Displaying items by tag: Love Your Coast

7th November 2023

Clean Coasts Announces Winners of ‘Love Your Coast’ Photography Competition

Clean Coasts have announced the winning photographers of the 14th edition of its Love Your Coast photography competition.

With a prize fund of €6,000, the competition has attracted hundreds of photographers all around Ireland this year, receiving a record number of over 1,300 entries.

Stephen Dunbar, with his “Humpback Feeding” captured in Broadhaven Bay, Co Mayo, won the Photographer of the Year title and first place in the Wildlife and the Coast category.

About the picture, Stephen said: “This image of a humpback whale was captured in Broadhaven Bay. I watched the whale feeding the day before from land. The next day, I was lucky enough to get out on a RIB with Brendan and Marcus from IWDG.

“We first encountered two huge basking sharks when they came over to our boat. After that, we found the humpback whale feeding in the bay with a handful of minke whales and lots of common Dolphins. Many birds feed in the bay, including kittiwakes, which are seen in the image, along with puffins, guillemots and razorbills.”

Winners in other categories included Peter Vandermeersch, for his photo “Horizon” in Bray, Co Wicklow in the Coastal Landscape category; Karol Ryan for “Sturgeon Moon, Ballycotton” in the Coastal Heritage category; Megan Gayda for “The Ocean Flare”, shot in Co Clare, in People and the Coast; Derek Bolton for “Emerald Jewel”, shot at Sovereign Island in Co Cork, in the Underwater category; and Robert Ledwith for “A Ray of Hope”, taken at Mullaghmore Beach in Co Sligo in Protectors of the Coast.

Derek Bolton came first in the Underwater category as part of the 2023 Clean Coasts Love Your Coast photography competition with “Emerald Jewel”, taken in Sovereign Island in Co Cork

In 2023, Clean Coasts celebrated its 20th anniversary of working with communities to help protect and care for Ireland’s waterways, coastline, seas, ocean and marine life.

Since 2010, the Love Your Coast photography competition has been a celebration of all the beauty and uniqueness of the Irish coast that Clean Coasts volunteers work to protect.

“Clean Coasts’ mission extends beyond a mere photography competition,” said Sinead McCoy, coastal communities manager. “Our coastal and marine environment form an integral part of Ireland’s identity. Through this competition, we invite the people in Ireland to appreciate, celebrate, and safeguard our coast, echoing the dedication of our over 2,000 volunteer groups working tirelessly to protect our marine environment.”

Karol Ryan came first in the Coastal Heritage category as part of the 2023 Clean Coasts Love Your Coast Photography competition with “Sturgeon Moon, Ballycotton”, taken in Ballycotton, Co Cork

See the top 50 images comprising the category winners and runners-up via the Clean Coasts website HERE.

Published in Marine Photo

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Winners Selected in 2020’s ‘Love Your Coast’ Marine Photography Awards

The winners have been chosen in 2020’s Love Your Coast marine photography competition.

As the Irish Examiner reports, this year’s awards ceremony went virtual on Facebook Live, with the winning entries across four categories sharing in a €5,000 prize fund.

More than 40 images were shortlisted across the categories of Coastal Landscape, Wildlife & The Coast, People & The Coast and Coastal Heritage.

And the big winner was Ivan Donoghue, whose photos of divers — and specifically one encountering a jellyfish — earned him the overall award.

See the complete gallery of images on the Love You Coast website HERE.

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Love Your Coast Competition Celebrates Stunning Images of Ireland’s Coastline

#MarinePhotography - An Taisce president Prof John Sweeney was on hand to present prizes to the winners at Clean Coasts’ Love Your Coast Photography Awards, held on Friday 10 October at the Waterways Ireland Visitors Centre in Dublin's Docklands.

Celebrating five years of the Love Your Coast Photography Competition, the top images from past years were projected onto Boland Mills in a stunning photographic display that illustrated the wonder of our coast.

Ireland has some of the most spectacular and diverse coastline in the world, and Clean Coasts engages communities in protecting these beaches, seas and marine life now and for future generations.

Clean Coasts launched the Love Your Coast Photography Competition in May during Coca-Cola Clean Coasts Week, and with a prize fund of €4,000 it attracted huge interest from Ireland’s amateur photographers.

With thousands of entries, the panel of judges had a very difficult task indeed to choose the winners across the competition's four categories: Coastal Heritage (won by Des Daly for his shot of the Abandoned Coastguard Tower in Ardmore, Co Wicklow), Coastal Landscape (Vincent Coey, for White Horses Bearing Down White Rock in Killiney), People & The Coast (Ian Hennessy for Diver at Bullock Harbour) and Wildlife & The Coast (Brendan Cullen for Puffin in Flight, Saltee Islands, Co Wexford).

“The coast is a critically important environmental asset for Ireland," said Proif Sweeney at the awards evening. "It's dynamic nature and ability to respond to pressures both natural and human is excellently exhibited in these photographic entries.

"An Taisce congratulates those photographers who have captured the essence of the coast and elevated our appreciation of it to an art form.”

An electronic exhibition of Love Your Coast will be displayed at various locations nationally and internationally over the coming months. A gallery of the winning photographs can be found on www.cleancoasts.org or on Facebook.com/CleanCoasts.

Clean Coasts is operated by the Environmental Education Unit of An Taisce and is supported by the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, Coca-Cola and Fáilte Ireland.

Published in Marine Photo

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Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta

From the Baily lighthouse to Dalkey island, the bay accommodates six separate courses for 21 different classes racing every two years for the Dun Laoghaire Regatta.

In assembling its record-breaking armada, Volvo Dun Laoghaire regatta (VDLR) became, at its second staging, not only the country's biggest sailing event, with 3,500 sailors competing, but also one of Ireland's largest participant sporting events.

One of the reasons for this, ironically, is that competitors across Europe have become jaded by well-worn venue claims attempting to replicate Cowes and Cork Week.'Never mind the quality, feel the width' has been a criticism of modern-day regattas where organisers mistakenly focus on being the biggest to be the best. Dun Laoghaire, with its local fleet of 300 boats, never set out to be the biggest. Its priority focussed instead on quality racing even after it got off to a spectacularly wrong start when the event was becalmed for four days at its first attempt.

The idea to rekindle a combined Dublin bay event resurfaced after an absence of almost 40 years, mostly because of the persistence of a passionate race officer Brian Craig who believed that Dun Laoghaire could become the Cowes of the Irish Sea if the town and the local clubs worked together. Although fickle winds conspired against him in 2005, the support of all four Dun Laoghaire waterfront yacht clubs since then (made up of Dun Laoghaire Motor YC, National YC, Royal Irish YC and Royal St GYC), in association with the two racing clubs of Dublin Bay SC and Royal Alfred YC, gave him the momentum to carry on.

There is no doubt that sailors have also responded with their support from all four coasts. Running for four days, the regatta is (after the large mini-marathons) the single most significant participant sports event in the country, requiring the services of 280 volunteers on and off the water, as well as top international race officers and an international jury, to resolve racing disputes representing five countries. A flotilla of 25 boats regularly races from the Royal Dee near Liverpool to Dublin for the Lyver Trophy to coincide with the event. The race also doubles as a RORC qualifying race for the Fastnet.

Sailors from the Ribble, Mersey, the Menai Straits, Anglesey, Cardigan Bay and the Isle of Man have to travel three times the distance to the Solent as they do to Dublin Bay. This, claims Craig, is one of the major selling points of the Irish event and explains the range of entries from marinas as far away as Yorkshire's Whitby YC and the Isle of Wight.

No other regatta in the Irish Sea area can claim to have such a reach. Dublin Bay Weeks such as this petered out in the 1960s, and it has taken almost four decades for the waterfront clubs to come together to produce a spectacle on and off the water to rival Cowes."The fact that we are getting such numbers means it is inevitable that it is compared with Cowes," said Craig. However, there the comparison ends."We're doing our own thing here. Dun Laoghaire is unique, and we are making an extraordinary effort to welcome visitors from abroad," he added. The busiest shipping lane in the country – across the bay to Dublin port – closes temporarily to facilitate the regatta and the placing of six separate courses each day.

A fleet total of this size represents something of an unknown quantity on the bay as it is more than double the size of any other regatta ever held there.

Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta FAQs

What is Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Dun Laoghaire Regatta is Ireland's biggest sailing event. It is held every second Summer at Dun Laoghaire Harbour on Dublin Bay.

When is Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Dun Laoghaire Regatta is held every two years, typically in the first weekend of July.

Where is Dun Laoghaire Regatta held?

As its name suggests, the event is based at Dun Laoghaire Harbour. Racing is held on Dublin Bay over as many as six different courses with a coastal route that extends out into the Irish Sea. Ashore, the festivities are held across the town but mostly in the four organising yacht clubs.

How big is Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Dun Laoghaire Regatta is the largest sailing regatta in Ireland and on the Irish Sea and the second largest in the British Isles. It has a fleet of 500 competing boats and up to 3,000 sailors. Scotland's biggest regatta on the Clyde is less than half the size of the Dun Laoghaire event. After the Dublin city marathon, the regatta is one of the most significant single participant sporting events in the country in terms of Irish sporting events.

How old is Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

The modern Dublin Bay Regatta began in 2005, but it owes its roots to earlier combined Dublin Bay Regattas of the 1960s.

How many boats compete at Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Up to 500 boats regularly compete.

How many yacht clubs are represented at Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Up to 70 different yacht clubs are represented.

Where do the yachts come from to compete at Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

The Channel Islands, Isle of Man, England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Ireland countrywide, and Dublin clubs.

How many boats are visiting boats at Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Nearly half the sailors, over 1,000, travel to participate from outside of Dun Laoghaire and from overseas to race and socialise in Dun Laoghaire.

What type of yachts race in Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

21 different classes are competing at Dun Laoghaire Regatta. As well as four IRC Divisions from 50-footers down to 20-foot day boats and White Sails, there are also extensive one-design keelboat and dinghy fleets to include all the fleets that regularly race on the Bay such as Beneteau 31.7s, Ruffian 23s, Sigma 33s as well as Flying Fifteens, Laser SB20s plus some visiting fleets such as the RS Elites from Belfast Lough to name by one.

What famous sailors race in Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Some sailing household names are regular competitors at the biennial Dun Laoghaire event including Dun Laoghaire Olympic silver medalist, Annalise Murphy. International sailing stars are competing too such as Mike McIntyre, a British Olympic Gold medalist and a raft of World and European class champions.

How much does it cost to enter Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

There are different entry fees for different size boats. A 40-foot yacht will pay up to €550, but a 14-foot dinghy such as Laser will pay €95. Full entry fee details are contained in the Regatta Notice of Race document.

Where can spectators view Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Spectators can see the boats racing on six courses from any vantage point on the southern shore of Dublin Bay. As well as from the Harbour walls itself, it is also possible to see the boats from Sandycove, Dalkey and Killiney, especially when the boats compete over inshore coastal courses or have in-harbour finishes.

How does Dun Laoghaire regatta compare to international regattas?

Very favourably. It is often compared to Cowes, Britain's biggest regatta on the Isle of Wight that has 1,000 entries. However, sailors based in the north of England have to travel three times the distance to get to Cowes as they do to Dun Laoghaire.

Why is Dun Laoghaire Regatta so unique?

Dun Laoghaire Regatta is unique because of its compact site offering four different yacht clubs within the harbour and the race tracks' proximity, just a five-minute sail from shore. International sailors also speak of its international travel connections and being so close to Dublin city. The regatta also prides itself on balancing excellent competition with good fun ashore.

Who organises Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

The Organising Authority (OA) of Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta is Dublin Bay Regattas Ltd, a not-for-profit company, beneficially owned by Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club (DMYC), National Yacht Club (NYC), Royal Irish Yacht Club (RIYC) and Royal St George Yacht Club (RSGYC).

What does Dun Laoghaire Regatta contribute to the local economy?

The Irish Marine Federation launched a case study on the 2009 Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta's socio-economic significance. Over four days, the study (carried out by Irish Sea Marine Leisure Knowledge Network) found the event was worth nearly €3million to the local economy over the four days of the event. Typically the Royal Marine Hotel and Haddington Hotel and other local providers are fully booked for the event.