A former Dublin Bay Sailing Club racing buoy, donated to Mullaghmore Sailing Club in County Sligo several years ago, has turned up beside a rural road in landlocked County Laois.
A large yellow racing buoy originally used by Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC) has been discovered beside a rural road in County Laois, several years after being donated to Mullaghmore Sailing Club in County Sligo.
The unusual discovery was reported by Laois Today after the buoy was found on a grass verge at Simmons Mill, near Ballylinan, between Arles and Crettyard.
DBSC's Vice Commodore Brian Mathews has confirmed to Afloat that the buoy is one of four former Dublin Bay racing marks donated to Mullaghmore Sailing Club approximately four years ago, where it was subsequently used.
How the substantial marine marker came to be beside a road in landlocked Laois remains unexplained.
Dublin Bay's Former Racing Marks
The buoy dates from an earlier generation of Dublin Bay racing marks, before a programme of replacements introduced larger, illuminated navigation marks.
As Afloat reported in March 2019, a Dublin Port risk assessment prompted changes to DBSC's traditional unlit conical racing buoys, with new marks fitted with lights and radar reflectors.
The club subsequently confirmed in its 2019 Commodore's report that seven marks on the western side of Dublin Bay had been replaced.
From Dublin Bay to Sligo — and Laois
Four of DBSC's former racing marks were subsequently donated to Mullaghmore Sailing Club, where they continued to serve a useful purpose.
One of those marks has now been identified as the buoy photographed on the roadside in County Laois.
While its origins are no longer in doubt, the circumstances surrounding its appearance so far from both Dublin Bay and Mullaghmore remain unknown.
