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Displaying items by tag: Queenscliff

A harbour near Melbourne in Australia is probing the potential of its natural tides to develop a new kind of renewable energy hub.

As the Bellarine Times reports, Queenscliff Harbour has partnered with the non-profit Southern Ocean Environmental Link and tidal turbine maker Altum Green Energy to install a device near the harbour’s marina.

The area of Port Phillip Heads, also known as The Rip, is at the narrow entrance to the large bay on which Melbourne lies to the northeast.

Its large tidal flows make it a treacherous stretch for boating and shipping, but a potentially rich one for generating power from the sea.

The joint project is currently collecting measurements at the location to determine its potential and best positioning for the Altum turbine, which is designed to operate in slow-flowing waters such as at ports and bridges, rivers, canals and islands.

The Bellarine Times has more on the story HERE.

Published in Power From the Sea

Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Yacht Race Information

The biennial Dun Laoghaire to Dingle race is a 320-miles race down to the east coast of Ireland, across the south coast and into Dingle harbour in County Kerry.

The race is organised by the National Yacht Club.

It never fails to offer a full range of weather, wind and tide to the intrepid entrants, ranging from a 32ft cruiser to a 79ft all-out racer.

Three divisions are available to enter: cruiser (boats equipped with furlers), racing (the bulk of the fleet) and also two-handed.

D2D Course change overruled

In 2019, the organisers considered changing the course to allow boats to select routes close to shore by removing the requirement to go outside Islands and Lighthouses en route, but following input from regular participants, the National Yacht Club decided to stick with the tried and tested course route in order to be fair to large and smaller boats and to keep race records intact.

RORC Points Calendar

The 2019 race was the first edition to form part of the Royal Ocean Racing Club “RORC” calendar for the season. This is in addition to the race continuing as part of the ISORA programme. 

D2D Course record time

Mick Cotter’s 78ft Whisper established the 1 day and 48 minutes course record for the Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race in 2009 and that time stood until 2019 when Cotter returned to beat his own record but only just, the Dun Laoghaire helmsman crossing the line in Kerry to shave just 20 seconds off his 2009 time.