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Displaying items by tag: Alastair Campbell

Tony Blair’s former spin doctor has bestowed an unusual honour upon the Port of Kinsale’s special Christmas tree.

Earlier this week, Alastair Campbell named the lobster pot creation by local fisherman Eamonn O’Neill has his ‘Unusual Tree of the Day’ on social media.

According to the Southern Star, O’Neill first installed the tree — comprising 170 lobster pots stacked 15ft high next to the harbour master’s office — a year ago, with the help of the local maritime community, to support Kinsale RNLI.

At the time, O’Neill said he was inspired by similar structures he’d seen while fishing along the west of Scotland.

This time around, as the Kinsale Advertiser reports, the lobster pot tree was dedicated to raising funds for The Well Project, which unites three local charities related to mental health and wellbeing.

And there may still be time for those in the area to make a donation and guess the number of pots in the tree for some fantastic prizes.

Campbell currently co-hosts the podcast The Rest is Politics with former Conservative MP Rory Stewart.

Published in Kinsale

RC35 Class

The concept of the RC35 Class is to bring together similar boats within a close handicap banding and to work with owners and crews to develop the best racing experience possible on the Clyde and the Irish Sea area. The Class is within a tight rating band (IRC 1.015-1.040) yacht racing will be in Scotland, Ireland and Wales.

Q: What is the RC35 ‘Rule’?
A: Qualifying yachts for the RC35 Class will sit within an IRC Banding of 1.015 to 1.040. In 2017 it is proposed that a tolerance of +/- 0.05pts will be permitted

Q: Are there any other criteria?
A: RC35 takes the most prevalent IRC racing boats on the Clyde and groups them within a fixed rating band. Qualifying boats will have an LOA 32ft—38ft and displacement of between 3,000kg—9,000kg. The rule also requires boats conform to ISAF Cat.4 be anti-fouled and not dry sailed. A limit of sail purchases (2 per year) also applies.

Q: What is the RC35 Championship?
A: The RC35 Championship will cover 8 events (6 to count) and include events such as Scottish Series, Dun Laoghaire/Bangor and an RC35 Championship weekend. Each year the Class will make a commitment to one ‘away’ regatta as part of the Championship.