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Displaying items by tag: Leinster Schools

The Royal St. George Yacht Club hosted the Leinster Schools Team Racing Championships in Dun Laoghaire Harbour last Tuesday. In glorious sunshine 8 teams completed 31 races to provide a result.

The Round Robin was tightly fought, with a 3 way tie between Loreto St. Stephens Green, Loreto Dalkey and St. Conleths, with Loreto St. Stephens Green coming out on top after a count back on points to break the tie.

In the finals it was Gonzaga versus Kilkenny and this went to the wire, with both teams having a win each. Now we were down to a nail biting 3rd race in which Gonzaga took the spoils. This was the second time running that Gonzaga have won the Leinster Schools Trophy. Commiserations to Kilkenny who gave Gonzaga quite a challenge.

Leinster schools Team racing

Leinster Schools Team Racing action at Dun Laoghaire

The top four teams qualify for the Irish Schools Team Racing Championships which will be hosted at the F.O.M.E.C. sailing centre in Schull on the 9th & 10th of April.

Adam Hyland (R.S.G.Y.C.) was the Race Officer and did an excellent job of completing the event, with a number of wind shifts throughout the day. Ailbe Millerick was the Chief Umpire and was assisted by Dave Sheahan.

Thank you to everyone who assisted in the organising and running of the event.

All the competitors deserve acknowledgement for the lovely manner in which they conducted themselves both on and off the water throughout the event.

The final results were as follows:
1st Gonzaga College
2nd Kilkenny
3rd Loreto St. Stephens Green (Tie Break 20 Points)
4th Loreto Dalkey (Tie Break 21 Points)
5th St. Conleths (Tie Break 22 Points)
6th St. Andrews 1
7th Belvedere College
8th St. Andrews 2

Published in Team Racing

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.

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