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Displaying items by tag: Galway City Sailing Club

Galway Bay has a ring of sailing clubs dotted around the shoreline, says one of the founders of the Galway City Sailing Club, which is marking its 10th year in existence.

It is an impressive grouping of maritime enthusiasts and it was the level of interest amongst the members of Galway Bay Sailing Club at Rinville which got the city club started.

The motivation was to provide dinghy sailing in the city. It began with 31 members and now has a membership closer to 200.

As Afloat previously reported, Galway City Sailing Club started in 2011 with two boats. Now in 2021, celebrating its 10th year of sailing in the city, it has boats include Argos & Picos, Optibats, and a host of boats owned by members with a dinghy park in the harbour to store them plus three supporting ribs in our hanger and a tractor for launching and recovery!

The club was founded, it says "by a group of dinghy sailing enthusiasts from Galway Bay Sailing Club and others to bring sailing into the heart of Galway and who were encouraged and supported by the late Bobby Molloy and by Paul Colleran in the 10 years it took to realise their vision. The Harbour Master; Brian Sheridan; the Harbour Board and John Killeen of Cold Chon generously provided the facilities to give the club a start. Because of this, the club has given many adults and children the opportunity to learn to sail over the past 10 years.

"Central to the ethos of the club has been the emphasis on the preservation of the marine environment and the instruction of the children on the importance of marine ecology. The aim and vision of Galway City Sailing Club continues to be making sailing accessible in the heart of Galway City, a city with a rich sailing heritage. The club sees itself as an integral part of the development of Galway's marine future with enhanced activity on the sea in the heart of Galway, providing sailing for all including for those with disabilities, and providing an attractive spectacle as well as serious training for the city's keen sailor."

One of the founding members was Nancy Roe who is now Club Treasurer and Membership Secretary and is my guest on this week's Podcast.

Podcast here

Published in Tom MacSweeney

Galway City Sailing Club started in 2011 with two boats writes Sharon De Bhaldraithe. Now in 2021, as they celebrate its tenth year of sailing in the city, its fleet of modern boats include Argos & Picos, Optibats, and a host of boats owned by members with a dinghy park in the harbour to store them plus three supporting ribs in a hanger and a tractor for launching and recovery!

The club was founded by a group of dinghy sailing enthusiasts from Galway Bay Sailing Club and others who wished to bring sailing into the heart of Galway and who were encouraged and supported by the late Bobby Molloy and by Paul Colleran in the 10 years it took to realize their vision. The Harbour Master; Brian Sheridan, the Harbour Board, and John Killeen of Cold Chon generously provided the facilities to give the club a start. Because of this, the club has given many adults and children the opportunity to learn to sail over the past 10 years.

Furthermore, central to the ethos of the club has been the emphasis on the preservation of the marine environment and the instruction of the children on the importance of marine ecology. The aim and vision of Galway City Sailing Club continues to be making sailing accessible in the heart of Galway City, a city with a rich sailing heritage.

The club sees itself as an integral part of the development of Galway’s marine future with enhanced activity on the sea in the heart of Galway, providing sailing for all including for those with disabilities, and providing an attractive spectacle as well as serious training for the city's keen sailor. 

2021 has been exciting already with one of our founding members Nancy Roe getting the inaugural Irish Sailing Leadership Award, a brand new award to recognise leadership and vision. Nancy won the award on the basis of her long term commitment to making sailing accessible to all. Galway City Sailing Club will host (within covid restrictions) lots of activities on and off the water this our 10th year sailing in the city.

The Mayor of Galway Cllr. Colette Connolly attended our 10 year BBQ on the 10th of July and going out to 'try' sailing on one of our Argos, The Mayor was a great helm!

Surrounding clubs, CRYC, Galway Hooker Sailing Club, GBSC, Nuig Sailing Club were all in attendance to support our 10 years of sailing in the city for everyone!

Published in Galway Harbour

Dublin Bay 21s

An exciting new project to breathe life into six defunct 120-year-old Irish yachts that happen to be the oldest intact one-design keelboat class in the world has captured the imagination of sailors at Ireland's biggest sailing centre. The birthplace of the original Dublin Bay 21 class is getting ready to welcome home the six restored craft after 40 years thanks to an ambitious boat building project was completed on the Shannon Estuary that saved them from completely rotting away.

Dublin Bay 21 FAQs

The Dublin Bay 21 is a vintage one-design wooden yacht designed for sailing in Dublin Bay.

Seven were built between 1903 and 1906.

As of 2020, the yachts are 117 years old.

Alfred Mylne designed the seven yachts.

The total voting population in the Republic's inhabited islands is just over 2,600 people, according to the Department of Housing.

Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC) commissioned the boat to encourage inexpensive one-design racing to recognise the success of the Water Wag one-design dinghy of 1887 and the Colleen keelboat class of 1897.

Estelle built by Hollwey, 1903; Garavogue built by Kelly, 1903; Innisfallen built by Hollwey, 1903.; Maureen built by Hollwey, 1903.; Oola built by Kelly, 1905; Naneen built by Clancy, 1905.

Overall length- 32'-6', Beam- 7'-6", Keel lead- 2 tons Sail area - 600sq.ft

The first race took place on 19 June 1903 in Dublin Bay.

They may be the oldest intact class of racing keelboat yacht in the world. Sailing together in a fleet, they are one of the loveliest sights to be seen on any sailing waters in the world, according to many Dublin Bay aficionados.

In 1964, some of the owners thought that the boats were outdated, and needed a new breath of fresh air. After extensive discussions between all the owners, the gaff rig and timber mast was abandoned in favour of a more fashionable Bermudan rig with an aluminium mast. Unfortunately, this rig put previously unseen loads on the hulls, resulting in some permanent damage.

The fleet was taken out of the water in 1986 after Hurricane Charlie ruined active Dublin Bay 21 fleet racing in August of that year. Two 21s sank in the storm, suffering the same fate as their sister ship Estelle four years earlier. The class then became defunct. In 1988, master shipwright Jack Tyrrell of Arklow inspected the fleet and considered the state of the hulls as vulnerable, describing them as 'still restorable even if some would need a virtual rebuild'. The fleet then lay rotting in a farmyard in Arklow until 2019 and the pioneering project of Dun Laoghaire sailors Fionan De Barra and Hal Sisk who decided to bring them back to their former glory.

Hurricane Charlie finally ruined active Dublin Bay 21 fleet racing in August 1986. Two 21s sank in the storm, suffering the same fate as a sister ship four years earlier; Estelle sank twice, once on her moorings and once in a near-tragic downwind capsize. Despite their collective salvage from the sea bed, the class decided the ancient boats should not be allowed suffer anymore. To avoid further deterioration and risk to the rare craft all seven 21s were put into storage in 1989 under the direction of the naval architect Jack Tyrrell at his yard in Arklow.

While two of the fleet, Garavogue and Geraldine sailed to their current home, the other five, in various states of disrepair, were carried the 50-odd miles to Arklow by road.

To revive the legendary Dublin Bay 21 class, the famous Mylne design of 1902-03. Hal Sisk and Fionan de Barra are developing ideas to retain the class's spirit while making the boats more appropriate to today's needs in Dun Laoghaire harbour, with its many other rival sailing attractions. The Dublin Bay 21-foot class's fate represents far more than the loss of a single class; it is bad news for the Bay's yachting heritage at large. Although Dún Laoghaire turned a blind eye to the plight of the oldest intact one-design keelboat fleet in the world for 30 years or more they are now fully restored.

The Dublin Bay 21 Restoration team includes Steve Morris, James Madigan, Hal Sisk, Fionan de Barra, Fintan Ryan and Dan Mill.

Retaining the pure Mylne-designed hull was essential, but the project has new laminated cold-moulded hulls which are being built inverted but will, when finished and upright, be fitted on the original ballast keels, thereby maintaining the boat’s continuity of existence, the presence of the true spirit of the ship.

It will be a gunter-rigged sloop. It was decided a simpler yet clearly vintage rig was needed for the time-constrained sailors of the 21st Century. So, far from bringing the original and almost-mythical gaff cutter rig with jackyard topsail back to life above a traditionally-constructed hull, the project is content to have an attractive gunter-rigged sloop – “American gaff” some would call it.

The first DB 21 to get the treatment was Naneen, originally built in 1905 by Clancy of Dun Laoghaire for T. Cosby Burrowes, a serial boat owner from Cavan.

On Dublin Bay. Dublin Bay Sailing Club granted a racing start for 2020 Tuesday evening racing starting in 2020, but it was deferred due to COVID-19.
Initially, two Dublin Bay 21s will race then three as the boat building project based in Kilrush on the Shannon Estuary completes the six-boat project.
The restored boats will be welcomed back to the Bay in a special DBSC gun salute from committee boat Mac Lir at the start of the season.
In a recollection for Afloat, well known Dun Laoghaire one-design sailor Roger Bannon said: "They were complete bitches of boats to sail, over-canvassed and fundamentally badly balanced. Their construction and design was also seriously flawed which meant that they constantly leaked and required endless expensive maintenance. They suffered from unbelievable lee helm which led to regular swamping's and indeed several sinkings.

©Afloat 2020