Displaying items by tag: RIP

6th February 2024

Ringsend and Dalkey Pay Respects to Late Ken ‘The Boatman’ Cunningham

Ringsend residents lined the streets of the south Dublin village to pay respects to the late Ken Cunningham following his funeral Mass on Saturday (3 February).

For many years Ken ran the passenger ferry, Licence No 1877, from Coliemore Harbour to Dalkey Island and made such an impact on the local community that Coliemore became affectionately known as “Ken’s Harbour”.

Ken was also an accomplished rower — unsurprising as he was one of the storied Cunninghams of Dalkey and East Coast rowing renown — and was a member of both Dalkey Rowing Club and St Patrick’s Rowing Club in Ringsend, which was his home in later years and where he leaves a lasting legacy.

Among those paying tribute on social media were Dakley Tidy Towns, who described Ken as “fund of knowledge and information on our surrounding waters”.

Members of St Patrick’s Rowing Club form a guard of honour outside St Patrick’s Church in Ringsend at the funeral Mass for Ken Cunningham on Saturday 3 February

Published in Dublin Bay

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Scottish Series Background

Although the format of the Scottish Series varies little from year to year, it is interesting to see some of the changes which the event has seen over the years:

CYCA handicap class added to IOR (1976)

IOR level rating classes to reflect the popular sizes and World Championships being held in the UK

Separate one design class for Sonatas (1980 to date)

Campbeltown dropped with offshore races direct to Tarbert (1982)

Unique light displacement CYCA class - the forerunner of today's sportboats (1982)

Computer results system introduced in 1982 and now recognised as the best in the UK

Separate one design class for Sigma 33 (1987 to date)

Separate one design classes in certain years for Impalas, Sigma 38, Melges 24 and Cork 1720

Inner triangle to shorten courses for smaller classes (1986)

Points loading for offshore race reduced from 2 to 1.5 to 1

First racing in Scotland under Channel Handicap (1988)

Second racecourse for smaller classes (1989)

Discard introduced

Windward leeward races - two per day (1993)

Sportboat classes with no overnight races (1994)

Marquee on quayside for main social events (1995-2008)

Restricted Sail Class (1998)

Third racecourse for sportboats with up to three races per day (1998)

Day feeder races (2002)

Overnight and day feeder races discontinued (2005)

Stand-alone Tarbert Inbound and Outbound passage races introduced (2005/6)

With all these changes, some things have stayed the same:

Huge support from Ireland every year since 1975

A magnificent effort ashore and afloat from the volunteer helpers of the Clyde Cruising Club, Royal Scottish Motor Yacht Club and Tarbert Loch Fyne Yacht Club

Results and communications service at the forefront of technology

The best competition and the best social scene in the country

An overall Series winner, the roll call including many of the top sailors in Scotland and beyond.