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Displaying items by tag: Seaplane

Lough Erne Yacht Club on the Lower Lough is situated about six miles north of Enniskillen on Goblusk Bay and occupies a former WW2 RAF site built in 1941 for Catalina Flying Boats. It has the enviable facility of being able to use the former slipway, moorings and hangar for members' sailing boats, power boats and caravans. The hangar provides unique winter storage for boats of all sizes.

Seaplane on Lough Erne

The history surrounding the Sunderlands and Catalinas stationed at Castle Archdale on Lough Erne and particularly the tenders which serviced them during the war is understood to be part of BBC 1 NI Newsline at 1810 hrs tonight (2nd).

In a post on the BBC NI App Louise Cullen writes about two Fermanagh men who have made models of the seaplane tenders; Seamus Gormley, a retired builder and Fred Ternan of Lough Erne Heritage. She also talks to one of the last pilots of the tenders, Alan Henson who was stationed at Castle Archdale in the mid Fifties.

Published in Inland Waterways
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#Seaplane - Almost 80 years after Charles Lindbergh considered the idea of a seaplane base in Galway Harbour, a Clare-based company has held its first test flight out of the city for a proposed new seaplane service, as RTÉ News reports.

The Cessna 206 was flown to and from the harbour yesterday (5 September) by Mountshannon-based Harbour Flights, which hopes to establish a permanent pontoon in the docks to run scenic excursions around Lough Derg and further along the west coast region next year.

It's also hoped that the tourist flights would pave the way for an Aran Islands commuter service, and an eventual Galway to Dublin route.

The plans come three years after Ireland's first ever commercial seaplane service ran its first test flights out of Cork Harbour.

RTÉ News has more on the story HERE.

Published in Galway Harbour
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A test flight for Ireland's first seaplane service took place in Cork Harbour on Friday afternoon. Harbour Flights Ireland has applied for planning permission to set up a landing base in Cobh to run its service having already acquired flight rights at Mountshannon, Co Clare. Test flights ran on Harbour Flights' four-seater plane. The Irish Times has a full report HERE. The company website is HERE.
Published in Cork Harbour

The Round Britain & Ireland Race

The 2022 Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race will feature a wide variety of yachts racing under the IRC rating rule as well as one design and open classes, such as IMOCA, Class40 and Multihulls. The majority of the fleet will race fully crewed, but with the popularity of the Two-Handed class in recent years, the race is expected to have a record entry.

The Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race starts on Sunday 7th August 2022 from Cowes, Isle of Wight, UK.

The 2022 Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race is organised by The Royal Ocean Racing Club in association with The Royal Yacht Squadron.

It is run every four years. There have been nine editions of the Round Britain and Ireland Race which started in 1976 Sevenstar has sponsored the race four times - 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018 and has committed to a longterm partnership with the RORC

The 2022 Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race is a fully crewed non-stop race covering 1,805 nautical miles and is open to IRC, IRC Two Handed, IMOCA 60s, Class40s, Volvo 65s and Multihulls that will race around Britain and Ireland, starting from the Royal Yacht Squadron line in Cowes on the Isle of Wight starting after Cowes Week on Sunday 7 August 2022

The last edition of the race in 2018 attracted 28 teams with crews from 18 nations. Giles Redpath's British Lombard 46 saw over victory and Phil Sharp's Class40 Imerys Clean Energy established a new world record for 40ft and under, completing the course in 8 days 4 hrs 14 mins 49 secs.

The 1,805nm course will take competitors around some of the busiest and most tactically challenging sailing waters in the world. It attracts a diverse range of yachts and crew, most of which are enticed by the challenge it offers as well as the diversity and beauty of the route around Britain and Ireland with spectacular scenery and wildlife.

Most sailors agree that this race is one of the toughest tests as it is nearly as long as an Atlantic crossing, but the changes of direction at headlands will mean constant breaks in the watch system for sail changes and sail trim

Sevenstar Round Britain & Ireland Race Records:

  • Outright - OMA07 Musandam-Oman Sail, MOD 70, Sidney Gavignet, 2014: 3 days 03:32:36
  • Monohull - Azzam Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, VO 65, Ian Walker, 2014: 4 days 13:10:28
  • Monohull All-Female - Team SCA, VO 65, Samantha Davies, 2014: 4 days 21:00:39
  • Monohull 60ft or less - Artemis Team Endeavour, IMOCA 60, Brian Thompson/Artemis Ocean Racing, 2014: 5 days 14:00:54
  • Monohull 40ft or less – Imerys Clean Energy, Class40, Phil Sharp, 2018: 8 days 4:14:49