Mary O'Keefes' Tux, an X-332, was the winner of last night's IRC class one fleet in Cork Harbour, a night of perfect sailing conditions reports Hugh Mockler. In class two Kieran and Liz O'Brien's Magnet, an MG335, scored a second race win to lead overall after the second race of the season. Full Results below.

Short legs and plenty of mark roundings and a WNW breeze of 15 to 18 knots with flat water and sunshine made for a great night's sailing at Royal Cork Yacht Club.

There were over 20 boats racing in the McWilliam Sailmakers May league. Class 1 started at 19.00hrs, then Class 2 & 3 at 19.05 and then the White Sail at 19.10.

Race Officer was Edmund Cogan (National 18 sailor) with the help of his team. The combnined fleet started at Corkbeg and the firt leg was a beat to No.8, staying on the Eastern side of the course seemed to pay off.

The tide was ebbing with low water at 20.00hrs but for neap tides, there was still a good flow out of the harbour.

Adding an extra complication to race tactics was a cable laying tug in the middle of the course with yellow marker buoys around it, marking an exclusion zone. 'Do we go North or South?' was the decision skippers had to make.

Far easier was remembering the course; all the marks were to starboard.

After No.8 there was a short reach to No.10. After No.10 the fleet headed for No.7 before a gybe back to Corkbeg.

Spinnakers came down at Corkbeg and a close-hauled reach across the harbour to the Cage Buoy off the Grassy Walk line.

After that there was another reach back the way we came to Corkbeg, with big debates whether to carry a kite or not. .

The fleet rounded Corbeg and then reached close-hauled once again back to the finish line at the Grassy Walk.

Main results below

Series Place	Sail No	Boat	Type of Boat	Owner	Handicap	Series Points	Race 1	Race 2
1	IRL3209	Endgame	A35	Frank Doyle	1.031	5	1	4
2	IRL6021	Ellida	X332	Ria Lyden	0.986	5	3	2
3	IRL8991	Exhale	X362 Sport	Diarmuid & Hilda Good	1.024	7	2	5
4	IRL892	Tux	X332	Mary O'Keeffe	0.981	8	7	1
5	IRL2003	Gloves Off	Corby 38	Kieran Twomey	1.115	10	7	3
6	IRL7290	Felix	X332	Michael Wallace	0.981	11	4	7
7	IRL2805	Indulgence	Dufour 36	Aidan Heffernan	1.023	13	7	6
8	IRL1367	Endeavour	First 36.7	Conor & Denise Phelan	1.009	16	7	9
8	IRL2007	Jump Juice	Ker 37	C & D Phelan	1.105	16	7	9
8	IRL3939	Antix	Ker 39	Anthony O'Leary	1.129	16	7	9
8	IRL4430	Samba	Sunfast 40.3	John Downing	1.030	16	7	9
8	IRL9609	Jelly Baby	J109	Ian Nagle & Paul O'Malley	1.029	16	7	9
8	IRL9834	True Penance	Projection 35 Mod	Colman Garvey & Martin Darrer		16	7	9
8	IRL13500	D-Tox	X35	Donal O'Leary		16	7	9
8	IRL17200	Antix Beag	1720 Mod	Robert O'Leary	1.005	16	7	9

Series Place	Sail No	Boat	Type of Boat	Owner	Handicap	Series Points	Race 1	Race 2
1	GBR9896	Magnet	MG335	Kieran & Liz O'Brien	0.945	2	1	1
2	IRL9732	Wicked	Sunfast 32	Mark Mendell	0.940	5	2	3
3	IRL16859	Bad Company	Sunfast 32	Desmond, Ivers & Deasy	0.939	8	6	2
4	IRL1022	Aramis	Contessa 33	Pat Vaughan	0.929	8	4	4
5	IRL78	No Gnomes	Nicholson 33 mod	Leonard Donnery	0.910	11	3	8
6	IRL1972	No Excuse	X 302 MK2	Ted Crosbie	0.931	11	6	5
7	IRL1193	Catalpa	First 31.7	Derry Nash	0.955	12	5	7
8	IRL6676	Y-Knot	First 32S5	Pat Barrett & Cathal Conlon	0.933	14	8	6
9	GBR7525	Thunderbird	Corby 25	Denis Coleman	0.940	19	8	11
9	IRL2005	Gosling	First 31.7	Gerard O'Sullivan	0.955	19	8	11
9	IRL2525	Yanks $ Ffrancs	Corby 25	Vincent O'Shea	0.938	19	8	11
9	IRL3492	Big Deal	Dehler 34	Derek Dillon	0.925	19	8	11
9	IRL3651	Aisling	Dufour 36	Bryan Heffernan	0.933	19	8	11
9	IRL3861	Cavatina	Granada 38	Ian Hickey	0.928	19	8	11
9	IRL9187	Aurora	Corby 25	Ronan Lydon	0.935	19	8	11
9	IRL9992	Split Point	Dufour 34 Performance	Seamus Gilroy	0.966	19	8	11

Series Place	Sail No	Boat	Type of Boat	Owner	Handicap	Series Points	Race 1	Race 2
1	IRL3691W	Silk Breeze	Dehler 36	Ernie Dillon	0.927	2	1	1
2	IRL3612W	Sweet Dreams	Sun Odyssey 36i	Batt O'Leary	0.982	6	2	4
3	IRL2510W	Lady T	Jeanneau 32i	Michael Lynch	0.940	6	3	3
4	GBR1786YW	Thistle	Hustler 25.5	Peter Webster	0.805	7	5	2
5	IRL3610W	Elegance	Sun Odyssey 36i	Paul O'Shea	0.963	11	4	7
6	IRL1022W	Aramis	Contessa 33	Pat Vaughan	0.920	14	7	7
6	IRL1950W	X-Tension	X-372MH	Conor O'Donovan	0.952	14	7	7
6	IRL2005W	Gosling	Beneteau 31.7	Ger O'Sulllivan	0.945	14	7	7
6	IRL2406W	Expression	Jeaneau 30	Billy Duane	0.868	14	7	7
6	IRL3492W	Big Deal	Dehler 34	Derek Dillon	0.915	14	7	7
6	IRL3651W	Aisling	Dufour 365	Brian Heffernan	0.930	14	7	7
6	IRL3861W	Cavatina	Granada 38	Ian Hickey	0.913	14	7	7
6	IRL9992W	Split Point	Dufour 34	Seamus Gilroy	0.955	14	7	7

The Finnish Navy minelayer FNS Hämeenmaa is to dock in the Port of Cork at the city's central North Custom House Quay tomorrow morning, writes Jehan Ashmore.

FNS Hämeenmaa entered service in 1992 and measures 1,450 tonnes, she is the namesake class of two minelayers, the second FNS Uusimaa was also built by Finnyards in the same year.

At nearly 78m long the steel hulled vessels which have an alloy superstructure are designed to operate throughout the year in the demanding Baltic Sea conditions and the in the archipelago's.

They have an ice operating classification of ICE-1A and for military purposes they became one of first Finnish Navy vessels to incorporate stealth technology features. The pair are primarily tasked for minelaying duties but they also provide roles acting as an escort, transport and depot ships.

Armament comprises of 1 × Bofors 57 mm dual-purpose gun, 1 × eight-cell ItO 04 surface-to-air missile launcher, 2 × anti-submarine rocket launchers, 2 × depth charge rails and 100-150 sea mines (four mine laying rails).

Based in Pansio, the 20 knot vessels each have a crew complement of 60 personal. In total the Finnish Navy has around 2,100 officers, officer specialists and warrant officers, military personnel and civilian's workers.

On an annual basis close to 3,900 conscripts, of which approximately 30 are women volunteers do their military service in the navy. In addition about 3,400 reservists are trained yearly in naval refresher courses.

Drogheda Port Company successfully managed to navigate the global economic downturn with an improved and solid performance for 2010, delegates where informed during its annual report released yesterday, writes Jehan Ashmore. 

Speaking about the performance of Drogheda Port Company, Leo Varadkar TD, Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport said; "I congratulate the company on its solid trading performance in 2010 following a difficult year in 2009. Both imports and exports through the port returned to growth in 2010. The company has managed its costs well and remains profitable. I support the company's plans to develop the existing port and indeed to continue to progress its proposal for a new deepwater port at Bremore.

The Minister added "this country's return to economic prosperity will be export-led and Irish ports will play an important role in facilitating that trade. The overall structure of the State's ports will be reviewed later this year as part of the current Ports Policy Review and will take account of the recent recommendations of the McCarthy Group. Irrespective of the outcome, well managed and profitable ports such as Drogheda will continue to play an important role in serving the market and facilitating industry and jobs.

As part of the ongoing the Ports Policy Review a Consultation Document was issued in October 2010, which highlighted the important role of ports to facilitate the return to economic growth when it occurs. In addition new capacity will be required in the medium to long term and this needs to be planned for now.

The consultation also acknowledges the continuing trend towards larger ships requiring deep-water ports, the reduced availability of ships to serve smaller ports and the emergence of the concept of port-centric logistics as a key driver for future port development.

As for this year "a number of new port records were established in 2010" said Mr. Paul Fleming, Drogheda Port chief executive. "In March, the longest ever vessel to be accommodated in the port, the Rusich 1 at over 128m in length berthed at Tom Roes Point Terminal". The 4,970 tonnes vessel arrived from Vyborg, Russia with a cargo of fertiliser.

Mr Fleming also referred to the largest gas tanker ever to visit its facility at the Flogas LPG terminal when the 1,720 dwt tonnes Thresher docked last October. The Dutch flagged Thresher had arrived loaded with a cargo from the Whitegate Refinery, Cork Harbour and is operated by Chemgas which operate one of the most modern gas carrier fleets in the world.

In addition to last year's performance, first quarter figures for 2011 were revealed with trading volumes reporting an increase of 18% based from the same quarter for last year. The rise was primarily driven by export volumes of existing and new commodities.

Following the impressive meeting for the first time of two cruiseships together at Cobh on Sunday, the Port of Cork has released footage on their website which can viewed by clicking here, writes Jehan Ashmore.

On Friday the Port of Cork welcomes another large cruiseship in the form of the Emerald Princess which carries 3,592 passengers, nearly 500 more than the Celebrity Eclipse. The 113,000 tonnes vessel is nearly 950-feet long, is 118 wide and draws 28 feet under the waterline. With 19 decks the vessel towers above the oceans and will also do so when alongside Cobh's 350m deepwater berth.

One of the numerous amenities onboard is the CyberGolf link and jogging track which are located high up near the stern. Directly situated below is the Skywalkers Nightclub and for movie-goers, films are shown at an oudoor theatre. The top of the range cabins are the 900 balcony staterooms which offer first class hotel style 24-hour room service.

Cobh played host to yet another historic maritime spectacle when two giant cruiseships met off the town's deepwater quay at the same time this afternoon, writes Jehan Ashmore.

In an unprecedented scheduling of cruiseships to the Port of Cork (Cobh), the inbound Independence of the Seas (154,407 tonnes) the largest cruiseship to call to any Irish port, passed the 122,000 tonnes Celebrity Eclipse which was preparing to depart from the town's cruise terminal.

Some 15 minutes later Celebrity Eclipse pulled away from the berth. During that timeframe the Independence of the Seas had completely turned around in the opposite direction to face Cobh after maneuvering in the swinging basin between Cobh and the Naval Base on Haulbowline Island.

The 4,175-passenger Independence of the Seas is the third of the 'Freedom' class vessels. She has a length of 339m and is a mere 11m shorter in distance to that of the 350m berth at Cobh. The 38m wide cruiseship has a draft of 8.7m and the depth of water at the town's quayside is 9.1m.

The 15-deck vessel was built by Aker Finnyards in Turku, Finland in 2008 for Royal Caribbean International (RCI). Amenities on the Freedom class consist of the an innovative surf park, canitilevered whirlpools, ice-skating rink, full-size boxing ring and a H2O Zone waterpark.

As for the 3,179-passenger Celebrity Eclipse, she is the second of five 'Solstice' class sisters and measures 317m (length) 48m (beam) and draws 8.6m. On the top deck there is the fresh green grass located at Lawn Club. She was built by the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany and entered service last year for her owners Celebrity Cruises.

Independence of the Seas departed yesterday afternoon on an overnight passage from Southampton where the vessel is based in the summer and for the winter she is based out of Florida. The Celebrity Eclipse departed the UK south coast port from Cobh where the larger cruiseship is also to make overnight port of call.

In total 10,000 passengers and crew will of visited the Cork Harbour region alone over the May Bank holiday. To meet the surge in demand for the shore-based excusions a fleet of buses awaited and additional trains were also laid-on by Irish Rail. The railway station is located next-door to the Cobh Heritage Centre which retraces the town's strong trans-Atlantic liner era.

For the first time two cruiseship giants are scheduled to depart and arrive off Cobh at the same time this May Bank Holiday weekend, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The largest cruiseship to call to an Irish port the Independence of the Sea which weighs 154,407 gross tonnes (some 6,000 tonnes larger than the liner Queen Mary 2) will pass the Cobh-berthed Celebrity Eclipse of 122,000 tonnes around 14.00hrs on Sunday.

Weather permitting the Independence of the Seas will then be maneuvering in the swinging basin between Haulbowline and Cobh, just upriver of the Celebrity Eclipse which will then begin to pull away from the deepwater berth at the Cobh Cruise Terminal.

The 350m long berth has a quayside depth of 9m and is capable of handling some of the largest cruiseships on this island.

Prior to Sunday's sailing spectacle the Celebrity Eclipse is due to dock tomorrow afternoon for the overnight call. Likewise the 4,375 passenger Independence of the Seas will stay at Cobh for an overnight call and then depart's on Monday evening.

“Two such large cruise liners, have never before been in Cork Harbour at the same time, let alone pass each other creating a magnificent sight. An excellent viewing point for anyone planning on visiting Cobh on Sunday 1st May would be the High Road or Whitepoint in Cobh” said Port of Cork Commercial Manager, Captain Micheal McCarthy.

Together the cruiseships will have a combined gross tonnage of nearly 300,000 tonnes and they will bring 10,000 passengers and crew into the Cork region this weekend alone. Celebrity Eclipse is operated by Celebrity Cruises and the Independence of the Seas is run by Royal Caribbean International.

The 3,129 passenger Celebrity Eclipse made her 'maiden' cruise and port of call to Cobh last year following her high profile repatriation voyage from Spain with stranded UK tourists arising from the fallout of the Icelandic volcanic ash-cloud.

On that inaugural ocasion the Celebrity Eclipse which cost €500m became the 500th cruise caller to the Port of Cork where the vessel made an overnight call at Cobh. To see a time-lapse video marking the 500th cruiseship's arrival click here.

Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan is set to be quizzed over plans to deal with the toxic waste site on Haulbowline island in Cork Harbour, the Irish Examiner reports.

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, two weeks ago the European Commission gave the Government three months to take action over the the former steel works, which contains an estimated 500,000 tonnes of toxic metal waste and cancer-causing materials.

The minister will meet Cork County Council on 9 May after an official request to discuss the matter was made by Cobh independent councillor Seán O'Connor.

Labour councillor John Mulvihill said locals would not be happy until the waste was removed and a study conducted to examine if there was any link between the site and high cancer rates in the area. 

The Irish Examiner has more on the story HERE. See also our story Hot site in the harbour.

The National Yacht Club hosted the 420 dinghy Leinster Sailing Championships over the Easter Weekend, attracting twelve boats and visiting crews travelling from Crosshaven, Kinsale, Malahide, Spiddal, Tralee and Wexford.

Emma Geary and Niamh Connolly from Royal Cork YC counted four wins and a second place in the six-race series to win the event convincingly. The girls will be aiming to repeat their success next weekend at the ISA Mitsubishi Youth Nationals in Dun Laoghaire in order to secure a nomination to the 2011 ISAF Youth Worlds, which will be held in Croatia.

Fiona and Patrick Daly of Tralee Bay SC finished second overall with a very consistent four 2^nds and two 3^rds Aodh Kennedy/Daniel Browne (Kinsale YC) who were third overall and Richard D’Esterre/Peter Stokes (CYS/Royal Munster) also recorded race wins.

Alanna Lyttle and Cian Guifoyle (Royal St.George YC) narrowly defeated fellow newcomers Emily Jones and Liadh Conway (Wexford Harbour BC) for the Silver Fleet Trophy.

PRO Larry Power and his mark laying teams provided excellent racing in sometimes challenging wind conditions while Sandra Moore ran the race office throughout the weekend.

Full results available here.

 

Bob Bateman was afloat today to capture the latest Spring sailing off Kinsale Yacht Club, a month long sailing series that has been sailed in sunshine so far each Sunday and today's Bank holiday Monday race was no different. Scroll down for photos, there are some nice shots of John Twomey's Sonar, Shillelagh.

Today's racing was sailed in a north east 8 knot breeze. An ebb tide flowing out of Kinsale harbour gave a good beat on the windward/leeward course, leaders tacking up the western shore.

The first round the weather mark was Anchor sailed by Ian Travers with sailmaker Nigel Young on board.

Winds dropped during the day but filled in again from the South East.

Classes 0, 1, 2 were on a round the cans course taking the Bullman buoy as weather mark before going on a two sail reach to Sovereigns Islands and  a run out to SE mark.

Racing co ntinued all day and a weary class 2 only returned to the harbour after 5pm.

Racing concludes next saturday followed by a prize giving Dinner.

 

Two training-ships based on the east coast of the United States are to make calls at Cobh in mid-summer, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The call is part of a 55-day training cruise that will include ports in the Mediterranean and also US domestic ports. The itinerary includes Norfolk, Vaginia (6-9 May), Valetta, Malta (25-28 May), Civitavecchia, Italy (31 May-3 June ) Cobh (12-16 June) and to Portland, Maine 25-26 June.

Students, officers and crew will be onboard the 16,000 tonnes State of Maine which is a 500-foot long former oceanographic vessel that served in the US Navy as the USNS Tanner. In 1997 she was converted to accommodate the training needs of the college.

The Maine Maritime Academy was founded in 1941 and enrolls more than 900 students from 35 states and from several foreign countries. Students in the college are awarded A.S., B.S., and M.S. degrees in 15 fields of study.

State of Maine is scheduled to berth at the Port of Cork's deepwater quay at the Cobh Cruise Terminal which is expected to welcome over 50 cruiseships and 100,000 visitors this season. The vessel's departure will be followed by the arrival of the second training-ship the 17,000 tonnes Empire State on 22 June which is to make a shorter two-day stopover.

Since 1989 she has been operated by State University of the New York Maritime College which annually takes cadets across the world onboard the 565-foot vessel to learn the skills in running the ship and the maritime industry.

The former cargoship was built for the States Steamship Company in 1961 as the Oregan at Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, in Newport News, Virginia. Despite conversion for her current role she retains most of her original features and she presents a distinctive profile with the superstructure positioned amidships between the cargo-holds.