Displaying items by tag: Ree

4th November 2011

Green Light for Lough Ree Lifeboat

#LIFEBOATS – The RNLI in Ireland is to trial an inshore lifeboat on one of the biggest loughs on the River Shannon. At a recent meeting of the RNLI Board of Trustees the decision was taken to place an inshore lifeboat on Lough Ree for at least 12 months to assess whether a permanent lifeboat station should be established.

Formal representations were made to the RNLI by the Inland Waterways Association of Ireland with support from lough users and various statutory bodies including the Irish Coast Guard, for a declared search and rescue asset to be present on the Lough.

The charity already operates 43 lifeboat stations around the coast of Ireland and inland on Lough Derg and Lough Erne with around 1,500 volunteer lifeboat crew members. There are estimates of upwards of 1,000 boats moored in or around the Lough, which also has a number of large marinas. The Lough is also a major intersection on the Shannon-Erne navigation route.

The RNLI will initially operate a B class Atlantic 75 lifeboat from temporary station facilities. The lifeboat will come from the existing RNLI relief fleet and a decision will be taken following the year-long trial whether to establish a permanent station.

Martyn Smith, RNLI Divisional Inspector for Ireland, said: 'I am delighted that the RNLI Trustees have agreed to place a lifeboat on Lough Ree. The support and enthusiasm for an RNLI lifeboat on Lough Ree from the Inland Waterways Association of Ireland, lough users and statutory agencies has been enormous. As a charity which relies on volunteers and the generosity of the public we were very impressed with the level of interest and engagement from everyone we encountered.'

Lough Ree is at present the only major lake on the Shannon that lacks a dedicated search and rescue presence. It is the centre for a variety of leisure pursuits based both afloat and ashore and has a significant amount of marine traffic passing through. It therefore makes sense for the RNLI to have a presence here which will see us take local volunteers, train them to the highest standards, provide them with the best equipment and enable them to deliver a life-saving service that Lough Ree needs.'

Initial meetings have already been held by the RNLI locally to gauge interest and support and moves will now be made to recruit the volunteers needed to run the lifeboat station.

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Published in RNLI Lifeboats

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SB3 Hat-Trick for Kennedy on Lough Ree

Former Olympic sailor Peter Kennedy won the 2011 SB3 Midland Championships held at Lough Ree Yacht Club at the weekend. This was Kennedy's third Midlands victory in a row. Six races were sailed over two days with everything from light airs and blue skies to heavy rain and squalls.

PRO Vincent Rafter and his team did a great job to get all races sailed in tricky conditions.

Ben Duncan was on fire on Saturday scoring a 1,2,1 with Peter Kennedy scoring a very solid 2,3,2. The conditions on Saturday were mixed with the day starting with 10 to 12 knots of breeze gradually dropping during race 2 & 3. Sunday morning dawned with clear blue skies and sunshine but the breeze built all day to over twenty knots but the last race. Ridgefence started the day with a 1st but Ben was 7th so it was game on for Kennedy.

Doug Smith, sailing with Killian Collins & Mary Creedon on Sacre Bleu, did very well in the breeze scoring a 2,2,4 on Sunday. The building breeze made for some great downwind action as the SB3's took off sailing hot angles. The black flag had to be used on Sunday to put manners on the eager fleet with Ruby Blue (Aidan O'Connell) being caught OCS in race 5 thus pushing him out of the top 5.

Peter Kennedy completed the series with a 1st, and discarding a 5th place, he finished 8 points clear of Ben Duncan on Sharkbait. Ben didn't have his regular crew onboard for the weekend instead sailing with Andrew Vaughan and Joe Turner. Daragh Sheridan, Shane Murphy & John Phelan on Dinghy Supplies had a poor first race but really got going after that with all top 5 places and a first in Race 5. Dinghy Supplies finished joint on points with Doug Smith on Sacre Bleu but Dinghy Supplies got the 3rd place on countback. Darren Martin on Soda Bread from Strangford Lough completed the top 5 positions.

The Silver fleet was decided by removing the top ten boats after the first three races. Colin Galavan on Defiant was 1st, Guy O'Leary was 2nd and Rob Howe on Milvus Milvus was 3rd.

The first lady helm was Selina Dicker on Kicker Off and the 1st Master was Justin Burke on Alert Packaging.

The organisers would like to thank Galway Maritime and English Braids for their kind sponsorship of prizes of sheet sets for the top 3 boats and the winner of the silver fleet.

3500 Ridgefence Peter Kennedy 2 3 2 1 5 1 14 5 9 1
3287 Sharkbait Ben Duncan 1 2 1 7 6 5 22 7 15 2
3490 Dinghy Supplies Daragh Sheridan 15 4 5 4 1 2 31 15 16 3
3164 Sacre Bleu Doug Smith 5 9 3 2 2 4 25 9 16 4
3501 Soda Bread Darren Martin 7 1 8 3 7 8 34 8 26 5
3072 Ruby Blue Aidan O'Connell 3 5 7 9 20 6 50 20 30 6
3548 Flutter Andrew Algeo 6 7 20 6 4 10 53 20 33 7
3323 Alert Packaging Justin Burke 8 6 4 17 9 7 51 17 34 8
3313 Defiant Colin Galavan 11 16 20 10 3 3 63 20 43 9
3226 Quantitive Easing Paul McMahon 4 10 13 12 13 11 63 13 50 10
3281 No Name Guy O'Leary 13 14 12 8 8 9 64 14 50 11
3338 Milvus Milvus Rob Howe 20 11 14 5 10 12 72 20 52 12
3257 Kicker Off Selina Dicker 12 12 6 11 11 13 65 13 52 13
3297 Sunday Brunch Richard Tate 9 8 10 14 14 14 69 14 55 15
3241 Indecision Martin McNamara 10 18 11 16 12 15 82 18 64 15
3165 Sinabhuill Gillian Guinness 16 15 9 13 15 17 85 17 68 16
3320 Smoke on the Water Bob Hobby 14 13 15 15 16 16 89 16 73 17
3315 Sirius Black Ken Hudson 17 17 16 19 17 18 104 19 85 18
3532 Bumble B Fionnuala Loughrey 20 20 20 18 18 19 115 20 95 19

Published in SB20

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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.