Displaying items by tag: Lough Beltra

29th September 2012

Mayo Angling Ups and Downs as Season Draws to Close

#ANGLING - The going is tough in the last weeks of this year's angling season on Lough Mask, as Mayo Today reports.

Though anglers are still out in good numbers despite the shortening days and drop in temperature, catch numbers are way down on the angling bonanza that marked the beginning of a season that also produced a record-breaking monster trout on nearby Lough Corrib.

The best fishing was seen at the Vintners Federation of Ireland contest on the lough two weeks ago, where the prize-winning catch was a total of seven trout for 4.21kg.

Meanwhile, Celebrity World Cup champ Mick Dunne won the Molloy Cup catch-and-release contest with his catch of five trout measuring 157cm in total.

Elsewhere in Mayo, the River Moy has been more productive, with 199 salmon reported in the seven days preceding 19 September, and Lough Conn and Lough Beltra anglers have also reported some good fishing.

The news makes up for the "relative quiet" on the Newport Rover, and the significant decrease in catches on the Ballisodare Fishery.

Published in Angling

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Beneteau 31.7 sailing in Ireland

In Ireland, the Beneteau First 31.7 Ireland One Design Class Association encourages and develop the use of the Beneteau First 31.7 yacht as a one-design keelboat, mainly for racing.

Each year the association stages national championships with boats coming from different sailing across Ireland. The main centre is Dun Laoghaire Harbour where the bulk of the fleet (15 boats) are based at the National Yacht club but are moored at Dun Laoghaire Marina.

The Beneteau 31.7 boat is not new to Dublin Bay, as boats of this size and type have competed in DBSC in the Cruiser 2 class for some years.

However during the 2006 season, due to their increased numbers, DBSC granted the class its own racing start, thereby facilitating one-design racing for this cruiser/racer.

Since then it has become one of the biggest one-design keelboat classes on the Bay.

One-design rules were drawn up to discourage modifications, maintain a level playing field and set a generally ‘Corinthian’ ethos.

To preserve the cruising dimension, the boat races with cushions aboard.

Numbers entered in DBSC have settled down to approx 15-18 boats, and regular Thursday and Saturday attendances over the season are usually of the order of 14 to 16 boats, reflecting good participation by members. Racing is close and competitive.

In addition to scratch results, ECHO results are also posted. This combines the best of both worlds, providing one-design racing which the members like, while also providing an incentive and interest in turning out for those boats who may not always approach podium position on scratch.

At A Glance – Beneteau First 31.7 Specifications

L.O.A 9.61 m
Hull length 9.50 m
L.W.L. 8.80 m
Beam 3.23 m
Draught min (Deep draught keel) Cast iron 1.90 m
Ballast weight (Deep draught keel) 1 025 kg
Air draught (max) 13.90 m
Light displacement (EC) 3 750 kg
Fuel capacity 30 l
Freshwater capacity 160 l
Engine power 21 HP