Menu

Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

A Sigma 33 One Design keelboat racing on Dublin Bay Photo: AfloatA Sigma 33 One Design keelboat racing on Dublin Bay Photo: Afloat

Displaying items by tag: CH Marine

Drifting conditions in Cork Harbour may have appeared beautiful to the onlooker but to the crews of the 52 boats competing in Royal Cork Yacht Club's CH Marine Autumn League it was very frustrating writes Bob Bateman.

Outside Cork Harbour Race Officer Peter Crowley managed to get one race for classes 1, 2 and 3 completed.

Inside the harbour it was a different story with the whitesail fleet getting a start outside White bay giving the fleets a beat into number 10 buoy.

CH MArine D2 2483Cork Harbour stalwart Michael Murphy (flask in hand) who is sailing in the same boat for 38 years. Photo: Bob Bateman

Bandit sailed by Richard Leonard got a great pin end start and led as far as Fort Carlisle where the Foul spring tide coupled with the fickle north west breeze put a stop to progress for everyone and Race Officer John Downing abandoned racing for the day.

The sportboat fleet fared no better using a laid windward leeward course and they also had to abandon racing.

CH MArine D2 2483CH MArine D2 2483CH MArine D2 2483CH MArine D2 2483CH MArine D2 2483CH MArine D2 2483CH MArine D2 2483CH MArine D2 2483CH MArine D2 2483CH MArine D2 2483

 

Published in CH Marine Chandlery

Ted Crosbie's X302 No Excuse took an early lead in the nine boat IRC two class of Royal Cork Yacht Club's CH Marine Autumn League in Cork Harbour writes Bob Bateman.

A grey, damp morning gave way to more pleasant conditions this afternoon for the first races where three race courses were set in ten to 15–knot winds, mainly from the west, with neap tides and high water about 15.00 hrs.

Sports boats (five 1720s and two J80s) sailed windward–leeward courses across the channel starting at Corkbeg buoy. 

The white sail divison had a round the cans course while classes 1,2,3 started down off Cuskinny to a laid weather mark off Cobh (passing "the Holy Ground") effectively a W/L course.

There were three rounds for class 1 and two rounds for classes 2 and 3.

As Afloat.ie reported previously, this year's league features a 'North Sails Ireland' team on the water before and during racing. The aim is to offer trim and set up advice before the start and then once the flag drops to film the racing and debrief in full in the clubhouse.

Results are posted here.

CH Marine R1 4569CH Marine R1 4569CH Marine R1 4569CH Marine R1 4569CH Marine R1 4569CH Marine R1 4569CH Marine R1 4569CH Marine R1 4569CH Marine R1 4569CH Marine R1 4569CH Marine R1 4569CH Marine R1 4569CH Marine R1 4569CH Marine R1 4569CH Marine R1 4569CH Marine R1 4569CH Marine R1 4569CH Marine R1 4569CH Marine R1 4569CH Marine R1 4569CH Marine R1 4569CH Marine R1 4569CH Marine R1 4569CH Marine R1 4569CH Marine R1 4569CH Marine R1 4569CH Marine R1 4569CH Marine R1 4569CH Marine R1 4569CH Marine R1 4569CH Marine R1 4569CH Marine R1 4569CH Marine R1 4569CH Marine R1 4569CH Marine R1 4569CH Marine R1 4569CH Marine R1 4569CH Marine R1 4569CH Marine R1 4569CH Marine R1 4569CH Marine R1 4569CH Marine R1 4569CH Marine R1 4569CH Marine R1 4569CH Marine R1 4569CH Marine R1 4569CH Marine R1 4569CH Marine R1 4569CH Marine R1 4569CH Marine R1 4569CH Marine R1 4569CH Marine R1 4569CH Marine R1 4569CH Marine R1 4569

Published in CH Marine Chandlery

Royal Cork Yacht Club is running an ICRA training initiative at its forthcoming CH Marine Autumn Series commencing on October 1st.

ICRA announced the availability of this grant at their annual conference earlier this year and it has enabled the Royal Cork to partner with sailmakers North Sails Ireland to run an on–the –water race training programme during their Autumn Series that is previewed by Afloat.ie here.

RCYC's Kieran O'Connell gave a brief outline 'North Sails Ireland will be active on the water before and during racing. The aim is to offer trim and set up advice before the start and then once the Flag drops to film the racing and debrief in full in the Club house the same day'

O'Connell added that 'this will be a great addition to this year’s CH Marine Autumn series at the Royal Cork and we would like to thank ICRA for their support and North Sails Ireland for working with us on this exciting new addition to the series'.

Published in Royal Cork YC

The CH Marine Autumn Series at Royal Cork Yacht Club is rapidly approaching, one of the premier highlights of the sailing season on the south coast, that always attracts large numbers of sailors from a wide variety of clubs from around Ireland.

CH Marine have sponsored this event for a number of years and have enabled the club to stage the popular event which is continuing to grow year after year and comes straight after the end of RCYC's September series, report here.

2017 Logo

This year the CH Marine Autumn Series will commence on Sunday, October 1st with the first two races and will follow with two races each Sunday in October finishing on Sunday October 29th. Racing will commence each day at 1055hrs, and will be followed each day by food, music and daily prize giving.

Notice of Race and Entry forms are downloadable for the CH Marine Autumn Series below.

Over the last few years there has been a great 1720 fleet building for the CH Marine Autumn Series, with 13 boats competing last year.

This year is looking like the 1720 class will not disappoint with a large number of early entries.

On the final day of racing the CH Marine Autumn Series dinner and overall prize giving will be held at the club commencing at 19.30hrs. 

Subject to availability, complimentary berthing on swinging moorings or marina berths will be provided to yachts visiting.

For marina berthing arrangements contact Mark Ring at Royal Cork office +353(0)214831023.

Published in Royal Cork YC

Leading Sailing Clothing Manufacturer Henri Lloyd is giving away a Breeze Holdall – very handy for boaters on the move – in this Afloat.ie competition below. 

New for 2017, the Henri Lloyd Breeze Sailing Holdall has been designed for the everyday traveller, both on land and on water and combines technical performance alongside everyday features.

Offering 50L of storage the bag has been construction from highly durable polyester, the bag features an internal silver lining which offers increased internal visibility. Whilst additional storage is offered via the two internal stow pockets and a handy external zipped pocket for ease of access. Transportation of the bag can be offered via a detachable adjustable padded shoulder strap, neoprene grab handles and also padded grab handles at either end of the bag.

An additional feature is the incorporation of loop for telescopic handle insertion.

The Breeze Holdall is available in a fresh colour palette, including marine, grey, new red and lime and priced at €65 from CH Marine and Viking Marine

Henri lloyd breeze holdall 2

To be in with a chance to win this prize, simply answer the question below

Question: Name two stockists of Henri Lloyd in Ireland?

Email your answer, together with your name, age and postal address to [email protected] using 'Henri Lloyd Holdall Competition' in the subject line.

_______________________________________________________________

Terms and Conditions

– Closing date for entries is midnight 15th July 2017

– Winners will be announced on 16th July 2017

– One entry per reader

– Upon submitting their entry the entrant acknowledges that their details will be used for Afloat.ie ezine and Henri Lloyd updates.

– Entrant must be over 18 years of age.

– Entry to the competition is free. No purchase is necessary.

– The promoter is excluded from liability for any loss, damage or injury which might occur to the winner arising from his or her acceptance of the prize.

– By entering this competition you are agreeing that any submissions made become the property of Afloat.ie

– The promoter reserves the right to amend these terms and conditions.

– These terms and conditions shall be governed by the laws of Ireland and subject to the jurisdiction of the Irish Courts. 

– Employees or agents of Afloat.ie, any associated group companies, prize sponsor and or agencies associated with this competition and their immediate families are ineligible to enter. Any such entries will be invalid.

– The judges decision is final. No correspondence will be entered into.

_______________________________________________________________

For more information:

@ Henri Lloyd website

@ Henri Lloyd Facebook

@ Henri Lloyd Twitter

Published in Marine Clothing

Congratulations to Conor Totterdell of County Dublin who is the winner of the Crewsaver Ergofit 190N Pro Auto Harness Light and Hood in the Afloat.ie/CH Marine Competition.

The competition was part of CH Marine's annual LIFEJACKET AWARENESS WEEK.

You can enter Afloat.ie's latest CH Marine competition to win one of six Mastervolt Battery Chargers here.

Published in CH Marine Chandlery
Tagged under

Finding a lifejacket for your child is not difficult but it in terms of water safety it is important to know how to choose the right jacket and what features you should look out for. As part of its Lifejacket Awareness Week, leading chandlery CH Marine has produced an innovative guide to lifejacket purchase for children. The guide is downloadable below as a PDF.

These days, there is a wide choice of designs for infants starting as young as just a few months old and here we list a few of our top tips, to help you make the right choice, giving you absolute confidence in your child’s safety on the water.

Paying attention to comfort, fit, colour and style will make your child love wearing their lifejacket.

When we talk of children’s lifejackets, we are generally talking about the age of 2 months - 6 years, regardless of whether your child can swim a few strokes or not. We must always assume that they can give no assistance in the water and therefore the lifejacket must totally support them and keep their airways clear. For this purpose, you need to choose a jacket that is an approved and classified lifejacket and not a buoyancy aid.

Read also:

Tom MacSweeney's lifejacket safety item in his podcast here

Win a Crewsaver Ergofit Pro Lifejacket Worth €205 In This Free To Enter CH Marine/Afloat.ie Competition here

Published in CH Marine Chandlery
Tagged under

Leading Irish Chandlery CH Marine is giving away six Waterproof portable battery chargers – very handy for boaters on the move – in this Afloat.ie competition below. 

The chargers are Mastervolt Easy Charge 1.1 Amp 6v/12v Portable Battery Chargers. The value of the charger is €60.00. 

The EasyCharge portable battery charger offers a rugged solution that can be used on the boat, car, motorcycle, and camper van. Waterproof to IP65 standard, the portable chargers have an intuitive control panel, and are available in 120V/60Hz and 230V/50Hz models of either 1.1 A or 4.3 A.

Users can quickly select between 6 V (ideal for toys, classic cars and motorcycles) and 12V operation. The units include 1.8m of DC cable that connects to either a 61cm lead with ring terminals, or a 61cm lead with alligator clips, for easy installation and a variety of applications; both leads are included in the package.

The battery chargers have the ability to charge wet, AGM and gel batteries, with a universal input (120-230 V) for 'total worldwide freedom'.

CHMarine Competition Mastervolt PortableBatteryCharger 2

To be in with a chance to win one of six prizes offered, simply answer the question below

Question: What are the locations of two CH Marine branches?

Email your answer, together with your name, age and postal address to [email protected] using 'CH Marine Mastervolt Battery Charger' in the subject line.

_______________________________________________________________

Terms and Conditions

– Closing date for entries is midnight 30th June 2017

– Winners will be announced on 1st July 2017

– One entry per reader

– Upon submitting their entry the entrant acknowledges that their details will be used for Afloat.ie ezine and CH Marine updates.

– Entrant must be over 18 years of age.

– Entry to the competition is free. No purchase is necessary.

– The promoter is excluded from liability for any loss, damage or injury which might occur to the winner arising from his or her acceptance of the prize.

– By entering this competition you are agreeing that any submissions made become the property of Afloat.ie

– The promoter reserves the right to amend these terms and conditions.

– These terms and conditions shall be governed by the laws of Ireland and subject to the jurisdiction of the Irish Courts. 

– Employees or agents of Afloat.ie, any associated group companies, prize sponsor and or agencies associated with this competition and their immediate families are ineligible to enter. Any such entries will be invalid.

– The judges decision is final. No correspondence will be entered into.

_______________________________________________________________

For more information:

@ CH Marine website

@ CH Marine Facebook

CH Marine NI Facebook

@ CH Marine Twitter

Published in CH Marine Chandlery

Leading Irish Chandlery CH Marine is giving away a Crewsaver Ergofit 190N Pro Auto Harness Light and Hood worth €205 in this free to enter Afloat.ie competition. 

The competition is part of CH Marine's annual LIFEJACKET AWARENESS WEEK that kicks off this Saturday, 27 May with lots of lifejacket info, special offers and support.

The Crewsaver Ergofit Pro Lifejacket features 190N buoyancy and automatic inflation comes with harness for attaching safety line, emergency light and spray hood.

Crewsaver’s ultimate lifejacket collection, ErgoFit, was launched in 2012 and has subsequently come to completely redefine safety, comfort and style afloat. The entire ErgoFit collection features an exceptionally high level of construction combined with the looks and practicality to suit the toughest marine environment and the most demanding consumer. 

 CH Marine lifejcket week

To be in with a chance to win the prize, answer the question below

Question: What are the locations of two CH Marine branches?

Email your answer, together with your name, age and postal address to [email protected] using 'CH Marine lifejacket' in the subject line.

_______________________________________________________________

Terms and Conditions

– Closing date for entries is midnight 09th June 2017

– Overall winner will be announced on 10th June 2017

– Upon submitting their entry the entrant acknowledges that their details will be used for Afloat.ie ezine and CH Marine updates.

– Entrant must be over 18 years of age.

– Entry to the competition is free. No purchase is necessary.

– The promoter is excluded from liability for any loss, damage or injury which might occur to the winner arising from his or her acceptance of the prize.

– By entering this competition you are agreeing that any submissions made become the property of Afloat.ie

– The promoter reserves the right to amend these terms and conditions.

– These terms and conditions shall be governed by the laws of Ireland and subject to the jurisdiction of the Irish Courts. 

– Employees or agents of Afloat.ie, any associated group companies, prize sponsor and or agencies associated with this competition and their immediate families are ineligible to enter. Any such entries will be invalid.

– The judges decision is final. No correspondence will be entered into.

_______________________________________________________________

For more information:

@ CH Marine website

@ CH Marine Facebook

CH Marine NI Facebook

@ CH Marine Twitter

Published in CH Marine Chandlery

CH Marine's annual LIFEJACKET AWARENESS WEEK kicks off this Saturday 27 May with lots of lifejacket info, special offers and support.

Given the recent results from a Dun Laoghaire RNLI Lifejacket last month that found barely one fifth of lifejackets were free of faults, it's an important safety check to carry out.

 

Bring in your lifejacket to CH Marine for a free RNLI Lifejacket Clinic at its Cork branch THIS SATURDAY from 11am - 3pm.

Published in CH Marine Chandlery
Tagged under
Page 6 of 10

How to sail, sailing clubs and sailing boats plus news on the wide range of sailing events on Irish waters forms the backbone of Afloat's sailing coverage.

We aim to encompass the widest range of activities undertaken on Irish lakes, rivers and coastal waters. This page describes those sailing activites in more detail and provides links and breakdowns of what you can expect from our sailing pages. We aim to bring jargon free reports separated in to popular categories to promote the sport of sailing in Ireland.

The packed 2013 sailing season sees the usual regular summer leagues and there are regular weekly race reports from Dublin Bay Sailing Club, Howth and Cork Harbour on Afloat.ie. This season and last also featured an array of top class events coming to these shores. Each year there is ICRA's Cruiser Nationals starts and every other year the Round Ireland Yacht Race starts and ends in Wicklow and all this action before July. Crosshaven's Cork Week kicks off on in early July every other year. in 2012 Ireland hosted some big international events too,  the ISAF Youth Worlds in Dun Laoghaire and in August the Tall Ships Race sailed into Dublin on its final leg. In that year the Dragon Gold Cup set sail in Kinsale in too.

2013 is also packed with Kinsale hosting the IFDS diabled world sailing championships in Kinsale and the same port is also hosting the Sovereign's Cup. The action moves to the east coast in July with the staging of the country's biggest regatta, the Volvo Dun Laoghaire regatta from July 11.

Our coverage though is not restricted to the Republic of Ireland but encompasses Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the Irish Sea area too. In this section you'll find information on the Irish Sailing Association and Irish sailors. There's sailing reports on regattas, racing, training, cruising, dinghies and keelboat classes, windsurfers, disabled sailing, sailing cruisers, Olympic sailing and Tall Ships sections plus youth sailing, match racing and team racing coverage too.

Sailing Club News

There is a network of over 70 sailing clubs in Ireland and we invite all clubs to submit details of their activities for inclusion in our daily website updates. There are dedicated sections given over to the big Irish clubs such as  the waterfront clubs in Dun Laoghaire; Dublin Bay Sailing Club, the Royal Saint George Yacht Club,  the Royal Irish Yacht Club and the National Yacht Club. In Munster we regularly feature the work of Kinsale Yacht Club and Royal Cork Yacht Club in Crosshaven.  Abroad Irish sailors compete in Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) racing in the UK and this club is covered too. Click here for Afloat's full list of sailing club information. We are keen to increase our coverage on the network of clubs from around the coast so if you would like to send us news and views of a local interest please let us have it by sending an email to [email protected]

Sailing Boats and Classes

Over 20 active dinghy and one design classes race in Irish waters and fleet sizes range from just a dozen or so right up to over 100 boats in the case of some of the biggest classes such as the Laser or Optimist dinghies for national and regional championships. Afloat has dedicated pages for each class: Dragons, Etchells, Fireball, Flying Fifteen, GP14, J24's, J80's, Laser, Sigma 33, RS Sailing, Star, Squibs, TopperMirror, Mermaids, National 18, Optimist, Puppeteers, SB3's, and Wayfarers. For more resources on Irish classes go to our dedicated sailing classes page.

The big boat scene represents up to 60% of the sail boat racing in these waters and Afloat carries updates from the Irish Cruiser Racer Association (ICRA), the body responsible for administering cruiser racing in Ireland and the popular annual ICRA National Championships. In 2010 an Irish team won the RORC Commodore's Cup putting Irish cruiser racing at an all time high. Popular cruiser fleets in Ireland are raced right around the coast but naturally the biggest fleets are in the biggest sailing centres in Cork Harbour and Dublin Bay. Cruisers race from a modest 20 feet or so right up to 50'. Racing is typically divided in to Cruisers Zero, Cruisers One, Cruisers Two, Cruisers Three and Cruisers Four. A current trend over the past few seasons has been the introduction of a White Sail division that is attracting big fleets.

Traditionally sailing in northern Europe and Ireland used to occur only in some months but now thanks to the advent of a network of marinas around the coast (and some would say milder winters) there are a number of popular winter leagues running right over the Christmas and winter periods.

Sailing Events

Punching well above its weight Irish sailing has staged some of the world's top events including the Volvo Ocean Race Galway Stopover, Tall Ships visits as well as dozens of class world and European Championships including the Laser Worlds, the Fireball Worlds in both Dun Laoghaire and Sligo.

Some of these events are no longer pure sailing regattas and have become major public maritime festivals some are the biggest of all public staged events. In the past few seasons Ireland has hosted events such as La Solitaire du Figaro and the ISAF Dublin Bay 2012 Youth Worlds.

There is a lively domestic racing scene for both inshore and offshore sailing. A national sailing calendar of summer fixtures is published annually and it includes old favorites such as Sovereign's Cup, Calves Week, Dun Laoghaire to Dingle, All Ireland Sailing Championships as well as new events with international appeal such as the Round Britain and Ireland Race and the Clipper Round the World Race, both of which have visited Ireland.

The bulk of the work on running events though is carried out by the network of sailing clubs around the coast and this is mostly a voluntary effort by people committed to the sport of sailing. For example Wicklow Sailing Club's Round Ireland yacht race run in association with the Royal Ocean Racing Club has been operating for over 30 years. Similarly the international Cork Week regatta has attracted over 500 boats in past editions and has also been running for over 30 years.  In recent years Dublin Bay has revived its own regatta called Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta and can claim to be the country's biggest event with over 550 boats entered in 2009.

On the international stage Afloat carries news of Irish and UK interest on Olympics 2012, Sydney to Hobart, Volvo Ocean Race, Cowes Week and the Fastnet Race.

We're always aiming to build on our sailing content. We're keen to build on areas such as online guides on learning to sail in Irish sailing schools, navigation and sailing holidays. If you have ideas for our pages we'd love to hear from you. Please email us at [email protected]