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Displaying items by tag: Fermoyle

#MarineWildlife - The carcass of a 30-metre sperm whale that washed ashore on the Dingle Peninsula last week is still lying on the beach, the Irish Examiner reported yesterday.

The body of the giant cetacean, which is believed to have died at sea, washed up at Fermoyle near Castlegregory, and has been inspected by staff from Kerry County Council.

It's hoped that the tide will rise high enough to carry the rotting carcass back to sea, but if necessary the council said it would take measures to remove it - particularly with the start of the Easter break this week.

Sperm whales - as seen recently by 'Cetaeans on the Frontier' surveyors on the edge of the continental shelf - are an unusual occurrence on Ireland's southwest coast, which normally plays host to humpback, minke and pilot whales, the latter of which commonly strand on the coasts of Cork and Kerry.

Elsewhere in the Kingdom, as reported earlier today on Afloat.ie, Fenit RNLI were joined by three local families to help give a fighting chance to a dolphin that stranded on a remote beach on Fenit Island last night.

Published in Marine Wildlife

Waszp sailing

The Waszp project was conceived in 2010 by Andrew McDougall, designer of the world-beating Mach 2 foiling Moth. 

The Waszp was created as a strict one-design foiler, where, as the class says “the true test when raced is between crews and not boats and equipment”.

The objective of the class rules is to ensure that this concept is maintained. Keeping possible modifications to a minimum ensures fair racing across the fleet, helps to reduce the overall cost to the sailor and reduces the amount of time in the workshop. 

The popularity of the WASZP has proven that the boat and the concept work. In October 2021, 1237 boats had been sold to over 45 countries. 

The top speed recorded on the foiling dinghy is 26.7 knots. 

60-95kgs+ is a weight range competitive across varied conditions with rigs knowns as ‘8.2’ and ‘6.9’.

The cost of a Moth dinghy in Europe is €14,400 inc VAT + shipping according to the manufacturers in October 2021.