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Displaying items by tag: Cooleen

Next Sunday, May 29, Commodore's Day will be celebrated at Foynes Yacht Club. This sailing day is very special in the annals of the Cooleen Point based club, because it has been celebrated for the last 49 years.

Commodore Tom Murray has a host of events planned for the day, racing will take place in the harbour area starting at 2pm. This is for all classes, Class 1, 2, White Sails and Mermaids. The junior members of the club will be sailing the Topaz dinghies.

It is hoped to have a live commentary of the racing from the clubhouse, to let the onlookers know what is happening on the water.

After racing the annual blessing of the boats will be performed by Canon O'Keeffe and Fr. Noonan, this will take place on the marina approximately at 4pm.

When the blessing of the boats is over, member's are asked to retire to the clubhouse for a Bar-b-Que and a traditional Irish music session, which will commence at 5pm.

The Foynes Irish Coffee Festival is back this year. The club is hosting a 'Fun Day', on Sunday, June 5 at 2pm. More details on this will follow next week.

The Waterways Ireland Inter-Counties Sailing Championships will be taking place on the Grand Canal Dock on Sunday, June 26.
A fleet of one-design keel boats will be provided, and a series of sprint sailing races of 15-20 minutes leading to the final.

A team from the club, which is spear-headed by Donal McCormack, includes Elaine O'Mahoney and John-Paul Buckley, Donal has a vacant place on the team, so any member who would like to participate are asked to contact the secretary, Elaine on 086 1231864. As far as Foynes Yacht Club are aware only one team representing the Shannon Estuary will be competing.

Published in Shannon Estuary
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The Dragon was designed by Johan Anker in 1929 as an entry for a competition run by the Royal Yacht Club of Gothenburg, to find a small keel-boat that could be used for simple weekend cruising among the islands and fjords of the Scandinavian seaboard. The original design had two berths and was ideally suited for cruising in his home waters of Norway. The boat quickly attracted owners and within ten years it had spread all over Europe.

The Dragon's long keel and elegant metre-boat lines remain unchanged, but today Dragons are constructed using the latest technology to make the boat durable and easy to maintain. GRP is the most popular material, but both new and old wooden boats regularly win major competitions while looking as beautiful as any craft afloat. Exotic materials are banned throughout the boat, and strict rules are applied to all areas of construction to avoid sacrificing value for a fractional increase in speed.

The key to the Dragon's enduring appeal lies in the careful development of its rig. Its well-balanced sail plan makes boat handling easy for lightweights, while a controlled process of development has produced one of the most flexible and controllable rigs of any racing boat.