Grant Mac Ewan's Cleat 'Release'
Mac Ewan’s 2 Metre Cleat Lands in HYC
As 2020 draws closer to its finality, behind the doors at HYC there is plenty of hustle going on with plans in place for a bigger, better and more active 2021. Thankfully, sailing is an outdoor sport and the Committee and Flag Officers in HYC are busy working on plans to ensure that all members can safely get out on the water for racing, cruising and training next year. Behind the scenes we are using this quiet time to improve the clubhouse through carrying out repairs and using some of our bar staff to renovate the changing rooms amongst other things.
With the AGM planned to take place in December through Zoom it has been encouraging to see a large number of new Asgard members join the club and we want to encourage these new members to get the most from their club through lots of new sailing initiatives and social events which are planned for 2021. We are also engaging in a new Cadet programme with the help of our own Irish Sailing Academy, high performance sailor, Aoife Hopkins and we hope that 2021 will see this membership category revived with lots more 18-25 year olds getting involved in sailing and team racing challenges. We are also working on its hospitality opportunities to ensure we can continue to provide members with top quality dining experiences. In line with this we will be offering take-home dishes with sustainable and re-useable packaging and we will offering Sunday Lunch delivered to your door. We are busy lining up a programme of events involving the arts, poetry, reading and music and we look forward to resuming member in house activities including Bridge, Mah-Jong, Pilates, painting and a range of new activities for 2021, as soon as is permissible. We are fortunate that we have lots of space within our premises that allow us to easily adopt the new protocols for Covid-19 and keep our members safe and secure.
Pictured below is our Commodore Ian Byrne and Vice-Commodore Paddy Judge enjoying the view from Grant Mac Ewan’s magnificent, oversized Cleat Sculpture ‘Release’ which meets the recommended 2 metre Social Distancing which has become part of our daily life.
About the Sculptor Grant Mac Ewan -
RELEASE is an oversized CLEAT originally designed for Sculpture in Context at the National Botanic Gardens this year. It was imagined to inspire a feeling of hope and ‘release’ as we came out of lockdown and try to find some freedom in this new normal, living with Covid 19. As ‘THIS IS 2 METERS’ is part of our daily life now, Grant thought the cleat could emphasise the importance of social distancing in a nautical setting. Handmade in Marine Grade Stainless steel with scaled Copper Screw heads - LOA 2.4m, Grant’s background is marine, growing up around boats in Howth and on the Shannon. He was also lucky enough to travel the world on the then Irish Sail Training Vessel, Asgard II, initially as Trainee and latterly as Bosun. Grant mainly works now in stainless steel & copper for his sculpture pieces, boat and yacht models and garden art. "I’m always comfortable with a nautical theme. I try to capture movement and reflections in my work, and if I can do both - even better!"
Grant Mac Ewan, Grantdesigns.ie