Menu

Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Dublin Bay Boating News and Information

Displaying items by tag: Noel Butler

Dublin Bay Frostbites regulars Roy Van Maanen (Greystones SC) and Noel Butler (National YC) both finished second in their respective fleets at the RS Aero US Midwinters in Florida last weekend.

Varied conditions tested sailors in all wind strengths in very pleasant Florida temperatures across the race week held at Davis Island Yacht Club in Tampa.

Butler had a consistent performance in the shifty breeze on day two in the 7 fleet, scoring 3,2,3 to secure his podium, while Van Maanen enjoyed a game battle with Philip Myerson of Cedar Point YC in Connecticut for first in the 5 fleet, with the US sailor coming up trumps this time out.

The Irish contingent also competed in the Florida State Championship, with Butler taking third place and Van Maanen placing a more than respectable sixth.

And in the Round the Bay Long Distance Race on 8 February, Butler narrowly missed out on first place — under 10 seconds on handicap — to make it a trifecta of podium finishes.

Noel Butler and Roy Van Maanen (right) at dinner with fellow RS Aero sailors during the race week | Credit: Noel ButlerNoel Butler and Roy Van Maanen (right) at dinner with fellow RS Aero sailors during the race week | Credit: Noel Butler

Butler commented on social media: “Delighted to finish 2nd 7 rig in the RS Aero Class North America Midwinter Championships and 3rd in the Florida State Championships

“Thanks to organiser Ryan Schenck and all at the beautiful Davis Island Yacht Club for the hospitality and a great event.

“Thanks to the Cedar Point Yacht Club RS Aero sailors for providing charter boats and driving them all the way from CT to FL and back!

“Thanks to the Hummingbird Gang (Jeff Dunmall, Madhavan Thirumalai, Boris Mezhibovskiy, Roy Van Maanen) for the epic accomodation, food and fun!”

Both are back in action in Ireland this weekend, with the INSS RS Aero Super Series on Saturday and the DMYC Frostbites on Sunday.

Published in RS Aero

Noel Butler of the National Yacht Club is Stateside this week for the 2023 Florida RS Aero Winter Series in Tampa.

Davis Island Yacht Club — known for its steady winter winds ranging from 8-15 knots on any given day — is hosting the weeklong event that comprises the Florida State Championships on Monday 6 and Tuesday 7 February, the Round the Bay long-distance race on Wednesday 8 February and the Midwinters over the weekend of 10-12 February.

In the meantime, Butler’s absence will give his fellow competitors in the Viking Marine DMYC Frostbite Series a chance to reshuffle the leaderboard.

Published in RS Aero

Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC) PY dinghy overall leader Noel Butler was on the podium at the weekend at the third Italian RS Aero event of the season on the beautiful Island of Elba.

The event was dominated by national champion Filipo Vincis from Sardinia, with Davide Mulas also from Sardinia in second.

Butler, of the National Yacht Club, finished third and Greystones/RStGYC’s Roy Van Maanen finished fourth in a small but very competitive fleet and very light and tricky conditions.

Both Irish sailors will be back in action as usual in DBSC racing on Tuesday evening in Scotsman’s Bay.

At the end of the month, Van Maanen, Daragh Sheridan of Howth (the recently crowned Irish national champion) and Butler will compete in the RS Aero World Championships in Cascade Locks in the Columbia River Gorge near Portland, Oregon, USA.

Published in RS Aero
Tagged under

National Yacht Club sailor Noel Butler could not attend the AIB DBSC prizegiving in Dun Laoghaire's National Maritime Museum on Friday evening last to collect his trophy. Still, his winter Turkey Shoot shipmates made sure the Windmill Leisure and Marine Perpetual Trophy got to the multi-champion dinghy ace promptly by presenting it to him dockside on Sunday morning, before the second race of the 2021 Turkey Shoot Series on Dublin Bay.

It's the second year in succession. Butler, a former Laser II World Champion, has won the trophy for his PY performance in his RS Aero 'Orion' dinghy.

Butler is sailing on the J/97 Windjammer for the Turkey Shoot, another winning yacht from Friday night's ceremony. The Lindsay Casey skippered boat from the Royal St. George Yacht Club won DBSC's Premier award: the Waterhouse Shield, for the best yacht in a handicapped series across all DBSC fleets. 

Read more about Friday's prizegiving at the National Maritime Museum here.

Published in DBSC
Tagged under

#fireball – Noel and Ed Butler enhanced their overnight Fireball lead at the Munsters in Lough Ree to take the title with a 5pt margin writes Cormac Bradley. Adding a 1, 3 to their score of 4pts they had the luxury of swapping roles for the last race, Noel taking to trapezing.

Another combination entered the winner's enclosure for Race 6, Team Rumball, Kenneth & Alexander and with a 4th in Race 5, this elevated them to 3rd overall.

Barry McCartin, recently back from Australia and Conor Kinsella had a 5, 2 to secure 2nd overall. These three sailed most consistently over the weekend, allowing them a comfortable points margin over fourth placed Conor Clancy and Stephen Campion, who weren't too shabby with a 2, 2, 5, 5, 7, 8 results sheet.

Niall McGrotty and Neil Cramer had a much better day with a 2, 5, Neil Colin & Margaret Casey had a 4th in the last race and Louise McKenna & Hermine O'Keeffe scored another 3rd.

Smyth &Bradley scored two 9ths to hold onto 5th place overall, but in the words of a (in) famous Scot it was a squeaky bum session as Murphy & Voye closed to 3pts.

Three boats contested the Silver fleet, Evans/Caulfield from Sligo, Power/Barry and Chambers/McGuire from Dun Laoghaire. The title went West by a margin of 6pts from Power/Barry.

1. Butler/Butler 15061 8pts
2. McCartin/Kinsella 15093 13pts
3. Rumball/Rumball 15058 15pts
4. Clancy/Campion 14807 21pts
5. Smyth/Bradley 15007 30pts
6. Murphy/Voye 14908 33pts
7. McGrotty/Cramer 14938 35pts
8. McKenna/O'Keeffe 14691 36pts
9. Miller/Donnelly 14713 40pts
10. Colin/Casey 14775 42pts

6 excellent races were set by Race Officer John Leech and his team, each of just about one hour duration. Courses were adjusted continuously to fit in with the 1 hour constraint.

Hospitality by LRYC was superb with soup and rolls after racing and a great meal on Saturday night. The prize giving was held outside today such was the mildness of the weather.

We convene again in DL in 2 weeks time for the rescheduled Leinsters, to be hosted by DMYC with the Class AGM down for the Saturday evening. Volunteers for the committee will be needed!

Published in Fireball
Tagged under

The Fireball Leinster Championship at Howth YC this weekend has 20 confirmed entries to date, including the current National Champions and pre-event favourites Noel Butler and Shane McCarthy from Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club. The southside pairing has already won the Open Championship at Killaloe and the Ulsters at East Down. Other leading contenders include Simon McGrotty of Skerries, Neil Colin of DMYC and Kenneth Rumball of the Royal St.George.

Published in Racing

Dublin Bay

Dublin Bay on the east coast of Ireland stretches over seven kilometres, from Howth Head on its northern tip to Dalkey Island in the south. It's a place most Dubliners simply take for granted, and one of the capital's least visited places. But there's more going on out there than you'd imagine.

The biggest boating centre is at Dun Laoghaire Harbour on the Bay's south shore that is home to over 1,500 pleasure craft, four waterfront yacht clubs and Ireland's largest marina.

The bay is rather shallow with many sandbanks and rocky outcrops, and was notorious in the past for shipwrecks, especially when the wind was from the east. Until modern times, many ships and their passengers were lost along the treacherous coastline from Howth to Dun Laoghaire, less than a kilometre from shore.

The Bay is a C-shaped inlet of the Irish Sea and is about 10 kilometres wide along its north-south base, and 7 km in length to its apex at the centre of the city of Dublin; stretching from Howth Head in the north to Dalkey Point in the south. North Bull Island is situated in the northwest part of the bay, where one of two major inshore sandbanks lie, and features a 5 km long sandy beach, Dollymount Strand, fronting an internationally recognised wildfowl reserve. Many of the rivers of Dublin reach the Irish Sea at Dublin Bay: the River Liffey, with the River Dodder flow received less than 1 km inland, River Tolka, and various smaller rivers and streams.

Dublin Bay FAQs

There are approximately ten beaches and bathing spots around Dublin Bay: Dollymount Strand; Forty Foot Bathing Place; Half Moon bathing spot; Merrion Strand; Bull Wall; Sandycove Beach; Sandymount Strand; Seapoint; Shelley Banks; Sutton, Burrow Beach

There are slipways on the north side of Dublin Bay at Clontarf, Sutton and on the southside at Dun Laoghaire Harbour, and in Dalkey at Coliemore and Bulloch Harbours.

Dublin Bay is administered by a number of Government Departments, three local authorities and several statutory agencies. Dublin Port Company is in charge of navigation on the Bay.

Dublin Bay is approximately 70 sq kilometres or 7,000 hectares. The Bay is about 10 kilometres wide along its north-south base, and seven km in length east-west to its peak at the centre of the city of Dublin; stretching from Howth Head in the north to Dalkey Point in the south.

Dun Laoghaire Harbour on the southside of the Bay has an East and West Pier, each one kilometre long; this is one of the largest human-made harbours in the world. There also piers or walls at the entrance to the River Liffey at Dublin city known as the Great North and South Walls. Other harbours on the Bay include Bulloch Harbour and Coliemore Harbours both at Dalkey.

There are two marinas on Dublin Bay. Ireland's largest marina with over 800 berths is on the southern shore at Dun Laoghaire Harbour. The other is at Poolbeg Yacht and Boat Club on the River Liffey close to Dublin City.

Car and passenger Ferries operate from Dublin Port to the UK, Isle of Man and France. A passenger ferry operates from Dun Laoghaire Harbour to Howth as well as providing tourist voyages around the bay.

Dublin Bay has two Islands. Bull Island at Clontarf and Dalkey Island on the southern shore of the Bay.

The River Liffey flows through Dublin city and into the Bay. Its tributaries include the River Dodder, the River Poddle and the River Camac.

Dollymount, Burrow and Seapoint beaches

Approximately 1,500 boats from small dinghies to motorboats to ocean-going yachts. The vast majority, over 1,000, are moored at Dun Laoghaire Harbour which is Ireland's boating capital.

In 1981, UNESCO recognised the importance of Dublin Bay by designating North Bull Island as a Biosphere because of its rare and internationally important habitats and species of wildlife. To support sustainable development, UNESCO’s concept of a Biosphere has evolved to include not just areas of ecological value but also the areas around them and the communities that live and work within these areas. There have since been additional international and national designations, covering much of Dublin Bay, to ensure the protection of its water quality and biodiversity. To fulfil these broader management aims for the ecosystem, the Biosphere was expanded in 2015. The Biosphere now covers Dublin Bay, reflecting its significant environmental, economic, cultural and tourism importance, and extends to over 300km² to include the bay, the shore and nearby residential areas.

On the Southside at Dun Laoghaire, there is the National Yacht Club, Royal St. George Yacht Club, Royal Irish Yacht Club and Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club as well as Dublin Bay Sailing Club. In the city centre, there is Poolbeg Yacht and Boat Club. On the Northside of Dublin, there is Clontarf Yacht and Boat Club and Sutton Dinghy Club. While not on Dublin Bay, Howth Yacht Club is the major north Dublin Sailing centre.

© Afloat 2020