#Howth - A new website has been set up outlining opposition by local traders and stakeholders to proposals to charge for parking in Howth Harbour.

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, Dublin North East TD Tommy Broughan slammed the proposals by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine as "crazy" and potentially devastating for Howth's marine and tourism businesses.

Some 500 parking space are available in Howth village, which Minister of State Jimmy Deenihan has argued are being predominantly used by park-and-ride commuters.

In response to a question from Deputy Broughan in late December, Marine Minister Simon Coveney added that "the volumes of traffic currently parking at the fishery harbour, both during the working week and at weekends, are creating significant health and safety risks, to the extent that on some occasions access for emergency service vehicles is compromised."

At a meeting called by the Howth Chamber of Commerce on Monday 28 January, Howth Yacht Club Commodore Breda Dillon rejected that assessment, claiming that overcrowding was not an issue, and that on normal days there was only 10% occupancy of parking spaces on the middle pier.

Her sentiments were echoed by the majority in attendance, with area TDs and representatives of local business all referencing the potentially damaging effects that parking charges would have on the village economy. Click HERE for more on the story.

#Howth - "Disastrous" could be the effect for Howth's economy if car parking charges proposed by Government are introduced, as The Irish Times reports.

Tommy Broughan, Labour TD for Dublin North East, hit out at plans to charge for parking in the harbour area of the North Dublin fishing village, describing them as "crazy" and potentially devastating for Howth's marine and tourism industries.

He also criticised the failure of Marine Minister Simon Coveney and his department to consult with local stakeholders before pressing forward with the plans.

However, Minister of State Dinny McGinley argued that the vast majority of the 500 spaces available in Howth village were being used by park-and-ride commuters, and that only a small number of users involved in the fishing industry were effectively funding the service for all.

The Irish Times has more on the story HERE.

#Rescue - The most recent episode of Ireland's Search and Rescue features a combined mission by Howth RNLI and the Irish Coast Guard to aid a fishing vessel off Howth earlier this year.

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the Howth lifeboat crew spent more than 10 hours on 4 February last assisting the 17-metre trawler, with seven crew on board, which was rapidly taking on water.

The coastguard rescue helicopter was also on scene to help the stricken vessel, winching a salvage pump on board to try to stem the water flow amid difficult weather and sea conditions.

The programme is available online via RTÉ Player until 31 December.

The six-part series on RTÉ One has previously featured exclusive footage of the Tit Bonhomme rescue effort at Glandore Harbour in West Cork last January.

Sole survivor of the tragedy, Abdul Mohammed, spoke to presenter Claire Byrne about his struggle to survive the ordeal that claimed the life of his brother Wael and the four other crew.

#LIGHTHOUSES - A software firm specialising in emergency response technology has made its new home at the Baily Lighthouse in Dublin Bay, according to The Irish Times.

The Howth Head lighthouse is the last in the State to become fully automated, and the vacancy in the adjacent offices is being filled by Decisions [D4H].

The software company was started by emergency responders who develop remote service technology for oil exploration, hazmat workers, firefighters, coastguards and more the world over.

[D4H]'s new location will house the company's engineers, customer service staff and management.

#COASTGUARD - Howth Coast Guard will be one of the first search and rescue teams to avail of the Irish Coast Guard's new side scan sonar, it has emerged.

The specialised underwater sonar is available for 24/7 response on rivers, lakes, harbours and at sea.

The device is towed under the water and feeds a live scan of the area below it to a laptop operator on the surface.

The system can detect objects of all sizes and can be used to assist with the search of a missing person, for example, to quickly identify or rule out possible search areas before sending in Garda dive teams.

Howth Coast Guard says its menders have been trained up in the operations of the sonar over the last few months, and will be available to respond by request through the National Maritime Operations Centre (NMOC).

#hyc – Pat Kelly's J109 'Storm' continues to dominate Class 1 after Howth Yacht Club's penultimate race of the Autumn league on Sunday.  A cold drizzly morning greeted the 700 sailors for the Beshoff Motors/ Bloody Stream jointly sponsored series but crucially there was wind too for the event that this year has seen a mix of weather conditions over the first 5 weeks. This week was the turn of the rain and cold to test competitors, although it improved gradually as the start sequences began and the wind stayed reasonably steady, fluctuating between  260 and 270 degrees for the day at about 10 knots.

On the Offshore course, Kelly and team on 'Storm' recorded their fifth consecutive win to put them in an unassailable lead in Class 1 IRC, while 'Flashback' will be fighting to stay ahead next week on ECHO.

Anthony Gore Grimes and crew on 'Dux' can also afford to take a leisurely attitude next week (although it is very unlikely), as they are clear leaders at the top of Class 2 in IRC. However, 'Maximus' and 'Bushwakka' will have no such luxury in the ECHO division - as they share the lead going into the final day.

Vince Gaffney in 'Alliance II' might also consider a rest next week as he and his team will take the honours in Class 3 IRC. The ECHO prize will be a closer fought affair for 'Starlet', 'Tobago' and 'Goyave'.

In Non Spinnaker Class 4, 'Tiger', 'Bite the Bullet' and 'Orna' will battle for top spot in IRC next week and 'Tiger' and 'White Lotus' should be the contenders for the ECHO prize.

Harry Byrne's 'Alphida' will have a  real battle next week with 'Demelza' for the Class 5 IRC trophy, but there is little that they will be able to do to stop 'Sandpiper of Howth' taking the ECHO honours.

Meanwhile, the inshore fleet will see similar battles in the 17's between Isobel and Oona to secure a win on scratch and the Turvey's will also be chasing Eileen for the ECHO prize.

J24, Crazy horse will be chased by Flor O'Driscolls Hard on Port for the overall prize in their class. The Puppeteers are comfortably led by Harlequin (Clarke & Egan) on scratch, but the ECHO prize will be fought out between the two joint leaders Mayfly and Odyssey.

The Squibs are being led in both scratch and ECHO by Fantome and after another win this week, Mike Evans leads the Etchells in Valkyrie.

Hopefully the elements will be kind to us again next Saturday and all classes will get a race, which will mean that all races bar one inshore fleet cancellation last week will have been run, bucking the trend for the last few years.

For the final race, our co sponsor, The Bloody Stream is putting up a prize for each class which will be presented at the final prize giving next Saturday afternoon. There is still limited availability in the dining room, there is a special €25 menu being offered for that evening.

#hyc – Dun Laoghaire RS200 Champion Sean Craig is among a number of top dinghy sailors moving to the Laser dinghy next month for the Howth Yacht Club's Frostbites starting on November 4th.

The format consists of two short races every Sunday morning with a first gun at 10:45.

Previous top performers Darragh Sherdian and Joe Cull are among the early entries.

The 2011/2012 series was one of the most successful ever with almost 50 boats and a very wide range of standards from high ranked national level sailors to beginners and those new to the laser. Organiser David Quinn says all are welcome and this year Howth Yacht Club will have a special mentoring / team event where the top sailors will mentor.

The Notice of Race and Online Entry now available on the Howth Yacht Club website here.

#hyc – In a break from the high winds that have prevailed so far for Howth's 2012 Autumn league today unusually light and variable conditions in the race area north of Howth allowed the cruiser classes a short but tricky race while the lack of wind inshore for the one-design keelboats conspired against race officer Richard Kissane and his team, leaving them with no option but to abandon racing for the day.

Pat Kelly and team on the J109 'Storm' continue to dominate Class 1 in the IRC division - the competition in this class appears to be for second place, with 'Flashback' now in contention after a second place this weekend, while consolidating their position at the top of the ECHO division.

Dave Cullen's widely campaigned half-tonner 'King One' found form in Class 2 this week, by winning on IRC and placing the boat in contention for overall honours with division leader 'Maximus' and second placed 'Dux'. Maximus will discard their 5th place result today in ECHO, affording them a close lead of 3 points from next best placed 'Bushwakka'.

Team 'Toy Yot' revelled in the light winds to post a victory in Class 3 IRC, three minutes ahead of Kevin Darmody's 'Gecko', but well behind Vince Gaffney and team on 'Alliance II' in the overall standings. 'Alliance II' remain on a 'perfect score' of 3 points following this weeks discard. After today's win in Class 3 ECHO, 'Starlet' now lead 'Goyave' by 3 points at the top of that division.

A win in Class 4 IRC puts Colm Bermingham's 'Bite the Bullet' in equal first place with Philip Dilworth's Grand Soleil 40 'Orna' and sets up some close competition for the remaining two races in this 6-week long series. In the Class 4 ECHO division, 'White Lotus' and crew's win puts them within two points and closes the gap on 'Tiger'.

Stephanie Ennis and Windsor Laudan's 'Demelza' was beaten by Harry Byrne's Sunrise 34 'Alphida' in the Class 5 IRC division while 'Jokers Wild' win in the ECHO division still leaves 'Sandpiper of Howth' in top spot with just 4 points to spare.

Average points were given to the Olympus Team Prize competitors that had their inshore race abandoned due to a lack of wind, leaving the 'Anybody but us' team of 'Orna' (Class 1), 'Valkyrie' (Etchells) and 'King One' (Class 2) ten points in front of "The Lads Again', a team that includes one of Howth's oldest boats (Aura - an 1898 vintage Howth Seventeen) and newest arrivals (Crazy Horse - a J24 new to Howth in 2012) as well as Algie Pearson's Puppeteer 'Trick or Treat'.

#COASTGUARD - Last week saw two rapid responses by volunteers with the Howth Coast Guard in separate incidents on the peninsula.

On Saturday 22 September a walker on the Howth Head cliff path who suffered an ankle injury was evacuated for treatment.

The walker was with a friend on the path near Red Rock when the accident occurred, rendering her unable to walk. The friend called emergency services who dispatched the on-duty crew at the local coastguard station.

The team arrived quickly on scene and prepared the casualty for evacuation across farmland to the nearest location accessible by road, where they were met by paramedics.

Howth Coast Guard said that as the coastguard service's 999 centre was contacted quickly, a speedy evacuation was carried out before temperatures dropped significantly.

Later in the week, on Thursday 27 September, the Howth Coast Guard joined the Howth RNLI lifeboat and the Irish Coast Guard's Rescue 116 helicopter in responding to a Garda request for assistance with a faller on the cliffs of Howth.

The casualty was reportedly airlifted to Tallaght Hospital by helicopter. There is no word yet as to the faller's condition.

#hyc – Another afternoon of fresh winds provided 118 boats with testing racing conditions for Howth Yacht Club's second weekend of Autumn League racing. A consistent south-easterly wind afforded the race management teams the opportunity of setting long race courses for all 10 classes. Scroll down for more photos by Gareth Craig.

On the 'inshore course', the Etchells were first away and Mike Evans's 'Valkyrie' wasted no time by taking first place and leading the fleet overall after the two races of this series. After a hard-fought race, Mossy Shanahan and his crew on "Crazy Horse' finished ahead of the J24 'Hard on Port' (Flor O'Driscoll) to trail them by one point on overall standings.

Following a disappointing result in their first week on the Puppeteer 'Harlequin', Dave Clarke and Liam Egan took line honours this week but have some work to do to catch 'Gold Dust' and 'Yellow Peril' at the top of the leaderboard. 'Mayfly' leads the Handicap scoreboard by 3 points.

By keeping within one and a half minutes of race winner 'Kerfuffle', Ronan McDonnell in his Squib "Fantome' remains on top in that class in both scratch and handicap.

Peter Courtney's 'Oona' led the Howth Seventeen class all the way around the course, but Brian and Conor Turvey's 'Isobel' still leads the class after last week's win, albeit on equal points with 'Pauline'. The 'two Kevins' (O'Byrne and Finucane) in 'Eileen' took handicap honours this week.

Pat Kelly's 'Storm' was a decisive victor in both IRC and ECHO divisions of Class 1 on the offshore course and Ross McDonald's 'Equinox' will be pushing 'Crazy Horse' all the way for the next place.

While 'Maximus' with Paddy Kyne and crew continue to dominate Class 2 with victories again in both IRC and ECHO divisions, Vince Gaffney's 'Alliance II' looks like the boat that all Class 3 IRC competitors will be seeking to beat - 'Starlet and 'Goyave' share top spot on ECHO.

In White Sails Class 4, 'Tiger' and 'Orna' will continue to share the spoils - 'Orna' won the IRC race and 'Tiger' took the prize for ECHO. In Class 5, Harry Byrne's 'Alphida' won the IRC race while Andy Knowles's 'Sandpiper' was uncatchable in the ECHO division race, winning by a margin of over 4 minutes.

In a division that will demand consistent results throughout the series, team prize leaders 'Orna', 'Valkyrie' and 'King One' lead by 36 points.