Displaying items by tag: Nora Bheag

6th July 2012

Exotic Sailing Dhows Join Volvo Ocean Race in Galway

#VOLVO OCEAN RACE - In final dash of colour and excitement to mark the end of Volvo Ocean Race finale week, two high performance sailing dhows – the distinctive Arabian sailing boats often compared to the famous Galway hookers – will bring an exotic flavour to the City of the Tribes.

The dhows, which are being presented to Galway City by the United Arab Emirates, will race on Galway Bay tomorrow Saturday 7 and on Sunday 8 July, crewed by 10 Emirati sailors who have flown in for the occasion.

The boats were earlier air-freighted from the UAE to Shannon Airport and taken by road to Galway where they were assembled and prepared for their weekend racing display.

The gift of the dhows to Galway is part of a newly inaugurated maritime heritage cultural exchange programme between the Galway Hooker Association and the Emirates Heritage Club in Abu Dhabi that has already seen the famous Nora Bheag and her crew set sail in the Persian Gulf city, as previously reported on Afloat.ie.

Padraic De Bhaldraithe, joint co-ordinator of the unusual exchange programme, said: “We were really delighted to take Nora Bheag and her crew to sail in Abu Dhabi and we were amazed by the amount of interest they attracted.

It was to be the first step in a partnership which has now seen two dhows make their way to Galway. Abu Dhabi and Galway have much in common when it comes to their maritime traditions.”

Enda O’Coineen - chairman of Let’s Do It Global, the organising committee of the nine-day festival built around the Volvo Ocean Race finale - says the arrival of the dhows is already creating huge excitement in the city, and the weekend racing should be spectacular.

“Dhows are built on lines similar to the traditional Galway hooker and are capable of very high speeds when raced in the hands of experienced sailors," he explained. “They are often fixed in the western imagination as a romantic Arabian seacraft of the past but they are still used for the transport of goods today and are also undergoing a dramatic revival among sailors in the UAE who don't want to lose their traditional past.”

Clifden-based Dr Peter Vine, who has been closely involved in the Irish-Abu Dhabi partnership, says the 'Dhows for Galway' project has huge potential and could add impetus to the move to revived and foster traditional boat-building skills that were on the verge of dying out.

The exchange programme has been co-ordinated with support of Let’s Do It Global; Emirates Heritage Club; Abu Dhabi Sailing and Yacht Club; Galway Hooker Association, Cóilín Hernon and family; Royal Galway Yacht Club; long-time Irish resident of Abu Dhabi, Noeleen Saeed; Etihad Airways; AlHosn University; Peter Vine; and Padraic De Bhaldraihe.

Published in Ocean Race

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Showcase for Galway at VOR 'Irish Day' in Adu Dhabi

#VOLVO OCEAN RACE - Galway was showcased on Friday 6 January as part of special a 'Irish Day' celebration in Abu Dhabi, where the Volvo Ocean Race fleet is getting ready to embark on its next leg.

Galway Bay FM reports that the City of the Tribes was highlighted as a top international tourism destination - with the 'VOR Village' at Nimmo's Pier being a focus of discussions, according to Galway Mayor Hildegarde Naughton.

Earlier in the week saw the first sailing in Arab waters of the near-century-old Galway hooker Nora Bheag, which is in Abu Dhabi as part of a cultural exchange between these host ports of the 2011/2012 Volvo Ocean Race.

The race is set to finish in Galway on Tuesday 3 July 2012, attracting the world's media and thousands of visitors to Ireland's fifth largest city for the final prize-giving.

Published in Ocean Race

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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

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