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Displaying items by tag: Marc Miskelly

Since his return to sailing with the lifting of coronavirus restrictions in Northern Ireland, Newcastle Yacht Club dinghy racer Marc Miskelly tells RYANI how he kept up a positive attitude during the lockdown months.

Miskelly — who also sails a Sadler 34, Star Chaser, out of Quoile Yacht Club — has just come out of a winter spent refitting his yacht when restrictions were put in place.

“I had two boats fully prepared very early, ready for the season, however with lockdown [they] were going nowhere,” he says of the time.

On top of that, Miskelly found himself furloughed from his job for up to 10 weeks — but resolved to keep himself busy with DIY jobs around the house, improving his personal fitness and even eSailing through his local club.

The call of the sea was never far from his mind, however, especially in May when he was supposed to have been cruising the Scottish islands in Star Chaser.

But since July he’s been making up for lost time, starting with cruising the East Coast of Ireland and hopefully embarking on that long-awaited jaunt around Scotland before autumn sets in.

Read the full interview on the RYANI website.

Beneteau 211 sailing in Ireland

A small, fast cruiser/racer – in style very much a miniature Open 60 or early Figaro, the Beneteau First 211 offers high sailing performance for her size, plus simple accommodation for up to four people.
The boat is very dinghy-style to sail, although the keel makes her self-righting, and foam buoyancy renders her unsinkable, according to the French manufacturer.

Designed by Groupe Finot and introduced in 1998 as a replacement model for the 1992 model First 210, the Beneteau First 211 is a small high-performance yacht designed to be simple to sail and take the ground or be trailed. The words' pocket rockets' tend to be used to describe these boats!
The design was revised to become the Beneteau First 21.7 in 2005. All three models, 210, 211 and 21.7, are very similar in style and concept and share many actual components.

The hull of the Beneteau First 211 is solid GRP, with sandwich construction for the deck moulding. There is foam buoyancy at the bow and stern, guaranteeing unsinkability. The ballasted drop keel is raised by a manual jack and allows easy transport of the boat and drying out if required, supported level by the twin rudders.
The sailplan has a non-overlapping jib to keep sheet loads down and a large spinnaker to achieve high speeds downwind. With almost six foot of draught with keel down and twin rudders for control, upwind performance is also excellent.

The design is popular in Ireland's boating capital at Dun Laoghaire Harbour, where up to a dozen race as part of a one-design class in regular Dublin Bay Sailing Club racing. The boats also race for national championship honours annually. The boats are kept on Dun Laoghaire Marina and look all the more impressive as the fleet of pocket rocket racers are all moored together on one pontoon.

At A Glance – Beneteau First 211 Specifications

LOA: 6.2m (20ft 4in)

Draught: 1.8m to 0.65m (5ft 11in to 2ft 2in)

Displacement: 1,100kg (2,200lb)

LWL: 6m (19ft 7in)

ARCHITECT
• Finot Conq et Associés

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