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Displaying items by tag: Kerry

The death of three men whose upturned fishing boat was found off Coonanna in Co Kerry last night has “devastated” the local community, as BreakingNews.ie reports.

Post-mortems will be carried out today (Monday 1 October) on the bodies of the three Eastern European fishermen, who lived in the area.

It is understood that two of the men were found underneath their upturned 15ft fishing punt in the sheltered end of Coonanna harbour. The third may have tried to reach the shore before he died.

BrekaingNews.ie has more on the story HERE.

Published in News Update
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#Rowing: Portmagee Rowing club will host the Irish Offshore Rowing Championships on Saturday, September 8th. The event will be run by Rowing Ireland and the venue is O’Carroll’s Cove beach bar near Caherdaniel in County Kerry. This will be the first time this event will be held in Kerry.

 More than 80 crews, made up of 220-plus oarsmen and women will compete for national titles. The event is the Fisa ranking event for the World Coastal Rowing Championships 2018 which will be held in Canada in October.

 Kerry rowers have a good record in Coastal/Offshore Rowing. Ireland international Monika Dukarska, from the Killorglin Rowing Club, is a double world champion in the women’s single. Johnny Casey, whose grandfather was one of the legendary Caseys of Sneem, was the Irish men’s single champion last year.

  This year’s course for the Offshore Championships is the same stretch of water that the Caseys, the "toughest family on earth", would have trained and raced on in the Seine boat during their heyday in the 1920s and 1930s. Johnny also teamed up with his brother James and uncle and father, Steve and Patrick, to win the All Ireland senior men’s four 20 years ago.

  This year, the Courtmacsherry men’s quad crew who have defeated all comers over the last few years, put their title on the line. Waiting to take them on are the might of Muckross. Paul Griffin, an Ireland Olympian in Athens in 2004, when his Ireland lightweight four reached the A Final, and Beijing in 2008, is set to be in their ranks.

Published in Coastal Rowing

#CoastalRowing: The good results kept coming for Kerry clubs on the second day of the All Ireland Coastal Rowing Championships in Wexford. Flesk Valley won the senior men’s championship, while Workmen’s took the senior women’s crown. A Donegal club did break into the winning ranks. Cumann Rámhaíochta Chloich Cheann Fhaola (Cloughaneely CCF) had wins in women’s, men’s and mixed classes.

ICRF All Ireland Coastal Championships (Selected Results; winners):

Saturday

Men

Open Classic: Cloughaneely CCF

Celtic Longboats: Vartry A

Heritage: St Patrick’s. Under-18: Cromane

East Coast Skiffs: St Patrick’s. Under-16: Stella Maris

Under-21: Flesk Valley

Under-16: Fossa

Intermediate: Workmen’s.

Pre Veterans: Commercial, Killarney

Masters: Glenarm

Women

Celtic Longboats: Vartry

Heritage: St Patrick’s A. Under-18 Heritage: Cromane

Open Classic: Cloughaneely CCF

East Coast Skiffs: St Michael’s. Novice: Fingal

Under-21: Workmen’s

Intermediate: Workmen’s

Pre Veterans: Workmen’s

Mixed

Veteran: Workmen’s A

Sunday

Men

Senior: Flesk Valley

Currach: Cloughaneely CCF

Novice: Flesk Valley

Junior: Vartry

Under 18: Workmen’s

Veteran: Commercial, Killarney

Women

Senior: Workmen’s

Currach: Fergus

Novice: Cloughaneely CCF

Junior: Workmen’s

Under 18: Workmen’s

Under 16: Flesk Valley

Veteran: Sneem

Mixed

Senior: Vartry

Currach: Cloughaneely CCF

Pre-Vet: Workmen’s

Masters: Templenoe

Published in Coastal Rowing

#Kerry - RTÉ News reports that a kayaker drowned off the Iveagh Peninsula in Co Kerry yesterday afternoon, Friday 10 August.

Emergency services were alerted around 2.30pm to Cromane after the kayaker had been recovered from the water by a local fisherman who attempted CPR, but the casualty was pronounced dead at the scene.

Published in News Update

#StormHector - One sorry yacht owner felt the wrath of Storm Hector today (Thursday 14 June) when their vessel was founded beached near Waterville in Co Kerry, as RTÉ News reports.

The Hanse yacht, named Seabiscuit, broke its mooring in Ballinskelligs Bay and was blown ashore on Inny Strand below Waterville Golf Course amid severe gusts that were forecast to reach as high as 125kmh overnight.

A Status Yellow small craft warning remains in effect on coasts from Hook Head to Erris Head to Howth Head with west to southwest winds reaching Force 6 or higher.

Published in Coastguard
Tagged under

#Rescue - RTÉ News reports that two fishermen were rescued after abandoning their sinking vessel off the Kerry coast this afternoon, Monday 7 May.

The Shannon-based Irish Coast Guard helicopter Rescue 115 was dispatched to the scene south off Scariff Island to recover the two men from their life raft.

Published in Rescue
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#Rescue - A surfer was rescued in West Kerry on Monday night (22 May) after he was pulled from the shore by a rip current, as RTÉ News reports.

Dingle Coast Guard and Valentia RNLI fought difficult conditions – with a heavy swell and thick fog – to locate the man, who had managed to climb onto rocks beneath high cliffs near Com Dhíneol, a popular surfing spot.

The incident occurred just weeks after a Scottish surfer was rescued off Northern Ireland after more than 30 hours at sea.

Elsewhere, gardaí are continuing to investigate after a person was reportedly spotted in difficulty in the water near Sutton Dinghy Club on Monday night.

Howth Coast Guard and RNLI lifeboat crews from Howth and Dun Laoghaire found nothing on their low water searches, concentrating on the area between Sutton and Dollymount Strand and returning twice more, before dawn on Tuesday (23 May) and later that afternoon.

Published in Rescue
Tagged under

#MarineWildlife - Three dead dolphins have washed up on Kerry's shores in recent days – and one Irish fishery expert believes so-called 'supertrawlers' in the area might be responsible.

According to The Irish Times, former Sea Fisheries Protection Authority inspector Kevin Flannery says one of the three common dolphins found between Dingle and Smerwick Harbour since last weekend had a rope around its tail, presumably discarded from a fishing vessel.

He added that while there is no proof of precisely what became of the dolphins, it was "no coincidence" that the incidents occurred while a fleet of mainly Dutch factory fishing ships was spotted off the Blasket Islands.

The Irish Times has more on the story HERE.

Published in Marine Wildlife

#MarineWildlife - Whale watchers on Slea Head were treated to a special sight earlier this week with the surprise appearance of the killer whale known as John Coe, as the Irish Examiner reports.

Landscape photographer Richard Creagh was among the lucky few on Monday (27 June) to spot the orca known by the distinctive notch on his dorsal fin – though in more recent times he's also lost a chunk of his tail fluke, most likely to a shark bite.

Creagh, a keen marine wildlife watcher for the last 10 years, said: "Up to now killer whales had always eluded me but today I got to add them to my list, and what a sight it was! I’m still buzzing!"

John Coe's unique orca pod are regular visitors to Irish waters, though he himself was last spotted close to our shores almost three years ago at the Inishkeas in Co Mayo, according to the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group – which is asking the public to watch the seas for any more sightings of the senior cetacean.

Published in Marine Wildlife

Following our earlier photo from Baltimore Sea Safari of a Humpback Whale breaching in spectacular fashion off the West Cork coast, Kerry reader Brian O'Sullivan (of marine firm O'Sullivan's Marine) has sent Afloat.ie this latest image of further breaching off Fenit yesterday.

Published in Marine Wildlife
Page 3 of 8

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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