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Displaying items by tag: Darren Conway

Following the launch of its “Always Think Water Safety” awareness campaign earlier this month, Dublin Port Company (DPC) is issuing a reminder to the public to use Dublin Bay in a safe and responsible manner this weekend and for the remainder of the summer, with the heatwave bringing more people out to enjoy water-based sports and activities.

With the arrival of warmer temperatures and continued easing of lockdown restrictions, a growing number of leisure boat users, kayakers, paddle boarders, jet-skiers and sea-swimmers are venturing out into the surroundings of Dublin Bay and Dublin Port, many for the first time.

Unfortunately, some have also found themselves in potentially dangerous situations on the water requiring the guidance of Dublin Port crews to keep them clear of the shipping lanes, and DPC is keen to ensure everyone knows how to protect themselves and others.

DPC is encouraging anybody planning a trip on the water to “get their bearings - always think water safety” and to familiarise themselves with the basics on water safety in a new leaflet available here. Included is a new map showing a simplified version of the shipping lanes at Dublin Port, where permission to cross is mandatory for all leisure craft users. This information, and more, is available at: www.dublinport.ie/water-safety

The message has been reinforced by sketch comedian Darren Conway in his video here

Note on Jet Skis and Personal Watercraft (PWC)

Jet ski and PWC users are reminded to adhere to the 6 knots speed limit when within 60 m of a pier, jetty, slipway, mooring, shore or another vessel and 120 m of a swimmer or dive flag. Freestyling is not permitted within 200m of swimmers, or the shoreline.

Published in Dublin Bay

The Irish Cruiser Racing Association (ICRA) Information

The creation of the Irish Cruiser Racing Association (ICRA) began in a very low key way in the autumn of 2002 with an exploratory meeting between Denis Kiely, Jim Donegan and Fintan Cairns in the Granville Hotel in Waterford, and the first conference was held in February 2003 in Kilkenny.

While numbers of cruiser-racers were large, their specific locations were widespread, but there was simply no denying the numerical strength and majority power of the Cork-Dublin axis. To get what was then a very novel concept up and running, this strength of numbers had to be acknowledged, and the first National Championship in 2003 reflected this, as it was staged in Howth.

ICRA was run by a dedicated group of volunteers each of whom brought their special talents to the organisation. Jim Donegan, the elder statesman, was so much more interested in the wellbeing of the new organisation than in personal advancement that he insisted on Fintan Cairns being the first Commodore, while the distinguished Cork sailor was more than content to be Vice Commodore.

ICRA National Championships

Initially, the highlight of the ICRA season was the National Championship, which is essentially self-limiting, as it is restricted to boats which have or would be eligible for an IRC Rating. Boats not actually rated but eligible were catered for by ICRA’s ace number-cruncher Denis Kiely, who took Ireland’s long-established native rating system ECHO to new heights, thereby providing for extra entries which brought fleet numbers at most annual national championships to comfortably above the hundred mark, particularly at the height of the boom years. 

ICRA Boat of the Year (Winners 2004-2019)