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Displaying items by tag: wind potential

Off the west coast of Ireland, wind energy awaiting to be harnessed could be akin to the past discovery under the sea bed of crude oil and natural gas.

As the Connacht Tribune reports, the Port of Galway is an ideal location to act as a focal point for these projects.

That was the view of Port of Galway Chief Executive Officer, Conor O’Dowd, when a presentation was made to city councillors at a meeting on Monday, outlining the potential for the harbour in the years ahead.

According to the CEO wind speeds off the north-west coast of Ireland, were the best in Europe and the UK with Galway as a base ideally situated to capitalise on this form of natural energy.

Click here for more on the west coast port city from where in April, the Taoiseach endorsed plans for the state's first energy hub.  

Published in Galway Harbour

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.