Top speakers and topics for Glandore's Classic Boat fest

GLANDORE is well known for its Classic Regatta every two years which attracts beautiful boats from Ireland and abroad to its picturesque harbour.  The Glandore Classic Boat Summer School will take place on the same weekend – July 16th and 17th. 

GHYC have organised this biennial summer school since 1992 and this is the 11th edition.  

The summer school programme covers themes of maritime, coastal community, environment, heritage, and of course the boats feature in a big way.

The school sessions will be held the Kilfaughnabeg Church in Glandore and the opening speaker at 10.30am will be Agriculture, Food and Marine Minister Michael Creed.

Following this, Padraig Whooley of the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group will speak of the whale and dolphin activity and their environment in the area.  

Vincent O’ Shea from Met Éireann will be speaking about our weather as it affects us here on the western edge of Europe and there will also be a presentation on the Cool Route, by Dr Breda Kenny of CIT. The Cool Route is similar to the Wild Atlantic Way, but for boats, and it reaches from Cork to the Arctic Circle.  

Looking at community and rural living on the south west coast, there is a presentation on the establishment of the Ludgate@Skibbereen and its impact on the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the Skibbereen and West Cork Region. 

On the same theme John O’Connell of the West Cork Distillers will talk about the Distillery in Skibbereen from the original start-up in Union Hall. 

On a similar note, Dr Charles Luddington of UCC will speak about the development of the wine trade in the 17th Century and in particular the development of Bordeaux and Port as premier wines and how the Irish wine merchants influenced this trade.

On the subject of boats, thre will also be talks by Simon O’Keeffe of Schull on his plans to have Lady Min re-launched, Gary McMahon will be speaking about the future for the Ilen as she continues her progress towards re-launch, and Oliver Hart of the Spirit of Oysterhaven, a regular visitor to Glandore, will talk about sail training as practised today, and the options being considered in the future.

Three local boat builders ¬– Rui Ferriera, Tiernan Roe and Bill Trafford – will also address the audience over the weekend, and Noel Ryan will continue the story of the Sionn Mhara – the Bantry boat on the Shannon. Donal Hayes will speak about the sinking and rescue of the Astrid at Kinsale in 2013.

 Overall a very interesting summer school of maritime history, environment and heritage lies in prospect for the weekend with something very much of interest to many during the two days. 

The subscription cost for the two day lecture series is €20.