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Displaying items by tag: Lawless

She maybe old but she's still a fast one. Don't let the fact that a 33-year old local yacht took top prize from a combined fleet of 420 competitors at Ireland's biggest sailing regatta, the Volvo regatta in Dun Laoghaire yesterday.

The three sailors involved in the campaign, skipper Ken Lawless, Sybil McCormack and Pat Shannon have invested in a three year campaign to get the quarter tonner Supernova up to speed and it was only after a season of modifications last year that they found the real go button on the Dubois Starflash design.

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David Baddeley of Volvo (left) and Alan Moore of Spirit (back row) present the award to the Supernova crew (from left) Ken Lawless, Sybil McCormack, Edel Harvey, Pat Shannon and Daryl Balf

In a hard fought battle for honours in the biggest class of the regatta Supernova of the Royal Irish Yacht Club overhauled the 2009 Volvo trophy winner, Hard on Port (Flor O'Driscoll) of the Royal St. George Yacht Club by five seconds to win yesterday afternoon's final sixth race for Class III and lift the overall Volvo Trophy for the best performance of the regatta.

In fact, Supernova won from O'Driscoll by only the narrowest of margins and only after the third tie-break was applied to the arch rivals.

Both boats had equal points plus three wins and two second places apiece. Both had also  discarded a second place and so the class, and the 2011 title, was decided on  countback and who won the last race.

In a season of successes for the vintage Dubois Starflash design Dun Laoghaire sailor Lawless and his partners Sybil McCormack and Pat Shannon have already won class honours in June’s Lambay race. The quarter tonner has taken overall honours too in Dublin Bay Sailing Club's first series this season.

Part of the reason for the success has been a winter of overhauls to the 1978 design including extra downwind sail area and improved stability with the relocation of its floorboards. The improvements brought about better performances downwind, especially in light airs.
"We found stability was more important than increasing draft. In anything over 15-knots she proved very difficult to sail, her big rig makin her very skittish" Lawless told Afloat.ie
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Supernova takes a tack

The vintage boat from the old IOR handicap days is in fact a carbon copy of the famous 1979 Admiral's Cupper two tonner Police Car, a boat that has held huge appeal for Lawless.

"We were second to Hard on Port at this regatta two years ago when they won boat of the week so there was intense rivalry today but we knew we could do it!" Lawless said last night.
Published in Volvo Regatta

Marine Leisure & Aquatic Tourism

Domestic coastal tourism expenditure was approximately €698 million in 2018, while domestic marine tourism generated €381 million.

Activities such as walking/ running along the coast, swimming and beach visitations are among the most popular activities for domestic visitors on both day and overnight trips.

While participation rates in pursuits such as bird and wildlife watching in coastal areas and visiting nature reserves, etc. in coastal areas were lower, these activities did see the highest frequency of both day and overnight trips for those active in these activities. 

According to the National University of Galway (NUIG) research the average expenditure per coastal day trip in 2018 was calculated at €95. The equivalent for coastal overnight trips was €310. The estimated water-based activity expenditure per person per trip across the sample was €56 rising to €73 for the subsample that actually undertake waterbased activities on their coastal visits. The results also indicate that domestic tourists undertake the majority of their marine activities on the West and South coasts of Ireland and that there are notable differences in participation rates across age groupings, social classes and by family makeup.

A domestic tourist is defined in this report as a person who spends at least one night away from home on their trip. Total expenditure by domestic tourists in coastal areas was estimated to be €698 million in 2018, which represents 35% of the total expenditure by domestic tourists (using the broader Fáilte Ireland measure for domestic tourists that includes business trips equating to 10.92 million in total trips and €2,006 million in total revenue).

The marine-related activity expenditure, or what might truly be referred to as domestic marine tourism, is estimated to generate revenue of €381 million with €172 million being spent on water-based activities. Marine tourism makes up an estimated 19% of total domestic tourism expenditure.

Marine Leisure Tourism - FAQ

Coastal tourism refers to land-based and water-based tourism activities taking place on the coast for which the proximity to the sea is a condition including also their respective services. Coastal and Marine Tourism & Leisure are seen as one of the Blue Economy (BE) sectors that can help unlock the potential of multi-use of space at sea by engaging with Blue Growth (BG) sectors such as Aquaculture and Marine Renewable Energy among others.

Sports: sailing, surfing, diving and fishing Heritage: Unesco coastal villages, archaeological sites of interest, biospheres and historical points of interest Arts: coastal museums, art galleries, museums, wrecks Education: Eco-tourism, field courses, NGOs. Food: Seafood restaurants, Seafood festivals

NUI Galway carried out a survey of domestic residents in Ireland in 2019 as part of a survey entitled "Valuing and understanding the dynamics of Ireland's Ocean Economy". The purpose of the household survey was to profile the domestic market for single-day trips (leisure) and overnight trips (tourism) for coastal and marine-related activities in Ireland. The results of the survey are also used to estimate what proportion of an Irish resident's total domestic tourism expenditure is in coastal areas (coastal tourism) and what proportion is spent on undertaking marine-related activities (marine tourism).

The NUI results highlight the important contribution that Ireland's marine and coastal resources make to the leisure experiences of the general population and the importance of the domestic tourism market to local coastal economies. The analysis indicates that domestic coastal tourism expenditure was approximately €698 million in 2018, while domestic marine tourism generated €381 million. Activities such as walking/ running along the coast, swimming and beach visitations are among the most popular activities for domestic visitors on both day and overnight trips. While participation rates in pursuits such as bird and wildlife watching in coastal areas and visiting nature reserves, etc. in coastal areas were lower, these activities did see the highest frequency of both day and overnight trips for those active in these activities. Satisfaction with the available marine-related leisure facilities was also found to be very high across all activities.

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