Displaying items by tag: Ballycotton Lifeboat

2nd March 2014

Famous Ballycotton Lifeboat Heads Home by Road for Restoration

#FamousLifeboat – Former Ballycotton RNLB lifeboat, Mary Stanford, made famous for a daring rescue of the Daunt Rock lightship crew in 1936, was hoisted out from Grand Canal Dock basin yesterday and headed to her old east Cork homeport, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The Barnett-class lifeboat was loaded onto a truck to start the final stage of her homecoming following a campaign to save the vessel from further neglect having languished for many years.

Upon her return to Munster, The Save The Mary Stanford Project committee intend to have the boat raised on a plinth near the entrance to the Ballycotton Cliff walk and they are seeking donations to assist in her restoration that may involve the boat covered during this period.

Her restoration would allow those to appreciate the lifeboat's career and particularly the role she played during Daunt Rock lightship rescue that took place 78 years ago. The 60-hour ordeal would became the first and only lifeboat in RNLI history to have been awarded a gold medal for gallantry, that is for the boat herself, as well as her crew who were recognised for their bravery.

In recent years she was moored alongside Naom Eanna which been given a month's reprieve, otherwise she is to be scrapped by Waterways Ireland.

Published in Historic Boats

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22nd February 2014

Famous Ballycotton Lifeboat Saved Leaves Fate of Naom Éanna Open to Dáil Questions?

#FamousLifeboat – Former Ballycotton RNLB lifeboat, Mary Stanford, arguably the most famous vessel to serve the institution, is due to return 'home', following years of neglect in Dublin's Grand Canal Dock, leaving the fate of Naom Éanna much to be desired, writes Jehan Ashmore.

On Wednesday, Naom Éanna, the former Galway-Aran Islands ferry built by Liffey Dockyard in 1958 for the CIE operated service, was moved by Waterways Ireland on foot of safety concerns should the veteran vessel spring a leak and sink in the basin. Such a situation potentially poses health, safety risks not to mention a navigation obstacle that could hinder notably the Viking Splash Tours amphibious excursion craft entering the basin.

As for the Mary Stanford, her fate is finally secured after two decades in attempting to restore her, following the establishment of a committee that began in October 2013 which has successfully raised funds in acquiring the 51ft Barnett-class lifeboat.

In mid-March she is due to be transported by road to Ballycotton on Cork's southern coastline, where she made history in rescuing the crew of the Daunt lightship in 1936. The 60-hour ordeal that took place on 11 February, 78 years ago, would became the first and only lifeboat in RNLI history to have been awarded a gold medal for gallantry, that is for the boat herself, as well as her crew who were recognised for their bravery.

The Gold medal was awarded to Coxwain Patrick Sliney, a grandfather of Colm Sliney who is involved in the campaign to bring her home. The silver and bronze medals were also presented to the rest of the crew at a ceremony held in London and notably attended by Duke of Kent, who would later abdicate as King Edward VII. A photograph of the event depicts the Duke chatting to some of the lifeboat crew as published in the Cork Examiner of the time, see the Facebook page for Save the Mary Stanford.

On the return of Mary Stanford to Munster, the boat will be raised on a plinth near the entrance to the Ballycotton Cliff walk and may need to be covered during her restoration. The cruiser-stern boat has mahogany decks surrounding her superstructure constructed on a double-diagonal planked hull.

During her career between 1930 and 1959, she was called out on 41 'shouts' resulting in the saving of 122 lives. In order to carry out this second stage of the restoration project, further fundraising is required and the committee have also set up a website to the lifeboat that saved so many lives!

At one stage, the lifeboat beame a pilot cutter for Limerick Harbour Commissioners before eventually ending up in the Grand Canal Basin, from where until recently she was moored alongside Naom Éanna. Noting, this is how her name is spelt (as to distinct to Naomh with a 'h'), and port of registry, Gallim, using Gaelic traditional script which can be barely be seen when viewed from the basin as the stern of the vessel remains exposed in the graving dock.

Published in Historic Boats

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16th September 2012

Loan Fisherman Fouls Prop off East Cork Coast

#rnli –Yesterday afternoon, a lone fisherman contacted the emergency services seeking assistance when his propeller became fouled 3 miles south of Ballycotton lighthouse off the East Cork coast.

The Ballycotton lifeboat, Austin Lidbury, launched at 16:20 and proceeded to the casualty. When they arrived on scene it was found the 20 foot fishing vessel was still attached to the net and it was necessary to cut it free. The vessel was taken under tow to Ballycotton harbour where it was safely secured alongside the pier wall at 17:30.

Published in RNLI Lifeboats

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12th October 2010

Ballycotton Lifeboat Rescues Fishing Vessel

Ballycotton lifeboat was launched last night, 11 October, to a fishing vessel with a fouled propeller, near rocks off Ballycroneen Bay, east of Cork Harbour. The boat's skipper put out an anchor and contacted the owner, who in turn contacted the lifeboat station. Ballycotton lifeboat was launched at 19:55 and arrived on-scene at 20:15. They pulled the fishing vessel away from the rocks and any possible fishing gear that was in the area. A tow line was established and the fishing vessel was towed into Ballycotton harbour, arriving at 21:20.

Published in RNLI Lifeboats

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11th October 2010

Cruising Sailor Rescued off Cork Harbour

A sailor who got into difficulty cruising from Wales to the Canary Islands was rescued and brought to safety in Cork Harbour yesterday.

The 10-metre yacht hit poor weather conditions near the Pollock Rock east of Power Head and lost the use of its VHF radio. The skipper was heading for Cork Harbour when he also encountered steering problems.

A passing fishing boat lent assistance and contacted the Coastguard. The vessel was towed to Crosshaven by Ballycotton lifeboat.

Published in RNLI Lifeboats

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10th July 2010

Cork Week Bound Yacht Rescued by Ballycotton Lifeboat

A yacht bound for Cork Week regatta sought assistance from the emergency services tonight when their vessel ran into difficulties eight miles east of Ballycotton Bay in East Cork. The yacht was sailing from Arklow to Cork Harbour to attend next week's Royal Cork regatta at Crosshaven. Ballycotton lifeboat station was contacted and requested to launch. They reached the yacht with four people on board at 17:50 and established a tow. Sea conditions in the area were unpleasant with the wind blowing F6 / F7. The Irish registered yacht was towed to Ballycotton harbour and safely secured alongside the pier wall but it has not been named by the Ballycotton lifeboat.

Published in Cork Week

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9th May 2010

Ballycotton Lifeboat Launches Twice

An Garda Siochana received a call from a concerned woman who had observed a yacht struggling with its sail. She was unsure but was afraid that they may be having difficulties and in need of assistance. The Gardai contacted Ballycotton RNLI lifeboat station and 23:30 the Ballycotton lifeboat launched to investigate the report. After a short search they returned to harbour having satisfied themselves that all was in order.

A few hours later, at 04:10, they launched again. This time it was to a 44 ft fishing vessel with propeller problems 37 miles south east of Ballycotton. They are due to be with the casualty at 06:00 when a tow will be commenced. Conditions at sea are fresh and it will take approximately 6 hours to tow the vessel to harbour.

More to follow in due course.

Published in RNLI Lifeboats

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About The Middle Sea Race

The Rolex Middle Sea Race is a highly rated offshore classic, often mentioned in the same breath as the Rolex Fastnet, The Rolex Sydney–Hobart and Newport-Bermuda as a 'must do' race. The Royal Malta Yacht Club and the Royal Ocean Racing Club co-founded the race in 1968 and 2007 was the 28th Edition. Save for a break between 1984 and 1995 the event has been run annually attracting 25–30 yachts. In recent years, the number of entries has rissen sharply to 68 boats thanks to a new Organising Committee who managed to bring Rolex on board as title sponsor for the Middle Sea Race.

The race is a true challenge to skippers and crews who have to be at their very best to cope with the often changeable and demanding conditions. Equally, the race is blessed with unsurpassed scenery with its course, taking competitors close to a number of islands, which form marks of the course. Ted Turner described the MSR as "the most beautiful race course in the world".

Apart from Turner, famous competitors have included Eric Tabarly, Cino Ricci, Herbert von Karajan, Jim Dolan, Sir Chay Blyth and Sir Francis Chichester (fresh from his round the world adventure). High profile boats from the world's top designers take part, most in pursuit of line honours and the record – competing yachts include the extreme Open 60s, Riviera di Rimini and Shining; the maxis, Mistress Quickly, Zephyrus IV and Sagamore; and the pocket rockets such as the 41-foot J-125 Strait Dealer and the DK46, Fidessa Fastwave.

In 2006, Mike Sanderson and Seb Josse on board ABN Amro, winner of the Volvo Ocean Race, the super Maxis; Alfa Romeo and Maximus and the 2006 Rolex Middle Sea Race overall winner, Hasso Platner on board his MaxZ86, Morning Glory.

George David on board Rambler (ex-Alfa Romeo) managed a new course record in 2007 and in 2008, Thierry Bouchard on Spirit of Ad Hoc won the Rolex Middle Sea Race on board a Beneteau 40.7

The largest number of entries was 78 established in 2008.

Middle Sea Race History

IN THE BEGINNING

The Middle Sea Race was conceived as the result of sporting rivalry between great friends, Paul and John Ripard and an Englishman residing in Malta called Jimmy White, all members of the Royal Malta Yacht Club. In the early fifties, it was mainly British servicemen stationed in Malta who competitively raced. Even the boats had a military connection, since they were old German training boats captured by the British during the war. At the time, the RMYC only had a few Maltese members, amongst who were Paul and John Ripard.

So it was in the early sixties that Paul and Jimmy, together with a mutual friend, Alan Green (later to become the Race Director of the Royal Ocean Racing Club), set out to map a course designed to offer an exciting race in different conditions to those prevailing in Maltese coastal waters. They also decided the course would be slightly longer than the RORC's longest race, the Fastnet. The resulting course is the same as used today.

Ted Turner, CEO of Turner Communications (CNN) has written that the Middle Sea Race "must be the most beautiful race course in the world. What other event has an active volcano as a mark of the course?"

In all of its editions since it was first run in 1968 – won by Paul Ripard's brother John, the Rolex Middle Sea Race has attracted many prestigious names in yachting. Some of these have gone on to greater things in life and have actually left their imprint on the world at large. Amongst these one finds the late Raul Gardini who won line honours in 1979 on Rumegal, and who spearheaded the 1992 Italian Challenge for the America's Cup with Moro di Venezia.

Another former line honours winner (1971) who has passed away since was Frenchman Eric Tabarly winner of round the world and transatlantic races on Penduik. Before his death, he was in Malta again for the novel Around Europe Open UAP Race involving monohulls, catamarans and trimarans. The guest list for the Middle Sea Race has included VIP's of the likes of Sir Francis Chichester, who in 1966 was the first man to sail around the world single-handedly, making only one stop.

The list of top yachting names includes many Italians. It is, after all a premier race around their largest island. These include Navy Admiral Tino Straulino, Olympic gold medallist in the star class and Cino Ricci, well known yachting TV commentator. And it is also an Italian who in 1999 finally beat the course record set by Mistress Quickly in 1978. Top racing skipper Andrea Scarabelli beat it so resoundingly, he knocked off over six hours from the time that had stood unbeaten for 20 years.

World famous round the world race winners with a Middle Sea Race connection include yachting journalist Sir Robin Knox-Johnston and Les Williams, both from the UK.

The Maxi Class has long had a long and loving relationship with the Middle Sea Race. Right from the early days personalities such as Germany's Herbert Von Karajan, famous orchestra conductor and artistic director of the Berliner Philarmoniker, competing with his maxi Helisara IV. Later came Marvin Greene Jr, CEO of Reeves Communications Corporation and owner of the well known Nirvana (line honours in 1982) and Jim Dolan, CEO of Cablevision, whose Sagamore was back in 1999 to try and emulate the line honours she won in 1997.

THE COURSE RECORD

The course record was held by the San Francisco based, Robert McNeil on board his Maxi Turbo Sled Zephyrus IV when in 2000, he smashed the Course record which now stands at 64 hrs 49 mins 57 secs. Zephyrus IV is a Rechiel-Pugh design. In recent years, various maxis such as Alfa Romeo, Nokia, Maximus and Morning Glory have all tried to break this course record, but the wind Gods have never played along. Even the VOR winner, ABN AMro tried, but all failed in 2006.

However, George David came along on board Rambler in 2007 and demolished the course record established by Zephyrus IV in 2000. This now stands at 1 day, 23 hours, 55 minutes and 3 seconds.

At A Glance - Middle Sea Race 2024

First held: 1968

Organising Authority: Royal Malta Yacht Club

Start

The 45th Rolex Middle Sea Race will start on Saturday, 19 October 2024.

Grand Harbour, Valletta: seven separate starts, at 10-minute intervals, from 11:00 CEST Saturday, 21 October 2024

Start Line: between the Saluting Battery, Upper Barrakka Gardens (Valletta) and Fort St Angelo (Birgu)

Various vantage points all around the Grand Harbour, high up on the bastions or at water level. Harbour access for spectator boats is restricted during the period of the start.

Course

Set in the heart of the Mediterranean and is considered one of the most beautiful in the world. It starts and finishes in Malta, passes two active volcanoes and takes in the deep azure waters surrounding Sicily, and the Aeolian and Egadi Islands, as well as lonelier outposts of Pantelleria and Lampedusa, both closer to the African continent than Europe.

Length: 606 nautical miles (1,122km)

Outright Race Record: 33h 29m 28s, Argo, United States, Jason Carroll

Monohull Race Record: 40h 17m 50s, Comanche, Cayman Is, Mitch Booth