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Displaying items by tag: missing

#NEWS UPDATE - The PSNI has confirmed that the body recovered from Belfast Lough yesterday morning is that of missing Stranraer man Carius McNicoll.

According to BBC News, the 24-year-old student was last seen on a ferry shortly before docking on 8 January.

His body was discovered near Holywood in Co Down. A post-mortem has confirmed that the cause of death was drowning.

In a separate incident yeserday, The Irish Times reports that a body recovered by divers in the River Lagan is believed to be that of a missing 20-year-old man.

John Murphy had reportedly entered the river at the Lagan Weir after an evening at the nearby Odyssey Arena last month. The body found has yet to be formally identified as Murphy.

In the wake of his loss, Murphy's family has called for an end to cheap drinks promotions.

Published in News Update

#NEWS UPDATE - RTÉ News reports that a body found in Glandore Harbour today is that of Tit Bonhomme skipper Michael Hayes.

The body of the 52-year-old from Helvick Head in Co Waterford, who went missing more than three weeks ago, was discovered floating close to the mouth of the harbour around lunchtime by his brother, Garda Chief Spt Tom Hayes, according to The Irish Times.

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the search operation in Glandore is being wound down this week after the remains of three of the five missing crew were recovered. Egyptian crewman Said Mohammed (23) - also known as Saied Ali Eldin - is still missing.

The fishing vessel Tit Bonhomme ran aground and went down in rough seas near Adam's Rock, at the mouth of Glandore Harbour, on Sunday 15 January.

Only one crewmember, 43-year-old Abdul Mohammed, is confirmed alive after he was able to reach the shore.

Published in News Update

#RESCUE - The Irish Times reports that the search has resumed for a fisherman who fell overboard from a trawler in the Irish Sea yesterday.

The crewman of the Kilkeel-registered fishing vessel Zenith was reported missing some nine miles (14.5km) off Clogherhead, Co Louth.

Yesterday afternoon the Irish Coast Guard and Clogherhead RNLI began an air and sea search and rescue effort, assisted by coastguard helicopter and other lifeboats and vessels in the area.

The Irish Times has more on the story HERE.

Published in Rescue

#NEWS UPDATE - Breaking News reports that the search for a 38-year-old man who went kayaking near Cromane in Co Kerry in the early hours of yesterday will resume this morning.

The alarm was raised yesterday morning after the man - named locally as Nealie O'Connor, and the father of a two-month-old baby - failed to return from his lake kayaking trip.

Published in News Update

#NEWS UPDATE - The Irish Coast Guard told RTÉ News that it has received an "overwhelming" response from the diving community to its appeal to join the search in West Cork for two missing fishermen.

Skipper Michael Hayes and crewman Saied Ali Eldin are still missing after the fishing vessel Tit Bonhomme ran aground in rough seas near Adam's Rock at the mouth of Glandore Harbour.

Only one of the six-person crew - 43-year-old Abdul Mohammed – is confirmed to have survived. The bodies of Kevin Kershaw (21) and Attia Shaban (26) were recovered last week, while the remains of Wael Mohammed (35) were found by civilian divers near the wreck site last Sunday.

Coastguard manager Declan Geoghegan said that search teams now have the 48 divers required to conduct an exhaustive search of the wreck area and urged further volunteers not to travel for the moment.

The search will concentrate on the waters between Adam's Rock and Long Point, where much of the debris from the trawler has washed up.

RTÉ News reports that more than 200 volunteers are assisting the coastal search by boat and on land, which is being co-ordinated from the village of Union Hall.

Published in News Update

#RESCUE - Garda divers have this morning recovered a body in their search for the crew of the fishing vessel Tit Bonhomme off the coast of West Cork.

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, five of the six-person crew went missing after the boat ran aground and went down rough seas near Adam's Rock, at the mouth of Glandore Harbour.

The five men include skipper Michael Hayes from Helvic Head in Co Waterford, Dubliner Kevin Kershaw (21) and Egyptians Said Mohammed (23), Wael Mohammed (35) and Attea Ahmed Shaban (26).

RTÉ News reports that the body recovered this morning has not been identified, but it is believed to be that of an Egyptian national.

Dive teams from the Garda and Naval Service have been set back by the trawler's position wedged in a narrow inlet with strong wash and backwash on either side, but were said to have made "significant progress" during dives yesterday.

A broader search is also being conducted inside and outside the harbour area and surrounding coastline, assisted by fishing boats, Irish Coast Guard rescue helicopters, and small boats and kayaks.

Published in Rescue

#COASTGUARD - The Irish Coast Guard's Doolin unit conducted eight searches for missing people at the Cliffs of Moher in 2011, according to The Irish Times.

Doolin officer Mattie Shannon told the paper that six bodies were recovered by the coastguard unit of the cliffs, which are one of the most popular tourist destinations in the country - but have also become a blackspot for suicide attempts.

The Samaritans have put up signs in the area advertising their helpline, while staff at the cliffs' visitor centre have received training for suicide intervention.

A spokesperson for The Samaritans said that the installation of a special phone with a direct line to their anonymous counselling service may also be considered.

The Irish Times has more on the story HERE.

Published in Coastguard

#NEWS UPDATE - The search was set to resume this morning for a missing man feared drowned in Cork city, the Irish Examiner reports.

Search efforts were mounted last night after the man's family notified gardaí. The man, believed to be in his 60s, is thought to have disappeared from Ballincollig Regional Park in the west of the city, where his car and phone were found.

Waterford's Irish Coast Guard helicopter joined the search along with gardaí and the Crosshaven coastguard, concentrating on the River Lee where water levels were high due to heavy rain.

Published in News Update
Police in Northern Ireland are investigating whether a body washed up on a Co Down beach is that of a kayaker who went missing on Carlingford Lough more than two weeks ago.
As previously reportd on Afloat.ie, area man Mark McGowan, 37, was last seen kayaking in the lough at 7.30pm on Monday 10 October.
His blue kayak was spotted by the Irish Coast Guard on 11 October at Killowen Point, on the north side of the lough.
A cross-border search and rescue operation was immediately launched but progress was hampered due to bad weather.
The Belfast Telegraph reports that a body was discovered on Cranfield Beach near Newry by a member of the public yesterday morning. Formal identification of the body has not yet taken place.
At the time of his disappearance, McGowan was described as 5'7" tall, medium build, with a clean shaven, tanned complexion and short bleached blonde hair. He was last seen wearing a red jacket, blue jeans and white trainers.
Police in Northern Ireland are investigating whether a body washed up on a Co Down beach is that of a kayaker who went missing on Carlingford Lough more than two weeks ago.

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, area man Mark McGowan, 37, was last seen kayaking in the lough at 7.30pm on Monday 10 October.

His blue kayak was spotted by the Irish Coast Guard on 11 October at Killowen Point, on the north side of the lough.

A cross-border search and rescue operation was immediately launched but progress was hampered due to bad weather.

The Belfast Telegraph reports that a body was discovered on Cranfield Beach near Newry by a member of the public yesterday morning. Formal identification of the body has not yet taken place.

At the time of his disappearance, McGowan was described as 5'7" tall, medium build, with a clean shaven, tanned complexion and short bleached blonde hair. He was last seen wearing a red jacket, blue jeans and white trainers.
Published in News Update
A major search for a man thought to have gone missing while kayaking on Carlingford Lough has ended for the night, UTV News reports.
Emergency services will decide this morning whether to resume the search for a kayaker who went missing on Carlingford Lough earlier this week.
Area man Mark McGowan, 37, was last seen kayaking in the lough at 7.30pm on Monday evening.
His blue kayak was spotted by the Irish Coast Guard on Tuesday at Killowen Point, on the north side of the lough.
Dundalk Gardaí are co-ordinating the cross-border search operation, which was interrupted by bad weather early yesterday.
Also assisting are the Irish rescue helicopter, Greenore coastguard, Kilkeel's RNLI lifeboat, the south Down coastguard team and the Community Rescue Service.
Meanwhile the PSNI has appealed for anyone who might have information on McGowan's disappearance to get in touch.
McGowan is described as 5'7" tall, medium build, with a clean shaven, tanned complexion and short bleached blonde hair. He was last seen wearing a red jacket, blue jeans and white trainers.

Emergency services were set to decide this morning whether to resume the search for a kayaker who went missing on Carlingford Lough earlier this week, UTV News reports.

Area man Mark McGowan, 37, was last seen kayaking in the lough at 7.30pm on Monday evening.

His blue kayak was spotted by the Irish Coast Guard on Tuesday at Killowen Point, on the north side of the lough.

Dundalk Gardaí are co-ordinating the cross-border search operation, which was interrupted by bad weather early yesterday.


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Also assisting are the Irish rescue helicopter, Greenore coastguard, Kilkeel's RNLI lifeboat, the south Down coastguard team and the Community Rescue Service.

Meanwhile, the PSNI has appealed for anyone who might have information on McGowan's disappearance to get in touch.

McGowan is described as 5'7" tall, medium build, with a clean shaven, tanned complexion and short bleached blonde hair. He was last seen wearing a red jacket, blue jeans and white trainers.

Published in News Update
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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

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

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

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.

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.

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

Up to 500 boats regularly compete.

Up to 70 different yacht clubs are represented.

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

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.

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.

 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

©Afloat 2020