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Displaying items by tag: Pinto

A Canadian national who died on a diving expedition off Donegal in 2017 was one of two separate diving tragedies in the region within weeks of each other, as RTÉ News reports.

As reported at the time on Afloat.ie, the body of a man in his 60s was recovered on 14 August 2017, two days after he went missing while on a dive to the wreck of the Pinto north of Fanad.

An inquest into the death of Randy McNalley (63) took place yesterday (Wednesday 13 February) at the Coroner’s Court in Letterkenny, which heard that the experienced diver and triathlete died of lack of oxygen — but this was likely the result of a health condition rather than a failure of his equipment.

A separate inquest on the same day dealt with the circumstances surrounding the death of British diver John Allwright (57), who was sucked into a side cave during a ‘swim-through’ of a cavern at Sheephaven Bay on 28 July 2017.

RTÉ News has more on the story HERE.

Published in Diving
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#Diving - The body of a diver missing off the Donegal coast since Saturday was recovered yesterday (Monday 14 August), according to Canada’s Globe and Mail.

The deceased, a Canadian citizen believed to be in his 60s and who has not yet been named, was found near the wreck of the Pinto, a convoy rescue ship sunk by a German U-boat on 8 September 1944.

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the man had been diving with a group north of Fanad when he disappeared on Saturday afternoon (12 August).

Ireland is a popular destination for wreck divers, with a number of shipwrecks of historical significance dotted around the coast.

Published in Diving
Tagged under

The GP14 is a popular sailing dinghy, with well over 14,000 boats built.

The class is active in the UK, Ireland, Australia, South Africa, Sri Lanka and parts of north-eastern USA, and the GP14 can be used for both racing and cruising. 

Designed by Jack Holt in 1949, with the assistance of the Dovey Yacht Club in Aberdyfi. The idea behind the design was to build a General Purpose (GP) 14-foot dinghy which could be sailed or rowed, capable of also being powered effectively by a small outboard motor, able to be towed behind a small family car and able to be launched and recovered reasonably easily, and stable enough to be able to lie to moorings or anchor when required. Racing soon followed, initially with some degree of opposition from Yachting World, who had commissioned the design, and the boat soon turned out to be an outstanding racing design also.

The boat was initially designed with a main and small jib as a comfortable family dinghy. In a design philosophy that is both practical and highly redolent of social attitudes of the day the intention was that she should accommodate a family comprising parents plus two children, and specifically that the jib should be modest enough for "Mum" or older children to handle, while she should perform well enough to give "Dad" some excitement when not taking the family out. While this rig is still available, and can be useful when using the boat to teach sailing, or for family sailing, and has some popularity for cruising, the boat is more commonly seen with the full modern rig of a mainsail, genoa and spinnaker. Australian boats also routinely use trapezes.

GP14 Ireland Event Dates 2023

  • O'Tiarnaigh (Apr 22-23) Blessington Sailing Club
  • Ulsters (May 20-21) East Antrim Boat Club
  • Munsters (Jun 17-18) Tralee Bay Sailing Club
  • Leinsters (Jul 7-9) Dun Laoghaire Regatta
  • SOYC (Aug 19-20) Rush Sailing Club
  • Nationals (Sep 1-3) Sutton Dinghy Club
  • Hot Toddy (Sep 30-Oct 1) Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club

 

At A Glance – GP14 Dinghy Specifications

Crew 2
Draft 1,200 mm (47 in)
Hull weight 132.9 kg
LOA 4.27 m (14 ft)
Beam 1.54 m
Spinnaker area 8.4 m2
Upwind sail area 12.85 m2

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