Dublin Bay Sailing Club Turkey Shoot 2009 - Final Race with The Tale of Two Annas twist. Another Adventure wins Series.

Anna Livia - IRL 1093 (Copyright 2009 Sailpix Ireland)

 

Anna Livia - RNLI Dun Laoghaire (Copyright 2009 Sailpix Ireland)

The final eventful race of Dublin Bay Sailing Club's Turkey Shoot 2009 witnessed a double display of early Christmas spirit when one of the competitors experienced crippling technical failure.

With westerly winds gusting to 30 knots two 'Anna's quickly came to the rescue.

First, fellow competitor Annabella - IRL 1093, RIYC, retired from the race and took the stricken vessel under tow before being relieved by the the other 'Anna'.

Dun Laoghaire RNLI's all-weather Trent Class RNLB Anna Livia, under coxswain Ken Robertson, quickly arrived on the scene and brought vessel and crew to the safety of Dun Laoghaire Marina.

Another Adventure - IRL 3511, RIYC,

Dublin Bay Sailing Club Turkey Shoot 2009 Winner.

Meanwhile Another Adventure - IRL 3511, RIYC, (Archambault 35) mastered the weather conditions to claim overall 1st place in this year's Turkey Shoot. Congratulations to skipper and crew on a doggedly determined campaign!

Race 4 Photo Gallery HERE

Dublin Bay Sailing Club Turkey Shoot 2009 has WOW factor

WOW - IRL 2 (Copyright 2009 Sailpix Ireland)

 

WOW - IRL 2 (Farr 42), takes line honours in Dublin Bay Sailing Club's Turkey Shoot 3rd race on Sunday 13th December.

Meanwhile Miss Scarlett - IRL 4763 (Jeanneau Sun Fast 40.3) claimed 1st place in Race 3 under Echo Handicap.

Miss Scarlett (Copyright 2009 Sailpix Ireland)

Race 3 Photo Gallery HERE

Anchors Aweigh!

Anchors Aweigh - Mac Lir, DBSC Committee Boat (Copyright 2009 Sailpix Ireland)

With SW gusts increasing to 30 knots in Dublin Bay around 10.30 am on Sunday 06 Dec, the race officers of Dublin Bay Sailing Club were forced to call off this week's Turkey Shoot for the third week in succession.

Indecision permeated the fleet before the scheduled start with many crews deciding to return to the marina even before the official cancellation announcement was broadcast.

Those fearless souls who ventured out into the bay as far as the committee boat - more in hope than expectation - heard not the familiar sound of the starting gun but the eerie voices of Mac Lir's crew singing 'Anchors Aweigh' before promptly heading for shore!

Several industrious crews used the opportunity to practice in the strong breeze but for one the risk to reward ratio sadly didn't add up this time.

Dublin Bay Sailing Club Turkey Shoot 2009 - Races 1 and 2

Teamwork: Legally Blonde - IRL 3175 (Copyright 2009 Sailpix Ireland)

Dublin Bay Sailing Club's hugely popular Turkey Shoot 2009 started with a bang on Sunday 08 November with a record number of entries.

Race 1 witnessed one unlucky boat finishing with an inverted mast and mainsail - brilliantly salvaged by the undaunted crew. Not to be outdone, one crew in Race 2 treated us to a rare (?) demonstration of the art of flying a spinnaker upside down!
 
Meanwhile, the crew of Legally Blonde - IRL 3175 (Beneteau First 31.7) had no such problems.

Relive the action - over two hundred photographs from the first two races uploaded.

Race 1 Photo Gallery HERE
Race 2 Photo Gallery HERE

Dublin Bay Sailing Club Turkey Shoot 2009

Dublin Bay Sailing Club Turkey Shoot 2009 starts Sunday morning 08 November 2009. With approximately ninety five boats scheduled to line up at the start, this year's event will be bigger and better than ever.

Changing Seascape: Carlisle Pier, Dun Laoghaire

Carlisle Pier, Dun Laoghaire (Copyright 2009 Sailpix Ireland)

Carlisle Pier, Dun Laoghaire (Copyright 2009 Sailpix Ireland)

Changing seascape at Dun Laoghaire Harbour on the 13 Oct 2009 showing redevelopment work in progress at Carlisle Pier (also known as the Mailboat Pier) which was opened in 1859 but which became redundant in 1995. 

The Lightvessel Gannet is berthed alongside having been withdrawn from service as the South Rock Lightfloat.

LV Gannet: Built 1953/54 by Philip & Son, Dartmouth. Length 134 feet, breadth 25 feet, depth 15 feet, approximate displacement 600 tons. Constructed of steel at a cost £95,200. Converted to automatic light float 1980/81.

Lightvessel Station South Rock :Established 01 April 1877. Automated - crew withdrawn 31 Mar 1982. Replaced by superbuoy on 25 Feb 2009.

Carlisle Pier Photo Gallery HERE
Map HERE

Story Update 19 May 2010: Dun Laoghaire Harbour Company urged to rebuild demolished Victorian railway building.

Start of Leg 8 Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09 Galway to Marstrand

 

Credit: Race diagram courtesy of Volvo Ocean Race S.L.U.

Ericsson 3 and Ericsson 4 (Copyright 2009 Sailpix Ireland)

Telefonica Black (Copyright 2009 Sailpix Ireland)

Delta Llyod (Copyright 2009 Sailpix Ireland)

Telefonica Black (Copyright 2009 Sailpix Ireland)

Ericsson 3 (Copyright 2009 Sailpix Ireland)

A blustery Galway Bay on the 06 June 2009, scene of the start of Leg 8 of the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09, Galway to Marstrand.



Leg 8 (Galway Start) Photo Gallery HERE

Map HERE

The moment a virtual Volvo Open 70 set a Round Ireland Yacht Race virtual Record!

 

Virtual Round Ireland Yacht Race 2009

The colour of the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09 leaves Galway

 

Ericsson 3 departing Galway in Leg 8 of  Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09 (Copyright 2009 Sailpix Ireland)

A grey day for Galway as the start of Leg 8 of the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-2009 sees the departure of the fleet for Marstrand, Sweden.
06 June 2009.


Map HERE

Virtual Round Ireland Yacht Race 2009

 

Virtual Round Ireland Yacht Race 2009

Could a virtual Volvo Open 70 sailing in real time, in real weather and in the same waters beat the circumnavigation of the island of Ireland 704 nautical mile Round Ireland course record of 65 hours, 48 minutes and 47 seconds set by Mike Slade's ICAP Leopard 3 in Wicklow Sailing Club’s Round Ireland Yacht Race 2008?

The inaugural Virtual Round Ireland Yacht Race 2009 was designed to answer that question. The virtual sailing race is underway and the arrival of the back markers in Galway is awaited.

The challenge started at 14:00 UTC/GMT, 15:00 Local Time Galway or 16:00 CEST on Saturday 06 June 2009, i.e. at the same time as the start of Leg 8 of the Volvo Ocean Race.

So did a virtual Volvo Open 70 break Leopard 3's Round Ireland record? Click on the logo above to go directly to the online dedicated race website to find out:

http://virtualroundireland.wordpress.com/

Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09: The Cat Pounces

The Cat Pounces - Puma Wins (Copyright 2009 Sailpix Ireland)

 

Puma won the in-port race series in Galway yesterday (30 May) after two thrilling races were held on Galway Bay. This is the first time that Puma has been on top of the podium for the Volvo Ocean Race and it brings her closer to second place in the overall standings.

Sadly Green Dragon didn't breathe fire on the day but I was glad to see Puma finally live up to their pre Volvo Ocean Race expectations. Though easy to say in hindsight, there genuinely was a palpable sense even before the racing started that Puma was going all out to win this one. The harmony between Ken Read the skipper, crew and boat was a sight to behold. The result of their combined efforts placed them deservedly at the top of the podium for the day's racing.

Volvo Ocean Race 2008-2009
Galway Stopover - Inshore Race 1 Photo Gallery HERE

Volvo Ocean Race 2008-2009
Galway Stopover - Inshore Race 2 Photo Gallery HERE

Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09 comes to Galway

Green Dragon arriving in Galway (Copyright 2009 Sailpix Ireland)

 

The Volvo Ocean Race arrived in Galway at the weekend in spectacular style. Spent the early hours of Sunday morning 24 May 2009 with the many thousands who awaited the arrival of the race fleet and boy did the event live up to all the hype - and more! An online photo album to follow.

Had the very great pleasure of meeting 'THE MAN' near Spanish Arch in Galway on Sunday afternoon. For someone of his legendary sailing achievements I found Torben Grael to be quite friendly and approachable and completely devoid of any airs or graces. He even posed for a few photographs!

So get down to Galway during the race stopover and bring all the family. I guarantee you won't be disappointed. To find out what's happening, visit the dedicated Galway Stopover Website HERE

Map HERE

The Ferry 'LORELEY'

The Ferry Loreley, Waterford Castle (Copyright 2009 Sailpix Ireland)

 

The ferry LORELEY (nearest to camera) majestically links The Island, home of Waterford Castle, to the mainland via the 'King's Channel', River Suir, Waterford.

Map HERE

ISORA (Irish Sea Offshore Racing Association) Race 2 and Lee Overlay / RAYC Offshore Series

Offshore Racing: Team Windmill - IRL 8088 (Copyright 2009 Sailpix Ireland)

 

ISORA (Irish Sea Offshore Racing Association) Race 2 and Lee Overlay / RAYC (Royal Alfred Yacht Club) - Captain's Trophy Race: Dun Laoghaire to North Arklow and return (52 nautical miles).
Seen above is Team Windmill - IRL 8088, RStGYC, (J109), which (having rounded the mark) made the call to head inshore to avoid the main flow of the ebb tide. 

Photo Gallery HERE

Oyster Farming at Woodstown Bay, Waterford

Oyster Farming, Woodstown Bay (Copyright 2009 Sailpix Ireland)

A Labour of love?

Oyster Farming at ebb tide - Woodstown Bay, Waterford Estuary, on St. Valentine's Day.

14th February 2009.

Map HERE

Entombed in a Drum filled with Rum!

Hocus-pocus or fact? Read about the weird and wacky story of Captain John Clark Monks HERE.

Reference: Weird Maryland: Your Travel Guide to Maryland's Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets by Matt Lake. Published by Sterling, 2006. ISBN-10: 1402739060. ISBN-13: 9781402739064.

Green Dragon takes the lead in Leg 4 of the Volvo Ocean Race - Huh?!

 

Have we missed something in the last few hours?? These screenshots, captured from the official Volvo Ocean Race website 2D Raceviewer, purportedly predict the race fleet's position at 01:00:00 hrs UTC on the 28/01/2009. Wasn't Green Dragon reportedly damaged? Is Qingdao that way?!
If Ian Walker and crew can pull off miracles like this, can Barak and our own Brian turn things around for the rest of us? If only...

Click on the screenshots to zoom in.

INDICES OF VALID MARINE NOTICES 1984-2008 (Department of Transport, Ireland)

An essential 'Index of Valid Marine Notices 2004-2008' has been published by the Department of Transport, Ireland on the 5th January 2009. To view this excellent resource, CLICK HERE. (Link to Department of Transport Marine Notice No. 1 of 2009.)

To view an index of all Marine Notices valid at 31st December 2003, CLICK HERE. (Link to Department of Transport Marine Notice No. 3 of 2004.)