Bob Bateman was afloat today to capture the latest Spring sailing off Kinsale Yacht Club, a month long sailing series that has been sailed in sunshine so far each Sunday and today's Bank holiday Monday race was no different. Scroll down for photos, there are some nice shots of John Twomey's Sonar, Shillelagh.

Today's racing was sailed in a north east 8 knot breeze. An ebb tide flowing out of Kinsale harbour gave a good beat on the windward/leeward course, leaders tacking up the western shore.

The first round the weather mark was Anchor sailed by Ian Travers with sailmaker Nigel Young on board.

Winds dropped during the day but filled in again from the South East.

Classes 0, 1, 2 were on a round the cans course taking the Bullman buoy as weather mark before going on a two sail reach to Sovereigns Islands and  a run out to SE mark.

Racing co ntinued all day and a weary class 2 only returned to the harbour after 5pm.

Racing concludes next saturday followed by a prize giving Dinner.

 

Two training-ships based on the east coast of the United States are to make calls at Cobh in mid-summer, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The call is part of a 55-day training cruise that will include ports in the Mediterranean and also US domestic ports. The itinerary includes Norfolk, Vaginia (6-9 May), Valetta, Malta (25-28 May), Civitavecchia, Italy (31 May-3 June ) Cobh (12-16 June) and to Portland, Maine 25-26 June.

Students, officers and crew will be onboard the 16,000 tonnes State of Maine which is a 500-foot long former oceanographic vessel that served in the US Navy as the USNS Tanner. In 1997 she was converted to accommodate the training needs of the college.

The Maine Maritime Academy was founded in 1941 and enrolls more than 900 students from 35 states and from several foreign countries. Students in the college are awarded A.S., B.S., and M.S. degrees in 15 fields of study.

State of Maine is scheduled to berth at the Port of Cork's deepwater quay at the Cobh Cruise Terminal which is expected to welcome over 50 cruiseships and 100,000 visitors this season. The vessel's departure will be followed by the arrival of the second training-ship the 17,000 tonnes Empire State on 22 June which is to make a shorter two-day stopover.

Since 1989 she has been operated by State University of the New York Maritime College which annually takes cadets across the world onboard the 565-foot vessel to learn the skills in running the ship and the maritime industry.

The former cargoship was built for the States Steamship Company in 1961 as the Oregan at Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, in Newport News, Virginia. Despite conversion for her current role she retains most of her original features and she presents a distinctive profile with the superstructure positioned amidships between the cargo-holds.

This year a total of 54 cruiseships and over 100,000 passengers are to disembark in Cork Harbour, mostly at the Cobh Cruise Terminal, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The inaugural call for this season was made last Monday by Cunard Line's Queen Victoria (90,049grt) and the four year-old vessel is to return for another visit on 5 May. Her slighty larger sister Queen Elizabeth (90,400grt) will make her maiden 'Irish' port of call on 10 September.

Last Autumn the 2,092 passenger cruiseship newbuild was 'floated-out' of the building dry-dock at Fincantieri's Monfalcone shipyard in Italy. At 294m long her hull is derived from the 'Vista' class series built for Carnival Corporation, owners of the Cunard Line.

Four days later the Cunard 'flagship' Queen Mary 2 (QM2) will also make an appearance. The 148,528grt French built vessel is the only designated cruise-liner in the world, the title was handed on from her predecessor, Queen Elizabeth II (QE2).

Throughout the career of the iconic liner, she made several calls to Cork (Ringaskiddy) while employed on the Atlantic 'liner' service between Southampton and New York.

On her farewell cruise QE2 made her first and only call to Cobh in 2008, the 70,327grt ship was meant to stay for a standard day-long visit but due to strong windy weather conditions in Cherbourg, she was prevented from docking and spent an un-scheduled overnight stay in the picturesque location.

The scheduling of all three 'Cunarders' to Cobh will be a first for the Port of Cork. Asides the Italian-built trio, there will be plenty more cruise callers lined up for the season, notably the Independence of the Seas, the largest cruiseship caller to an Irish port.

The Finnish built giant weighs 154,407 grt (some 6,000 tonnes larger than the liner QM2) and can carry 4,375 passengers.

Another large visitor will be the Azura at 115,055grt which can handle 3,100 passengers. She is the built to a design based from the 'Grand' class ships commissioned for Carnival Corporation's which also owns Princess Cruises.

The value of the cruiseship sector business to the island of Ireland this year is valued at €60m. The list below is a schedule of cruiseship calls to Cork Harbour (Cobh, Ringaskiddy and Cork city-centre quays).

Please note information is based in the order of ship's name first, passenger capacity (PAX), arrival date (time), location of berth and lastly departure date (time). For the most up-to-date information please refer to the Port of Cork Company website cruise call list.

ATHENA 580 Apr 27th at 08:00 Cobh Cruise Terminal

CELEBRITY ECLIPSE 3129 Apr 30th at 14:00 Cobh Cruise Terminal
May 1st at 16:00

INDEPENDENCE OF THE SEAS 4375 May 1st at 17:00 Cobh Cruise Terminal
May 2nd at 18:00

CELEBRITY ECLIPSE 3129 May 4th at 14:00 Cobh Cruise Terminal

DISCOVERY 689 May 4th at 07:00 Ringaskiddy DWB May 4th at 22:00

QUEEN VICTORIA 2000 May 5th at 20:02 Cobh Cruise Terminal
May 25th at 18:00

EMERALD PRINCESS 3592 May 6th at 08:00 Cobh Cruise Terminal
May 6th at 19:00

LE BOREAL 260 May 9th at 07:00 Cobh Cruise Terminal May 9th at 17:00

GRAND PRINCESS 3300 May 15th at 06:00 Cobh Cruise Terminal
May 15th at 17:00

COSTA DELIZIOSA 2826 May 17th at 07:00 Cobh Cruise Terminal
May 17th at 19:00

CROWN PRINCESS 3114 May 24th at 07:00 Cobh Cruise Terminal
May 24th at 17:00

ROTTERDAM 1668 May 26th at 07:00 Cobh Cruise Terminal
May 26th at 17:00

SILVER WHISPER 1668 May 28th at 09:00 Cobh Cruise Terminal
May 28th at 23:00

LE DIAMANT 200 Jun 22nd at 06:00 Cobh Cruise Terminal
Jun 22nd at 19:00

ASTOR 656 Jun 27th at 06:00 Ringaskiddy DWB

SILVER CLOUD 296 Jun 27th at 07:00 Cobh Cruise Terminal
Jun 27th at 19:00

MINERVA 352 Jul 1st at 07:00 Cobh Cruise Terminal

LE DIAMANT 200 Jul 7th at 06:00 North Custom House Quay
Jul 7th at 23:30

AURORA 1950 Jul 7th at 11:30 Cobh Cruise Terminal
Jul 7th at 23:00

ATHENA 580 Jul 15th at 08:00 Cobh Cruise Terminal
Jul 15th at 17:00

SILVER CLOUD 296 Jul 18th at 07:00 Cobh Cruise Terminal
Jul 18th at 19:00

SPIRIT OF ADVENTURE 470 Jul 19th at 06:00 North Custom House Quay
Jul 19th at 18:00

ROTTERDAM 1668 Jul 19th at 07:00 Cobh Cruise Terminal
Jul 19th at 17:00

AZURA 3100 Jul 19th at 08:00 Ringaskiddy DWB
Jul 19th at 18:00

DAWN PRINCESS 2342 Jul 24th at 06:00 Cobh Cruise Terminal
Jul 24th at 17:00

CROWN PRINCESS 3114 Jul 26th at 07:00 Cobh Cruise Terminal
Jul 26th at 17:00

MARINA- Jul 27th at 07:00 Cobh Cruise Terminal
Jul 27th at 18:00

AIDABLU 2580 Aug 11th at 07:00 Cobh Cruise Terminal
Aug 11th at 18:00

MAASDAM 1613 Aug 13th at 06:00 Cobh Cruise Terminal
Aug 13th at 15:00

SEVEN SEAS VOYAGER 730 Aug 17th at 07:00 Cobh Cruise Terminal
Aug 17th at 15:00

CROWN PRINCESS 3114 Aug 18th at 07:00 Cobh Cruise Terminal
Aug 18th at 17:00

LE DIAMANT 200 Aug 19th at 06:00 Cobh Cruise Terminal
Aug 19th at 23:30

CLIPPER ODYSSEY 128 Aug 19th at 07:00 Cobh Cruise Terminal
Aug 19th at 21:00

ATHENA 580 Aug 22nd at 07:30 Cobh Cruise Terminal
Aug 22nd at 17:00

AIDABLU 2580 Aug 25th at 07:00 Cobh Cruise Terminal
Aug 25th at 18:00

LE DIAMANT 200 Aug 26th at 06:00 Cobh Cruise Terminal
Aug 26th at 23:00

ARCADIA 2388 Aug 29th at 07:00 Cobh Cruise Terminal
Aug 29th at 17:00

AZAMARA JOURNEY 702 Aug 31st at 08:00 Cobh Cruise Terminal

COSTA DELIZIOSA 2826 Sep 1st at 07:00 Cobh Cruise Terminal
Sep 1st at 18:00

LE DIAMANT 200 Sep 3rd at 07:00 North Custom House Quay
Sep 3rd at 17:00

PRINSENDAM 843 Sep 3rd at 09:00 Cobh Cruise Terminal
Sep 3rd at 18:00

DISCOVERY 689 Sep 4th at 08:00 Cobh Cruise Terminal
Sep 4th at 18:00

SILVER CLOUD 296 Sep 5th at 07:00 Cobh Cruise Terminal
Sep 5th at 18:00

JEWEL OF THE SEAS 2500 Sep 6th at 08:00 Cobh Cruise Terminal
Sep 6th at 16:00

SILVER WHISPER 388 Sep 10th at 06:00 Cobh Cruise Terminal
Sep 10th at 18:00

QUEEN ELIZABETH 2092 Sep 10th at 08:00 Ringaskiddy DWB
Sep 10th at 17:00

OCEAN COUNTESS 884 Sep 14th at 06:30 Ringaskiddy DWB
Sep 14th at 16:30

QUEEN MARY 2 2592 Sep 14th at 08:00 Cobh Cruise Terminal
Sep 14th at 17:00

OCEAN COUNTESS 884 Sep 16th at 07:30 Cobh Cruise Terminal

FRAM 500 Sep 28th at 07:00 Cobh Cruise Terminal
Sep 28th at 18:00

SAGA RUBY 668 Dec 15th at 07:00 Cobh Cruise Terminal
Dec 15th at 23:00

The winners of the 2011 Port of Cork Schools Initiative have been announced.

St John the Baptist National School in Midleton took the prize for best project in this year's contest, with the theme of ‘Making Cork Harbour a Green Energy Hub for our Future’.

Fifth classes from more than 60 primary schools in the Cork area got creative for the project, some even producing whole scale models of Cork Harbour.

Chairman of the Port of Cork, Dermot O’Mahoney, said: "We are delighted with the efforts put in by the participating schools. This is a great way of educating school children on the different forms of energy within Cork harbour while also highlighting the role of the Port of Cork."

Every participating class will be invited for a visit to Customs House in Cork city with a boat trip around the harbour before the end of the summer term. As top prize winners, pupils from St John the Baptist will get to visit one of the many luxury cruise liners that call at the port.

All projects are currently on display in the reception of Customs House.

"It's time to shake the dust off the wet suits, lifejackets and get the boats ready as the Optimist season begins."

That is the message from Monkstown Bay Sailing Club in Cork Harbour where the season for this dinghy, specially-built for the youngest sailors, begins this Sunday with training sessions that will run until the middle of June. The club introduced the Optimist to its ranks only in the past few years, encouraging more families to take an interest in sailing.

The Optimist is a small, single-handed sailing dinghy intended for use by children up to the age of 15. Nowadays boats are usually made of fibreglass, though those of earlier vintage were of wood, some of which are still sailed. It is one of the most popular sailing dinghies in the world. Over 130,000 boats are registered with the class. Many more were built but not registered. The class is recognised by the International Sailing Federation.

The boat was designed from an American soap-box derby 'car'!

Clark Mills, a boat builder and designer from Clearwater in Florida was the man who drew up the design in 1947, responding to a request from a local businessmen's association known as the 'Optimists.' They wanted a marine equivalent of the "soap-box" for children to sail and Clark dubbed it the "pram" dinghy.

"I think I'm the best designer in the United States," he said. "I'm damn good. I've got the splinters and the backache to prove it. I don't mind taking the blame for designing the pram, but I was just one of many, many people who got it rolling."

Twenty-six boats were built in the first year, mostly by Clark himself and, before building started in Europe in 1954, there were almost 1,500 Optimists in the USA.

His philosophy about a boat was: "It's just a gleaming beautiful creation.
When you pull the sail up on a boat, you've got a little bit of really something God-given. There's nothing else like it."

The MBSC optimist open sessions will run for nine weeks from this Sunday until June 19, excluding Easter Sunday. They are open to children between the ages of 7 and 13 years, are "fun focused" and have proven to be a gentle way for children to get involved in sailing.

Optimist league racing is underway on Saturdays at the RCYC in Crosshaven where Stephen O'Shaughnessy is Class Captain. There is strong parental involvement needed and encouraged in the sailing of Optimists. At Crosshaven during this league the less-experienced children who are learning to race are allowed to be coached and encouraged while racing by those parents who are manning the safety boats.

Oppy sailors competing off Kinsale. More Oppy trials photos from Bob Bateman

"The key objective is to show support where feasible without directly interfering with any race," according to the club. "The success or otherwise of this will be reviewed each month."

At the higher level of "oppi" sailing as it is colloquially known, training sessions for the national Optimist team began in Kinsale last weekend where fifty of the leading youngsters in the class competed for team places. Eight races were sailed over three days in mainly light airs with conditions described as "challenging and tricky." The next sessions will be held on the May holiday weekend at the Royal St.George club in Dun Laoghaire.

More youth sailing news

This article is reprinted by permission of the EVENING ECHO newspaper, Cork, where Tom MacSweeney writes maritime columns twice weekly. Evening Echo website: www.eecho.ie

The Port of Cork Company has announced St John the Baptist National School in Midleton as the overall winners of the 2011 Port of Cork Schools Initiative. The huge effort made by the 5th classes’ paid off when they were presented with overall best project by the Chairman of the Port of Cork, Mr. Dermot O’ Mahoney, in the boardroom at Customs House.

Over 60 schools in and around Cork were invited to take part in the Port of Cork Schools Initiative which was themed ‘Making Cork Harbour a Green Energy Hub for our Future’. All submitted projects are on public display in the reception area of Customs House.

This year’s judges; Mr. Hugh Bruton Brittany Ferries, Ms Val Cummins MERC, Mr. John Neville Port of Cork and Mr. Brian Lougheed Evening Echo all praised the huge effort and creativity made by the participating primary schools. Projects submitted were both informative and visually very creative, with some schools choosing to build a model of the entire Cork Harbour.

Ms. Val Cummins of MERC“, Maritime and Energy Research Centre and Commercial Cluster, said: “The projects submitted were inspiring. There are a lot of creative children out there who are passionate and well informed about the different forms of energy which could be harnessed within Cork Harbour. They should all be commended for their efforts.”

Commenting on the school projects, the Chairman of the Port of Cork, Mr. Dermot O’Mahoney said; ‘Congratulations to St. John the Baptist National School in Midleton for their excellent submission, it is clear every 5th class pupil went to a lot of effort researching, creating and building their project. All the projects were of a very high standard and we acknowledge and appreciate the time and commitment by the teachers. We are delighted with the efforts put in by the participating schools. This is a great way of educating school children on the different forms of energy within Cork harbour while also highlighting the role of the Port of Cork. ’

All participating classes will be invited for an informative visit to Customs House followed by a boat trip around Cork Harbour in May/June 2011.

The overall best project winners, St. John the Baptist, Midleton will get to go onboard one of the many luxurious cruise liners which call to Cork for a tour of the ship and to meet the captain.

This is the sixth year of the Port of Cork Company’s successful Primary Schools initiative.

Prizes were also awarded to the following classes;

Best Photograph – 5th Class, Templebreedy, Crosshaven
Best Artwork Piece – 5th Class, Glasheen Boys National School, Glasheen

The Port of Cork has won first place for 'Best Destination Experience (Organised)' in the world and 2nd place for 'Best Port Welcome' after attending the largest annual cruise conference 'Cruise Shipping Miami' where the 15th Annual "Dream World Cruise Destinations" 2010 Awards were announced. This achievement highlights the outstanding team effort and commitment by the Port of Cork to deliver an excellent service to the visiting cruise lines and their passengers when in Cork. Ireland Inc received a Commendation as a "Destination where the Quality and Professionalism of Tour Guides is considered outstanding".

Port of Cork CEO Brendan Keating (left) and Chairman Dermot O'Mahoney with the awards

Since the early 1990's the Port of Cork has been welcoming cruise liners to Cork Harbour and today an average of 54 cruise liners call each year bringing over 100,000 passengers and crew to the region. The Port of Cork has invested heavily in this business and has ambitious plans to grow the business to 75 calls over the next five years. Receiving these world awards shows the enormous effort by the Port of Cork to ensure new and existing cruise companies continue to call to Cork. The Port of Cork can provide excellent deep water facilities for liners in Cobh and Ringaskiddy, making it an attractive port of call for the larger liners as well as smaller liners.

The winners of 'Dream World Cruise Destinations' Annual Awards are based on surveys that are collected and analyzed from Cruise Line Executives from all of the major cruise companies. The awards, launched in 1993, announce the ports and destinations that have provided outstanding services to ships, passengers and crew. The geographical mix of large and small ports receiving awards from Dubai, Far East, the Caribbean, Mediterranean, Baltic and Americas, reflected the global nature of the business.

Speaking about the awards, Captain Michael McCarthy Commercial Manager at the Port of Cork said: "The Port of Cork is very grateful to receive these world awards. It is such an achievement not only for the Port but Cork as a region. We are fortunate to have excellent relationships with tourism providers, tour operators, Irish Rail and local tourism groups to be able to win these awards. Considerable effort goes into welcoming these liners when in Cork and we would like to share these awards with everyone who works with us on making this business work for the region. The awards will be used as a benchmark to drive growth in the cruise business, review product delivery and continue to review the berthing of small, medium and mega vessels."

He continued: "We are committed to growing the cruise liner business in Cork and winning these awards gives us the confidence to make this happen. The cruise liner business is worth an average of €8 million per annum directly to the Cork region and many businesses in the region can benefit from these vessels. The Port of Cork aims to continually work with City, County and Local Town Councils, tour operators, tourism service providers and many other local bodies to succeed in our ambitious plans for growth."

"The poignancy of the arrival of our first cruise vessel for 2011, the MV Queen Victoria, is its berthing on the 99th anniversary of the departing of the Titanic from Cobh on the 11th April 1912. Cobh's association with the Titanic will be commemorated during 2012 and already travels writers and historic groups are visiting Cobh to make its association."

In 2011, 54 cruise ships are scheduled to call to the Port of Cork facilities including the maiden call of the brand new MV Queen Elizabeth and the largest liner to call to an Irish port, MV Independence of the Seas. Over 100,000 passengers and crew will visit the Cork region during the liner season.

Captain Pat Farnan, Sara Dymond, Brendan Keating, Dermot O'Mahoney and Captain Mick McCarthy with the second award for the Port of Cork

Glorious sailing conditions prevailed for the second day of the Kinsale Cruiser Spring Series yesterday writes Claire Bateman. Scroll down for Bob Bateman's sailing photos of yesterday's cruiser action. The only sailing factor missing was the wind! However but after a wait of two and a half hours, the breeze filled in from the south- west giving some 15 knots and enabling racing to commence. Classes 0, 1 and 2 sailed the round the cans course, Classes 3 and 4 were on the windward leeward course and the White Sail Fleet sailed in the harbour. To add to the spectacle the Optimist dinghies in large numbers were sailing further east in trials for international competition. 

Boats are sailing from all four coasts of Ireland for the ICRA National Championships planned for the Royal Cork Yacht Club from 17th to 19th June. Already the event has entries from New Zealand, England, Wales, Dublin, Waterford, Kinsale, Crosshaven, Glandore, Schull and the West Coast. ICRA Commodore Barry Rose says 'it promises to be a true National Championship with top boats attending from all regions'.

An exciting addition to the 2011 Nationals is the visit of up to 12 top boats from the UK Quarter Ton fleet. This is a class based in Cowes, consisting of 1970-1980s old IOR rule boats lovingly restored to within an inch of their lives and sailed by their owners many of whom are as vintage as their boats - la creme de la creme! They have begun to make an annual pilgrimage to southern Irish waters in recent years attracted by the quality of Cork Week and Sovereign's Cup and ICRA are delighted to welcome them to the Irish Nationals.

Unbelievably one of these old quarter tonners, the beautiful Davidson designed Black Fun, is presently on a container ship on her way from Wellington New Zealand to these shores to take to take her chances against the local opposition. Black Fun is one of the early entries to the ICRA nationals.

These visiting boats will provide stiff competition to local boats such as Neil Kennefick and Joxer O Brien's Tiger, Eamon Rohan's new Farr designed Anchor Challenge, Jimmy Nyhan's Outrigger and Ian Traver's Bandit.

ICRA has responded to this development by providing new Open Quarter Ton Trophies to cater for this fleet and its professional participation. The visitors will race in division 3 for the new trophies alongside the regular fleet sailing under standard ICRA regulations.

Division Zero is shaping up very well with entries from such leading boats as Anthony O Leary's Antix and Robert Davies Roxy V1 of Rolex Commodore's Cup winning fame as well as the beautiful Mills 36 Crazy Horse, of Nobby Reilly and Alan Chambers, the Conor Phelan's Royal Cork Ker 37 Jump and the still potent Corby 39 Gloves Off of Kieran Twomey. Division 1 will see loyal supporters like the Mills 30, Raptor and and the Corby 33 Rockabill do battle with local boats such as Jelly Baby and True Pennance.

Division 2 promises top Class competition with the former Colwell and Murphy owned national champion, the Corby 25 Kinetic, now Azure and sailing under the burgee of Kinsale YC and helmed by Brian Goggin competing with a number of sister boats including Vinny O Shea's Yanks $ Ffranks, Denis Coleman's Thunderbird, Conor Ronan's Ruthless from Sligo YC as well as many others such as Dux, Slack Alice, Zoom, Indigo, Sunburn, Xebec and Kodachi.

There is a Division 4 introduced for the first time this year with SCORA putting up the trophies.This is in response to a strong local Cork Harbour fleet in this Band.

The ICRA Corinthian Cup for Non-Spinnaker Boats comes to the South Coast also for the first time and a second Cup has been added to cater for both IRC and ECHO divisions.

This is a real opportunity for non spinnaker boats to compete in a Regatta of this calibre and a big fleet is expected.

Entry fees for boats entered by 29th April are reduced from €175 to €125 so get those entries in during April to take advantage of this incredible value. Reduced lift in and out fees and a great accomodation package are in place with Carrigaline Court Hotel.

All the latest Irish Cruiser Racing Association (ICRA) News

An Irish fishing vessel was detained for alleged breaches of the fishery regulations by the navy's OPV L.E. Niamh (P52) some 65-miles off the west Galway coast, writes Jehan Ashmore.

Less then a month ago the Naval Service detained a Northern Irish registered fishing vessel the Lynn Marie seven miles east off Bray Head. Onboard was a crew of 4 UK nationals who were taken into custody to the Gardai after the trawler was escorted by the CPV L.E. Orla to Dun Laoghaire Harbour. To read more about this detention click here.

Ironically the L.E. Orla was a former Royal Naval vessel, HMS Swift (P241) which was deployed on her first assignment to the Hong Kong Patrol Squadron for a four-year period. In 1988 Margaret Thatcher's Conservative Party Government disposed HMS Swift and HMS Swallow (P242) to the Irish Naval Service. The pair were built by Hall Russell Shipyard of Aberdeen as part of an eight 'Peacock' class coastal patrol vessel (CPV).

The 'Peacock' pair were commissioned into the Naval Service and renamed L.E. Orla (P41) and L.E. Ciara (P42) in a ceremony attended by An Taoiseach Charles J. Haughey at the Naval Base in Haulbowline, Cork Harbour.

This weeks' detention is the second conducted by the Naval Service in 2011. Last year the Naval Service carried out 1,666 vessel boardings which resulted in 70 warnings and eight detentions.