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Displaying items by tag: Phelan

While there may be a reduced entry of 65 boats there is no mistaking the quality of the fleet lined up in Crosshaven for what promises to be a windy start to the ICRA Nationals at Royal Cork Yacht Club on Friday.

In Class 0 Local boats Antix, Anthony O'Leary; Jump Juice, Conor Phelan and Gloves off Kieran Twomey will be challenged By George Sisk's new Wow, Norbert Reilly's Crazy Horse and Richard Fides Welsh entry Impetuous which is a former Blondie.

Class 1 sees a fine Class where last years Echo winner Ian Nagle's Jelly Baby will be challenged by sister ship Peter Reddin's Jetstream Denis Hewitt and friends on Raptor and likes of Donal O Leary's D Tox.

Class 2 will see a battle between Corby 25s; Vinny O' Shea's Yanks and Franks, Brian Goggin's new Allure and Denis Coleman's Thunderbird.These will be tested by likes of Conor Rohan's Ruthless, Shane Statham's Slack Alice Kieran and Liz O Brien's Magnet and Desmond Ivers Deasy combo on Bad Company.

Class 3 has a backbone this year of state of the art Quarter Tonners. ICRA are welcoming Black Fun Jamie Mc Dowell all the way from New Zealand where he will be challenged by Neil Kenefick's Tiger, Eamon Rohan's Anchor Challenge who will be up against Leonard Donnery's No Knomes, John Twomey's Blazer 23 Shilelagh and Sullivan Brothers in Running Wild. Fergus Coughlan's White Knight from Cobh will also challenge.

blackfun_keel

New Zealand yacht Black Fun, complete with torpodeo keel, has arrived in Crosshaven for Friday's Cruiser National Championships. Photo: Bob Bateman

First time Class 4 will see Kevin O Connor's Gaelic Kiwi take on likes of Alan Carroll's Sundancer and Michael Sexton' Granny Knot.

The Non Spinnaker Corinthian Cup sees a fine fleet where Billy and Hilary Duane's Expression will compete against Clive Doherty's Phaeton Bill O Mahony's Julia B and Seamus Gilroy's Split Point.

John Downing's Samba and Conor O Donovan's Extension will also be in contention.

Day Prize Sponsors Dubarry have come up with the innovative idea that each crew on the winning boats in IRC and Echo each day will receive a prize in reward for their efforts.

Two styles of Dubarry sailing hats and custom sailing socks will be included in this effort to recognise crews and offer variety each day.

The Royal Cork have laid on high standard racing on the water under Race Officers Peter Crowley and Richard Leonard and crews will be warmly welcomed ashore to a carnival type atmosphere with music and casual food on the go immediately after racing.

Published in ICRA

Forty entries are already in for Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta, a fixture widely expected to be the biggest in Ireland this season when it sets sail on Dublin Bay in July.

Organisers are expecting up to 500 boats to keep it on a par with the 2009 event. The early entries, 11 weeks ahead of the entry deadline, is being taken as a thumbs up by competitors for the fun and vlaue theme of this year's VDLR.

So far 22 different clubs have entered from six countries. The bulk of the fleet is Irish but there are early entries from France, Isle of Man, UK, Wales and Northern Ireland. Another good turnout is exepcted from Liverpool and Holyhead for boats competing in the IRC Lyver Cup Race across the Irish Sea. Ten boats from the Clyde will also compete on the Bay.

Cork's Conor Phelan the skipper of Jump Juice is one of the first Royal Cork boats confirmed.

Two handed IRC racing makes its debut in July's Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta organisers have also confirmed. Click HERE.

On the dinghy front, the Fireball class has confirmed it will be running an'Open Championship' within the regatta, an event that follows the class world championships in Sligo in June.

Published in Volvo Regatta

National Watersports Campus, Dun Laoghaire

Dun Laoghaire Harbour Stakeholders combined forces in 2019 to promote a project to improve the Harbour’s infrastructure resulting in improved access, job creation and greater tourism potential. 

A grant application to government made by Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council (DLRCoCo) assisted by stakeholders was successful with the announcement of a €400k feasibility study grant from the Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF) in January 2020.

It meant plans for the €8m National Watersports Campus at Dun Laoghaire Harbour got the green light from Government and came a step closer to reality.

The project recognises deficits in the current set up in the harbour, proposing the construction of an all-tide publicly-accessible slipway (none currently in the Greater Dublin Area) as well as a marine services facility, providing a much-needed home for the supporting industry. 

The campus also seeks to provide a marketing framework to make boating more accessible to the general public.

The benefits of such an increase might be obvious for the Dun Laoghaire waterfront but there are other spin-offs for the harbour town in the creation of the sort of jobs that cannot be shipped abroad.

Centre for Community Watersports activity and public slipway

  • High-Performance coaching centre
  • Flexible Event Space for hosting national and international events
  • Multipurpose Building
  • Campus Marketing and Promotional Centre
  • Accommodation for Irish Sailing and Irish Underwater Council
  • Shared NGB Facility
  • Education Centre for schools, community groups and clubs
  • Proposed site – Carlisle Pier

Watersports Campus FAQs

Similar to the National Sports Campus in Abbotstown, the watersports campus will provide quality, public, recreational and high-performance facilities for the many watersports participants. The Campus will considerably enhance the services currently provided by more than 30 clubs and activity centres to over 50,000 annual users of the harbour.

The passing of control of the harbour to DLRCC, the public appetite for a community benefitting project and the capital funding for sports infrastructure in the Project 2040 National Plan have aligned to create an opportunity to deliver this proposal.

Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council (DLRCC) and the Irish Sailing Association (Irish Sailing) are the project leads, endorsed by the National Governing Bodies of other Irish watersports and clubs and activity providers.

The National Sports Policy, published in 2018, established the Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF) to provide Exchequer support for sports facility projects. In some cases, these may be projects where the primary objective will be to increase active participation in sport. In other cases, these may be venues where the focus is more related to high-performance sport.

Government has allocated at least €100m over the term to 2027 to successful applicant projects.

The Watersports Campus was one of seven successful applicants for Stream 1 funding allowing planning to commence on the project design and feasibility. €442,000 has been granted in this phase.

NThe project will provide for a municipally-owned public access facility to include a small craft slipway that is accessible at all stages of the tide (currently none in public ownership in the greater Dublin area), storage and lock-up resources, watersports event management space, a high-performance centre and NGB accommodation.

The project aims to enhance the profile of Dun Laoghaire as a major international venue for maritime events, shows and conferences. Establish Dun Laoghaire as the 'go-to place' for anything marine – generating revenues Create employment in the county - attract businesses, visitors and events. Grow the market for watersports Promote the services of activity providers to the public. Complement the plan to develop Dun Laoghaire as a 'destination.'

As of January 1 2021, The Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport has approved the applicant project and DLRCC are expected to appoint a team to further advance the project.

©Afloat 2020