Displaying items by tag: Joe Roddy

23rd January 2016

Ireland's First Surfer Subject Of New Radio Documentary

#Surfing - He's the Irish surfing hall-of-famer who "came out of nowhere".

And now Joe Roddy is the subject of a fascinating radio documentary about his decades of aquatic exploits and ingenuity on Newstalk, both online and broadcast tonight (Saturday 23 January) at 10pm.

As TheJournal.ie reports, Surfing at the Crossroads brings the now 80-year-old Roddy to Valentia Island, where he recounts building what's regarded as Ireland's first surfboard – way back in the 1940s.

But even before then he was assembling his own makeshift vessels and gadgets to enable him to go canoeing, snorkelling – even spear-fishing.

The latter of which Roddy excelled at enough to represent Ireland at the World Championships in Cuba in 1967 - recording a incredible 32-metre dive in the process.

TheJournal.ie has much more on Joe Roddy's story HERE.

Published in Surfing

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RC35 Class

The concept of the RC35 Class is to bring together similar boats within a close handicap banding and to work with owners and crews to develop the best racing experience possible on the Clyde and the Irish Sea area. The Class is within a tight rating band (IRC 1.015-1.040) yacht racing will be in Scotland, Ireland and Wales.

Q: What is the RC35 ‘Rule’?
A: Qualifying yachts for the RC35 Class will sit within an IRC Banding of 1.015 to 1.040. In 2017 it is proposed that a tolerance of +/- 0.05pts will be permitted

Q: Are there any other criteria?
A: RC35 takes the most prevalent IRC racing boats on the Clyde and groups them within a fixed rating band. Qualifying boats will have an LOA 32ft—38ft and displacement of between 3,000kg—9,000kg. The rule also requires boats conform to ISAF Cat.4 be anti-fouled and not dry sailed. A limit of sail purchases (2 per year) also applies.

Q: What is the RC35 Championship?
A: The RC35 Championship will cover 8 events (6 to count) and include events such as Scottish Series, Dun Laoghaire/Bangor and an RC35 Championship weekend. Each year the Class will make a commitment to one ‘away’ regatta as part of the Championship.