Tributes have been paid to a Dublin-born woman who drowned off a coastal town on New Zealand’s South Island.

As Stuff reports, 56-year-old Eve Parkin was reported missing in South Bay off Kaikōura on Tuesday 12 January.

After a multi-agency search and rescue operation was launched, her body was found in the water the following morning.

Parkin was a keen ocean swimmer, who reportedly swam in Dublin Bay year-round in her youth.

After taking up sea swimming again nine years ago, she became a fixture in the water at Kaikōura and in competitions around her adopted country.

Stuff has more on the story HERE.

Homing in on her second anniversary Down Under, West Cork sailor Mia Connolly reports to Afloat.ie that she recently completed one of New Zealand’s biggest coastal races.

Mia crews on trim as well as bow, mid-bow and pit for the Auckland-based Miss Scarlet, a Reichel/Pugh IRC52, which finished 11th overall in the Coastal Classic on Saturday 24 October.

She tells us: “Trimming the code zero at the start was the highlight for me — and the second highlight was the dolphins almost touching my sea boots while on the rail.

“We may not have been the best 52 footer but we certainly were one of very few boats who stuck it out until the end.”

The race was one more remarkable achievement for the former self-confessed “home bird” who upped sticks for Australia in November 2018 in the hopes of “that Sydney Harbour dream life”.

And for the first year it was indeed a dream come true — as the experienced pitman and trimmer quickly joined the crew of Zen, Gordon Ketelbey’s TP52 which that took the IRC Division 1 title in the 2019 Garmin NSW IRC Championship.

But her time in Australia came to an abrupt halt just 12 months into her adventure when “someone in the visa office decide they were having a bad day and declined my road to residency”.

Mia was given just one week to leave the country — during the most crucial training period ahead of the 2019 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race.

“So, I had to [pack up] lock, stock and barrel once again on my own and move to New Zealand, but with a lot more hard work and stress,” she says — though she did return for one last hurrah in the Sydney-Hobart.

“Almost a year later and I still can’t believe I completed it and on one of the most popular TP52s in Australia.”

In hindsight, Mia’s unplanned relocation across the Tasman Sea was the right move at the right time — just weeks before the coronavirus pandemic and its associated restrictions wreaked havoc across the world’s sailing communities.

In the months since the pandemic’s first wave, New Zealand emerged as one of the few countries to get the virus under control, with life there more or less returning to normal — and now Mia finds herself “in the heart of it all”.

Mia captures the sunset from the rail of Miss Scarlet

“Sailing and racing is continuing here; I am lucky to be in Auckland,” she says. “Everything is happening here with the America’s Cup. I am in the heart of it all.”

However, as she comes up on her second anniversary in the antipodes, Mia can’t help missing the connection with her loved ones back home.

“I left Ireland November 5th, 2018. It’s coming up to my two-year mark after leaving home,” she tells us.

“I’m dying to see my family as I didn’t get home the first year because I was racing so much and this year, well, if I left New Zealand I wouldn’t be getting back anytime soon.”

Afloat looks forward to further updates from Mia as she continues her sailing exploits in New Zealand.

Royal Irish Yacht Club cadet member Niall Malone has sent the club an update of his recent competitions in New Zealand, where he currently lives and races.

First up was two weeks of racing in Sydney, Australia last month — at the Harken International Youth Match Racing Championships hosted by the Royal Prince Alfred from 18-22 November, and the Musto Youth Match Racing Internationals at the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia from 26-29 November.

“We had a good two weeks racing in a very close fleet in Sydney,” Niall says, hailing the “extremely high level of sailors” at both events.

Musto was his team’s first ever Grade 1 event, the helm says, so it was “a great opportunity just to be among such a good fleet and we were able to learn a lot”.

Despite neither event seeing him get the results hoped for, the young Irishman is proud that he “had some very close races, finishing less than half a boat length behind the world number two [New Zealand youth Nick Egnot-Johnson] and taking two wins of the Musto Youth International defending champion Frankie Dair”.

Next up for Niall will be the first ever New Zealand Foiling Match Racing Championships, being held at the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron from 13-17 January, in which he will be representing the RIYC.

#Rowing: New Zealand have chosen Tony O’Connor to coach their senior men’s eight. The 49-year-old former oarsman has been a successful coach at junior level, with the school at which he teaches, Christ’s College, Christchurch, and in the international set-up. He coached the New Zealand junior four which took silver at the World Junior Championships in 2017.

 O’Connor represented Ireland at two Olympic Games (1996 and 2000), and was part of the lightweight four which finished fourth in 1996. He won gold in the lightweight pair in 2001 World Championships with Gearóid Towey. He partnered Neville Maxwell in the lightweight pair which set the world’s best time in 1994.  

#Rower of the Month: The Afloat Rower of the Month for February is Paul O’Donovan. The Skibbereen quartet of Mark O’Donovan, Shane O’Driscoll, Paul O’Donovan and Gary O’Donovan warmed slowly to their task in competing in the New Zealand Rowing Championships. The arrival of coach Dominic Casey helped. When finals came around, they won a bronze medal as a four. But topping this achievement was that of Paul O’Donovan in the Premier Single Sculls. The lightweight world champion mixed it with two of the top heavyweights in the world: O’Donovan finished third, just a few boat lengths behind Robbie Manson, who in 2017 set the world’s fastest time, and ahead of Olympic champion Mahe Drysdale.

 The achievement makes Paul O’Donovan the Afloat Rower of the Month.

Rower of the Month awards: The judging panel is made up of Liam Gorman, rowing correspondent of The Irish Times and David O'Brien, Editor of Afloat magazine. Monthly awards for achievements during the year will appear on afloat.ie. Keep a monthly eye on progress and watch our 2018 champions list grow.

https://www.facebook.com/WorldRowing/videos/10160199271930651/

#Rowing: An Irish crew have taken a medal in the Premier grade at the New Zealand Rowing Championships. The Skibberen four of Gary O’Donovan, Paul O’Donovan, Mark O’Donovan and Shane O’Driscoll finished third in the Premier four, just a second ahead of fourth.

New Zealand Rowing Championships, Lake Karapiro, Day Five (Irish interest)

Men

Four – Premier

A Final:  3 Skibbereen (G O’Donovan, P O’Donovan, M O’Donovan, S O’Driscoll) 5:58.82.

#Rowing: Max Murphy added a gold medal to the silver he had won in the men’s senior pair at the New Zealand Rowing Championships today. The UCD oarsman was part of the Waikato senior eight which were clear winners, beating a crew from their own club into second. Kevin Neville and Eamon Power of NUIG were in the Wellington crew which took bronze.

 In warm and calm conditions, Paul O’Donovan and Gary O’Donovan finished fourth in the Premier double sculls, an elite event won by Chris Harris and Robbie Manson.

New Zealand Rowing Championships, Lake Karapiro, Day Four (Irish interest)

Men

Eight – Senior

Final: 1 Waikato (3 M Murphy) 5:56.41; 3 Wellington (7: K Neville; 8 E Power) 6:00.28.  

Pair - Senior

Final: 2 Waikato (M Murphy, T Bedford) 6:59.41.

Sculling,

Double – Premier

Final: 4 Skibbereen (P O’Donovan, G O’Donovan) 6:38.66. Senior – B Final: 1 Wairau (2 K Neville) 6:46.04.

Single – Club

B Final: 5 Wairau (E Power) 8:11.15.

#Rowing: Kevin Neville competed in two semi-finals at the New Zealand Rowing Championships on Thursday. The NUIG man, competing for Wairau, finished sixth in the senior single sculls and fifth in the senior double. He is set to compete in B Finals. In the club singles semi-final, Eamon Power finished eighth and is also bound for a B Final.  

New Zealand Rowing Championships, Lake Karapiro, Day Three (Irish interest)

Men

Sculling, Double – Senior  - Semi-Final One (First Four to A Final; rest to B Final): 5 Wairau (2 K Neville) 6:56.17.

 Single – Senior - Semi-Final Two (First Four to A Final; rest to B Final): 6 Wairau (K Neville) 8:08.97.  

 Club – Semi-Final One (First Four to A Final; rest to B Final): Wairau (E Power) 8:05.86.

#Rowing: Paul O’Donovan, in the Premier (open weight) single sculls, and the Skibbereen four both made it to A Finals at the New Zealand Rowing Championships. O’Donovan won in a repechage to join some of the top heavyweight single scullers in the world in the final. Gary O’Donovan took third in the race and will compete in the B Final.

 The two brothers joined Mark O’Donovan and Shane O’Driscoll to form a four which won its repechage and will also compete in a final with top heavyweight crews.

 Mark O’Donovan and Shane O’Driscoll took fifth in their repechage of the Premier Pair and missed out on the final, while Max Murphy made it through to the A Final of the men’s pair and NUIG’s Kevin Neville and Eamon Power progressed through repechages in the senior single and club single respectively.    

New Zealand Rowing Championships, Lake Karapiro, Day Two (Irish interest)

Men

Four – Premier

Repechage Two (First two to A Final; rest to B Final): 1 Skibbereen (G O’Donovan, P O’Donovan, M O’Donovan, S O’Driscoll) 6:21.39.   

Pair – Premier

Repechage (Top Four to Final; rest eliminated): 5 Skibbereen (S O’Driscoll, M O’Donovan) 7:11.47.

Senior

Repechage (Top Three to Final): 2 Waikato (M Murphy, T Bedford) 7:33.13.  

Sculling,

Single – Premier

Repechage One (First two to Final; rest to B Final): 1  Skibbereen (P O’Donovan) 7:23.32; 3 Skibbereen (G O’Donovan) 7:55.63.

Senior

Repechage Three (First Two to Semi-Final): 2 Wairau (K Neville) 7:29.91.  

Club

Repechage One (First Two to Semi-Final): 1  Wairau (E Power) 8:19.07.  

#Rowing: Mark O’Donovan and Shane O’Driscoll were eliminated from the Premier Pair at the New Zealand Rowing Championships on Wednesday (local time). The world lightweight pairs champions knew they would have some tough races as they learnt their trade in the heavyweight ranks, and this was one. In a tight repechage, rowed into a headwind, the Skibbereen men lost out by 1.64 seconds a three-way battle for the crucial third and fourth places which guaranteed a slot in the final.  

 Max Murphy secured a place in the final of the men’s senior pair, as his Waikato crew finished second in a repechage, while Eamon Power won his repechage of the club single sculls to secure a place in the semi-finals.

New Zealand Rowing Championships, Lake Karapiro, Day One (Irish interest; selected results)

Men

Pair – Premier - Repechage (Top Four to Final; rest eliminated): 5 Skibbereen (S O’Driscoll, M O’Donovan) 7:11.47.

Senior - Repechage (Top Three to Final): 2 Waikato (M Murphy, T Bedford) 7:33.13.  

Sculling, Single – Club – Repechage One (First Two to Semi-Final): 1 Wairau (E Power) 8:19.07.