Kilcummin

Kilcummin is another beach on the Dingle Peninsula but is on the North end of the peninsula. It is a lot longer than Inch Beach and curves off to the left like a half moon shape. You can alternate beaches depending on the wind conditions so you will always get sailing. The beach is usually very quiet except for the odd walker or farmer moving the cattle. This is because you have to go down a small windy road to get to the beach. It is more of a challenge than Inch and is not to be taken lightly. Surface water covers about a 1/3 of the beach meaning you will get wet and have sand up your nose but if you have the right gear, e.g. dry suit you will be fine. You notice that as you sail along the beach you see the tall sandy dunes of Castlegregory golf club and the maharees. 

The direction of the beach changes as you sail, adding to the challenge of getting to the far end of the beach. You may have started off heading straight down the beach at the start but you have to tack if you want to reach the end point.  As I said you can't take this beach lightly, I got caught out on the beach during a heavy rain fall half way down the beach due to a sail that was not suited to the conditions. Another time the mast I was using broke on me at the end of the beach, luckily we were able to fix it but for the length of it you have to be careful. As you sail along the beach you have to look out for big channels, rock fields and surface water.  

At the end of the beach is Spillane's bar and restaurant. It only opens from March to September and from 1 o clock each day. If you brought money on your adventure, you can park your yacht on the beach, walk up a few stones and head in for a refreshing beverage.

Kilcummin:
Pros: Length, Challenging, Spillane’s, Quiet
Cons: Surface water, rocks, and deep water channels.

Accessibility: ***
Busyness:*
Length: *****
Width: ***
Smoothness: ***
Difficulty: *****

Kilcummin beach is a great challenging beach to sail on compared to the easier Inch. Its location means that you can alternate between it and Inch. Its challenge of the beach direction changing means that it’s worth a sail at least once down to Spillane's.

This is the far end of the beach at the Spillane's end. The tide is in at this point. This photo was taken by me.

This a picture looking across at the other side of Brandon bay where we sail from. This photo was taken by me,

Inch Beach

Sorry I haven’t posted anything lately, I was doing a bit of research down in Kerry for the annual Kerry Week where a few of us head down to the Dingle peninsula and sail on Inch Beach and Kilcummin for a bit of land sailing. 

On the south of the Dingle Peninsula, lies Inch Beach. From above it looks like a thumb sticking out from the land. Some might know it as part of the set for the famous old Irish film Ryan’s Daughter. It is one big massive dune. But it is land sailing joy. Once you get a westerly off shore wind you can sail up and down at great speed. It is really good fun when during May or August when the beach is not full and the sun is splitting the sky. Just recently people I knew were reaching 60 kph with small storm sails. If you get the wind speed and direction right it is a really good jolly along the straight which is good for racing. The beach is mainly smooth along the straight which means it is very comfortable to sail on especially when you are going at high speeds. One thing to say is that during high season, I do not recommend sailing on the beach at speed and if you do, do it at the far end because it can become very crowded with people quite quickly. As you turn the corner the beach starts to get rougher with more ripples and a noticeably big moon country (craters) filled with water which is not fun to enter. As you move along the beach along the corner the wind will come from behind you meaning that to get back, tacking is the only option (using the width of the beach- going to the sea front and turning up to the dunes and back again repeatedly until you move yourself up the beach.) 

One thing to notice is the tides in Inch go out far but also can come in quite quickly. So park up on the hard sand as close to the dunes and don't leave it to late to pack up because you could find the sea around the wheels of the car. You must also not park in the soft sand as your wheels could spin as you try to leave and they could dig in and leave you stuck. There is a nice restaurant on beach called Sammy's which serve good food. They also have a cafe and small shop which sells from Ice Cream to gifts to wet suit rentals. He also has a guest house up the road if you are stuck for accommodation.

Inch Beach

Pros: Smooth, good facilities, good speed, length, width, straight.

Cons: Soft sand, fast incoming tide, busy during summer. Congestion on beach during high season.

Accessibility: ***

Busyness **** (the lowest the better)

Length: ***

Width: ****

Smoothness: ****

Difficulty: **

Overall: **** (4)

Inch beach is a pleasure to sail on it is comfortable, smooth, fast and good fun.

This is a photo of my dad and me on Inch beach, I am the one in front. This photo was taken by Alan Watson.

This is a photo of Andy Parr and Mike Hampton who are to very experienced sailors on Inch beach.. Andy ( in front) is the one who sells the Mini Yachts.

Some photos from the recent Kerry Week event 2014. All photos were taken by me. These photos were taken on Inch beach where a review of the beach is to come.

Bettystown Beach, Meath

Bettystown beach in Meath is regarded as the home of the IPKSA because of its central location and that the newly appointed president of FISLY: Alan Watson. FISLY stands for the International Land and Sandyachting Federation and is the global body where rules and competitions are organised. The beach is just over 5 km in length that runs from Laytown into Bettystown. At least two IPKSA events are held here every season. The length of the beach makes it suitable for mini yacht class and the standart class.

I mention the standart class because it is one of the very few locations where the IPKSA use the standart class. But the one highly noticeable thing about Bettystown beach is the gully's that are created by the tide patterns. For miniyacht circuits/tracks, they are mainly held drained sand banks so they gullies are not a problem. However if you are to use a standart class, you have to be careful with these as if you go over a one too fast you may lose control, get a strong jolt or maybe buckle or puncture a wheel. Especially through a wet puddle you may not be able to see for a few seconds until the water drips away from your helmet, so be careful. On of the most enjoyable things to do on Bettystown beach is to go from one end of the beach to the far end where the River Boyne flows from Drogheda into the Irish Sea. This can take from 20 minutes to 40 minutes depending on the wind conditions.

I will rate all beaches with the same criteria:Pros, Cons, then: Accessibility, How busy the beach is, Length, Width, how smooth the beach is, difficulty and overall. Bettystown Beach: Pros: Good length, good width, good for standart sailing and good accessibility onto the beach and a central location in Ireland. Cons: Harsh ride over tidal channels, extremely busy over summer time.
Accessibly: ****
Busyness: ****
Length: ****
Width: ***
Smoothness: **
Difficulty: ***
Overall: 3.5.
Bettystown beach is good in size but tidal patterns create harsh channels for some yachts and it makes it uncomfortable.



This is picture of Bettystown beach from the last IPKSA meeting. This photo was taken by my family.



This is a video of an event on Bettystown beach in April 2010. The ones you see are the Standart class. Watch the Blue yacht and around the 5 minute mark and you can see his wheel come off. This shows a perfect example of the channels on Bettystown beach and that you need to be cautious when you enter them. This video was put together by Alan Harvey.

In Sandyachting there are different types of yachts which we call "classes". Each class has different races. The most popular class in Ireland is the miniyacht. In the Miniyacht class, we the Potty and the Blo-Kart are the most popular in Ireland. They are produced over in Wales. http://www.minilandyachts.co.uk/home. This is a link to the maker of the "Potty" mini land yacht. They are your family fun yacht that is designed to fit into your  car boot. They are made from fibre glass and aluminium. The other type is the Blo-Kart. This is the link to a Blo-Kart provider in Ireland, http://www.blokartworld.com/. They also fit into the boot of the car. They pack away into a small bag and have a wide range of accessories available for the Blo-Kart.

This is an image of both Pottys and Blokarts in a race on Bettystown Beach. The Pottys are the yachts with the red sails while the blo-karts are the yachts with the blue and black sails. As you can see, both are similar in size. This is because all mini-yachts have to have all three wheels fit inside a perimeter rope of 5.6 meters.

Mini Yacht race at a recent Bettystown event. This photo was taken by my family.

There are other different "classes" such as Class 5 and the Standart class where all yachts are all the same design. But for this blog we will focus on the Mini Yacht Class.

Hello all,

Sandyachthing is also known as Landsailing or Land Yachting. While it is popular on most coastal main land European countries and across the world it is not as popular in Ireland. There is an association : IPKSA - Irish Power Kiting and Sandyachting Association. This association includes both landsailing and power kiting. Every week I will post on beaches around Ireland that are most suitable for Sandyachting from Dublin to Kerry to Derry all across Ireland that the IPKSA use regularly. This is a blog on a beach guide of Ireland.

Start of a race at a Sligo IPKSA event.
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