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Displaying items by tag: October

Getting ready for winter will surely be a breeze thanks to great deals in CH Marine’s monthly specials for October.

After liftout, towing away has never been easier than with the Optiparts launching trolley, now only €189.95.

This lightweight aluminium trolley comes with hull supports and a unique system to lock the bow in a simple movement.

Prevent condensation and damp ruining your boat and sails over those colder months out of the water with Meaco’s popular 10-litre compressor dehumidifier. Usually €179.95, it’s now available for only €161.95.

Keeping your things dry is also the key function of the Zhik drybag, with 25 litres of space and available in black or ash — now down from €38.95 to €24.95, more than a third off the RRP.

Those looking to carry on through the winter will want to be well equipped for the elements.

The Baltic Flipper buoyancy aid (now only €89.95) is stylish, comfortable and reversible, and will keep you afloat while being easy to swim in.

Pair it with Optiparts Windesign Neoprene boots, designed for dinghy sailing and available in various sizes for adults (€39.95) and juniors (€31.95) alike.

This month CH Marine also has a super deal on an ex-charter Laser 4.7 or Radial boat package — save over €500 on a Youth Worlds ex-charter Laser in ice blue with only seven days’ use.

And don’t forget CH Marine’s other October offers on the latest tech to keep track of your wheres and whens on deck.

CHMarine.com ships worldwide with free delivery to addresses in Ireland and Northern Ireland for orders over €50.

Published in CH Marine Chandlery
Tagged under

Get the latest tech to keep track of your wheres and whens on deck in CH Marine’s specials for October.

Gill Marine’s Regatta Race Timer — now only €69.95 — features a large face with a clear dot matrix display, a 50-lap memory and countdown timer.

Water resistant up to 50 metres, it works as well on the mast or bulkhead as well as on your wrist. Available in yellow, black or red.

You can also save €15 on Plastimo’s essential Iris 50 Hand Bearing Compass with night illumination — RRP €79.95, now only €64.95.

This highly dependable companion of yachtsmen, regatta addicts and top-notch racers worldwide is waterproof, shockproof and compact, and available in yellow or blue.

CHMarine.com ships worldwide with free delivery to addresses in Ireland and Northern Ireland for orders over €50.

Click HERE to find the full selection of CH Marine’s October special offers available while stocks last.

Published in CH Marine Chandlery
Tagged under

#Rower of the Month: The Afloat Rower of the Month for October is Paul O’Donovan. The UCD lightweight was quite outstanding at the Ireland trial. He was by far the fastest single sculler, setting a time of seven minutes 21.24 seconds in the heat and 7:22.63 in the final. Paul O’Donovan, in combination with his brother Gary O’Donovan, has been rightly feted for qualifying the Ireland lightweight double for the Olympic Games, and he has continued to set an exemplary standard.

Rower of the Month awards: The judging panel is made up of Liam Gorman, rowing correspondent of The Irish Times and David O'Brien, Editor of Afloat magazine. Monthly awards for achievements during the year will appear on afloat.ie and the overall national award will be presented to the person or crew who, in the judges' opinion, achieved the most notable results in, or made the most significant contribution to rowing during 2015. Keep a monthly eye on progress and watch our 2015 champions list grow.

Published in Rowing
12th September 2011

Look Out for Autumn Afloat!

Look out for Afloat's Autumn 2011 issue published in the first week of October. The full colour issue includes the latest Irish sailing and boating news including exclusve reports on diving on the Lusitania, How the Rambler 100 crew were saved, Winterising Your Boat, Round Ireland in a Kayak, the build up to Dun Laoghaire's Youth Sailing Worlds, boat reports, all our regular columns including inland news, Tom MacSweeney's column, WM Nixon's Soundings, the latest Irish boats for sale listings and lots, lots more.
Published in Racing

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