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Displaying items by tag: Whitegate

A local surfing school instructor raced to the rescue of a teenage boy caught in a rip current off a Co Cork beach at the weekend, as CorkBeo reports.

Luke Chambers of the Swell Surf School was with a surf class off Inch Beach near Whitegate on Sunday (26 July) when he spotted three teen sea swimmers in distress nearby.

Acting fast, Chambers got his surf students back on the beach safely before paddling out to the three boys as they were dragged out to sea by the sudden tide.

One of the stricken trio had managed to get onto a rocky reef, and the surfer assisted a second to climb onto the same reef.

Meanwhile, another man whom Chambers describes as an “angel” was keeping the third boy’s head above water, and they used the surfboard to bring him back to the beach where he was attended to by paramedics.

The boy, since named as Joey Kinahan, was taken to hospital as a precaution but has made a full recovery depite coming close to drowning.

CorkBeo has more on the story HERE.

Published in Rescue
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#Rowing: The 2019 Irish Coastal Rowing Championships have been officially launched. The event, on August 23rd and 24th, will be hosted by Whitegate Rowing Club from east Cork. The launch was at the regatta venue, the National Rowing Centre at Farran Wood, on Tuesday. The special guest was Ireland rower Monika Dukarska. The Killorglin woman has been a world coastal rowing champion.

The regatta director, Shane Russell, said the NRC was a superb facility. “I would like to thank Rowing Ireland, Whitegate Rowing Club and everyone who is assisting us in this event.”

The Jones Engineering Group, Port of Cork, Cash and Carry Kitchens and Passive Sills were all announced as main sponsors with a further announcement due in the coming weeks.

Published in Coastal Rowing

#Rowing: Whitegate Rowing Club are delighted to have been selected to host the 2019 Irish Coastal Rowing Championships.  This event is one of the largest rowing regattas in Ireland and it is an honour for the club to have been nominated as this year’s host club.

The event will take place on the weekend of August 23rd and 24th  and it will be held at the National Rowing Centre, Farran Woods.  

The committee of Whitegate Rowing Club cordially invites our local community, club supporters and anyone who simply loves sports to the launch of their hosting of the Irish Coastal Rowing Championships at their cubhouse in Whitegate, Co. Cork on Saturday, April 20th at 6.30 pm.

This launch event coincides with a club open day, where those interested in taking park in the sport are more than welcome to come along and find out what it is all about!  The open day runs from 5.30 pm to 7.00 pm and light refreshments will be served

Club Chairperson Rachel Barry said: “Coastal rowing is a fantastic sport and our members range from junior rowers of 10 years, right up to our Masters members (over 55) with incredible experience. We work hard to promote the sport of coastal rowing and are extremely proud of our club’s ethos of inclusion and strong sportsmanship. To be selected to host this year’s Championships is a huge honour and a matter of pride for our local community.”

Whitegate Rowing Club is one of east Cork’s premier coastal rowing venues. The club have been rowing out of their base at the Sawmills in Whitegate since 1991. The club are now looking forward to hosting their third All Ireland Coastal Rowing Championships and have a reputation as a strong and successful club in the sport of coastal rowing.

WRC’s mission is simple: to train and instruct members in the sport of Coastal Rowing. The club strives to foster, promote and develop the sport and create a positive and encouraging environment for all.

Published in Coastal Rowing

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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