The Hartlepool Mail reports on one skipper who's making final repairs to his vessel ahead of the Tall Ships Races in Waterford this month.

Calvin Whitehead, captain of the 45ft Black Diamond, will set sail next Monday from Hartlepool with a crew of nine young people who will have the chance to gain valuable sailing experience.

The 29-year-old is hoping to repeat the class C ship's results in last year's race, where it finished second in its category.

"The boat is in good nick and the crew has mostly sailed before. We have a pretty good chance this year," he said.

The Tall Ships Races kick off in Waterford from 30 June to 3 July before the fleet sets sail for the Shetland Islands, then Stavanger in Norway and finally Halmstad, Sweden in August.

The latest Marine Notice from the DTTAS includes important information for recreational craft expected to attend the Tall Ships Races in Waterford from 30 June to 3 July.

Race organisers and the Waterford harbour master have issued an approved water safety plan for the marshalling of spectator boats for the time the tall ships are in port and for the start of the race off Hook Head.

Skippers and crew must comply with all instructions and be aware of their obligations under existing maritime legislation (regarding avoidance of collisions, preventing reckless behaviour and ensuring correct safety equipment is on board).

Boat owners intending to visit should contact the harbour master for details on restricted areas and berthing spots via the Port of Waterford website or directly at 051 974 907.

Restrictions are also in place for passenger boats and ships. Only fully licenced vessels with plying limits listing Waterford as a point of departure are allowed to operate during the event. Temporary changes in plying limits can be made via the Marine Survey Office before 15 June.

Further details are available on Marine Notice No 28 of 2011 which is available to read or download HERE.

The Red Bull Flugtag celebrates its 100th event in Dun Laoghaire next Sunday, and organisers have posted details for spectators planning to spend the day cheering on those magnificent flying machines!

The site for the free event will open at 12 noon, with the show taking place from 1pm till 4.30pm. All public access to the event site is via Dun Laoghaire Harbour/East Pier beside the National Yacht Club (the viewing area for those with disabilities is on Carlisle Pier beside the Royal St George).

There are a number of road diversions and parking restrictions to be aware of, full details of which are listed HERE. Temporary signage will advise motorists of impending diversions, and there is ample parking available at the Pavilion, Bloomfields and the IMC cinemas.

Visitors can also arrive by public transport, with bus routes 7, 7a, 46a, 75 and 111 all running to Dun Laoghaire. DART services will also run every 30 minutes and extra capacity will be provided.

The organisers wish to remind all spectators that the Red Bull Flugtag is a family event, and the consumption of alcohol in public will not be permitted.

Watch the world flugtag record being set in Minnesota last year. Maybe a new one will be set in Dun Laoghaire next weekend?

Entries are now open for young canoeists to take part on the 2011 Junior Liffey Descent.

The race kicks off at 1pm on Saturday 28 May on the River Liffey running from Salmon Leap Canoe Club in Leixlip to the Canoeing Ireland Traing Centre at Strawberry Beds.

The entry form for this year's Junior Liffey Descent is available to download HERE.

The winners of the 2011 Port of Cork Schools Initiative have been announced.

St John the Baptist National School in Midleton took the prize for best project in this year's contest, with the theme of ‘Making Cork Harbour a Green Energy Hub for our Future’.

Fifth classes from more than 60 primary schools in the Cork area got creative for the project, some even producing whole scale models of Cork Harbour.

Chairman of the Port of Cork, Dermot O’Mahoney, said: "We are delighted with the efforts put in by the participating schools. This is a great way of educating school children on the different forms of energy within Cork harbour while also highlighting the role of the Port of Cork."

Every participating class will be invited for a visit to Customs House in Cork city with a boat trip around the harbour before the end of the summer term. As top prize winners, pupils from St John the Baptist will get to visit one of the many luxury cruise liners that call at the port.

All projects are currently on display in the reception of Customs House.

Howth Yacht Club will launch its programme of open sailing events for 2011 at the club house tomorrow evening (Thursday 31 March).

In addition to running club sailing throughout the year, and both junior and adult sailing courses to get more involved in the sport, HYC will also be hosting more than 20 open events this year. 

These are set to include local, provincial, national and international championships, which are hopes to attract visitors from all over Ireland and beyond.

For more details visit the Howth Yacht Club website at www.hyc.ie.

The Red Bull Flugtag will celebrate its 100th event when it comes back to Dublin this summer.

Twenty years on from the first flugtag in Austria, this year's contest promises an "Irish twist" on the formula, whereby homemade flying machines shoot off a 30-foot deck in the vain hope of not splashing into the water below.

Budding pilots will take their creative flying contraptions to Dun Laoghaire on 22 May for a day of entertainment and spectacle for all ages.

Organisers are hoping for "plenty of the outrageous and innovative machines for which the Red Bull Flugtag has become famous - and who knows, maybe we'll get a world record to round off what we hope will be the perfect event!"

For more details visit the Red Bull Flugtag Dublin 2011 Facebook page HERE.

July's Volvo Dun Laoghaire regatta has taken in 22 entries six months ahead of the first race. It's an encouraging figure that's on a par with the 2009 VDLR, the biggest regatta in Irish sailing that year.

The positive early response is an indication, says organiser Adam Winkelmann, that the 2011 fleet, should be a bumper one too when it sets sail on July 7th for the four day event.

The emphasis is again on providing quality racing over different courses each day but organisers are also aiming to live up up to the regatta's pre-event billing as a 'Mega Party'.

The event has opened a new website, a new Facebook page (with afloat.ie, so if you're a Facebook user please show your support and 'like it'). The regatta site is also featuring the youtube clip below of events on the bay two years ago.

So far entries received are spread across nine separate classes but it's a visiting Wayfarer fleet with eight boats named already that is setting the pace. The organisers are expecting up to 50 of the two man classic design for the class National Championships that's being staged as part of the regatta.

The notice of race (NOR) was published online in October and highlighted a reduced entry fee for 'earlybird entries'. Click HERE. or scroll down to download it as a PDF. If you participated in 2009 and entered online, this year you only need to enter your email address.

Three boats are entered in the non spinnaker class and another three in the Squib keelboat. Two entries have been received in both IRC 2 and 3.  

It's still too early for a table of bands to be decided but the organisers intend to give some indication of handicap break-ups as the entries build. The IRC bands will be in line with those laid down by the Irish Cruiser Racing Association.

Despite the fact the regatta's strength since 2007 is that it draws on the capital's own fleet of 400 boats it is in fact visitors from elsewhere on the east coast that are first in. East Down Yacht Club, for example, has four entries.

But locals are signing up too. Single entries have been received in the Mermaid, Beneteau 31.7, Dragon and IRC Zero classes.

Course areas are likely to stay the same according to principal Race officer con Muphy of the National YC. Th race team is Alan Crosbie - KYC, Peter Crowley - RCYC,
David Lovegrove - HYC, Harry Gallagher - HYC, Henry Leonard - RIYC, Jack Roy - RIYC and Con Murphy  - NYC. Mike Butterfield will head up the jury.

The organisers are on the look out for volunteers to assist in the run up to and during the country's biggest sailing event. In 2009 over 300 helped to make it the biggest participant sport event in the country after the city marathon, with over 3,500 sailors afloat. More details from Ciara in the event office HERE.

Live fishing lessons for beginners of all ages will be a feature of the 2011 Ireland Angling Expo.

The two-day event on 12-13 February at the National Show Centre in Swords will include a fishing area hosted by the Dublin Angling Initiative aimed at encouraging youngsters to pick up the rod.

There will be workshops and live demonstrations for all skill levels in game, coarse and sea fishing, as well as the art of fly tying. Beginners can also learn the basics of casting and make sense of rods and reels and other equipment. 

For more on the 2011 Ireland Angling Expo visit www.irelandanglingexpo.ie

Andrew Craig, Mark Pettit and Brian Mathews have opened their account at the 2011 Dragon world Championships in Melbourne, Australia with a 19th place. The early leaders of the regatta are a legendary British trio Lawrie Smith, Ossie Stewart and Tim Tavinor.
Craig, of the Royal St. George in Dun Laoghaire, rounded the first mark in the middle of the 73-boat fleet but managed to gain places on each leg of the windward leeward course to finish 19th. Racing continues this week. More HERE.