Professional Association of Diving Instructors – PADI

PADI is the world’s leading scuba diving training organisation.

With more than forty years experience and 5,300 dive shops and resorts worldwide, PADI training materials and services let you experience scuba diving from nearly anywhere.

Scuba diving with PADI Instructors, Dive Centers and Resorts can help transform your life through education, experience, equipment and environmental conservation.

The PADI Story – Two Friends, a Bottle of Scotch and an Idea

It’s hard to believe that the world’s largest scuba diving training organisation was dreamt up by two friends in Illinois over a bottle of Johnny Walker in 1966.

PADI Co-Founders, John Cronin, a scuba equipment salesman for US Divers, and Ralph Ericson, an educator and swimming instructor, were concerned about the scuba diving industry. They felt that the current scuba certification agencies were unprofessional, didn’t use state of the art instruction and made it unnecessarily difficult for people to enter the sport. John and Ralph knew there had to be a safer, easy way for people to learn to breathe underwater.

In 1966, John brought a bottle of Johnnie Walker Black Label and thirty dollars to Ralph’s Illinois apartment in Morton Grove. They decided it was time to start a scuba training organization. John insisted that the word ‘professional’ be in the name of the company. Ralph wanted an ‘association of diving instructors.’ After a few drinks, the acronym PADI was born.

The goal: Give more people a chance to enjoy the underwater world by offering relevant, instructionally-valid scuba diving training to create confident scuba divers who dive regularly.

In the early years, PADI grew slowly. By the late 1960s, PADI had 400 members and it was still a struggling entity. John Cronin had been promoted to Sales Manager at US Divers and had moved the family to Huntington Beach, California.

Cronin went to a huge National Sporting Goods Association show in New York City. While he was there, he met with Paul Tzimoulis, who later became the editor of Skin Diver Magazine. Paul suggested that PADI put the diver’s picture on the certification card. That was a strategic move that helped PADI’s eventual global recognition.

Cronin and Erikson hired Nick Icorn from US Divers’ engineering team, who worked with Erickson to develop a modular training program for the PADI Open Water Diver course. It started to catch on.

In the late 1970s and early 80s PADI began creating its own integrated, multi-media student and instructor educational materials for each course. This development spawned an incredible growth period for PADI and made it unique from other agencies.

By the late 1980s PADI was the leading scuba diving training organization in the world. With so many new people introduced to the activity, PADI felt a responsibility to teach divers about their interactions with the underwater environment. PADI had worked very hard over the years to keep the scuba diving industry as free from legislation as possible. Cronin knew the organization had a responsibility to protect the marine environment or risk the government doing so. John Cronin said: "We want to feel that our children, their children and generations to come will be able to enjoy the underwater world that has given us so much. There are so many significant problems facing mankind, but as divers, this is truly our cause. If scuba divers do not take an active role in preserving the aquatic realm, who will?"

Out of a true concern for the environment, the Project AWARE Foundation was formed.

PADI co-founder John Cronin passed away in 2003. His friend and PADI co-founder, Ralph Erickson, also passed away three years later. They proudly carried PADI’s torch for many years before they confidently put it in the hands of today’s generation, who continue to introduce the world to scuba diving.

PADI has issued more than millions of scuba certifications worldwide. There are more than 5,700 PADI Dive Shops and Resorts worldwide.

With close to 400 employees in PADI corporate offices around the world, PADI works hard to be the best partner to its members and is committed to:

1 Safe and responsible diver acquisition and retention
2 Quality member acquisition and retention
3 Financial prosperity
4 Worldwide alignment in message, products, systems and procedures

There is a space for Irish boating clubs and racing classes to use as their own bulletin board and forum for announcements and discussion. If you want to see a dedicated forum slot for your club or class, click here

Professional Association of Diving Instructors – PADI

Cruising under sail along the coasts of Ireland has a long and colourful history, but it was not until 1929 that the Irish Cruising Club was brought into being to act as a co-ordinating body for seagoing amateur sailors in all parts of a country which had only recently been partitioned.

Cruising clubs already existed in other parts of the world, usually founded in cities by like-minded ICC 1st Committee mtg enthusiasts at winter gatherings. But the new organisation had given itself a special flavour by arranging to bring about its establishment through a cruise-in-company by a small flotilla of five yachts on the southwest coast of Ireland. The inaugural meeting was held in Glengarriff at the head of Bantry Bay on the evening of Saturday July 13th 1929.

The leading inspiration for the establishment of the club came from Harry Donegan of Cork, supported by Billy Mooney of Dublin. Both were sailing enthusiasts of broad interests. Donegan was a founder member of the Royal Ocean Racing Club, having taken third place in the inaugural Fastnet Race with his cutter Gull in 1925, while Mooney was to be a class winner in the same event with his ketch Aideen in 1947.

Thus, offshore racing was seen by many of the early members as an integral part of their activities, and by the 1960s the ICC was organising Ireland's biennial Admiral's Cup teams. But international sailing was becoming an increasingly complex business, and it was apparent that the health of the club would be best served by concentrating solely on cruising and the services the club provided for its members and the cruising community.

By the 1970s, the club's rules were undergoing revision, and in 1992 its purpose was clarified:

The objects of the Club shall be to associate sailing yachtsmen, to encourage cruising with particular emphasis on cruising off the Irish coast, to gather and publish information useful to yachtsmen concerning tides, tidal streams, harbours, anchorages, lights, navigational aids, shore facilities and such like, and to record and/or publish logs of cruises and passages undertaken by members.

Ever since 1929, the Club's members have worked voluntarily towards the production of Sailing Directions which today cover the entire coast of Ireland in two volumes. Sailing Directions for the South & West Coasts of Ireland - which began life as the South and Southwest Coast book edited by Harry Donegan in 1930 – was published in its Eleventh Edition in 2006, while the Tenth Edition of the East & North Coast Directions – originally published as the East Coast book in 1930 under the editorship of Billy Mooney – was published in 2003.

Since 1931, the Irish Cruising Club has organised log competitions, inaugurated by its premier award, the Faulkner Cup, donated by northern member James Faulkner. The publication of a privately circulated Annual collates the members' cruising narratives, and today the Annual has become a profusely-illustrated 150-page book, published in time for Christmas.

Women members have always had equal rights in the club, and the first to win the Faulkner Cup was Elizabeth Crimmins in 1934. In 1939, the winner was Daphne French, for a remarkable cruise to the far end of the Baltic Sea in a little boat called Embla. So although the Irish Cruising Club - which has no premises of its own - is essentially based around a membership in Ireland cruising the Irish coast, its activities have always included a significant outward-looking element.

The ICC now has many challenge trophies, and each year's award-winning cruises include major international and transoceanic ventures, including voyages into high latitudes. However, the club continues to be an amateur organisation without any professional administration, and in order to make this possible, membership is limited to 550, with applications being accepted each November for consideration at the Club's committee meeting in January.

This article was kindly contributed by ICC member, WM Nixon, and provided courtesy of the Irish Cruising Club

Irish Cruising Club, Email: [email protected] 

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The Cruising Association of Ireland was set up with the aim of working with the Irish Sailing Association and the Royal Yachting Association [Northern Ireland], for the promotion and encouragement of cruising and of social union among its members. Click here for all the latest Cruising News.

The association was set up as a virtual association using internet based technology. This is a faster and more cost effective medium to use for communication, and internet users are unashamedly the main target for CAI membership.

The association has been established now for a number of years. In 2010 we are working towards a re-launch of this website at the end of the first quarter, and a new effort is being made in 2010 to establish cruising connections with the Yacht Clubs and Marina’s with a view to encouraging cruising Sailors to get out on the water.

 Development Areas

The Cruising Association of Ireland will focus on the development of the following areas in the coming year:

• Sharing of Information on cruising : Articles on Cruising topics, ports and destinations around the coast.
• Social Interaction among members : Promotion of Yacht Club talks of interest to Cruising Sailors, encouraging members to get out and cruise regularly in company.
• Events on and off the water : While the CAI does not “run” events directly, we will work with Yacht Clubs and Marina’s to encourage events of interest to Cruising Sailors. Click here for details of upcoming CAI Events.
• Representation: We will endeavour to work with statutory and non statutory authorities in resolving issues that affect cruiser sailors.

Cruising Association of Ireland, 22 St. Nessans Terrace, Dublin. Tel: +353 (0) 87 258 214, email: [email protected] 

There is a space for Irish boating clubs and racing classes to use as their own bulletin board and forum for announcements and discussion. If you want to see a dedicated forum slot for your club or class, click here

A Powerboat Racing Club based in Killaloe, Co. Clare, home of the famous Féile Brian Ború. We have members from all over Ireland and we are looking forward to an exciting season in 2009; with a full calendar of National Racing. It takes a team to make it all happen and we would love to hear from anyone interested in joining Midwest Powerboat Club.

Midwest Powerboat Club is dedicated to the development of Powerboat Racing in Ireland. Last year we ran Irelands first ISA sanctioned Closed Cell Immersion Test and first F'2 F'4 and P750 Powerboat Event. Both were held in Killaloe, Co. Clare We are planning to host two more National Powerboat Races this year and to have the Immersion Test at the first of these events.

Act now and become part of this exciting sport. Drop us a line at [email protected] and let us know how you would like to participate.

(Details and image courtesy of the Midwest Powerboat Club) 

Midwest Powerboat Club, c/o Brian Brosnan, Maglass, Ballymacelligott, Tralee, Co Kerry. Tel: 086 82 55 782, email: [email protected] (website inactive as at 7/10/09)

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The RYA is the national body in the UK for all forms of boating, including dinghy and yacht racing, motor and sail cruising, ribs and sports boats, powerboat racing, windsurfing, inland cruising and narrowboats, and personal watercraft.

What we do:

Lobbying – Protecting the interest of boaters
Expert Advice – For RYA members and affiliated clubs – expert advice at your fingertips.
Racing – From sail racing to powerboat racing
Disabled Sailing – Sailing; when able-bodied and disabled sailors can participate on equal terms.
Supporting Clubs – Clubs are the bedrock of sailing, powerboating and inland boating in the UK.
Professional Qualifications – Go global with RYA qualifications.
RYA Training Courses – RYA training courses and books - the best in the world.
Britain’s Champions – Nurturing and supporting Britain's sailing talent.
Growing the Sport – Getting people involved.
Safety – Helping to keep you safe on the water
RYA Publications – One of the great things about being on the water is that you never stop learning.
RYA Voucher Schemd – Ideal gift for friends and family.

Royal Yachting Association (RYA), RYA House, Ensign Way, Hamble, Hants SO31 4YA, UK. Tel: +44 (0) 2380 604 100

Shipping News & Views from the Irish and Celtic Seas since 1995.

Topics covered on the site:
Marine Radio
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Irish Sea Shipping

The aim of the Irish Ships and Shipping site is to record ships and shipping of Irish interest with photos, details and stories from all interested parties. Of particular interest would be any photos or stories of Irish Shipping Ltd., its ships, and the men who worked them

Enjoy the very best in Sea Angling Charters.

North West Charter Skippers Association  

Join Sailing Club.ie – Ireland's Growing Virtual Sailing Club 

SailingClub.ie

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Glenans Irish Sailing Club is a non-profit sailing school affiliated to, but now independent of the larger French Les Glénans sailing school. They offer courses in cruisers, catamarans, dinghies and windsurfing. The sailing bases are on Collanmore Island in Clew Bay, and at a converted railway station in Baltimore, Co. Cork.

As a non-profit organisation, Glenans members have a great commitment to sailing. Properly known as Glenans Irish Sailing Club (GISC), it was founded in 1969 when the first base in Baltimore was opened. The club operates largely using volunteer instructors, backed by a small professional staff on the bases and in the Baltimore office.

The club provides instructor courses approved by the Irish Sailing Association (ISA). Sailing courses are available from May to October, with some weekend courses outside the main period. Course participants automatically become members of the club.

GISC Office – The Station House, Baltimore, Co. Cork. Tel: +353 (0) 28 20630. fax: +353 (0) 28 20312, email: [email protected]

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