Menu

Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

annalise page topper

Displaying items by tag: Alexandra Basin Redevelopment Project

#dublinport - Beginning a month from today is Open House Dublin 2017, the annual event this year takes place on the weekend of (13-15 October).

As part of the weekend of venues and events organised by the Irish Architecture Foundation (IAF) is a boat tour of Dublin Port on the Saturday, 14 October.

The boat tour on board St. Bridget will focus on the unique opportunity to view the recent and ongoing works of the Alexandra Basin Redevelopment Project (ABR) as part of Dublin Port Masterplan 2012–2040.

The majority of Open House Dublin buildings are open access, but limited places in the case of this boat tour must be pre-booked in advance. To register a place, click the Eventbrite website here. Note of the three tours, at time of writing only two remained with spaces available. 

Embarkation to board St. Bridget is located at the Ferry Quay Berth 18 (beside Thomas Clarke Bridge) otherwise widely known as the East-Link toll bridge. Please wear appropriate footwear and dress for the weather.

Open House Dublin is presented by the IAF which is a non-profit arts organisation that communicates the value of architecture.

The annual event is one part of the IAF's activities as they also have a year-round programme. This includes exhibitions, talks, film  screenings, symposia, competitions, publications, school and community workshops.

Published in Dublin Port

#DryDockJobs - The Irish Times reports that a dry dock employing some 26 workers face losing their jobs as a result of a €200m plan by Dublin Port Company to redevelop Alexandra Basin to accommodate bigger cruise ships, a planning hearing has heard.

Half a dozen shipping workers (yesterday) protested outside the hearing by An Bord Pleanála in Dublin city centre. The services they provide include ship repair, maintenance, and marine mechanical and electrical engineering.

Joe Nelson, company secretary of Dublin Graving Docks Ltd reported said the company was not against cruise ships but was against the configuration and the scale of the proposal.

The reason given for the closure of the dry dock area where the company was based was the financial yield per acre of land to Dublin Port, he said. For more on this story, click HERE.

Afloat.ie adds that Jeanie Johnston which is to undergo essential maintenance, has since moved again within Alexandra Basin from the lead-in jetty as previously reported to enter the graving dock operated by Dublin Graving Docks.

 

Published in Dublin Port

#DublinSnapShot - Making a fleeting visit to Dublin Port yesterday was Morgenster, at almost a century old the Dutch built twin masted sailing vessel berthed close to the East-Link Bridge, while today cruiseship Island Sky, transited the bridge to berth before the Samuel Beckett bridge, writes Jehan Ashmore.

Morgenster's North Wall Quay berth was opposite the O2 Arena (formerly The Point) and lest it not be forgotten the site of a large railway depot. In the surrounding compounds behind the entertainment venue remains laid-up Irish Rail InterCity rolling stock. These older generation rolling stock if you recall were liveried in striking orange, however days of further service are long gone as they are been dismantled.

The role of railways however are not completely redundant in Dublin Port, no were not talking of the lightrail LUAS link 'straight to the Point', but the established 'working' train traffic that been to Alexandra Basin (East). Here trains from Bolidan Tara Mines Co. Meath, are laden with deposits from Europe's largest zinc mines and containers by rail arrive and depart from Ballina, Co. Mayo.

As both rail-freight services terminate in the basin, the mined deposits are loaded onto bulkers, notably those frequent callers of the Arklow Shipping fleet, where today there were up to a trio of the distinctly green coloured hulled ships docked in port.

Firstly, Arklow Falcon which departed this afternoon having berthed along the bulk north quay and adjacent to where railway transported containers are hoisted on and off container vessels with destinations among them the Eastern Mediterranean and the African continent.

As for the remaining 'Arklow' pair, Arklow Manor is undergoing work in Dublin Dry Docks single dry-dock facility, next to the disused and in-filled older dry-dock. The historic dry-dock is to be excavated for heritage and tourism purposes as part of the €200m Alexandra Basin Redevelopment (ABR) Project in which Afloat.ie will have more 'revealing' details to uncover.

In addition Dublin Port are to find a new purpose for the former lightship 'Kittiwake' that local property developer Harry Crosbie had intended to use as a feature of the O2 Theatre Arena. Planning permission was refused by Dublin City Council.

The Kittiwake which is understood awaiting a survey, was subsequently purchased by the Dublin Port Company, who will decide her fate. What is certain her future role remains in the port and is intended to serve in an amenity role thus benefitting the public.

While the final member of the Arklow trio, the Arklow Brook is berthed outside the basin, alongside the Deepwater Berth, also known as the 'Coal' berth which is on the south bank of the channel.

It was at this quayside last Friday, that Irish Ferries, Epsilon, shifted opposite berths from the busy ferryport terminal having experienced 'technical' problems, which led to cancellation of all her sailings to Holyhead and last weekend's Dublin-Cherbourg round trip.

Epsilon's technical difficulties have been resolved as this afternnon she sailed to Holyhead.

She is seen pictured on our Cruise Liners coverage of Celebrity Infinity's arrival in the wake of Mein Schiff 1, which berthed earlier in Alexandra Basin. Celebrity Infinity was attended by tugs and Epsilon berthed in the backround while work to repair her gets underway.

As part of the ABR project there are plans for a dedicated cruise terminal which would cater for even larger cruiseships as those mentioned above.

The custom built terminal would be closer to the city-centre at a site near where our port snapshot had begun at the East-Link Bridge. Let the bridge lift be open again!... and to who knows what?

Published in Dublin Port

#ABRProject – As previously reported on Afloat.ie, Dublin Port Company has lodged a planning application to An Bord Pleanála for a €200m Alexandra Basin Redevelopment (ABR) Project.

Starting this evening there will be the first of three Open Public Information Days held by Dublin Port to outline plans which are to form the first large-scale project under Dublin Port Company's Masterplan 2012-2040 (See Video). Some 42% of Dublin Port's berths (3km of the port's 7km) will be lengthened and deepened and the 10km channel from Dublin Bay to the East Link Bridge will be deepened.

There are many more elements of the project which can be consulted in the Dublin Port Company HQ on Alexandra Road (Monday-Fridays: 9am-5pm) and during the three Open Information Days, for details of location, venue and times scroll to end of this page link HERE.
In addition to the ABR's dedicated website: www.dublinportabr.ie

Published in Dublin Port

Irish Olympic Sailing Team

Ireland has a proud representation in sailing at the Olympics dating back to 1948. Today there is a modern governing structure surrounding the selection of sailors the Olympic Regatta

Irish Olympic Sailing FAQs

Ireland’s representation in sailing at the Olympics dates back to 1948, when a team consisting of Jimmy Mooney (Firefly), Alf Delany and Hugh Allen (Swallow) competed in that year’s Summer Games in London (sailing off Torquay). Except for the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, Ireland has sent at least one sailor to every Summer Games since then.

  • 1948 – London (Torquay) — Firefly: Jimmy Mooney; Swallow: Alf Delany, Hugh Allen
  • 1952 – Helsinki — Finn: Alf Delany * 1956 – Melbourne — Finn: J Somers Payne
  • 1960 – Rome — Flying Dutchman: Johnny Hooper, Peter Gray; Dragon: Jimmy Mooney, David Ryder, Robin Benson; Finn: J Somers Payne
  • 1964 – Tokyo — Dragon: Eddie Kelliher, Harry Maguire, Rob Dalton; Finn: Johnny Hooper 
  • 1972 – Munich (Kiel) — Tempest: David Wilkins, Sean Whitaker; Dragon: Robin Hennessy, Harry Byrne, Owen Delany; Finn: Kevin McLaverty; Flying Dutchman: Harold Cudmore, Richard O’Shea
  • 1976 – Montreal (Kingston) — 470: Robert Dix, Peter Dix; Flying Dutchman: Barry O’Neill, Jamie Wilkinson; Tempest: David Wilkins, Derek Jago
  • 1980 – Moscow (Tallinn) — Flying Dutchman: David Wilkins, Jamie Wilkinson (Silver medalists) * 1984 – Los Angeles — Finn: Bill O’Hara
  • 1988 – Seoul (Pusan) — Finn: Bill O’Hara; Flying Dutchman: David Wilkins, Peter Kennedy; 470 (Women): Cathy MacAleavy, Aisling Byrne
  • 1992 – Barcelona — Europe: Denise Lyttle; Flying Dutchman: David Wilkins, Peter Kennedy; Star: Mark Mansfield, Tom McWilliam
  • 1996 – Atlanta (Savannah) — Laser: Mark Lyttle; Europe: Aisling Bowman (Byrne); Finn: John Driscoll; Star: Mark Mansfield, David Burrows; 470 (Women): Denise Lyttle, Louise Cole; Soling: Marshall King, Dan O’Grady, Garrett Connolly
  • 2000 – Sydney — Europe: Maria Coleman; Finn: David Burrows; Star: Mark Mansfield, David O'Brien
  • 2004 – Athens — Europe: Maria Coleman; Finn: David Burrows; Star: Mark Mansfield, Killian Collins; 49er: Tom Fitzpatrick, Fraser Brown; 470: Gerald Owens, Ross Killian; Laser: Rory Fitzpatrick
  • 2008 – Beijing (Qingdao) — Star: Peter O’Leary, Stephen Milne; Finn: Tim Goodbody; Laser Radial: Ciara Peelo; 470: Gerald Owens, Phil Lawton
  • 2012 – London (Weymouth) — Star: Peter O’Leary, David Burrows; 49er: Ryan Seaton, Matt McGovern; Laser Radial: Annalise Murphy; Laser: James Espey; 470: Gerald Owens, Scott Flanigan
  • 2016 – Rio — Laser Radial (Women): Annalise Murphy (Silver medalist); 49er: Ryan Seaton, Matt McGovern; 49erFX: Andrea Brewster, Saskia Tidey; Laser: Finn Lynch; Paralympic Sonar: John Twomey, Ian Costello & Austin O’Carroll

Ireland has won two Olympics medals in sailing events, both silver: David Wilkins, Jamie Wilkinson in the Flying Dutchman at Moscow 1980, and Annalise Murphy in the Laser Radial at Rio 2016.

The current team, as of December 2020, consists of Laser sailors Finn Lynch, Liam Glynn and Ewan McMahon, 49er pairs Ryan Seaton and Seafra Guilfoyle, and Sean Waddilove and Robert Dickson, as well as Laser Radial sailors Annalise Murphy and Aoife Hopkins.

Irish Sailing is the National Governing Body for sailing in Ireland.

Irish Sailing’s Performance division is responsible for selecting and nurturing Olympic contenders as part of its Performance Pathway.

The Performance Pathway is Irish Sailing’s Olympic talent pipeline. The Performance Pathway counts over 70 sailors from 11 years up in its programme.The Performance Pathway is made up of Junior, Youth, Academy, Development and Olympic squads. It provides young, talented and ambitious Irish sailors with opportunities to move up through the ranks from an early age. With up to 100 young athletes training with the Irish Sailing Performance Pathway, every aspect of their performance is planned and closely monitored while strong relationships are simultaneously built with the sailors and their families

Rory Fitzpatrick is the head coach of Irish Sailing Performance. He is a graduate of University College Dublin and was an Athens 2004 Olympian in the Laser class.

The Performance Director of Irish Sailing is James O’Callaghan. Since 2006 James has been responsible for the development and delivery of athlete-focused, coach-led, performance-measured programmes across the Irish Sailing Performance Pathway. A Business & Economics graduate of Trinity College Dublin, he is a Level 3 Qualified Coach and Level 2 Coach Tutor. He has coached at five Olympic Games and numerous European and World Championship events across multiple Olympic classes. He is also a member of the Irish Sailing Foundation board.

Annalise Murphy is by far and away the biggest Irish sailing star. Her fourth in London 2012 when she came so agonisingly close to a bronze medal followed by her superb silver medal performance four years later at Rio won the hearts of Ireland. Murphy is aiming to go one better in Tokyo 2021. 

Under head coach Rory Fitzpatrick, the coaching staff consists of Laser Radial Academy coach Sean Evans, Olympic Laser coach Vasilij Zbogar and 49er team coach Matt McGovern.

The Irish Government provides funding to Irish Sailing. These funds are exclusively for the benefit of the Performance Pathway. However, this falls short of the amount required to fund the Performance Pathway in order to allow Ireland compete at the highest level. As a result the Performance Pathway programme currently receives around €850,000 per annum from Sport Ireland and €150,000 from sponsorship. A further €2 million per annum is needed to have a major impact at the highest level. The Irish Sailing Foundation was established to bridge the financial gap through securing philanthropic donations, corporate giving and sponsorship.

The vision of the Irish Sailing Foundation is to generate the required financial resources for Ireland to scale-up and execute its world-class sailing programme. Irish Sailing works tirelessly to promote sailing in Ireland and abroad and has been successful in securing funding of 1 million euro from Sport Ireland. However, to compete on a par with other nations, a further €2 million is required annually to realise the ambitions of our talented sailors. For this reason, the Irish Sailing Foundation was formed to seek philanthropic donations. Led by a Board of Directors and Head of Development Kathryn Grace, the foundation lads a campaign to bridge the financial gap to provide the Performance Pathway with the funds necessary to increase coaching hours, upgrade equipment and provide world class sport science support to a greater number of high-potential Irish sailors.

The Senior and Academy teams of the Performance Pathway are supported with the provision of a coach, vehicle, coach boat and boats. Even with this level of subsidy there is still a large financial burden on individual families due to travel costs, entry fees and accommodation. There are often compromises made on the amount of days a coach can be hired for and on many occasions it is necessary to opt out of major competitions outside Europe due to cost. Money raised by the Irish Sailing Foundation will go towards increased quality coaching time, world-class equipment, and subsiding entry fees and travel-related costs. It also goes towards broadening the base of talented sailors that can consider campaigning by removing financial hurdles, and the Performance HQ in Dublin to increase efficiency and reduce logistical issues.

The ethos of the Performance Pathway is progression. At each stage international performance benchmarks are utilised to ensure the sailors are meeting expectations set. The size of a sailor will generally dictate which boat they sail. The classes selected on the pathway have been identified as the best feeder classes for progression. Currently the Irish Sailing Performance Pathway consists of the following groups: * Pathway (U15) Optimist and Topper * Youth Academy (U19) Laser 4.7, Laser Radial and 420 * Development Academy (U23) Laser, Laser Radial, 49er, 49erFX * Team IRL (direct-funded athletes) Laser, Laser Radial, 49er, 49erFX

The Irish Sailing performance director produces a detailed annual budget for the programme which is presented to Sport Ireland, Irish Sailing and the Foundation for detailed discussion and analysis of the programme, where each item of expenditure is reviewed and approved. Each year, the performance director drafts a Performance Plan and Budget designed to meet the objectives of Irish Performance Sailing based on an annual review of the Pathway Programmes from Junior to Olympic level. The plan is then presented to the Olympic Steering Group (OSG) where it is independently assessed and the budget is agreed. The OSG closely monitors the delivery of the plan ensuring it meets the agreed strategy, is within budget and in line with operational plans. The performance director communicates on an ongoing basis with the OSG throughout the year, reporting formally on a quarterly basis.

Due to the specialised nature of Performance Sport, Irish Sailing established an expert sub-committee which is referred to as the Olympic Steering Group (OSG). The OSG is chaired by Patrick Coveney and its objective is centred around winning Olympic medals so it oversees the delivery of the Irish Sailing’s Performance plan.

At Junior level (U15) sailors learn not only to be a sailor but also an athlete. They develop the discipline required to keep a training log while undertaking fitness programmes, attending coaching sessions and travelling to competitions. During the winter Regional Squads take place and then in spring the National Squads are selected for Summer Competitions. As sailors move into Youth level (U19) there is an exhaustive selection matrix used when considering a sailor for entry into the Performance Academy. Completion of club training programmes, attendance at the performance seminars, physical suitability and also progress at Junior and Youth competitions are assessed and reviewed. Once invited in to the Performance Academy, sailors are given a six-month trial before a final decision is made on their selection. Sailors in the Academy are very closely monitored and engage in a very well planned out sailing, training and competition programme. There are also defined international benchmarks which these sailors are required to meet by a certain age. Biannual reviews are conducted transparently with the sailors so they know exactly where they are performing well and they are made aware of where they may need to improve before the next review.

©Afloat 2020