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Displaying items by tag: Irish Offshore Sailing

The Sailing School entry 'Sherkin Irish Offshore Sailing' has retired from the SSE Renewables Round Ireland Race this evening with a 'mechanical issue'. 

Winds were strong northerlies around 25 knots at the time.

The Sunfast 37 yacht skippered by David Hanks is recorded by the race tracker as retired and has pulled into Kinsale in West Cork.

Published in Round Ireland

Irish Offshore Sailing has extended its sail training and yacht racing programmes for 2020 with a full range of motor cruising courses on a specially fitted-out and coded motor yacht.

Skippered by Yachtmaster Instructor Peter Beamish, the training boat is a Lochin 333 Harbour Pilot named Gaviota. Fitted with twin Perkins 300 HP engines, she has a cruising speed of 16 knots and a top speed of 24 knots.

Fully equipped with modern instruments and electronic engine controls, Gaviota is commercially coded in Ireland and the UK, and has all the safety equipment required for up to 10 people

Irish Offshore Sailing is now the only Irish Sailing and RYA recognised training centre in Ireland that can offer motor cruising courses which include Start Motor Cruising, Helmsman, Day Skipper, Advanced Pilotage, Coastal Skipper, and Yachtmaster Offshore Power.

See IrishOffshoreSailing.com for the full schedule of all motor cruising courses in 2020. And for more information please contact Peter Beamish on 087 672 9999.

Published in Sailing Schools

Dublin Bay Sailing Club Turkey Shoot Winter Series

Dublin Bay Sailing Club's Turkey Shoot Series reached its 20th year in 2020.

The popular yacht series racing provides winter-racing for all the sailing clubs on the southside of Dublin Bay in the run-up to Christmas.

It regularly attracts a fleet of up to 70 boats of different shapes and sizes from all four yachts clubs at Dun Laoghaire: The National Yacht Club, The Royal St. George Yacht Club, The Royal Irish Yacht Club and the Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club as well as other clubs such as Sailing in Dublin. Typically the event is hosted by each club in rotation.

The series has a short, sharp format for racing that starts at approximately 10 am and concludes around noon. The event was the brainchild of former DBSC Commodore Fintan Cairns to give the club year-round racing on the Bay thanks to the arrival of the marina at Dun Laoghaire in 2001. Cairns, an IRC racer himself, continues to run the series each winter.

Typically, racing features separate starts for different cruiser-racers but in fact, any type of boat is allowed to participate, even those yachts that do not normally race are encouraged to do so.

Turkey Shoot results are calculated under a modified ECHO handicap system and there can be a fun aspect to some of the scoring in keeping with the Christmas spirit of the occasion.

As a result, the Turkey Shoot often receives entries from boats as large as Beneteau 50 footers and one designs as small as 20-foot flying Fifteens, all competing over the same course.

It also has legendary weekly prizegivings in the host waterfront yacht clubs immediately after racing. There are fun prizes and overall prizes based on series results.

Regular updates and DBSC Turkey Shoot Results are published on Afloat each week as the series progresses.

FAQs

Cruisers, cruising boats, one-designs and boats that do not normally race are very welcome. Boats range in size from ocean-going cruisers at 60 and 60 feet right down to small one-design keelboats such as 20-foot Flying Fifteens. A listing of boats for different starts is announced on Channel 74 before racing each week.

Each winter from the first Sunday in November until the last week before Christmas.

Usually no more than two hours. The racecourse time limit is 12.30 hours.

Between six and eight with one or two discards applied.

Racing is organised by Dublin Bay Sailing Club and the Series is rotated across different waterfront yacht clubs for the popular after race party and prizegiving. The waterfront clubs are National Yacht Club (NYC), Royal Irish Yacht Club (RIYC), Royal St George Yacht Club (RSGYC) and Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club (DMYC).

© Afloat 2020