast Guard formed?

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.

Who was The Irish Coast Guard's first director?

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.

Who is The Irish Coast Guard's current director?

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.

Where are Coast Guard Units located in Ireland?

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

Displaying items by tag: RS200

27th May 2014

214 Recorded Finishes at Ballyholme YC's Irish RS Sprint Championships

#rs – Some statistics from the Irish RS Sprint Championships 2014 at Ballyholme YC last weekend. 46 individual competitors (including Neill Strain's swaps), 40 Flight Starts, 214 recorded finishes, 490 individual hoists and drops (taking out DNFs etc), and a lot of weary bodies, not just the competitors! Full Sprint results are available to download below as a pdf file.

The Irish RS400 fleet has a full calendar for the year, along with the RS200s and Fevas, but with the exam season in full progress, there is usually a gap in May. The Sprints have thus been moved to fill this gap, and the excellent turn out justified the ongoing inclusion of this event in the calendar.

23 RS400s and an RS200 rolled out for the Annual Irish RS Sprint Championships, held for the first time in the North, with hosts Ballyholme Yacht Club under the guidance of our favourite Race Officer Robin Gray, putting on a tremendous event, in what always seems to me to be a complete nightmare of an event to run. Robin clearly loves a challenge, as he has offered to do it again next year!

Always a great opportunity to get some boat handling practice in, it also provides a workout for those of us navigationally challenged, and more than a few salvages were provided on my boat by Steve advising me where to point the boat next. The whacky M course was a great success, sort of slaloming to the left, and then having an on the edge kite reach across the bottom, to make sure you didn't recover too much before the next race.
We have always asked that we are not kept sitting around too long, and Robin's team kept things pinging off at a furious rate, not giving you time to realise how your body was slowly disintegrating as the afternoon progressed. That said, I was pleased to see that some of the young ones were whinging as much as we elder statesmen, about how battered they felt.

In a Northerly there are few better venues than Ballyholme, with champagne conditions (can we finally park that expression, though it does serve the purpose I guess) of 15 knots steady, a 3-4 foot short swell allowing some fruity downhill slides. As good as it gets I'd say. Also clearly suits the locals, with Bob Espey and Gareth Flanagan and their respective engineers, Mike Gunning and Dave Fletcher, leading the way, along with Sean Cleary and Steve Tyner from Greystones, current Inlands Champs, in amongst the leaders. The flights were rejigged midway through Saturday, and again for Sunday, giving no-one any idea who was winning, apart from the obvious fact the Bob and Mike were running away with it. That said, everyone had a piece of the action, and as always, when the racing is good, we all go home happy.

Biggest thanks however have to go to the mark layers, who did an unbelievable job to lay and move so many marks with so little delay, outstanding.

Next up is the slightly less chaotic RS Northerns at Strangford Lough Yacht Club in late June, with usual format windyleewards; though if the size and intensity of the Easterns was anything to go by, carnage and chaos will return. We should have some serious entertainment, as the deep southerners, from the fast growing and worryingly talent packed Cork fleet, fresh from their own Sprint event, rejoin the fray. Great times for the RS fleet.

Published in RS Sailing

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8th May 2014

New 'M Type' Courses for RS400 & 200 Dinghy Sprint Champs at Ballyholme

#rssailing – With single day entry for busy people, Ballyholme Yacht Club on Belfast lough is pulling out all the stops to make a big success of this month's Irish RS400 and RS 200 Sprint Championships. Staged on Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th May 2014 there will be 16 races over two days with new "M type" or "box type" courses. The Notice of Race is posted below for download as a pdf file.

Published in RS Sailing

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23rd March 2014

Royal Cork's Dinghy PY 500 Regatta Success in Cork Harbour

#rcyc – Weather obliged beautifully for PY 500 making a perfect Sunday morning event at Royal Cork Yacht Club writes Claire Bateman. And what a magnificent spectacle the PY500 (Portsmouth Yardstick) race turned out to be. The sun was shining and there was a Westerly breeze of some 15 knots lightening slowly during the race. The course was Windward/Leeward around laid marks and consisting of seven rounds.

The event consisted of a mixed dinghy race for vessels holding a PY Handicap of 700-1320. Results are downloadable below as a jpeg file.

Due to the thirty one boats participating and the different speeds involved there were officials in position at each mark to record each competitor rounding for each of the seven rounds. Due to the location of the course up and down the river outside the club magnificent spectator viewing was provided for the large numbers present.

There were many boats from different classes represented and they certainly provided spectacular viewing.

The representatives were from National 18s, 505's, RS 400, RS 200, a lone Finn, Fevas, Fireflies, Lasers of all rig types, a Rankin and the star of the show, a 29er that charged around the course showing such style with a fluorescent orange Gennaker. Spotted sailing his RS 200 with his wife Heather was Sean Craig from the RstGYC. Also sailing from the RCYC's own club boats were 2 Topaz, one Magno and one Omega.

In between all this flying action there were Optimsts, 420s and 1720s all setting out for training and all in all there was a tremendous buzz in the club.

Sean and Heather Craig travelled from Dun Laoghaire for Royal Cork's PY 500. More photos by Bob Bateman below.

It must have made interesting and delightful viewing in the lovely conditions for the members and friends arriving for Sunday lunch at the Club's Globe Restaurant.

All credit due to the organisers and so obviously successful and enjoyable they might consider a repeat performance.

Published in Royal Cork YC

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15th February 2014

Irish RS 2014 Event Calendar Announced

#RSsailing – The RS Association has announced its event calendar for 2014. These events include all three RS classes, the Feva, 200 and 400 unless otherwise specified.

Primary RS circuit events:

April 12/13th Greystones S.C. Eastern Championships.
June 21/22nd Strangford Lough S.C. Northern Championships.
July 19/20th Lough Ree Y.C. Western Championships.
August 8-10th Galway Bay S.C. Crewsaver Irish National Championships.
September 13/14th Kinsale Y.C. Southern Championships.

Sprint events:
May 24/25th Ballyholme Y.C. RS200/400 Sprint event.
June 7th Monkstown Bay RSFeva/200/400 Southern Sprint event.

UK/European events:

July 25 – August 1st Carnac, France Feva Worlds

July 27th – August 1st Fraglia vela Riva, Lake Garda, Italy RS 200/400 Eurocup
August 17th – 21st Hayling Island, UK RS200 UK Nationals
August 24 – 28th Mounts Bay, Cornwall UK RS400 UK Nationals.

Published in RS Sailing

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1st November 2013

RS Class Postpone Dun Laoghaire Dinghy Demo Day Due to Weather

#rssailing – A bad weather forecast means the planned RS demo day in Dun Laoghaire this Saturday has been postponed. The up and coming dinghy class is completely bucking the trend oulined in a recent piece that outlines some major problems for dinghy sailing in Ireland, acoording to class proponents.

This year 44 RS400's attended the nationals and 33 boats took part in the five event traveller series. In the past month five RS400's have been bought from the UK to join the Irish fleet. This includes the first two 400's based in Cork and one in Dun Laoghaire.

The formula of running the RS Feva, RS200 and RS400 events together has proved hugely successful. At the combined nationals they had 72 boats in total. The classes give juniors and those above college age who may not have the aspirations or perhaps the means for Olympic sailing, a natural progressive platform for competitive racing. There are a lot people sailing in the RS classes that could have drifted away from sailing altogether.

Being a strict one design and non-trapeze the boats are very accessible. Swapping and introducing new crews is not as much of an issue, particularly for those who haven't been in a dinghy for years or in some cases ever.

Another point that is worth making is the competitive level in the classes. For example, Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern (49er Olympians) own and race a 400 when their 49er schedule allows. Gareth Flannigan is now an RS400 regular. Dave Rose from Cork and formerly of 1720 fame has just bought a 400. This will be Dave's first time back in a dinghy in fifteen years. At the competitive end of the RS200's, Sean & Heather Craig have just bought a boat from the UK. Their son has commandeered the current family 200.

The boats are deemded good value due to the large UK second hand market. An RS400 cost €4,000 and has no problems competing at the right end of the fleet.

Published in RS Sailing

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25th October 2013

RS200 Demo Day At The Royal St George Next Week

#RS200 - The RS200 fleet is running a demo day at the Royal St George Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire at 2pm on Saturday 2 November. All are welcome and slots can be booked by emailing Heather at [email protected].

There will be five or six boats on the water on the day, with one onshore to look over and a little windward/leeward course afloat to put the boats through their paces.

The RS200 fleet is mainly located in Leinster so far, with 22 boats in Greystones, seven at the Royal St George and a few more dotted around the country. Up north there are boats in Newcastle, Ballyholme, East Down, Royal North and Cushendall.

There were 20 boats at the 2013 Nationals and new boats have been bought since. Regattas are highly sociable affairs with events shared with sibling classes the RS Feva and the RS400.

The RS200 has a number of points in its favour:

High performance asymmetric non-trapeze double hander
Great build quality and value: excellent second-hand boats from €2,500, and even 10-year-old boats have won Irish Nationals
Wide weight range from 110-160kg, manageable for all ages and standards - hence a big family involvement
Hugely popular in the UK, with a 100-plus-boat National Championships, and is also big in Scandinavia, US and Australia, so no resale risk
Attractive overseas events for serious Irish racers: 2014 calendar includes Carnac (Brittany), Lake Garda and Hayling Island in the UK

Do come along for a sail or even just a chat and a gander at the display boat. There will be a similar demo on the northside of Dublin soon (venue and date to be decided) so that may suit some people later.

And if you're attending the ISA Dinghy & One Design Convention at the National Yacht Club that morning, it’s just 100 metres to the Royal St George!

Published in RS Sailing

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25th August 2013

RS200, RS400 & Feva Fleets Northern Champs at Ballyholme

RS – After five races sailed Robert Espey and Mike Gunning won the RS400 Northern championships hosted by Ballyholme Yacht Club this weekend.

Despite the absence of wind forecast, and despite Charlie Horder not showing up, the weekend turned out to be a roaring success, with ever reliable Robin Gray as PRO slotting the perfect duration races into the various wind slots that existed, giving the three fleets great racing.

It was exciting to see some new faces in the RS Fevas, since McCready Sailboats took over dealership, and have been promoting and lending out boats. All 6 of the boats, in the fleet that normally travels from Dublin or Greystones, were from the North. This must augur well for the future, with several parents present realising they could have actually have been sailing in the 400s instead of acting as shore crew.

In the RS200s, Clive Coffey from Newcastle, was dominant in the generally f2-3 conditions, taking first overall from Greystones regulars Frank O'Rourke in second, and Sarah Byrne in fourth, with East Down's Trevor Fisher splitting them in third.

The main event though was in the RS400s, where a super strong line up including current Irish Olympic 49er sailors, and winners of this year's Weymouth Sail for Gold World Cup Series' Championship, Ryan Seaton and Matty McGovern headlined a strong line up of past National and European Championship winners from a multitude of classes. Racing was tight, with the front 6 or 7 generally working through, but with anyone capable of making a podium slot. Overnight it looked to be all about Bob Espey vs Emmet Ryan, but Sunday saw things get a lot tighter, with Gareth Flannigan and Dave Cheyne staying consistent, and nearly turning things around in race two, when Flannigan's lead was slashed on the final run of race two, in what would prove a decisive moment, allowing the Olympic duo a little breathing space as the 3rd,4th and 5th boats rolled the leading pair on the final approach, Espey grabbing an essential win. Race 4 saw Emmet and brother James struggle and take a discard, so it was advantage Espey/ Gunning again.

Race 5 was held in sparkling Ballyholme sea breeze and sunshine, with Dave Cheyne and Stevie Kane from RNIYC breaking clear of the pack, chasing the Ryan brothers. As the two teams extended, it looked like the goose was cooked for Espey, but a last attack on the right corner gybe allowed the fat old boys from Royal North to roll Ryan, and take the win. This instantly threw the result back to Espey and Gunning, who were suddenly back level on points, but with a pair of bullets, to the Ryans only one now, the title went to Espey in dramatic fashion, and past Irish Champions Emmet and James left to lick their wounds. Awesome racing as ever, with some new faces feeling the heat, as those new in last season starting to move up the leader board after a year of hard racing under their belts.

Lots of new boats arriving by the week, with several more expected in Ballyholme in time for the Autumn Grange Wine Merchants Series at Bangor on Sundays from the 8th September, before the fleets head to Crosshaven on September 21/22nd. The hope is the 4 or 5 potential new 400 owners in Monkstown SC in Cobh will have boat boats in time, to compliment the new arrival of Aidan Macsweeney, and also Dave Doherty who currently have boats in the area.

Full results for all divisions are downloadable below as an attached html file.

Published in RS Sailing

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24th August 2013

Ballyholme's RS Sailing Event Frustrated By Light Winds on Belfast Lough

Two races were sailed today in predominantly light conditions at the combined RS Championships at Ballyholme Yacht Club. The race officer made a good call to postpone proceedings until Sunday when the afternoon breeze completely shut down.

There are 18 RS 400's, 8 RS200's and 6 RS Fevas competing.

RS400 Results:
1st E.Ryan J.Ryan R1(2) R2(1)
2nd J.Espey M.Gunning R1(1) R2(3)
3rd D.Cheyne S.Kane R1(3) R2(5)
4th M.Ferguson J.Tomalin R1(7)R2(2)
5th R.Seaton M.McGovern R1(5)R2(4)
6th G.Flannigan D.Fletcher R1(4)R2(7)

RS200 Results:
1st C.Coffey H.Cassidy R1(2) R2(1)
2nd F & K O'Rourke R1(1) R2(5)
3rd R.Milligan P.Blamphin R1(5) R2(2)

RS Feva Results:
1st N.Eames M.Fekkes R1(3) R2(1)
2nd B.Coburn A.Mitchell R1(1) R2(5)
3rd R.Fekkes A.Harley R1(1) R2(6)

Published in RS Sailing

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23rd August 2013

RS Dinghy Action Moves To Ballyholme Yacht Club, Belfast Lough

#RS – After a few weeks rest following the bumper turnout RS Nationals in July, the action moves to the new RS400 fleet's home at Ballyholme in Bangor.

Ballyholme has seen a great influx of RS400s to go with the RS200s already there, and has attracted some of Ulsters top racing talent, evidenced by July's two top Irish performances from Bob Espey/Mike Gunning, and Michael Ferguson/ Jeremy Tomalin at the Nationals. Whilst they will undoubtedly form the strongest teams to beat this weekend, there will be plenty of other talent tackling them, with Irish 49er Olympians Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern flying back for the weekend from Marseilles, multiple Irish Laser and SB20 Irish Champion Gareth Flannigan, and recent top youth helm at the British Nationals, Chris Eames.

All the old timers will be there, licking their wounds from the recent shoeing handed out by the new boys in the fleet. Liam Donnelly will be fresh from the UK Nationals, and always as competitive as ever, at 60 something years of age, spearheading the RNIYC charge, along with Whitehead's John Lewis, another Scorpion veteran, who will be keen to see how he goes in his first RS400 event. From RNIYC, former Squib Irish champion Gordy Patterson has been spotted practising, and seems to be getting to grips with the faster boat (though he has years of SB3ing to call on), and someday Ruan O'Tiarnaigh will get his boat out too; whilst the Southern efforts will be led by Emmet Ryan and Simon Herriott, along with up and coming Sean Cleary and Any Verso from Greystones.
Rumour has it 4-5 good teams from the Cork area are on the brink of getting 400s, which could lead to further strengthening of the fleet in Ireland, along with some good new Dublin sailors, and 5 new boats have arrived into other Northern clubs in the past fortnight, so turnouts should be increasingly strong going into 2014.
McCready Sailboats have recently been appointed as RS Boat Dealers for Ireland, following a few years of direct sales only, and are especially keen to push the RS Feva, supplying three boats for crews to test, and hopefully we will start to see a resurgence in this great youth boat next year, with their support.
The RS200s at Ballyholme will face some stiff competition from the ever strong Greystones contingent, who usually take the prizes home, and it would be great to see this class strengthening in the north as the RS Family gain a stronger foothold.
Racing in the Bay runs Saturday and Sunday, with beer and grub on Saturday and some decent northerly breeze looking set to roll in some surfing waves and maximise the craic.

Published in RS Sailing

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9th July 2013

RS Titles Decided in Record Breaking Turnout on Belfast Lough

#RS – A record breaking turnout of 72 RS dinghies descended on Belfast Lough for the three day Irish Nationals and Euro-Cup making it one of the biggest dinghy sailing events to be held in the country this year. The fleet was made up of 44 RS400's, 19 RS200's and 9 RS Feva's.
The top quality race management on the water was matched by a fantastic reception ashore by all involved at the Royal North of Ireland YC.
In the RS400 class a strong contingent made the journey from Scotland with several of the top boats from the English circuit making the trip too. Also joining the class were several Irish Olympic campaigners and former national champions including James Espey (Laser London 2012), Fraser Brown (49er Athens 2004) and Gareth Flannigan to name but a few.
With such a quality fleet and tactically testing conditions the slightest boat handling error or missing of a wind shift would cost over ten places instantly and clawing back up through the traffic was easier said than done.
Despite local sailors Bob Espey and his crew Mike Gunning putting up a strong fight for the first half of the event it was Roger Carter and Ian Robertson from Scotland who managed to master the predominantly light and shifty breezes. In second place and only one point off top spot was former Enterprise World Champion Stewart Robertson with his wife Sarah crewing. In third Place were Howard Farbrother and Dan Martin of Queen Mary SC.
The top three Irish 400's were Bob Espey and Mike Gunning in 4th, Michael Ferguson and Jeremy Tomalin in 5th and Emmet and James Ryan in 8th place.
The turnout for the RS200s, showed continuing steady growth in this class. The fleet included three UK entries. The eventual winner counting four firsts was John McKelvie and Sarah Watson from Strangford Lough YC followed by Julian Bradley from the UK. In the light and fickle winds there was much place changing during all the races and after a slightly shaky start to the event Roy Van Maanen and Glen Reid improved their performances to take third overall and second Irish 200. Third Irish went to Frank O'Rourke sailing with his son Kevin also from Greystones SC who finished their series with an impressive win.

rs200

RS 200 start. Photo: Thomas Anderson

A new feature in this year's fleet was the high number of Youth sailors. First under 19 200 went to Stephen Craig and Conor Foley from the Royal St George YC. The lads counted a very creditable four 2nds in their overall tally. Greystones mother and daughter team, Sarah and Ciara Byrne took the first ladies RS200 title.
In the Feva class there were 9 entries including the very talented Laura Gilmore who took the Topper National trophy last year and the experienced Optimist and Laser 4.7 sailor, Holly Campbell. Both sailed McCready Sailboat Fevas. RSGYC duo Jack and Henry Higgins sailed a fine series to eventually win the Jack Craig memorial trophy. They managed to just edge out Laura Gilmore and crew Molly Fekkes who fell afoul of an OCS in the last race. Emer Rafferty and Laura Coleman also from the RSGYC took first U15. All these boats took line honours in a number of races showing how close the Feva racing was. The U14 was won by Triona Hinkson and Kate Kelly and U13 by Rachel Eggers and Helen O Beirne.
A notable bonus of the three RS fleets running a combined event meant it was possible for whole families to be out racing together and in certain cases against each other, the definition of domestic bliss!
One stroke of event management genius was to have Windguru forecast 1 knot with gusts up to 3 knots for Sunday. Most crews took this as a green light to pull the trigger socially on Saturday evening with the expectation of no sailing the for the final day, only to awake to a pleasant 8 to 10 knots and three cracking races.

RS200 RS400 & RS Feva Irish National Championships

Feva Class
Sailed: 10, Discards: 2, To count: 8, Entries: 9, Scoring system: Appendix A
Rank SailNo Club HelmName CrewName R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 R10 Nett
1st 2512 RStGYC Jack Higgins Henry Higgins (5.0) 2.0 4.0 2.0 1.0 (6.0) 2.0 1.0 1.0 2.0 15.0
2nd 5239 SLYC / EABC Laura Gilmore Molly Fekkes 3.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 2.0 1.0 1.0 (4.0) 4.0 (10.0 OCS) 17.0
3rd 5231 RNIYC / DSC Holly Campbell Lucy Burrows (4.0) (5.0) 1.0 4.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 2.0 2.0 1.0 19.0
4th 3115 RStGYC Emer Rafferty Laura Coleman 1.0 3.0 3.0 1.0 (5.0) 4.0 (6.0) 3.0 3.0 4.0 22.0
5th 1776 RStGYC Triona Hinkson Katherine Kelly (8.0) 4.0 5.0 (7.0) 4.0 2.0 4.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 34.0
6th 1595 RStGYC Rachel Eggers Helen O'Beirne 2.0 7.0 (10.0 DNF) 5.0 7.0 (8.0) 5.0 6.0 7.0 3.0 42.0
7th 3661 RStGYC Eoghan Cassidy Greg Arrowsmith 7.0 6.0 7.0 (10.0 DNS) 6.0 5.0 (8.0) 7.0 6.0 6.0 50.0
8th 1654 RStGYC Conor Little Roisin Foley 6.0 (10.0 DNF) 6.0 6.0 8.0 7.0 7.0 8.0 8.0 (10.0 DNC) 56.0
9th 5240 CYC Oonagh Jordan Kurtis Frazer 9.0 (10.0 DNF) (10.0 DNC) 10.0 DNC 10.0 DNC 10.0 DNC 10.0 DNC 9.0 9.0 7.0 74.0

RS200 Class
Sailed: 10, Discards: 2, To count: 8, Entries: 19, Scoring system: Appendix A
Rank SailNo Club HelmName CrewName R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 R10 Nett
1st 860 SLYC / WSC John McKelvie Sarah Watson 1.0 (3.0) 2.0 1.0 2.0 1.0 3.0 1.0 3.0 (20.0 DNC) 14.0
2nd 1263 WSC Julian Bradley Alice Hudson (10.0) 1.0 1.0 4.0 4.0 2.0 4.0 (6.0) 1.0 5.0 22.0
3rd 1534 GSC Ray Van Maanen Glen Reid 5.0 (7.0) 3.0 5.0 1.0 (6.0) 1.0 3.0 2.0 2.0 22.0
4th 1315 GSC Frank O'Rourke Kevin O'Rourke 3.0 5.0 4.0 2.0 5.0 5.0 7.0 (8.0) (8.0) 1.0 32.0
5th 771 RStGYC Stephen Craig Conor Foley 2.0 2.0 (9.0) 6.0 6.0 (13.0) 2.0 2.0 6.0 8.0 34.0
6th 1479 GSC / RStGYC Graeme Noonan Heather Louise King 6.0 8.0 5.0 3.0 (9.0) 3.0 8.0 (10.0) 7.0 6.0 46.0
7th 1352 NYC Clive Coffey Helen Cassidy 4.0 9.0 (20.0 DNF) 7.0 3.0 8.0 (12.0) 9.0 9.0 3.0 52.0
8th 624 SDC / HYC David Johnston Louise Flynn-Byrne (11.0) (14.0) 11.0 10.0 8.0 4.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 4.0 52.0
9th 706 NYC / RStGYC Conor Totterdell Myles Kelly (16.0) 13.0 10.0 11.0 10.0 11.0 (14.0) 4.0 4.0 7.0 70.0
10th 727 EDYC Trevor Fisher Emily Watt 7.0 (12.0) 8.0 12.0 (13.0) 9.0 9.0 7.0 10.0 9.0 71.0
11th 1131 WSC Roger Wilson Renata Sapazinskaite (13.0) 11.0 7.0 9.0 7.0 10.0 6.0 (12.0) 11.0 11.0 72.0
12th 1478 GSC Sarah Byrne Ciara Byrne 8.0 6.0 (20.0 DSQ) 8.0 12.0 7.0 11.0 11.0 14.0 (16.0) 77.0
13th 778 BYC Rob Milligan Sharon Doherty 9.0 4.0 6.0 14.0 11.0 14.0 10.0 (15.0) (16.0) 10.0 78.0
14th 898 GSC Aaron Jones Conor Clery 14.0 (15.0) 12.0 (15.0) 14.0 15.0 13.0 14.0 15.0 13.0 110.0
15th 1156 RStGYC Clodagh Hinkson Adrian Hinkson (18.0) 16.0 (20.0 DNF) 13.0 17.0 12.0 17.0 13.0 12.0 14.0 114.0
16th 1480 RStGYC Rosanna Cassidy Maeve Cassidy 15.0 10.0 (20.0 DNF) (16.0) 15.0 16.0 16.0 16.0 13.0 15.0 116.0
17th 495 SLYC / BYC Emily Smyth Sandra Halliwell 12.0 (18.0) 13.0 (17.0) 16.0 17.0 15.0 17.0 17.0 12.0 119.0
18th 548 GSC Celine McGuire Joanne McInerney 19.0 19.0 14.0 18.0 (20.0 RAF) 19.0 18.0 (20.0 DNC) 20.0 DNC 20.0 DNC 147.0
19th 417 GSC Gabrielle Igoe Nicky Smith 17.0 17.0 (20.0 DNF) 19.0 18.0 18.0 19.0 (20.0 DNC) 20.0 DNC 20.0 DNC 148.0

RS400 Class
Sailed: 10, Discards: 2, To count: 8, Entries: 44, Scoring system: Appendix A
Rank SailNo Club HelmName CrewName R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 R10 Nett
1st 965 WBC Roger Carter Ian Robertson 1.0 3.0 4.0 (9.0) (7.0) 1.0 1.0 2.0 1.0 7.0 20.0
2nd 1319 RFYC Stewart Robertson Sarah Robertson 3.0 4.0 (13.0) 3.0 (6.0) 5.0 2.0 1.0 2.0 1.0 21.0
3rd 1251 QM / DSC Howard Farbrother Dan Martin (14.0) 1.0 (8.0) 4.0 2.0 8.0 5.0 5.0 4.0 3.0 32.0
4th 1001 BYC Robert Espey Michael Gunning (13.0) 2.0 1.0 2.0 4.0 7.0 8.0 (11.0) 11.0 5.0 40.0
5th 1138 BYC/RUYC Mike Ferguson Jeremy Tomalin 7.0 10.0 7.0 1.0 5.0 4.0 (11.0) (14.0) 6.0 4.0 44.0
6th 1161 SDSC / RFYC Ben Robertson Emily Robertson 6.0 (13.0) 12.0 (14.0) 8.0 2.0 6.0 9.0 3.0 2.0 48.0
7th 1117 ELYC James Sinclair Ben Wilcox 2.0 8.0 (10.0) 8.0 3.0 9.0 3.0 7.0 10.0 (13.0) 50.0
8th 1140 RStGYC Emmet Ryan James Ryan (22.0) 9.0 9.0 (18.0) 9.0 3.0 4.0 3.0 9.0 11.0 57.0
9th 1395 L&LSC Paul Allen Michael Allen 9.0 11.0 2.0 10.0 1.0 (22.0) 7.0 (45.0 OCS) 13.0 6.0 59.0
10th 1196 SDSC Peter Snowdon LenMetcalfe 16.0 5.0 3.0 6.0 (19.0) 6.0 16.0 6.0 (17.0) 17.0 75.0
11th 1313 LSC / BCYC Pete Vincent Darren McNamara 4.0 (19.0) 16.0 17.0 11.0 (45.0 OCS) 13.0 12.0 5.0 8.0 86.0
12th 1414 HISC James Gardner Anne Gardner 5.0 6.0 (45.0 DNF) 13.0 (30.0) 17.0 10.0 10.0 16.0 15.0 92.0
13th 1351 AYC Ian Robson Sandy Johnson 11.0 12.0 (17.0) 11.0 13.0 13.0 9.0 (16.0) 8.0 16.0 93.0
14th 840 BYC / RUYC James Espey Chris Penny (20.0) 14.0 11.0 5.0 10.0 10.0 14.0 (45.0 DNF) 19.0 12.0 95.0
15th 1200 DBSC Keith Bedborough Martin McCrew 15.0 (23.0) 15.0 16.0 12.0 14.0 (19.0) 8.0 12.0 9.0 101.0
16th 1405 RNIYC Liam Donnelly Chris Law (28.0) 7.0 5.0 12.0 14.0 12.0 (45.0 OCS) 15.0 21.0 20.0 106.0
17th 1018 ELYC / RFYC Richard Bolton Hannah Robertson 18.0 17.0 6.0 (24.0) 20.0 11.0 18.0 17.0 (23.0) 14.0 121.0
18th 1259 BYC Gareth Flannigan David Fletcher 19.0 27.0 (45.0 DNF) 25.0 (36.0) 18.0 12.0 4.0 7.0 10.0 122.0
19th 440 A&SYC Robert Yeamans Nadia McMinn 8.0 16.0 14.0 (31.0) 23.0 28.0 20.0 13.0 (35.0) 29.0 151.0
20th 1406 RNIYC Dave Cheyne Steve Kane 34.0 22.0 (45.0 DNF) 7.0 17.0 16.0 15.0 34.0 (45.0 OCS) 19.0 164.0
21st 1017 GSC Sean Cleary Steven Tyner (33.0) 21.0 (45.0 DNF) 15.0 25.0 23.0 30.0 18.0 15.0 22.0 169.0
22nd 1292 BYC Christopher Eames Niall Eames 29.0 25.0 (45.0 DNF) 27.0 18.0 20.0 (45.0 OCS) 22.0 14.0 24.0 179.0
23rd 1176 GSC Andy Verso Lisa Smith 23.0 26.0 (45.0 DNF) 30.0 16.0 29.0 17.0 19.0 (31.0) 21.0 181.0
24th 877 DBSC Phil Britton Joe Ellingham 37.0 18.0 (45.0 DNF) 21.0 (39.0) 24.0 26.0 20.0 26.0 26.0 198.0
25th 728 RNIYC / CSC Rob Hastings Neil Calvin 27.0 15.0 (45.0 DNF) 20.0 24.0 (39.0) 25.0 24.0 28.0 36.0 199.0
26th 1352 RNIYC Simon Hutchinson Stuart Annesley 21.0 (38.0) (45.0 DNF) 19.0 21.0 15.0 23.5 35.0 36.0 33.0 203.5
27th 475 A&SYC Chris Dowie Naomi Moran 17.0 24.0 (45.0 DNF) 26.0 32.0 34.0 (36.0) 29.0 25.0 18.0 205.0
28th 0001 RYA David Harcourt Jillian Harcourt (39.0) 31.0 (45.0 DNF) 22.0 27.0 25.0 28.0 30.0 20.0 32.0 215.0
29th 589 CSC Trevor D'Arcy Alan McClarnon 26.0 (37.0) (45.0 DNF) 29.0 33.0 31.0 31.0 23.0 18.0 25.0 216.0
30th 1197 RCYC Aidan McSweeny Ian Heffernan 12.0 35.0 (45.0 DNF) (43.0) 29.0 38.0 27.0 27.0 27.0 27.0 222.0
31st 1276 GSC Fiachra Etchingham Sarah Hoolahan 31.0 36.0 (45.0 DNF) (40.0) 22.0 21.0 29.0 32.0 29.0 28.0 228.0
32nd 1178 CYC Brian Holmes Jonny Campbell 10.0 32.0 (45.0 DNF) 41.0 34.0 40.0 22.0 26.0 24.0 (45.0 DNF) 229.0
33rd 1136 GHYC / RStG Arthur Mehigan Jay Stacy (38.0) 20.0 (45.0 DNF) 36.0 28.0 27.0 21.0 31.0 32.0 35.0 230.0
34th 802 RNIYC Gordon Patterson Ross Nolan (45.0 DNC) (45.0 DNC) 45.0 DNC 42.0 26.0 36.0 23.5 33.0 22.0 23.0 250.5
35th 1307 GSC Robert Gilligan Eoin Corcoran 25.0 29.0 (45.0 DNF) 37.0 15.0 19.0 (45.0 OCS) 45.0 DNC 45.0 DNC 45.0 DNC 260.0
36th 1025 RNIYC Mark Diamond Neil Mathews 42.0 30.0 (45.0 DNF) 23.0 31.0 35.0 38.0 (45.0 DNC) 34.0 30.0 263.0
37th 586 RStGYC Richard Tate Jim Foley 32.0 40.0 (45.0 DNF) 39.0 35.0 (45.0 OCS) 33.0 21.0 33.0 31.0 264.0
38th 512 SLYC Charlie Horder Wendy McCaughan (40.0) 33.0 (45.0 DNF) 33.0 38.0 26.0 34.0 25.0 39.0 37.0 265.0
39th 441 CSC Simon Grey Super Woman 24.0 34.0 (45.0 DNF) 28.0 (42.0) 33.0 37.0 38.0 38.0 40.0 272.0
40th 1308 GSC Gerry Cannon Avril Cannon 36.0 (39.0) (45.0 DNF) 35.0 37.0 30.0 32.0 36.0 37.0 34.0 277.0
41st 601 PSC / MSC Fraser Brown John Malone 41.0 42.0 (45.0 DNF) 34.0 (45.0 DNF) 32.0 45.0 OCS 28.0 30.0 39.0 291.0
42nd 1195 A&SYC Oliver Webster Palo Bellezze 30.0 28.0 (45.0 DNF) 38.0 41.0 41.0 (45.0 DNF) 45.0 DNC 45.0 DNC 45.0 DNC 313.0
43rd 1188 RNIYC Neill Strain John Ferguson 35.0 41.0 (45.0 DNF) 32.0 40.0 37.0 (45.0 DNC) 45.0 DNC 45.0 DNC 45.0 DNC 320.0
44th 888 GLYC Anthony Glendinning Lucy Glendinning (45.0 DNF) 43.0 (45.0 DNF) 44.0 43.0 42.0 35.0 37.0 40.0 38.0 322.0