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Displaying items by tag: Ards Peninsula

#Seabin - Ards and North Down Borough Council wants to bring in the Seabin to help clean up the coastline of the Ards Peninsula, as the Belfast Telegraph reports.

The council plans to purchase 10 of the devices — which capture floating debris in harbours and marinas — in what’s being touted as a first for Northern Ireland.

Earlier this year, Dun Laoghaire Harbour in Dublin saw the installation of its first Seabin thanks to the campaigning efforts of local girl Flossie Donnelly.

It’s hoped that the move by Ards councillors will see further take up around the Northern Irish coast.

The Belfast Telegraph has more on the story HERE.

Published in Coastal Notes

#MARINE WILDLIFE - The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) has confirmed a new humpback whale sighting, this time in Northern Ireland.

According to the IWDG, this is the third consecutive year that a humpback whale has been spotted in Northern Irish waters, with this sighting being only the fourth ever validated record for the species in the North.

IWDG sightings co-ordinator Pádraig Whooley described it as "an important development [that] highlights a trend towards increased sightings of this large baleen whale species in Irish waters."

He also remarked on the "unusual" location of the sighting in the fast-running waters of the Strangford Narrows at the Ards Peninsula.

The discovery comes just a week after confirmed sighting of two humpback whales at the opposite end of the island of Ireland, off Galley Head in West Cork, as previously reported on Afloat.ie.

Published in Marine Wildlife
#WATERFRONT PROPERTY - A 14-bedroom hotel overlooking Strangford Lough has been purchased by the owners of the five-star Merchant Hotel in Belfast.
Caterer and Hotelkeeper reports that the Portaferry Hotel will undergo a £100,000 (€116,700) refurbishment under its new ownership by the Beannchor Group, which is expected to help create 10 new jobs.
Bill Wolsey of the Beannchor Group said he was excited about the prospects for the "iconic" 18-century landmark.
"The restaurant has one of the finest food offerings in the area and I am confident it will be quickly established as a firm favourite with food lovers in the Ards Peninsula and further afield," he said.

#WATERFRONT PROPERTY - A 14-bedroom hotel overlooking Strangford Lough has been purchased by the owners of the five-star Merchant Hotel in Belfast.

Caterer and Hotelkeeper reports that the Portaferry Hotel will undergo a £100,000 (€116,700) refurbishment under its new ownership by the Beannchor Group, which is expected to help create 10 new jobs.

Bill Wolsey of the Beannchor Group said he was excited about the prospects for the "iconic" 18-century landmark. 

"The restaurant has one of the finest food offerings in the area and I am confident it will be quickly established as a firm favourite with food lovers in the Ards Peninsula and further afield," he said.

Published in Waterfront Property

Irish Sailing Classes and Association – There’s no shortage of one-design classes from which to choose and each gives its enthusiasts great competition, fun and camaraderie, writes Graham Smith in this review of the classes. 

One-design racing is where it all starts. It is, after all, where all the top sailors earned their stripes, battling away for line honours without a thought for a handicapper’s calculator wiping away a hard-fought victory!

Indeed, you could count on less than one hand the number of top Irish sailors who didn’t cut their teeth in a one-design dinghy! Just think of Cudmore, Barrington, Watson, Wilkins, Hennessy and Dix to name a few and you realise that they honed their skills in everything from Enterprises to Lasers and a lot in between.

At present count, there are a little over 30 one-design classes in Ireland, split almost evenly between dinghies and keelboats, a statistic which might raise a few eyebrows. They range from the long-established Mermaids, IDRA14s and Dragons to the newer additions like Fevas, Topaz and RS Elite. They all fill a particular need and give their owners and crews considerable enjoyment.

Many have attracted their World or European Championships to Irish waters over the years and while 2009 is notable for a lack of such events here, the following year will see the Etchells Worlds at Howth and perhaps a few other international regattas too.

In addition to the review, we asked each class to complete a questionnaire giving details of their fleet numbers, whether they were on a growth pattern or holding their own, so we could highlight those ‘on the up’ and those remaining static in terms of numbers. The older traditional designs, as you might imagine, fall into the latter category, although that’s not a negative!

CLASS REVIEW  The State of the Classes – League Table (as at February 2009)

S = Static; U = Up/growing

275     Optimist   U

200+   Laser   S

189     Mermaid   S

160     Flying Fifteen   S

130     RS Feva   U

115     Shannon One Design    U

100+   Mirror   S

100+   Topper   U

99       Topaz   U

94       Laser SB3   U

87       GP14   U

85       Squib   S

70       Fireball   S

70       Ruffian   S

60       J24   S

60       Shipman   S

52       Dragon   S

50       RS400/200   S

50       420    U

43       Multihulls    U

42       Dragon    S

40       Water Wags    U

40       Wayfarer    S

34       IDRA14    U

33       Puppeteer    U

28       Etchells    S

27       E-Boat    U

26       Glen    S

25       Enterprise    S

18       Sigma 33    S

18       Howth 17    U

13       RS Elite    U