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Displaying items by tag: Belfast Lough Yachting Conference

Handicap systems are sometimes the stuff of controversy. So what will transpire when Belfast Lough Yachting Conference replaces the NHC system with the Royal Ocean Racing Club YTC (Yacht Time Correction) system remains to be seen.

Cockle Island Boat Club at Groomsport on the south side of Belfast Lough has notified its members of the change and provided explanatory information about the new system.

An introduction can be found on RORC Rating home page, rorcrating.com, by opening Services and clicking RYA YTC. The YTC application process is free and can be found at ytc.rorcrating.com.

BLYC is a group that encompasses all the yacht clubs on Belfast Lough and Larne Lough, and its primary aim is to look after scheduling the regattas that each club hosts to try to prevent clashing events.

The RORC website explains, “Since the pandemic, there has been a boost in numbers of people getting afloat – mostly sailors relatively new to the sport – and the RYA and the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) are keen to encourage as many keelboats and cruiser-racer sailors as possible to enjoy racing at their clubs or local regattas. Recognising the need for and current lack of an entry-level rating system, the Royal Yachting Association (RYA) and RORC have joined forces with the South West Yacht Time Correction Factor (YTC) rating system to develop and roll out a new initiative: the RYA YTC, powered by RORC Rating”.

“YTC has been developed over recent years by a group of volunteers, initially based in Falmouth, but now more widely spread across the South West, to rate the wide variety of cruiser/racer yachts to be found racing in clubs so that they can race against each other easily, competitively and fairly”.

CIBC says the boat information required includes manufacturer's data - dimensions, weights, keel type, propellor, and measured sail dimensions - main sail and head sail for white sail races. If you wish to participate in both white sail and unrestricted races, you will have to have your spinnaker measured and apply for a second YTC.

CIBC has arranged a sail measurement workshop in the Boathouse on Saturday 18th, March, which Ken Walsh and Jimmy McKee will facilitate. There is the possibility of a second workshop on Saturday, 1st April, and help with the application will be available for CIBC members, who are asked to inform the Hon Secretary at [email protected] if they wish to attend the workshop

It is important to note that the Race Officer will assign a boat which enters a BLYC regatta without a YTC a YTC.

#BELFAST LOUGH - Provisional dates for the 2012 Belast Lough Yachting Conference (BLYC) Regattas have been announced.

The BLYC encompasses all yacht clubs on Belfast Lough and Larne Lough and co-ordinates their individual events.

The interim schedule for 2012 runs to nine events from Saturday 9 June to Saturday 25 August:

Published in Belfast Lough

Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI) in Ireland Information

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is a charity to save lives at sea in the waters of UK and Ireland. Funded principally by legacies and donations, the RNLI operates a fleet of lifeboats, crewed by volunteers, based at a range of coastal and inland waters stations. Working closely with UK and Ireland Coastguards, RNLI crews are available to launch at short notice to assist people and vessels in difficulties.

RNLI was founded in 1824 and is based in Poole, Dorset. The organisation raised €210m in funds in 2019, spending €200m on lifesaving activities and water safety education. RNLI also provides a beach lifeguard service in the UK and has recently developed an International drowning prevention strategy, partnering with other organisations and governments to make drowning prevention a global priority.

Irish Lifeboat Stations

There are 46 lifeboat stations on the island of Ireland, with an operational base in Swords, Co Dublin. Irish RNLI crews are tasked through a paging system instigated by the Irish Coast Guard which can task a range of rescue resources depending on the nature of the emergency.

Famous Irish Lifeboat Rescues

Irish Lifeboats have participated in many rescues, perhaps the most famous of which was the rescue of the crew of the Daunt Rock lightship off Cork Harbour by the Ballycotton lifeboat in 1936. Spending almost 50 hours at sea, the lifeboat stood by the drifting lightship until the proximity to the Daunt Rock forced the coxswain to get alongside and successfully rescue the lightship's crew.

32 Irish lifeboat crew have been lost in rescue missions, including the 15 crew of the Kingstown (now Dun Laoghaire) lifeboat which capsized while attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme on Christmas Eve 1895.

FAQs

While the number of callouts to lifeboat stations varies from year to year, Howth Lifeboat station has aggregated more 'shouts' in recent years than other stations, averaging just over 60 a year.

Stations with an offshore lifeboat have a full-time mechanic, while some have a full-time coxswain. However, most lifeboat crews are volunteers.

There are 46 lifeboat stations on the island of Ireland

32 Irish lifeboat crew have been lost in rescue missions, including the 15 crew of the Kingstown (now Dun Laoghaire) lifeboat which capsized while attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme on Christmas Eve 1895

In 2019, 8,941 lifeboat launches saved 342 lives across the RNLI fleet.

The Irish fleet is a mixture of inshore and all-weather (offshore) craft. The offshore lifeboats, which range from 17m to 12m in length are either moored afloat, launched down a slipway or are towed into the sea on a trailer and launched. The inshore boats are either rigid or non-rigid inflatables.

The Irish Coast Guard in the Republic of Ireland or the UK Coastguard in Northern Ireland task lifeboats when an emergency call is received, through any of the recognised systems. These include 999/112 phone calls, Mayday/PanPan calls on VHF, a signal from an emergency position indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) or distress signals.

The Irish Coast Guard is the government agency responsible for the response to, and co-ordination of, maritime accidents which require search and rescue operations. To carry out their task the Coast Guard calls on their own resources – Coast Guard units manned by volunteers and contracted helicopters, as well as "declared resources" - RNLI lifeboats and crews. While lifeboats conduct the operation, the coordination is provided by the Coast Guard.

A lifeboat coxswain (pronounced cox'n) is the skipper or master of the lifeboat.

RNLI Lifeboat crews are required to follow a particular development plan that covers a pre-agreed range of skills necessary to complete particular tasks. These skills and tasks form part of the competence-based training that is delivered both locally and at the RNLI's Lifeboat College in Poole, Dorset

 

While the RNLI is dependent on donations and legacies for funding, they also need volunteer crew and fund-raisers.

© Afloat 2020