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Displaying items by tag: fog signals

12th January 2011

Foghorns Fall Silent

Yesterday lighthouses around Ireland ceased sounding fog signals. Lorna Siggins has a piece in the Irish Times this morning complete with a slideshow. We've also been covering the story here on afloat.ie over the last couple of days, and many of you have left comments on our facebook page. Tell us what you think.
Published in Ilen
The Commissioners of Irish Lights has said it consulted widely about discontinuing the last remaining fog signals around Ireland's coastline, The Irish Times reports.

Nine lighthouses operated directly by the authority in the Republic and Northern Ireland, along with several others run by harbours or local authorities - including Cork Harbour and Dun Laoghaire - will sound their last fog signals tomorrow.

Capt Kieran O'Higgins of the Commissioners of Irish Lights said the plan was notified to mariners in September 2010, and was taken due to "advances in marine navigation technology".

However Capt Michael Coleman, formerly of the Jeanie Johnston, did not think the plan was adequately publicised. He also noted now many smaller boats without advanced equipment that navigate by charts often reply on fog signals for safe passage.

Even bigger boats that navigate by GPS could be affected in dangerous situations if they suffer a power failure, he said.

On Afloat's official Facebook page, Cork resident Denis Cronin commented: "If this is the last night the [Cork Harbour] fog horn blows, it's a sad night.

"The tune she blows is a comfort for all those at sea and for all those at home for been home safely."

What do you think of the end of Ireland's fog signals? HAVE YOUR SAY on our facebook page HERE!

BBC Article HERE

Irish Times Article HERE

Published in Ilen

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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