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Displaying items by tag: Derek Evans

16th September 2011

New Angling Resort Makes a Splash

The Irish Times' Derek Evans has good things to say about the new Southern County Fishing Resort in Bagenalstown, Co Carlow.
"Bowled over" by the "45 acres of beautifully landscaped surrounds", Evans was particularly taken by the resort's three lakes, "all stocked with high quality rainbow trout grown from the hatchery on site".
Big catches are plentiful for anglers of all ages and levels of experience. Novices are particularly welcome as bait and rod hire are available.
Speaking at the launch, Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan said: "This type of development is what we need in rural areas to develop a natural product, to love nature and to understand the value of our water resource."
The Irish Times has more on the story HERE.

The Irish Times' angling correspondent Derek Evans has good things to say about the new Southern County Fishing Resort in Bagenalstown, Co Carlow.

"Bowled over" by the "45 acres of beautifully landscaped surrounds", Evans was particularly taken by the resort's three lakes, "all stocked with high quality rainbow trout grown from the hatchery on site".

Big catches are plentiful for anglers of all ages and levels of experience. Novices are particularly welcome as bait and rod hire are available.

Speaking at the launch, Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan said: "This type of development is what we need in rural areas to develop a natural product, to love nature and to understand the value of our water resource."

The Irish Times has more on the story HERE.

Published in Angling
Page 2 of 2

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