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The popular Red Bay boating area on the North Antrim coast is to gain protection under EU Law as a marine animal protection area.

The area was chosen because it contains rare species that are in danger of becoming extinct.

The new marine protection area restricts human activity to protect living, non-living, cultural, and/or historic resources.

Protections in various areas range from limits on development, fishing gear types, fishing seasons, catch limits, moorings, to complete bans on removing marine life of any kind.

It is understood Red Bay is a nursery ground for many commercial fish species.

Published in Marine Wildlife

County Antrim's Red Bay Lifeboat crew launched this evening (Saturday 7 August 2010) to rescue a brother and sister who had got into difficulty in the Boulder Field on Fair Head rocks on the North Antrim Coast.  This is the first callout for Red Bay's new Atlantic 85 lifeboat Geoffrey Charles.

The call for help was received at 18.25 this evening when the siblings went walking in the Boulder field and got into difficulty.  The Red Bay lifeboat was launched and in a heavy swell manoeuvred close to the rocks.  One of the volunteer lifeboat crew then swam from the lifeboat onto the rocks with another crewmember's drysuit and a lifejacket.  He then assisted the casualties one at a time using a rope.

Under difficult conditions the two casualties were recovered onto the lifeboat and landed at Ballycastle.  No further medical attention was needed.  Commenting on the rescue Red Bay RNLI helm Paddy McLaughlin said, " Although people like to walk in this scenic area of North Antrim it can be a very dangerous spot.  This was a successful first callout for our new lifeboat and the two people are recovering well from their ordeal."

The new lifeboat was only put on station less than a fortnight ago.  It has a number of improvements on its predecessor including a faster top speed of 35 knots; radar; provision for a fourth crew member and more space for survivors. It can operate safely in daylight in up to force 7 conditions and at night in up to force 6, it is also capable of being beached in an emergency.

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Published in RNLI Lifeboats
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About the Star Sailors League Gold Cup

In 2022, Sailing finally got its own World Cup, according to the promoters of the SSL (STAR SAILORS LEAGUE) Gold Cup. 

Like football in 1930 and rugby in 1987, the SSL Gold Cup is designed to crown the best sailing nation of all! The World's Top 56 countries, selected on their SSL Nation ranking, will battle their way through to raise the coveted and only Sailing World Cup trophy.

The SSL is the global inshore sailing circuit launched by Olympic athletes in 2012, by sailors for sailors. Its main philosophy considers the athletes (not the boats) as the “Stars” and it aims to showcase the annual global sailing championship with its over 15’000 regattas; it determines and celebrates the world leaders in sailing promoting the inshore regattas to the global audience.

The three main components of the SSL Circuit are the SSL Ranking published every Tuesday, updating the position of over 100,000 leading athletes, thus highlighting the world’s top inshore sailors. The SSL Finals taking place every year around November-December, it’s the annual final of the SSL Circuit among the 20/25 best athletes of the ranking, to crown the champion of the season. And the SSL Gold Cup, the ‘ultimate’ championship of the circuit with 56 nations among World Sailing members, to crown the best sailing nation.

In a mechanical sport where the race for technology sometimes gets in the way of the race for glory, the SSL aims for equal competition where the talent of the sailors is at the forefront and the champions become heroes that inspire new generations of sailors.

The SSL is a World Sailing Special Event since 2017.