Team Youghal Bay have just returned from the European P750 (Thundercat) Powerboat Racing Championships having taken the silver medals for Ireland. The championships which were held in Ireland for the first time, took place on Lough Derg over the October Bank Holiday weekend and featured teams from Ireland, the UK and Sweden. Racing took place over three days in three disciplines - surf, circuit and long-haul - with some of the best crews in the world competing (former world-champions, current world speed-record holders). With that kind of competition it proved to be a truly great result to see an Irish boat take second place in the top category. The Team Youghal Bay boat was piloted by Ronan O'Connor with Gearoid Hooley as co-pilot.

The recently formed Youghal Bay Boat Club (YBBC) has been busy over the past few weeks putting together an exciting itinerary to get more people out on the water. Their open day, the club's first on-the-water event, will kick off with a Parade of Sail at around 2pm, followed immediately by a Parade of Power, all taking place this May Bank Holiday weekend. All boats will then raft up just off the Youghal Quay for some quick speeches and a blessing of the boats.

It's then time for a nautical version of Wacky Races where teams will attempt to navigate a fun course in a combination of sailing dinghies, kayaks and thundercat powerboats. At 3pm the Coastguard helicopter will perform a demonstration with the local RNLI followed by an afternoon of demonstrations and activities from all the different sections within YBBC - dinghies, kayaks, angling, thundercats, wakeboard, windsurf and more. 

This is the first 'on-water' outing for YBBC and according to Club Commodore Padraig Brooks it's going to be just a small example of what's to come - "We've been amazed by the amount of support and interest the club has been getting since the idea of a club was mooted at the tail end of last year. We held a number of public meetings over the Winter and out of those we've now formed YBBC with a really strong committee on board to drive things along. Over the Summer months we plan on having a wide variety of exciting events from angling competitions to cruises in company, powerboat races to fun days, all culminating in our first Maritime Festival at the end of August. A lot of different groups had been doing their own thing on the water here in the South East for the last few years and by bringing it all under one club everyone seems to have been re-energised. We extend an open invitation to all to come along, talk to us, and get involved ....whether you have a boat or not".

And getting involved seems to be easier than in many places with club membership being among the lowest in the country (full adult memership is only €55). The club is fully affiliated to the ISA - the national governing body for recreational and competitive activities involving sail and engine powered craft in Ireland. As well as all of the club boats on the water, an open invitation has also been extended to boaters from all along the East and South-East coasts to come and take part - with some very exciting results. Already confirmed are a Sunseeker Manhattan 60 and a Fairline Squadron 58 (two very large and very beautiful motoryachts) and some seriously fast powerboats, including Power Marine's 21 SportCat which is capable of speeds in excess of 160kmph. Members of the club will be on shore to talk to anyone with any questions about how to get involved and music will be provided by Community Radio Youghal who'll be doing a live broadcast from the quay. So if you, like many others, are looking for something to do this upcoming May Bank Holiday Monday, other than the local DIY Store or Garden Centre, Youghal may well be the place to point your car (or boat!) towards.