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Displaying items by tag: Johanna Murphy

The Commodore of the South Coast Offshore Racing Association (SCORA) has been elected President of Cobh and Harbour Chamber in Cork.

The Chamber, which has been in existence for 60 years, is composed of local business representatives and works to promote the economic and social development of the Cork Harbour community. It is the primary business representative organisation in the greater Cobh area.

Johanna Murphy, an auctioneer, has been leading the development of yacht racing on the South Coast and introduced several new developments since she was appointed Commodore of SCORA.

She was previously Vice-President of the Business Chamber which, she said on taking office as President, will be announcing a two-year plan in January.

"We have set up Team Cobh, which is a coming together of the Chamber, Cobh Tourism and Cobh Tidy Towns Committee. We aim to work together in the best interests of the harbour town."

Published in SCORA
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The South Coast Offshore Racing Association and Kinsale Yacht Club have agreed to run a SCORA-based race from Kinsale to the Fastnet Rock and back to Kinsale which will act as a qualifier for the Round Ireland Yacht Race in August.

As sailing resumes on the South Coast, SCORA Commodore Johanna Murphy says this will be the Association’s only offshore race this season.

There will be two other SCORA events for its annual League this season, “a shortened one,” she says – the Cobh-to-Blackrock Race in Cork Harbour and the RCYC Autumn/October Regatta.

She is the guest on this week’s AFLOAT Podcast where she also says that members should support their clubs. “If clubs can’t continue, if they don’t exist, then you won’t be able to go sailing,” she says in response to concerns that members have been slow to renew club memberships.

This follows last week’s Podcast when the CEO of Irish Sailing, Harry Hermon, emphasised the importance of renewing club memberships.

The Kinsale/Fastnet/Kinsale race will start on the Saturday of the August Bank Holiday, August 1, at 1800 and return the following morning. There will be two trophies – The Fastnet Trophy and the Minahan Trophy.

This week’s Podcast is below

Published in Tom MacSweeney
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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