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New Clubhouse Officially Opened
Posted on Friday, September 11, 2009 by Fiona Pritchard

Olympian Sailing Star Shirley Opens New Sailing Club in Donaghadee

Donaghadee Sailing Club officially opened its new club house today with the help of double Olympic Gold medallist Shirley Robertson OBE.

Donaghadee Sailing Club, has a new purpose built club house thanks to 5 years of planning and, amongst others, a successful grant application to Sport NI.

Speaking at the opening Sport NI Chief Executive Eamonn McCartan congratulated Donaghadee on the development of their new club house.

‘’This is a tremendous achievement for the club and I congratulate all those involved in the project. I am particularly delighted that so many young people have been given the opportunity to try sailing for the first time over the summer months and I look forward to hearing about the continuing growth and success of the club in future years.’  

The Club, which was awarded the esteemed Volvo RYA Champion Club status in 2005 in recognition of its commitment to youth sailing and race coaching, were honoured when Shirley agreed to take time out of her busy schedule to fly in from Brussels, to officiate at the opening.

Shirley, who is a member of Team Volvo for Life, an inspirational team of individuals from Olympic class to Round the World sailors, who are all at the pinnacle of the sport, has a personal interest in the Co. Down club as her husband Jamie Boag, also a notable international sailor, started his sailing career at Donaghadee.

Commenting on the new club Shirley said ‘ Jamie remembers sailing here at Donaghadee in the 1980’s but with basic facilities. The new club house is now a real asset to its members, the town and beyond as it will enable many more to get involved with sailing because of the purpose built amenities’.

The new building has been in use since May to accommodate the sailing season. Over 120 kids and adults have completed sailing courses this summer compared to around 30 last year which proves how much the new facility is introducing people to the sport.

Shirley added  ‘It’s such a friendly club with a real family focus which offers great opportunities for the whole family to be involved. I’m delighted to be here today and witness first hand this wonderful new building with incredible views - to Scotland, of course – and meeting the people who made it all happen. These premises go beyond sailing as many multi–use opportunities for the whole community now exist’.

Commodore James Ogg also added ‘This is a momentous and special day for us. We’re delighted that Shirley was able to attend through our association with Volvo and our dream of a new club house has finally become a reality. Many people have worked hard to get us here. They’ve given their time, talent as well as donations to help us. It’s given everyone a real buzz and sense of  purpose especially among our young sailors who have been proactive in our fundraising campaigns”.

As a recognised RYA Training Centre and Volvo Champion Club the new facilities are attracting more people into sailing. Four local schools from across the community have benefited this summer by taking part in an ‘Outreach’ initiative. Donaghadee is one of the first club’s in NI to run this scheme.

Mr Ogg further added ‘We’ve had at least 50 kids along most Friday nights to try sailing for free. During the summer we’ve hosted 596 youths aged 8 to 16 to get involved in the sailing experience. We pride ourselves in the fact that we are opening up sailing to everyone. This is only made possible by having a willing bunch of member volunteers who work right across the club’.

Ashley Holden from Volvo dealership, SMW Belfast said: “We are delighted to be involved in the opening of Donaghadee Sailing Club’s new club house. As a Volvo Champion Club it shows the great work and commitment that the Club has to young sailors in developing their racing skills, we may well be training future Olympians here in Northern Ireland”.

Commodore James Ogg & Vice Commodore Anthony Skeats

Double Olympian Shirley Robertson O.B.E.

More Photos from DSC Opening Day
Posted on Friday, September 11, 2009 by Fiona Pritchard

Cyril Anderson and Guy Thomson

Shirley McCrum welcomes John Lewis to the new clubhouse

Ross Bennett (sailing secretary), Willie Anderson and Murdoch Bennett

Shirley Robertson OBE signs the visitors book

Greer Rutherford and Mary Charteris

Norma Heaney and Gail Skeats

Michael and Greer Rutherford

Shirley McCrum and Alistair Spence (former Commodore)

Murdoch, Evelyn and Ross Bennett

Mary and Ryan Charteris

Martin Ingram (former Commodre), Alan Pritchard (former Commodore) and Tony Skeats (Vice Commodore)

Ken Wallace (former Commodore) and Bill Oliver

Archie Walls (Director of Leisure Services) and Derek McCallan (Director of Development) Ards Borough Council 

Alan and Sandra Patterson

Liz McNeill and Fiona Pritchard (Hon Treasurer)

Betty Schofield  and her grand-daughter Christine Brown

Alan and Fiona Pritchard

Some junior members enjoy the day

Former Commodores Martin Ingram and Peter Miskimmin

Shirley Robertson and Eamon McCartan

The girls enjoying the sunshine

 Steven Trainor (Sport NI), Shirley McCrum and Carl Southern (Sport NI)

Jim Mulholland and Norman Hutchinson (Kennedy Fitzgerald Architects) with Carl Southern (Sport NI)

How's that then!!

Myles Geddis and Phil Ash

Julia Kannenberg (former Commodore), Rod Kannenberg and Ken Wallace (former Commodore)

Former Commodore Billy McNeice with his daughter Judith

Ronnie Eadie (former Commodore), Frances Eadie, Neville Dennison and John Townson

Alvin Walker MBE and George Aitken

Lady Sylvia Hermon MP and Noel Johnston (former Commodore)

Norman Schofield's grand-daughter presents the club with an original sketch commissioned in memory of her grandfather.

The mayor of Ards presents the club with a shield

Shirley Robertson addresses the members and guests

Commodore James Ogg addresses the masses!!!

John and Tricia Townson

Derek McKnight and Joan McNeice

Guy Thomson, Ian McCrum (former Commodore) and Jeff McClelland

Kaye Boyle and Norma Heaney

Willie Anderson and Karen Aitken

Willie Anderson enjoys a well earned cup of tea!!

SOME PHOTOS FROM THE EVENING CELEBRATIONS

Online Weather
Posted on Tuesday, July 28, 2009 by Kyle Pritchard

Recently I found myself looking on the internet for a weather forecast. Using my mobile phone I did a google search and within a minute I was looking at a nice hour by hour wind forecast. The internet is a great way of finding out the weather and I thought I would try and share with you some of the sites I have come across.

Met Office

The Met Office has for a long time been a sailors friend issuing the shipping forecast. The forecast is broadcast by the MCA and also broadcast on Radio 4. If you can't wait for a broadcast and have access to the internet then the shipping forecast is also available 24/7 on the Met Office website.

 http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/marine/shipping_forecast.html 

For coastal forecasts the Met Office also issues an inshore waters forecast. The inshore waters are divided into large regions and a forecast for the whole northern ireland coast is available.

If you are after just a general forecast including precipitation and temperatures then the Met Office also provides a 5 day forecast.

For those that fancy themselves as a keen meterologist then the Met office also generates synoptic charts. They are posted on the Met Office website with an animation that allows browsers to see how the systems are moving.

Unfortunately print-outs are not publically available on the Met Office website, however, they are on other websites. A dutch website provides the current Met Office synoptic chart and also the predicted charts up to 5 days in advance.

NOAA Ocean Prediction Centre

The American equivalent to the Met Office offer their synoptic charts also and they are available for free for the East Atlantic. They can be found on their website along with charts for the Central and Western Atlantic if you fancy long range predicting.

Theyr.com

One of the webs favourite weather prediction websites. Theyr.com used to be a free website and has been used for a long time by sailing professionals. They now charge for full 'pro' access, however they do still provide a cut-down version for free.

This website is my personal favourite despite not having the fancy maps which the other site offer. This website is used extensively by windsurfers and kitesurfers, however is also perfect for coastal sailors and dinghy sailors. The website provides all the information you need for free and has hour by hour predictions.

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