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Displaying items by tag: Forty Foot

#dublinbay – A regular swimmer at the popular bathing place in Sandycove, Co. Dublin was hospitalised after being rescued from the sea this morning.

The man had been swimming from the 40-foot shortly after 9am when he encountered difficulties in the choppy seas between the bathing place and Sandycove Harbour.

The Dun Laoghaire RNLI inshore lifeboat was paged by the Irish Coast Guard's Marine Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) Dublin at 9.37am and the three volunteer crew launched shortly afterwards.

A second swimmer had reached the casualty with a ringbuoy and was bringing the man towards the rocks when the inshore lifeboat arrived on scene. The man was carried ashore and treated for hypothermia and minor injuries by the lifeboat crew.

The second swimmer was checked by the Dun Laoghaire Coast Guard Unit and was unhurt.

A HSE ambulance was despatched to the scene and a decision was made to MEDEVAC the casualty to the Irish Coast Guard Rescue 116 helicopter due to his deteriorating condition.

Published in Forty Foot Swimming

#FortyFoot - Just a few months after the swimming club at Dublin Bay's famous Forty Foot bathing spot lifted its ban on women members, The Irish Times looks back on the day 40 years ago when Sandycove was 'invaded' by a group of campaigning women.

Renowned journalist Nell McCafferty was one of those who joined the so-called Dublin City Women's Invasion Force to highlight the sexism of their exclusion from the swimming spot made famous by James Joyce's Ulysses.

“There was loads of sexist abuse from the men in language that was acceptable at the time,” she said.

But the actions of these women was transformative for the Forty Foot, as McCafferty recalls finding an area with men, women and children swimming together when she returned the following year.

The Irish Times has more on the story HERE.

Published in Forty Foot Swimming

#FortyFoot - It's a big victory for women at the famous Forty Foot swimming spot in South Dublin as the adjacent - and formerly staunchly male-only - Sandycove Bathers' Association has decided to accept female members.

The move follows more than a year after the club's last vote on the motion to accept women members saw it rejected by 24 to 17, as previously reported on Afloat.ie.

According to The Irish Times, reform at the Sandycove club comes almost four decades after the ban on women bathing at the celebrated Dublin Bay dipping location - enshrined in the pages of James Joyce's Ulysses - was lifted in the wake of protests by the then burgeoning women's liberation movement.

It appears that a recent meeting at a local pub was all it took for the club to change its position on the matter - possibly prompted by the opening of a new council-built bathing shelter that's open to all.

The Irish Times has more on the story HERE.

Published in Forty Foot Swimming

#FORTY FOOT - The Irish Times reports that a men-only bathing club at the famous Forty Foot swimming spot in Sandycove, south Dublin, has voted against a proposal to allow women members.

While the area is open for all - and has allowed both sexes for more than 25 years - the adjacent clubhouse and changing hut are owned by the Sandycove Bathers' Association, founded in the late 19th century.

The Dublin Bay club does not grant full membership to women, though many do contribute an annual maintenance fee.

At a meeting on Thursday to discuss the proposed motion - rejected by a vote of 24 to 17 - one unnamed member described what he perceived as "an underlying tone of misogyny".

The Irish Times has more on the story HERE.

Published in Forty Foot Swimming

#DUBLIN BAY NEWS - As Dubliners enjoyed the sunshine by the seaside yesterday, things got a little too heated at the Forty Foot in Sandycove when a fracas broke out between two groups of young men at the popular bathing spot.

According to RTÉ News, bottles were broken and a number of people were injured in the row, which occurred after the two groups – from the Crumlin and East Wall areas – had been drinking for some hours.

Three were arrested by Gardaí at the scene and released this morning, while four people were treated for minor stab wounds after the incident. It is thought that some 20 people were involved in the altercation.

Published in Forty Foot Swimming

#WEATHER - Those hardy Yuletide bathers at the Forty Foot in Dublin didn't need to be so brave this year, as Ireland experienced one of the warmest Christmas Days on record.

Just one year ago Ireland was in the grip of a deep freeze. But as the Irish Independent reports, temperatures on Sunday last rose to as much as 14.4 degrees in Co Cork.

It's been almost a decade since late December temperatures reached such levels, when Christmas in 2002 saw highs of 14.6 degrees according to Met Éireann records.

Sunny spells on the east coast brought out the polar bear plungers to Sandymount and the Grand Canal as well as the famous Forty Foot bathing spot in Sandycove.

The Irish Independent has more on the story HERE.

Published in Forty Foot Swimming
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The home club of Laser Radial Olympic Silver medalist Annalise Murphy, the National Yacht Club is a lot more besides. It is also the spiritual home of the offshore sailing body ISORA, the Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race and the biggest Flying Fifteen fleet in Ireland. Founded on a loyal membership, the National Yacht Club at the East Pier in Dun Laoghaire on Dublin Bay enjoys a family ethos and a strong fellowship in a relaxed atmosphere of support and friendship through sailing.

Bathing in the gentle waterfront ambience of Dun Laoghaire on the edge of South County Dublin, the National Yacht Club has graced the waters of the Irish Sea and far beyond for more than a century and in 2020 celebrates its sesquicentennial.  

The club is particularly active in dinghy and keelboat one-design racing and has hosted three World Championships in recent years including the Flying Fifteen Worlds in 2003, 2019 and the SB3 Worlds in 2008. The ISAF Youth Worlds was co-hosted with our neighbouring club the Royal St. George Yacht Club in 2012...

National Yacht Club Facilities

Facilities include a slipway directly accessing Dun Laoghaire Harbour, over eighty club moorings, platform parking, pontoons, fuelling, watering and crane-lifting ensure that the NYC is excellently equipped to cater for all the needs of the contemporary sailor. Berths with diesel, water, power and overnight facilities are available to cruising yachtsmen with shopping facilities being a short walk away. The club is active throughout the year with full dining and bar facilities and winter activities include bridge, snooker, quiz nights, wine tasting and special events.

National Yacht Club History

Although there are references to an active “club” prior to 1870, history records that the present clubhouse was erected in 1870 at a cost of £4,000 to a design by William Sterling and the Kingstown Royal Harbour Boat Club was registered with Lloyds in the same year. By 1872 the name had been changed to the Kingston Harbour Boat Club and this change was registered at Lloyds.

In 1881. the premises were purchased by a Captain Peacocke and others who formed a proprietary club called the Kingstown Harbour Yacht Club again registered at Lloyds. Some six years later in 1877 the building again changed hands being bought by a Mr Charles Barrington. and between 1877 and 1901 the club was very active and operated for a while as the “Absolute Club” although this change of name was never registered.

In 1901, the lease was purchased by three trustees who registered it as the Edward Yacht Club. In 1930 at a time when the Edward Yacht Club was relatively inactive, a committee including The Earl of Granard approached the trustees with a proposition to form the National Yacht Club. The Earl of Granard had been Commodore of the North Shannon Y.C. and was a senator in the W.T.Cosgrave government. An agreement was reached, the National Yacht Club was registered at Lloyds. The club burgee was created, red cross of Saint George with blue and white quarters being sky cloud, sea and surf. The Earl of Granard became the first Commodore.

In July of 1950, a warrant was issued to the National Yacht Club by the Government under the Merchant Shipping Act authorising members to hoist a club ensign in lieu of the National Flag. The new ensign to include a representation of the harp. This privilege is unique and specific to members of the National Yacht Club. Sterling’s design for the exterior of the club was a hybrid French Chateau and eighteenth century Garden Pavilion and today as a Class A restricted building it continues to provide elegant dining and bar facilities.

An early drawing of the building shows viewing balconies on the roof and the waterfront façade. Subsequent additions of platforms and a new slip to the seaward side and most recently the construction of new changing rooms, offices and boathouse provide state of the art facilities, capable of coping with major international and world championship events. The club provides a wide range of sailing facilities, from Junior training to family cruising, dinghy sailing to offshore racing and caters for most major classes of dinghies, one design keelboats, sports boats and cruiser racers. It provides training facilities within the ISA Youth Sailing Scheme and National Power Boat Schemes.

Past Commodores

1931 – 42 Earl of Granard 1942 – 45 T.J. Hamilton 1945 – 47 P.M. Purcell 1947 – 50 J.J. O’Leary 1950 – 55 A.A. Murphy 1955 – 60 J.J. O’Leary 1960 – 64 F. Lemass 1964 – 69 J.C. McConnell 1969 – 72 P.J. Johnston 1972 – 74 L. Boyd 1974 – 76 F.C. Winkelmann 1976 – 79 P.A. Browne 1979 – 83 W.A. Maguire 1983 – 87 F.J. Cooney 1987 – 88 J.J. Byrne 1988 – 91 M.F. Muldoon 1991 – 94 B.D. Barry 1994 – 97 M.P.B. Horgan 1997 – 00 B. MacNeaney 2000 – 02 I.E. Kiernan 2002 – 05 C.N.I. Moore 2005 – 08 C.J. Murphy 2008 – 11 P.D. Ryan 2011 – P. Barrington 2011-2014 Larry Power 2014-2017 Ronan Beirne 2017 – 2019

At A Glance - National Yacht Club 2024 Events

  • 24th February Optimist Sprint
  • 25th February Leinster Schools Team Racing
  • 3rd March Leinster Schools Team Racing
  • 13th April Lift in
  • 20th April Leinster Schools Team Racing
  • 23rd – 24th, 27th – 28th April University Invitational Match Racing Championships
  • 11th – 12th May 29er Easterns and Invitational Match Racing Nationals
  • 25th – 26th May Women at the Helm Regatta
  • 15th June NYC Regatta
  • 22nd – 23rd June Topper Southern Champs
  • 10th July NYC Junior Regatta
  • 5th September NYC End of Season Race
  • 21st – 22nd September F15 East Coast Championships
  • 5th October Start of F15 Frostbite Series
  • 12th October Lift Out
  • 19th – 20th October RS Aero Easterns

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