Buffy out, Luffy in
4 March 2010
The Stena fast ferry Lynx III arrived in Dun Laoghaire from Holyhead for the first time this afternoon, a test run before scheduled daily service begins on 15 March.
The docking was followed by the sound of angle grinders trying to make the car bridge and the pedestrian bridge fit the ferry. No lorries or buses will be carried.
Stena withdrew the much larger Explorer ferry from its once a day service back in November . Powered by aviation gas turbines, she was known as the Big Ugly ‘effing Ferry and stank of kerosene in the harbour since the service’s introduction in April 1996.
Apparently, Stena plans to return the Explorer to the route in July and August.
It would seem the Royal St. George will lose at least two trots of moorings for the fleet of Squib sailboats to make way for the Lynx ferry, the Little Ugly ‘effing Ferry. The 81 metre long Luffy was built in 1996 by Incat in Australia and travels across the Irish Sea at 38 knots.
She banged hard into a pontoon bridge at Holyhead a few weeks ago whilst practising docking. Details here.
The vessel arrived at St Michael’s Pier bang on the top of today’s afternoon high tide and her water jets kicked up a tremendous amount of silt as seen below. The boat in the foreground is the George’s barge, used for laying and lifting moorings in the harbour.
Topics: Miscellany | Leave a comment »
Cab to auction boat seized in €440m west Cork drug raid
18 February 2010
The 35-foot catamaran Lucky Day seized in the €440 million west Cork drug haul on 2 July 2007 is to be auctioned by the Criminal Assets Bureau next month.
Two rigid inflatables, four outboard engines, two trailers and three 4×4 vehicles used in the botched attempt to smuggle cocaine are also being sold on behalf of the Criminal Assets Bureau by Cork auctioneer Dominic J Daly on March 23rd.
The 13-year-old catamaran was previously maintained by Austrian owners. It is in “very good condition” at a berth in La Coruna, Spain, according to Mr Daly.
It was bought for $132,000 over the internet and was described as “in flawless condition” when advertised, with two forward staterooms, one in each hull, queen-size beds in both, two large “heads” or toilets and eight berths in all.
Read more from The Irish Times
The Spanish authorities had a good rummage inside the boat. Here is the main saloon in April 2009. Supposedly tidied up by now.
Topics: Oops! | Leave a comment »
Sports Council funding for high performance sailors
18 February 2010
The Irish Sports Council has released details of its €2.65 million high performance grants. That sum will be divided amongst 273 top athletes in 20 different sports.
Irish sailors are included:
Peter O’Leary — Star — World Class — €20,000 (€12,000 in 2009)
Annalise Murphy – Laser Radial — World Class — €20,000
Tiffany Brien — Laser Radial — €12,000
Matthew McGovern — 49er — €12,000 (€12,000 in 2009)
Ryan Seaton — 49er — €12,000
Ger Owens — 49er — €12,000
Developmental Squad — €50,000 (€50,000 in 2009)
Junior Squad — €48,000 (€60,000 in 2009)
Total €186,000 (€186,000 in 2009)
There will be a number of battles amongst the sailors en route to Weymouth for the 2012 Olympics. Ireland will need to qualify as a country for inclusion and then determine a fair method to choose who represents us. Annalise Murphy and Tiffany Brien will go head to head in the Laser Radial, while Star Wars the Re-Run will feature Max Treacy and Anthony Shanks against Peter O’Leary and his yet to be named crew.
For the 49er class, double Olympians Ger Owens and Ross Killian (formerly in the 470 class) will square up against Matt McGovern and Ryan Seaton, who finished fifth in the silver fleet at the recent Worlds in the Bahamas, while youngsters Ed Butler and Ben Lynch may nip at their transoms.
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Finally, First Frostbite of 2010
18 January 2010
Yesterday was an absolutely fabulous day in Dun Laoghaire Harbour, a bit chilly but sunny and fine with 10 – 12 knots of breeze. Goodness Gracious was looking particularly fine with Louise and Grattan aboard:
Here’s a view of part of the Fireball fleet on the starboard tack layline to the windward mark:
And, I finally acquired a boathook to use when retrieving marks at the end of the race. No more wet and cold fingers!
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AnnaLise Murphy in the Irish Times
15 January 2010
SPORTSWOMAN OF THE YEAR/DECEMBER: Mary Hannigan talks to December’s award winner, outstanding young Dublin sailor Annalise Murphy.
ANNALISE MURPHY knew it was going to be a challenging year, her first on the senior circuit. And despite a hugely encouraging 2008, the highlight being her fifth-place finish at the Laser Radial Youth World Championships, she expected the step up to be significant.
It was, too. But there was a moment at the senior World Championships in Japan in August when she realised she was doing just fine.
‘I remember seeing the gold medallist from Beijing behind me, I was half thinking I should let her pass,’ she laughs. ‘But I didn’t, and ended up beating her in that race. I couldn’t believe it, really.
Read the rest of this entry »
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Solo Sailing Races In France
12 January 2010
An evening of talks at Alliance Française, Thursday 4 February 7.45pm
Irish Sailor Paul Ó RIAIN competed solo onboard his yacht “CityJet” in La Solitaire du Figaro in 2007, a gruelling 1,800 mile 4 stage yacht race between France, Ireland and Spain. Come and hear Paul speak about racing in the world’s most competitive solo sailing event. Hear about battling sleep deprivation when skippers cannot sleep for more than 20 minutes at a time during races. Learn how he dealt with mental fatigue & exhaustion, the difficulties, the severe storms that hit the fleet racing in the Atlantic and the mamoth task of taking on this iconic race against the best sailors in the world.
British Sailor Steve WHITE staked all to compete in the 2008-9 Vendée Globe solo round the world race. His story, of how he made it to the start of the biggest, toughest and most dramatic round the world sailing race ever and completed his remarkable circumnavigation to finish an incredible 8th place from 30 starters is both inspiring and compelling. White was a late comer to ocean racing but became hooked by every aspect of solo and short handed racing, refusing to let anything stand in the way of his dream. In the end his project went to the 11th hour but he had all the essential skills to complete the race, including 4 transatlantic races and more besides. Racing alongside many of the top professionals in the sport, White prevailed when many didn’t. Ultimately White was one of only 11 to finish and proved to be a talented solo ocean racer plus a colourful and good humoured communicator throughout.
The talk will be in English with questions and answers (in French and English) including photographs & video footage and a wine reception afterwards.
Admission Free.
RSVP: info@alliance-francaise.ie
Alliance Française, 1 Kildare Street, Dublin 2. Tel: (01) 676 17 32 www.alliance-francaise.ie
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Happy New Year
1 January 2010
Small bit of snow here in Dublin, many panicked people!
Topics: Miscellany | Leave a comment »
Happy Christmas!
24 December 2009
T’was the night before Christmas, I swung on the hook
With snowflakes a’landing, asleep with my book.
When up on the deck I heard footsteps and stuff.
“I’ve been boarded!” I thought, and I need to be tough.
Then down the companionway hatch came a dude,
He was dressed like a nut and I thought, “I’m so screwed.”
But he laughed and he hummed as he surveyed my junk,
So I figured he must be the resident drunk.
His eyes were lit up like a junkie on speed,
But he gave me a whole bunch of stuff that I need,
Like rum and red wine and new charts and a dinghy
And some kind of fancy electrical thingy.
I knew it was stolen but I wasn’t telling,
I just hoped he was giving and wasn’t just selling.
So I poured him a grog which he downed with a wink
Then I poured one for me (Lord I needed a drink!)
“Thanks!” he said, then he crawled back up deck
and I went to the hatch just to spy on this wreck.
He staggered aft to the dark snowy night,
As I peeked I beheld an incredible sight:
Eight tiny dolphins and a beautiful sleigh.
And the dude hopped aboard and prepared to make way.
The dolphins were ready to power the sled,
But the guy raised a genny and mains’l instead.
With a burp and a chuckle he gathered the breeze
And called to the dolphins, now swimming with ease:
“Yo Harry and Jamesie, newEd and Tony!
Or Robert and Simon, Niamh and Cathy!
“Yo Hickey and Franco and Seamus and Cally!
Or Louis and Butler and Creighton and Suzie!
“Hey Fungi and Bertie and Dustin and Nixon!
Or Michael and Pat the Cope, Mason, and Dixon!
Or whatever your names are, you cute little fishes,
Here’s to every last sailor, my best Christmas wishes!”
As he sailed away leaving a wobbly wake,
I hoped he had not many stops left to make.
He got close to shore and he soon was aground,
But the dolphins proceeded to pull him around.
And I heard him exclaim as he sailed out of sight
“Happy Christmas to all… and to all a goodnight”
——————-
With apologies to Clement Clark Moore. Or, perhaps not?
Topics: Miscellany | Leave a comment »
Update from the Solo & Double Handed Sailing Forum
22 December 2009
Update from the Solo & Double Handed Sailing Forum Meeting
16th December 2009
With over 85 expressions of interest and some 35 sailors of all ages gathering in the National Yacht Club, Dun Laoghaire, Dublin on Wednesday the 16th December to meet, discuss and commit to short handed yacht racing in Ireland. It looks like this type of sailing is going to become a prominent feature on the Irish sailing scene.
The meeting began with a short video shown by Paul Ó Riain of his participation in La Solitaire du Figaro 2007 (the Figaro). This was followed by a slide show presentation given by Barry Hurley about his success in the Ostar 2009 (Original Single-handed Trans-Atlantic Race) and his experience racing on the Petit Bateau circuit, now called the “Solo Offshore Racing Club”.
Olivier Prouveur (sailing manager at the National Yacht Club, Dun Laoghaire) presented an excellent overview of short handed yacht racing across the UK, France and the rest of the world detailing the classes, the boats and the likely future options which could be looked at to develop this kind of racing in Ireland.
The meeting opened up to the floor where other prominent Irish short handed sailors, including Cian McCarthy, Michael Boyd and Mick Liddy outlined their experiences of Class Mini, Class Forty, Open 40, short handed IRC handicap racing and record attempts.
There was huge enthusiasm from the meetings participants to see initiatives put in place to develop a circuit in Irish waters in 2010 and beyond. There was general agreement to develop things gradually and keep in line with developments internationally. It was agreed to develop a series which would cater for the existing fleet of boats which normally sail under IRC handicapping and to see if a series can be facilitated within existing events like for example ISORA (Irish Sea Offshore Racing Association). It was also agreed that it would be desirable to look at developing a one-design or box rule class long term. To kick this off the 10 SailFleet J80’s owned by the Irish Sailing Association have been booked for 10/11 July 2010 for a series of double handed coastal races out of the National Yacht Club, Dun Laoghaire.
A primary objective for next season will be the establishment of a series & ultimately the crowning of an Irish Short Handed Yacht Racing Champion next Autumn.
A committee was formed of which Olivier Prouveur was voted as President, Mick Liddy Vice President, Cian Mc Carthy South Coast Contact, Barry Hurley UK Liaison and Paul Ó Riain Public Relations.
Thanks to Markham Nolan who took minutes of the meeting, which are available to anyone interested. These can be requested from Olivier Prouveur at sailing@nyc.ie
pauloriain@mac.com
MINUTES of the forum:
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Final Frostbite of ‘09
14 December 2009
I was on Weather Mark duty during yesterday’s Frostbite race in Dun Laoghaire Harbour. Always a good place to be and I sometimes hand out I-can-repair-it business cards following a bit of argy-bargy. Here a few photos.
Andy and Barry in "Let's Get Messy"
Mick and Paul (right) hunted by Andy and Barry
Neck and neck one lap later
Louise and Hermine in "Goodness Gracious"
Good fun, results on the DMYC website
Topics: Sailing | Leave a comment »