Dun Laoghaire was hit by Storm Brian this weekend and the sailing cruisers as well as dinghies that were on the waters ended up against the harbor walls. There were strong winds blowing in the northwesterly direction when Storm Brian started. The gusts were over 40 knots. There was a training group of sailors and a cruiser which got caught in the storm and was up against the wall by lunch time.

 

Those who witnessed the stormy conditions in this harbor area stated that there were four dinghies of the Optimist group that were found abandoned when the squall came by in the East Pier. The junior sailors who had been aboard these boats for training purposes had already come on safe ground. A sailing cruiser was also found on West Pier with a ground tackle that was broken. A launch was sent out to attend to this sailing cruiser which was founded by the West Pier wall. There were considerable activities noted on the turbulent waters here due to the storm. The Irish National Sailing and Powerboat School chief instructor issued a statement regarding these incidents. He informed that the weather forecast for Saturday had been adverse for which most water activities were cancelled for the weekend. There had been a small group of brightly colored crafts that were out on the waters for a short period of time on Saturday. There were also some power boats operating in the sheltered area of the inner harbor on Saturday morning. It was known that the weather conditions would change by late morning and hence, all personnel and staff were informed from before to stay alert.

He also emphasized that the crafts that were found to have been caught in the storm were not from this school, and hence they did not have any responsibility towards these vessels.