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Displaying items by tag: Salthill Promenade

A former Galway mayor has welcomed a move to fly flags of over 20 European countries along Salthill’s promenade.

Labour councillor Niall MacNelis welcomed the initiative as “a gesture of solidarity to European neighbours who are badly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic”.

“Galway is a multicultural city, and while we have asked people to fly Tricolours as a gesture of support for our healthcare workers, we are also aware that there are people of many nationalities living and working here,” he said.

COVID FlagFlags in Salthill - a gesture of solidarity to European neighbours

Most, but not all of the EU member states, are represented on the light standards - with the non-EU state, Norway, included, and Britain’s Union Jack excluded.

Published in Galway Harbour

The Dragon was designed by Johan Anker in 1929 as an entry for a competition run by the Royal Yacht Club of Gothenburg, to find a small keel-boat that could be used for simple weekend cruising among the islands and fjords of the Scandinavian seaboard. The original design had two berths and was ideally suited for cruising in his home waters of Norway. The boat quickly attracted owners and within ten years it had spread all over Europe.

The Dragon's long keel and elegant metre-boat lines remain unchanged, but today Dragons are constructed using the latest technology to make the boat durable and easy to maintain. GRP is the most popular material, but both new and old wooden boats regularly win major competitions while looking as beautiful as any craft afloat. Exotic materials are banned throughout the boat, and strict rules are applied to all areas of construction to avoid sacrificing value for a fractional increase in speed.

The key to the Dragon's enduring appeal lies in the careful development of its rig. Its well-balanced sail plan makes boat handling easy for lightweights, while a controlled process of development has produced one of the most flexible and controllable rigs of any racing boat.