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Displaying items by tag: Blue Shark

#Angling - A Belfast angler bitten by a blue shark at the weekend resumed his sea fishing trip within days of the incident, as the Belfast Telegraph reports.

Robert Malcolmson was rushed to the mainland by Crosshaven RNLI last Saturday evening (1 September) after he was bitten on the arm by the shark he and his friends were landing on the deep sea angling boat Deora De off Roches Point at Cork Harbour.

The 40-year-old lost a lot of blood from the four-inch wound on his arm — but after treatment at Cork University Hospital, he was back out at sea by Monday.

The Belfast Telegraph has more on the story HERE.

Published in Sharks
Tagged under

#SHARK ATTACK - The UK Sun has posted a dramatic video of the moment when two anglers in the English Channel were attacked by sharks.

Graeme Pullen and Wayne Comben had been fishing for Mako sharks to tag and release off Falmouth in Cornwall, as part of a marine wildlife conservation programme, when their 17-foot boat was suddenly surrounded by a school of blue sharks.

The three sharks were described by Pullen as being in a "frenzied state" during the three-minute assault.

“Normally they would hold back and wait to see if there was any food drifting free but these were very aggressive and just charged directly at the boat," he said.

“One of them came out of the water and launched an all-out attack on the bag of fish, biting and tearing it to pieces — it was very worrying to witness."

Pullen concurred with experts' belief that such sharks are coming closer to land to hunt as overfishing in the Atlantic has all but wiped out their food supply.

Published in Marine Wildlife

#ANGLING - Known as the 'wolves of the sea', blue sharks haven't yet been showing in numbers off Cork Harbour, but a number of them surprised a group of anglers recently.

Donie Geary of the angling boat John Boy tells Cork Harbour Angling Hub that he was taking out a group of UK anglers in an area north of the Ling Rocks in a calm Saturday morning.

The boat put out a shark trace using mackerel, bran and fish oil as bait, but as Geary says, he wasn't optimistic about their chances, especially with the low numbers of mackerel.

Meanwhile, the group enjoyed a morning and afternoon of bountiful bottom fishing, forgetting about the shark rods, when "one of the ratchets screamed off".

That one was a false start, Geary explains, but the next one was hooked - and after "about 30 minutes of gentle coaxing on 30lb braid" they landed an impressive 60lb blue.

A few more scraps with the marine predators later and an even bigger 80lb specimen was landed and photographed before release.

Here's hoping this 'shark attack' is a good omen for more blues in Cork coastal waters this year.

Cork Harbour Angling Hub has more on the story HERE.

Published in Angling

The Half Ton Class was created by the Offshore Racing Council for boats within the racing band not exceeding 22'-0". The ORC decided that the rule should "....permit the development of seaworthy offshore racing yachts...The Council will endeavour to protect the majority of the existing IOR fleet from rapid obsolescence caused by ....developments which produce increased performance without corresponding changes in ratings..."

When first introduced the IOR rule was perfectly adequate for rating boats in existence at that time. However yacht designers naturally examined the rule to seize upon any advantage they could find, the most noticeable of which has been a reduction in displacement and a return to fractional rigs.

After 1993, when the IOR Mk.III rule reached it termination due to lack of people building new boats, the rule was replaced by the CHS (Channel) Handicap system which in turn developed into the IRC system now used.

The IRC handicap system operates by a secret formula which tries to develop boats which are 'Cruising type' of relatively heavy boats with good internal accommodation. It tends to penalise boats with excessive stability or excessive sail area.

Competitions

The most significant events for the Half Ton Class has been the annual Half Ton Cup which was sailed under the IOR rules until 1993. More recently this has been replaced with the Half Ton Classics Cup. The venue of the event moved from continent to continent with over-representation on French or British ports. In later years the event is held biennially. Initially, it was proposed to hold events in Ireland, Britain and France by rotation. However, it was the Belgians who took the ball and ran with it. The Class is now managed from Belgium. 

At A Glance – Half Ton Classics Cup Winners

  • 2017 – Kinsale – Swuzzlebubble – Phil Plumtree – Farr 1977
  • 2016 – Falmouth – Swuzzlebubble – Greg Peck – Farr 1977
  • 2015 – Nieuwport – Checkmate XV – David Cullen – Humphreys 1985
  • 2014 – St Quay Portrieux – Swuzzlebubble – Peter Morton – Farr 1977
  • 2013 – Boulogne – Checkmate XV – Nigel Biggs – Humphreys 1985
  • 2011 – Cowes – Chimp – Michael Kershaw – Berret 1978
  • 2009 – Nieuwpoort – Général Tapioca – Philippe Pilate – Berret 1978
  • 2007 – Dun Laoghaire – Henri-Lloyd Harmony – Nigel Biggs – Humphreys 1980~
  • 2005 – Dinard – Gingko – Patrick Lobrichon – Mauric 1968
  • 2003 – Nieuwpoort – Général Tapioca – Philippe Pilate – Berret 1978

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