Informative Glandore summer school

GLANDORE Harbour Yacht Club’s summer school, was attended by more than 60 participants during the two days.   

The event was opened by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Michael Creed, and during the course of the weekend, the summer school topics included items on the whale and dolphin activity in the south west, the systems and processes used by the Irish Met Service, the Ludgate Hub, West Cork Distillers and their development from fishing to distilling.  There was a presentation about a new European-funded project, the Cool Route, this may be likened to the Wild Atlantic for boats – a coastal cruising route from Cork to the Arctic Circle.   

Before getting to the major part of the programme on the conservation restoration and preservation of our maritime heritage, there was a fascinating lecture from Dr Chad Luddington of UCC, who spoke on the topic of the 18th century wine trade and the impact of the Irish traders on its development.  

Many West Cork boat builders spoke about their current and future projects. Primarily Simon O’Keeffe of Schull told the summer school of his project to relaunch the 1902 built ‘Lady Min,’ a boat designed by and built for his own grandfather. 

Liam Hegarty gave an impressive update on the ‘AK Ilen’ as she approaches the final steps towards her re-launch. Oliver Hart spoke of his involvement with tall ship sail training in Ireland and of the options ahead for the nation since the sinking of the Asgard.  

The summer school closed on Sunday evening with a presentation from Donal Hayes on the tall ship ‘Astrid’ that sank outside Kinsale in 2013.