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Displaying items by tag: Johnny Flynn

#Optimist - Howth Yacht Club have congratulated youth members Luke Turvey and Rocco Wright for topping the senior and junior tables respectively in the final 2018 rankings in Ireland’s Optimist class.

Turvey is in fine company in the senior fleet, ahead of Justin Lucas; James Dwyer-Matthews; Rian Geraghty-McDonnell, Ireland’s top performer at last week’s Oppy Worlds in Cyprus; and Sam Ledoux, who beat him on count back to win the senior Gold fleet at the IODAI Munster Championships last weekend.

Fellow Howth and NYC youth Wright, meanwhile, sailed a solid event with five bullets at Tralee Bay Sailing Club in Fenit, which saw a tough weekend of shifty conditions.

And in another win for Howth, the Fair Sailing Award went to Johnny Flynn.

“LukeLuke Turvey was second overall in the Senior fleet | Photo: Paul-Michel Ledoux

2018 IODAI Munster Championships Results

Junior Fleet Gold

  • 1st Rocco Wright HYC
  • 2nd Jessica Riordan RStGYC
  • 3rd Ben O’Shaughnessy RCYC
  • 4th Billy Doyle TBSC
  • 5th Peter Williams RStGYC

Junior Fleet Girls

  • 1st Jessica Riordan RStGYC
  • 2nd Alana Twomey RCYC/CHSC
  • 3rd Clementine van Steenberge NYC

Junior Fleet Silver

  • 1st Sorcha Gannon O’Connor HYC
  • 2nd William Walsh TBSC
  • 3rd Conall Mac Thrinfhir TBSC
  • 4th Harry Moynan RCYC
  • 5th Hugo Crawford HYC

Top Local Sailor – Junior Fleet

  • Billy Doyle TBSC

Senior Fleet Gold

  • 1st Sam Ledoux NYC
  • 2nd Luke Turvey HYC
  • 3rd James Dwyer Matthews RCYC
  • 4th Fiachra McDonnell NYC
  • 5th Trevor Bolger RStGYC

Senior Fleet Girls

  • 1st Eimer McMorrow-Moriarty TBSC
  • 2nd Lauren O’Callaghan NYC
  • 3rd Grace Fahy RStGYC/LDYC

Senior Fleet Silver

  • 1st Liam Duggan RCYC
  • 2nd Fleet Ciara Paul MYC
  • 3rd Clodagh Malone NYC

Top Local Sailor – Senior Fleet

  • Eimer McMorrow-Moriarty TBSC
Published in Optimist

#MCIB - Various factors - including poor buoyancy, suboptimal lifejackets and a fateful late decision to swim to shore - have been identified in the official report into the death of a fisherman off the Waterford coast earlier this year.

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, a major search and rescue operation was launched on 10 January when a 16-foot fishing punt capsized in a strong swell at the sandbar off Brownstown Head near Dunmore East, throwing its two-man crew overboard.

James Tate was able to swim to the nearby shore in the early morning darkness after some two hours in the water. But he became separated from his friend Johnny Flynn - a former member of the Dunmore East lifeboat crew - who was found unconscious in the water by coastguard helicopter before 8.30am.

Flynn was pronounced dead at Waterford Airport shortly after, with a post-mortem concluding that he cause of death was drowning.

The tragedy occurred six years to the day after the sinking of Dunmore East trawler the Pere Charles, which took five lives.

In the official report into the incident, the Marine Casualty Investigation Board (MCIB) found that the fishing punt, already vulnerable to breaking waves as an un-decked open boat, was more susceptible due to its waterlogged condition, and the lack of adequate buoyancy.

It was also found that neither the vessel's handheld VHF radio nor GPS device, or indeed Tate's mobile phone, were available to the pair after the boat turned turtle.

Though both men were wearing lifejackets, they were of a kind that lacked a collar that would have kept the deceased's head above water, nor did they have a light or whistle. Only Tate was equipped with any kind of light, so he could not locate his friend in the dark.

Most importantly, it was found that the boat had overturned within 100 metres of the shallows, so that if the pair had attempted to swim to shore earlier - rather than tire themselves out trying to climb onto the upturned hull - the chances of both men surviving the incident "would have been greatly enhanced".

The full report into the incident is available to download below.

Published in MCIB

Marine Institute Research Vessel Tom Crean

Ireland’s new marine research vessel will be named the RV Tom Crean after the renowned County Kerry seaman and explorer who undertook three major groundbreaking expeditions to the Antarctic in the early years of the 20th Century which sought to increase scientific knowledge and to explore unreached areas of the world, at that time.

Ireland's new multi-purpose marine research vessel RV Tom Crean, was delivered in July 2022 and will be used by the Marine Institute and other State agencies and universities to undertake fisheries research, oceanographic and environmental research, seabed mapping surveys; as well as maintaining and deploying weather buoys, observational infrastructure and Remotely Operated Vehicles.

The RV Tom Crean will also enable the Marine Institute to continue to lead and support high-quality scientific surveys that contribute to Ireland's position as a leader in marine science. The research vessel is a modern, multipurpose, silent vessel (designed to meet the stringent criteria of the ICES 209 noise standard for fisheries research), capable of operating in the Irish Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The Tom Crean is able to go to sea for at least 21 days at a time and is designed to operate in harsh sea conditions.

RV Tom Crean Specification Overview

  • Length Overall: 52.8 m
  • Beam 14m
  • Draft 5.2M 

Power

  • Main Propulsion Motor 2000 kw
  • Bow Thruster 780 kw
  • Tunnel thruster 400 kw

Other

  • Endurance  21 Days
  • Range of 8,000 nautical miles
  • DP1 Dynamic Positioning
  • Capacity for 3 x 20ft Containers

Irish Marine Research activities

The new state-of-the-art multi-purpose marine research vessel will carry out a wide range of marine research activities, including vital fisheries, climate change-related research, seabed mapping and oceanography.

The new 52.8-metre modern research vessel, which will replace the 31-metre RV Celtic Voyager, has been commissioned with funding provided by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine approved by the Government of Ireland.

According to Aodhán FitzGerald, Research Vessel Manager of the MI, the RV Tom Crean will feature an articulated boom crane aft (6t@ 10m, 3T@ 15m), located on the aft-gantry. This will be largely used for loading science equipment and net and equipment handling offshore.

Mounted at the stern is a 10T A-frame aft which can articulate through 170 degrees which are for deploying and recovering large science equipment such as a remotely operated vehicle (ROV’s), towed sleds and for fishing operations.

In addition the fitting of an 8 Ton starboard side T Frame for deploying grabs and corers to 4000m which is the same depth applicable to when the vessel is heaving but is compensated by a CTD system consisting of a winch and frame during such operations.

The vessel will have the regulation MOB boat on a dedicated davit and the facility to carry a 6.5m Rigid Inflatable tender on the port side.

Also at the aft deck is where the 'Holland 1' Work class ROV and the University of Limericks 'Etain' sub-Atlantic ROV will be positioned. In addition up to 3 x 20’ (TEU) containers can be carried.

The newbuild has been engineered to endure increasing harsher conditions and the punishing weather systems encountered in the North-East Atlantic where deployments of RV Tom Crean on surveys spent up to 21 days duration.

In addition, RV Tom Crean will be able to operate in an ultra silent-mode, which is crucial to meet the stringent criteria of the ICES 209 noise standard for fisheries research purposes.

The classification of the newbuild as been appointed to Lloyds and below is a list of the main capabilities and duties to be tasked by RV Tom Crean:

  • Oceanographic surveys, incl. CTD water sampling
  • Fishery research operations
  • Acoustic research operations
  • Environmental research and sampling operation incl. coring
  • ROV and AUV/ASV Surveys
  • Buoy/Mooring operations