Lough Derg Powerboat School is an Irish Sailing Association
(ISA) Recognised Training establishment, which is licensed to teach Powerboat
Levels 1 and 2.
The School operates its own rigid inflatable
boat. This type of boat is the standard equipment used by Rescue, Police and
Military Services and is one of the most popular sports boats available. Its
high-speed agility and handling make it an ideal training craft.
Lough Derg, because of its size and popularity
has busy marinas and harbours, navigation channels and markers. Strong winds and
currents coupled with quiet tracts of water make it an ideal training area.
The School Principal, Denis Dillon, comes from a
background of serving with a professional Rescue Service for the past 17 Years.
He holds qualifications in Rescue Techniques,
Offshore Navigation, Sea Survival, Medical Aid, Rescue Coxswain, Powerboat
Instructor, Fire Fighting and Breathing Apparatus. He is a member of the Irish
Institute of Training and Development, holding a Diploma in Training and
Development gained at the University of Limerick.
Lough Derg and its hinterlands is rich with its
marine past, It is easy to see the remains of the monasteries on Holy island
which were ransacked by the Vikings who came up the river in their great long
boats.
As you go around the lake you will see the
beautiful villages with their stone cut harbours and stores.
These harbours were not always a place of joy and
tranquility. Over 150 years ago our ancestors filled these same harbours waiting
for the passengers steamers to take them away from the curse known as the famine
and deliver them to ships waiting in limerick to take them to lands far away.
We also see the sections of canals which were
used by the commercial traffic bring Goods all the way from Dublin. These goods
were Loaded and off loaded all along the waterways in all the harbours.
Even the Barrels of Guinness, which we all know
about, were delivered in this manner.
Today these harbours see no commercial traffic
but enjoy the influx of people enjoying the waterways, as we have never done
before.
