SAILING:One of the country's busiest shipping lanes will be closed to facilitate Ireland's largest yachting regatta on Dublin Bay in eight weeks.
A fleet of over 500 boats will compete on nine courses at Volvo Dun Laoghaire week on Dublin Bay from July 12th-15th.
The move was confirmed by the chief executive of Dublin Port, Capt Enda Connellan, on Wednesday as he lead tributes to Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC), following their success in the Club of the Year awards at a ceremony in the port.
A Dublin Port control radar image taken during the 2005 Dun Laoghaire Regatta - involving all four Dun Laoghaire yacht clubs - shows a fleet of over 400 yachts sailing across the closed southern shipping channel.
DBSC commodore Tim Costello - who lifted the Club of the Year Ships Wheel trophy at the presentation - applauded the "sensible decision" by the port.
The closure was also backed by Dun Laoghaire Week organiser Brian Craig, who said it was "yet another example of how the country's busiest commercial port continues to facilitate growing leisure pursuits on the bay".
Commercial shipping during the event will be confined to the northern channel.
In other news on the bay, a Volvo 60foot yacht is one of 30 entries for the 280mile Dún Laoghaire to Dingle race, sponsored by the Dingle Skellig Hotel.
A Dingle racing crew, led by Yannick Lemonnier, who came second in their Beneteau SouthBound in the 2005 race, is chartering the ocean race boat in an effort to beat the race record of 32 hours, 33 minutes established by Galway's Eamon Conneely in his TP52 Patches two years ago.
The biennial offshore race begins at the National Yacht club's start line inside Dún Laoghaire harbour on June 10th.
In sportsboat news, the extent to which the SB3 continues to grow is being measured not only by the growth in its own numbers (now over 70 countrywide) but also by the decline in its rivals.
This week Adam Winklemann, 1720 class captain, conceded that the arrival of its smaller sister was having a big effect on preparations for the class European championships to be staged on Dublin Bay in early July. At best 20 boats will be mustered.
It is hard to see how a fleet of this size, drawn from two countries, now merits its European championship billing.
