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Displaying items by tag: Tope Shark

#Angling - Hours after a Belfast angler had a close call with a blue shark on an angling trip off Cork, a Wexford angler got more than he expected at the end of his line last weekend.

As Independent.ie reports, Cerjegs Zamahaev had been fishing for cod off Hook Head last Sunday 2 September, but instead hooked into a shark of his own.

Zamahaev released what’s since been identified as a tope shark or school shark — similar to the blue shark that left Robert Malcolmson with a serious wound on his arm as he and friends landed it on their deep sea angling charter.

Published in Sharks
Tagged under

#MarineWildlife - A group of sea anglers off Donegal's Inishowen Peninsula got more than most would bargain for last week when they landed a shark – with video to prove it.

But far from fearful at the prospect, Graham Smith and friends told the Irish Examiner that they actively seek out such fishy predators as the tope shark, a few of which they caught while out kayaking in recent days.

"They normally range from 20lb to 45lb," he said of the small fighters, "but there are bigger ones around later in the year."

It's all in good sport, however, as the vulnerable species – also known as the school shark or snapper shark – were returned to the water "to terrorise the small fish of Inishowen."

Published in Marine Wildlife

The Star keelboat is a 6.9 metres (23 ft) one-design racing keelboat for two people designed by Francis Sweisguth in 1910.

The Star was an Olympic keelboat class from 1932 through to 2012, the last year keelboats appeared at the Summer Olympics at which Ireland's representatives were Peter O'Leary and David Burrows.

Ireland has performed well in the class internationally thanks to some Olympic campaigns including a bronze medal at the Star World Championships in 2000, won by Mark Mansfield and David O'Brien.

The boat is sloop-rigged, with a mainsail larger in proportional size than any other boat of its length. Unlike most modern racing boats, it does not use a spinnaker when sailing downwind. Instead, when running downwind a whisker pole is used to hold the jib out to windward for correct wind flow.

Early Stars were built from wood, but modern boats are of fibreglass and carbon construction.

The boat must weigh at least 671 kg (1,479 lb) with a maximum total sail area of 26.5 m2 (285 sq ft).

The Star class pioneered an unusual circular boom vang track, which allows the vang to effectively hold the boom down even when the boom is turned far outboard on a downwind run.

Another notable aspect of Star sailing is the extreme hiking position adopted by the crew and at times the helmsman, who normally use a harness to help hang low off the windward side of the boat with only their lower legs inside.

At A Glance – Star Specifications

Designer Francis Sweisguth
Year 1910
Crew 2 (Skipper + Crew)
S + 1.5 C ≤ 250 kg (550 lb)[1]
Draft 1.016 m (3 ft 4 in)
Hull Type keelboat
Hull weight ≥ 671 kg (1,479 lb)
(including keel)
LOA 6.922 m (22 ft 9 in)
LWL 4.724 m (15 ft 6 in)
Beam 1.734 m (5 ft 8 in) at deck
1.372 m (4 ft 6 in) at chine
Hull appendages
Keel/board type bulb keel
401.5 ± 7 kg (885 ± 15 lb)
Rig
Rig type sloop
Mast length 9.652 m (31 ft 8 in)
Sails
Mainsail area 20.5 m2 (221 sq ft)
Jib/genoa area  6.0 m2 (65 sq ft)
Upwind sail area ≤ 26.5 m2 (285 sq ft)

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