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Displaying items by tag: Kerry

The death of three men whose upturned fishing boat was found off Coonanna in Co Kerry last night has “devastated” the local community, as BreakingNews.ie reports.

Post-mortems will be carried out today (Monday 1 October) on the bodies of the three Eastern European fishermen, who lived in the area.

It is understood that two of the men were found underneath their upturned 15ft fishing punt in the sheltered end of Coonanna harbour. The third may have tried to reach the shore before he died.

BrekaingNews.ie has more on the story HERE.

Published in News Update
Tagged under

#Rowing: Portmagee Rowing club will host the Irish Offshore Rowing Championships on Saturday, September 8th. The event will be run by Rowing Ireland and the venue is O’Carroll’s Cove beach bar near Caherdaniel in County Kerry. This will be the first time this event will be held in Kerry.

 More than 80 crews, made up of 220-plus oarsmen and women will compete for national titles. The event is the Fisa ranking event for the World Coastal Rowing Championships 2018 which will be held in Canada in October.

 Kerry rowers have a good record in Coastal/Offshore Rowing. Ireland international Monika Dukarska, from the Killorglin Rowing Club, is a double world champion in the women’s single. Johnny Casey, whose grandfather was one of the legendary Caseys of Sneem, was the Irish men’s single champion last year.

  This year’s course for the Offshore Championships is the same stretch of water that the Caseys, the "toughest family on earth", would have trained and raced on in the Seine boat during their heyday in the 1920s and 1930s. Johnny also teamed up with his brother James and uncle and father, Steve and Patrick, to win the All Ireland senior men’s four 20 years ago.

  This year, the Courtmacsherry men’s quad crew who have defeated all comers over the last few years, put their title on the line. Waiting to take them on are the might of Muckross. Paul Griffin, an Ireland Olympian in Athens in 2004, when his Ireland lightweight four reached the A Final, and Beijing in 2008, is set to be in their ranks.

Published in Coastal Rowing

#CoastalRowing: The good results kept coming for Kerry clubs on the second day of the All Ireland Coastal Rowing Championships in Wexford. Flesk Valley won the senior men’s championship, while Workmen’s took the senior women’s crown. A Donegal club did break into the winning ranks. Cumann Rámhaíochta Chloich Cheann Fhaola (Cloughaneely CCF) had wins in women’s, men’s and mixed classes.

ICRF All Ireland Coastal Championships (Selected Results; winners):

Saturday

Men

Open Classic: Cloughaneely CCF

Celtic Longboats: Vartry A

Heritage: St Patrick’s. Under-18: Cromane

East Coast Skiffs: St Patrick’s. Under-16: Stella Maris

Under-21: Flesk Valley

Under-16: Fossa

Intermediate: Workmen’s.

Pre Veterans: Commercial, Killarney

Masters: Glenarm

Women

Celtic Longboats: Vartry

Heritage: St Patrick’s A. Under-18 Heritage: Cromane

Open Classic: Cloughaneely CCF

East Coast Skiffs: St Michael’s. Novice: Fingal

Under-21: Workmen’s

Intermediate: Workmen’s

Pre Veterans: Workmen’s

Mixed

Veteran: Workmen’s A

Sunday

Men

Senior: Flesk Valley

Currach: Cloughaneely CCF

Novice: Flesk Valley

Junior: Vartry

Under 18: Workmen’s

Veteran: Commercial, Killarney

Women

Senior: Workmen’s

Currach: Fergus

Novice: Cloughaneely CCF

Junior: Workmen’s

Under 18: Workmen’s

Under 16: Flesk Valley

Veteran: Sneem

Mixed

Senior: Vartry

Currach: Cloughaneely CCF

Pre-Vet: Workmen’s

Masters: Templenoe

Published in Coastal Rowing

#Kerry - RTÉ News reports that a kayaker drowned off the Iveagh Peninsula in Co Kerry yesterday afternoon, Friday 10 August.

Emergency services were alerted around 2.30pm to Cromane after the kayaker had been recovered from the water by a local fisherman who attempted CPR, but the casualty was pronounced dead at the scene.

Published in News Update

#StormHector - One sorry yacht owner felt the wrath of Storm Hector today (Thursday 14 June) when their vessel was founded beached near Waterville in Co Kerry, as RTÉ News reports.

The Hanse yacht, named Seabiscuit, broke its mooring in Ballinskelligs Bay and was blown ashore on Inny Strand below Waterville Golf Course amid severe gusts that were forecast to reach as high as 125kmh overnight.

A Status Yellow small craft warning remains in effect on coasts from Hook Head to Erris Head to Howth Head with west to southwest winds reaching Force 6 or higher.

Published in Coastguard
Tagged under

#Rescue - RTÉ News reports that two fishermen were rescued after abandoning their sinking vessel off the Kerry coast this afternoon, Monday 7 May.

The Shannon-based Irish Coast Guard helicopter Rescue 115 was dispatched to the scene south off Scariff Island to recover the two men from their life raft.

Published in Rescue
Tagged under

#Rescue - A surfer was rescued in West Kerry on Monday night (22 May) after he was pulled from the shore by a rip current, as RTÉ News reports.

Dingle Coast Guard and Valentia RNLI fought difficult conditions – with a heavy swell and thick fog – to locate the man, who had managed to climb onto rocks beneath high cliffs near Com Dhíneol, a popular surfing spot.

The incident occurred just weeks after a Scottish surfer was rescued off Northern Ireland after more than 30 hours at sea.

Elsewhere, gardaí are continuing to investigate after a person was reportedly spotted in difficulty in the water near Sutton Dinghy Club on Monday night.

Howth Coast Guard and RNLI lifeboat crews from Howth and Dun Laoghaire found nothing on their low water searches, concentrating on the area between Sutton and Dollymount Strand and returning twice more, before dawn on Tuesday (23 May) and later that afternoon.

Published in Rescue
Tagged under

#MarineWildlife - Three dead dolphins have washed up on Kerry's shores in recent days – and one Irish fishery expert believes so-called 'supertrawlers' in the area might be responsible.

According to The Irish Times, former Sea Fisheries Protection Authority inspector Kevin Flannery says one of the three common dolphins found between Dingle and Smerwick Harbour since last weekend had a rope around its tail, presumably discarded from a fishing vessel.

He added that while there is no proof of precisely what became of the dolphins, it was "no coincidence" that the incidents occurred while a fleet of mainly Dutch factory fishing ships was spotted off the Blasket Islands.

The Irish Times has more on the story HERE.

Published in Marine Wildlife

#MarineWildlife - Whale watchers on Slea Head were treated to a special sight earlier this week with the surprise appearance of the killer whale known as John Coe, as the Irish Examiner reports.

Landscape photographer Richard Creagh was among the lucky few on Monday (27 June) to spot the orca known by the distinctive notch on his dorsal fin – though in more recent times he's also lost a chunk of his tail fluke, most likely to a shark bite.

Creagh, a keen marine wildlife watcher for the last 10 years, said: "Up to now killer whales had always eluded me but today I got to add them to my list, and what a sight it was! I’m still buzzing!"

John Coe's unique orca pod are regular visitors to Irish waters, though he himself was last spotted close to our shores almost three years ago at the Inishkeas in Co Mayo, according to the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group – which is asking the public to watch the seas for any more sightings of the senior cetacean.

Published in Marine Wildlife

Following our earlier photo from Baltimore Sea Safari of a Humpback Whale breaching in spectacular fashion off the West Cork coast, Kerry reader Brian O'Sullivan (of marine firm O'Sullivan's Marine) has sent Afloat.ie this latest image of further breaching off Fenit yesterday.

Published in Marine Wildlife
Page 3 of 8

Irish Sailing Club of the Year Award

This unique and informal competition was inaugurated in 1979, with Mitsubishi Motors becoming main sponsors in 1986. The purpose of the award is to highlight and honour the voluntary effort which goes into creating and maintaining the unrivalled success of Ireland's yacht and sailing clubs. 

In making their assessment, the adjudicators take many factors into consideration. In addition to the obvious one of sailing success at local, national and international level, considerable attention is also paid to the satisfaction which members in every branch of sailing and boating feel with the way their club is run, and how effectively it meets their specific needs, while also encouraging sailing development and training.

The successful staging of events, whether local, national or international, is also a factor in making the assessment, and the adjudicators place particular emphasis on the level of effective voluntary input which the membership is ready and willing to give in support of their club's activities.

The importance of a dynamic and fruitful interaction with the local community is emphasised, and also with the relevant governmental and sporting bodies, both at local and national level. The adjudicators expect to find a genuine sense of continuity in club life and administration. Thus although the award is held in a specific year in celebration of achievements in the previous year, it is intended that it should reflect an ongoing story of success and well-planned programmes for future implementation. 

Over the years, the adjudication system has been continually refined in order to be able to make realistic comparisons between clubs of varying types and size. With the competition's expansion to include class associations and specialist national watersports bodies, the "Club of the Year" competition continues to keep pace with developing trends, while at the same time reflecting the fact that Ireland's leading sailing clubs are themselves national and global pace-setters

Irish Sailing Club of the Year Award FAQs

The purpose of the award is to highlight and honour the voluntary effort which goes into creating and maintaining the unrivalled success of Ireland's yacht and sailing clubs.

A ship's wheel engraved with the names of all the past winners.

The Sailing Club of the Year competition began in 1979.

PR consultant Sean O’Shea (a member of Clontarf Y & BC) had the idea of a trophy which would somehow honour the ordinary sailing club members, volunteers and sailing participants, who may not have personally won prizes, to feel a sense of identity and reward and special pride in their club. Initially some sort of direct inter-club contest was envisaged, but sailing journalist W M Nixon suggested that a way could be found for the comparative evaluation of the achievements and quality of clubs despite their significant differences in size and style.

The award recognises local, national & international sailing success by the winning club's members in both racing and cruising, the completion of a varied and useful sailing and social programme at the club, the fulfilling by the club of its significant and socially-aware role in the community, and the evidence of a genuine feeling among all members that the club meets their individual needs afloat and ashore.

The first club of the Year winner in 1979 was Wicklow Sailing Club.

Royal Cork Yacht Club has won the award most, seven times in all in 1987, 1992, 1997, 2000, 2006, 2015 & 2020.

The National YC has won six times, in 1981, 1985, 1993, 1996, 2012 & 2018.

Howth Yacht Club has won five times, in 1982, 1986, 1995, 2009 & 2019

Ireland is loosely divided into regions with the obviously high-achieving clubs from each area recommended through an informal nationwide panel of local sailors going into a long-list, which is then whittled down to a short-list of between three and eight clubs.

The final short-list is evaluated by an anonymous team based on experienced sailors, sailing journalists and sponsors’ representatives

From 1979 to 2020 the Sailing Club of the Year Award winners are:

  • 1979 Wicklow SC
  • 1980 Malahide YC
  • 1981 National YC
  • 1982 Howth YC
  • 1983 Royal St George YC
  • 1984 Dundalk SC
  • 1985 National YC (Sponsorship by Mitsubishi Motors began in 1985-86)
  • 1986 Howth YC
  • 1987 Royal Cork YC
  • 1988 Dublin University SC
  • 1989 Irish Cruising. Club
  • 1990 Glenans Irish SC
  • 1991 Galway Bay SC
  • 1992 Royal Cork YC
  • 1993 National YC & Cumann Badoiri Naomh Bhreannain (Dingle) (after 1993, year indicated is one in which trophy is held)
  • 1995 Howth Yacht Club
  • 1996 National Yacht Club
  • 1997 Royal Cork Yacht Club
  • 1998 Kinsale Yacht Club
  • 1999 Poolbeg Yacht & Boat Club
  • 2000 Royal Cork Yacht Club (in 2000, competition extended to include class associations and specialist organisations)
  • 2001 Howth Sailing Club Seventeen Footer Association
  • 2002 Galway Bay Sailing Club
  • 2003 Coiste an Asgard
  • 2004 Royal St George Yacht Club
  • 2005 Lough Derg Yacht Club
  • 2006 Royal Cork Yacht Club (Water Club of the Harbour of Cork)
  • 2007 Dublin Bay Sailing Club
  • 2008 Lough Ree YC & Shannon One Design Assoc.
  • 2009 Howth Yacht Club
  • 2010 Royal St George YC
  • 2011 Irish Cruiser Racing Association
  • 2012 National Yacht Club
  • 2013 Royal St George YC
  • 2014 Kinsale YC
  • 2015 Royal Cork Yacht Club
  • 2016 Royal Irish Yacht Club
  • 2017 Wicklow Sailing Club
  • 2018 National Yacht Club
  • 2019 Howth Yacht Club
  • 2020 Royal Cork Yacht Club

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