Those who are unaware of some of the more offbeat aspects of Irish maritime history can be forgiven for wondering how it is that Rogerstown, Rush and Skerries – all in the heart of heavily horticultural North Fingal - between them produce so many formidable sailors.

“How on earth” they demand, “can growing so many admittedly excellent potatoes, cabbages and strawberries make you a genius in a sailing boat?”

The intriguing sailing-talent-producing Rogerstown Estuary is almost boat-free in winter, but the well-filled Rush SC winter boat park speaks volumes about the local sailing interest.

LEGALLY ABSENT

The question is asked after a quick glance at the crème de la crème entry list for Howth’s three day Wave Regatta with Porsche as lead sponsors, where racing starts on this coming Friday (May 24th). Overall, it reveals an intriguing absence of lawyers, and a remarkable presence of established and rising talent from Rush SC and Skerries SC.

We were given a word to the wise on the legal scarcities.

“It would be a very unwise career move for a prominent figure in the law courts to be so conspicuously absent from the Law Library when the courts are sitting in a traditionally very busy period, and no Bank Holiday is being availed of.”

POTATO POTENTATES

Quite so. You can always easily get publicity when you least need it. But as to the sailing power of the Potato Potentates from the hidden acres of Fingal, that’s much more easily explained. Up there, fast sailing is in the blood. The emphasis on vegetables is only a recent innovation. But the sailing prowess long-outlasted the Vikings.

In the late 18th and early 19th Centuries, the tiny port of Rush and the nearby tide-riven estuary of Rogerstown produced Ireland’s two greatest sea captains in privateering and smuggling. The late 1700s saw the career peaks for privateering legend Luke Ryan, while the early 1800s witnessed the achievements of James Mathews, a highly-organised smuggler at a time when smuggling was a perfectly reasonable response to the actions of rabidly exploitative governments.

Lost but now found – the special Farr-designed Half Tonner Two Farr has been at worldwide locations during her long journey from Australia to Rush

If there is a key component in both maritime legends, it is surely the ability to sail fast offshore, while also being well able, when necessary, for both navigation and intricate inshore pilotage. In other words, exactly the skills set for success with a competitive cruiser-racer.

STORM OF RUSH

For some time now, Pat Kelly and his Fingal team from Rush with Storm have been among the top performers in the J/109 class. Well, Storm will be there at Wave, taking on local talent such as Simon Knowles’ Indian, and visiting talent such as Barry Cunningham’s current champion J/109 Chimaera from the Royal Irish YC.

A frequently-seen view of the J/109 Storm. Photo: Afloat.ie/David O’Brien

The mixing of Howth and Rush might be assumed to be neighbourliness, but that would be a mistake. The fact that Rush and Howth can keep an eye on each other along a northwest-southeast sightline across the Malahide Estuary Approaches only serves to emphasise how different they are, and that’s the way they want to keep it.

VIKINGS RE-TAKE HOWTH CASTLE

Thus the word is that the North Fingal contingent are establishing an encampment at Howth Castle, and admission will either be by invitation, or a password known to few, and spoken in ancient Norse, as in everyday use around Lusk.

The Vikings of Fingal will be setting up their encampment at Howth Castle (left)

But the Rush tentacles spread further, and in 2022 the linkup between North Fingal and West Cork was revealed in high profile when sometime Baltimore SC Commodore and “temporary permanent” BSC Honorary Sailing Secretary Rob O’Leary was on the Rush SC team that won the Half Ton Classic Worlds in the Solent on Paul Elvstrom’s former boat King One.

FINGAL WEST CORK LINKUP

That linkup has gone a stage further in order to compete directly with the world’s most-loved Half Tonner, the 1976 Farr-designed Swuzzlebubble. The thinking had been that surely more boats were built to this wonderful way-out design, particularly as Swuzzlebubble has in recent years been based at Crosshaven in the successful ownership of James Dwyer, and currently the ICRA “Boat of the Year”.

Belfast Lough’s top A35 Final Call II (John Minnis) seen in action in a previous visit to Howth. Photo: Annraoi Blaney

And it seems the sleuth-hounds of the Rush & O’Leary teams have come up with just such a boat, originally built in Australia but more recently racing under German designation. She’s called Two Farr, she’s unmistakable bright red, and with Rob O’Leary now in owning partnership with Fingal’s crème de la crème, so many all-Ireland club affiliations are listed that we are reminded of the extraordinarily all-Ireland personality of the J/24 Hard Case.

LAST MINUTE LOCALS

Entries for Wave don’t close until tonight (Tuesday 21st May) at midnight, but organiser Brian Turvey reckons the heavy metal from elsewhere have been long in, it’s only the last minute locals who will finally access that useful circular device, a round tuit, approaching the witching hour.

Meanwhile, with a general lineup including such formidable talent as John Minnis’s A35 Final Call II from Belfast Lough, the entry list makes for intriguing reading: 

Wave Regatta Entries 2024

1	Biggs/Cullen	Howth Yacht Club		IRL66	Checkmate XX	First 50	Class 0
2	Brian & Conor Turvey	Howth Yacht Club		19	Isobel	Howth 17
3	Simon Knowles	Howth Yacht Club		IRL1543	Indian	J109	Class 1
4	Thomas O’Reilly	Howth Yacht Club		770	Cool Beans	Squib
5	Emmet Dalton	Howth Yacht Club		37	Kerfuffle	Squib
6	Ian Bowring	Royal St. George Yacht Club		IRL 4464	Springer	Sigma 33	One Design
7	Stephen Mullaney	Howth Yacht Club		IRL4444	Insider	Sigma 33	One Design
8	Caroline and Nico Gore-Grimes	Howth Yacht Club		Irl988	Dux	X302	Class 3
9	Tom mc mahon	Howth Yacht Club		869	Tears in Heaven	Squib
10	DENIS HEWITT % ORS.	Royal Irish Yacht Club		IRL811	RAPTOR	MILLS 30CR	Class 1
11	Vincent Gaffney	Howth Yacht Club		IRL8188	Alliance II	Laser 28	Class 3
12	Barry O'Connor	Royal Irish Yacht Club		31310	Katanca	Elan31
13	Wright/De Neve	Howth Yacht Club		2794	Mata	Half tonne	Class 2
14	Wormald Walsh O'Neill	Howth Yacht Club		IRL 1972	No Excuse	X302	Class 3
15	Colin & Kathy Kavanagh	Howth Yacht Club		IRL 6697	Jeneral Lee	J97	Class 2
16	Susan Sheridan	Howth Yacht Club		385	Ibis	Puppeteer
17	Norbert Reillly	Howth Yacht Club		IRL 985	Ghost Raider	J111	Class 0
18	Jones Family	Royal Cork Yacht Club		IRL9753	Jellybaby	J122	Class 0
19	Lee Douglas / Aidan Keane	Malahide Yacht Club		791	Shenanigans	Feeling
20	Michael & Richard	Howth Yacht Club		1699	Snapshot	j99	Class 1
21	Alan Pearson Alan Blay	Howth Yacht Club		IRL15	Trick or Treat	Puppeteer
22	JOHN MINNIS	Club not listed	ROYAL ULSTER YACHT CLUB & RNIYC	IRL1003	FINAL CALL II	ARCHAMBAULT A35	Class 1
23	Brian Skehan	Howth Yacht Club		IRL 17793	Chinook	First 300 Spirit
24	John Beckett and Andy George	Howth Sailing and Boating Club		IRL4073	Splashdance	Dufour 40	Non Spinny 33ft+
25	Colm Bermingham	Howth Yacht Club		3335C	Bite the Bullet	Elan 333
26	Stephen Quinn	Howth Yacht Club		Irl9970	Lambay Rules	J97	Class 2
27	Kevin Darmody	Howth Yacht Club		IRL7115	Gecko	Quarter Ton	Class 3
28	Davie Nixon	Howth Yacht Club		18	Erica	H17
29	Terence Prendiville	Club not listed	no club (Dun Laoghaire Marina)	139 (Non ISA)	Maggie Bee	Anderson 22
30	Brian McDowell	Howth Yacht Club		IRL4212	Scandal	J24
31	Simon Sheahan	Howth Yacht Club		123	O'Leary	Squib
32	Ian malcolm	Howth Yacht Club		7	Aura	17
33	Massey, Toomey, Kenny	Howth Yacht Club		11	Deilginis	H17
34	Tim Chillingworth	Howth Yacht Club		IR386	Gannet	Puppeteer
35	Windsor & Steffi	Howth Yacht Club		IR 100	Demelza	Club Shamrock
36	Charlie McAllister	Club not listed	Antrim Boat Club	HKG2133	SKB	Fauroux quarter tonner	Class 3
37	Eamonn Burke & Jay Murray	Howth Yacht Club		IRL 971	Leeuwin	Sigma 33
38	Terry Mc Coy	Howth Yacht Club		2070	Out & About	Beneteau 38	Non Spinny 33ft+
39	kyran o grady	Howth Yacht Club	wicklow sailing club	ir 2848	bandersnatch of howth	swan 37
40	PJ Moran	Dun Laoghaire Marina		1685C	Rajah	Sigma 33 OOD	One Design
41	John & Suzie Murphy	Howth Yacht Club		IRL 19109	Outrajeous	J109	Class 1
42	Gerard Loughran/Ross Hattaway	Howth Yacht Club		493	3point9	Squib
43	bourke mc girr ball	Howth Yacht Club		IRL 3002	XEBEC	X 302	Class 2
44	Roslyn Byrne	Howth Yacht Club		50	Odyssey	Puppeteer
45	Dermot Skehan	Howth Yacht Club		1411	Toughnut	-	Non Spinny 33ft+
46	Stephen Harris / Frank Hughes	Howth Yacht Club		IRL 4077	Tiger	Beneteau First 40.7	Non Spinny 33ft+
47	Howth Yacht Club K25 Team	Howth Yacht Club		IRL 680	Killcullen	-	Class 3
48	OReilly/McDyer	Howth Yacht Club		219	Geppetto	Puppeteer
49	E Ferris &I Byrne	Howth Yacht Club		14	Gladys	Howth 17
50	Gallagher and Fitzgibbon	Howth Yacht Club		21	Orla	Howth 17
51	K&B Barker	Howth Yacht Club		318	Papagena	Puppeteer 22
52	Jane & Michael Duffy	Howth Yacht Club	HYC	9	HERA	Howth 17
53	Peter & Declan McCabe	Howth Yacht Club		IRL 1343	Arcturus	Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 37
54	Ian Dickson	Howth Yacht Club	HYC	22	Weyhey	Puppeteer
55	Gerard Kennedy	Howth Yacht Club		5526	Blue Velvet	Puppeteer
56	Fergal McNamara	Clontarf Yacht & Boat Club		297	Equaliser	EBoat
57	Shane Russell and Dave Carolan	Clontarf Yacht & Boat Club		152	Wile E Coyote	E-boat
58	Cormac Farrelly	Howth Yacht Club		IRL4123	Pepperbox	First 32s5
59	Sean Hawkshaw	Club not listed	Mullaghmore Sailing Club	IRL 7360	Wardance	Sigma 38	Class 2
60	Patrick Higginbotham Neil HIgginbotham	Malahide Yacht Club		158	Lazy Bones	Beneteau First Class 8	Class 3
61	Matthew Knowles	Howth Yacht Club		34	Intersceptre	Puppeteer 22
62	Micheal Carroll	Howth Yacht Club		1950	Flexit	-
63	Craig O’Neill	Royal Cork Yacht Club		IRL4064	Legal Alien	J/24	One Design
64	Peter Levins, Brendan Foley, Colm O'Buachalla, Mark Hennessey, Patrick Ryan, Conor Twoney	Royal St. George Yacht Club		FR111	ALLIG8R	First Class 8	Class 3
65	Neil Murphy / Conor Costello	Howth Yacht Club		6413	Yellow Peril	Puppeteer 22
66	Conor Haughton, Jonny Flood, Charles Heather, Garrett Kinnane	Wicklow Sailing Club		5270	Jupiter	J24	Class 3
67	Nicola & Stuart Harris	Waterford Harbour Sailing Club		3370	Moxy	X332 sport	Class 1
68	pat kelly	Rush Sailing Club	rsc hyc	irl1141	storm	j 109	Class 1
69	kelly boardman oleary	Club not listed	rsc bsc hyc rcyc	irl 2269	two farr	half tonner	Class 2
70	Joanne Hall / Martin Mahon	Club not listed	Courtown Sailing Club	IRL90210	SNOOPY	Quarter Tonner	Class 3
71	Flood/Greene	Howth Yacht Club		IRL8151	Jokers Wild	Beneteau 32S5
72	Roger Conan	Royal St. George Yacht Club		1041	Avalon	31.7
73	Mark Chambers & Alan Switzer	Club not listed	Courtown sailing club	IRL1707	Artemis	Sigma 33c
74	Peter Courtney	Howth Yacht Club		17	Oona	Howth 17
75	Miller, Crompton & Hodges	Club not listed	South Caenarvonshire Yacht Club	GBR7737R	Impetuous	Corby 37	Class 0
76	Barry Cunningham	Royal Irish Yacht Club		IRL 2160	Chimaera	J109	Class 1
77	Rima Macken	Howth Yacht Club		16	Eileen	Howth 17
78	paul conway	Royal St. George Yacht Club		IRL 932	CERVANTES	Contessa 32
79	Cliff Waddilove	Skerries Sailing Club		279	Aoife	E-Boat
80	Dave Clarke	Howth Yacht Club		2021c	Harlequin	Puppeteer
81	Kieran Jameson	Howth Yacht Club		IRL 8331	Changeling	Sigma 38
82	Donal Harkin	Howth Yacht Club		1048	Ghosty Ned	Puppeteer
83	Paddy Kyne	Howth Yacht Club		7495	Maximus	X 302	Class 3
84	James Dwyer	Royal Cork Yacht Club		KZ3494	Swuzzlebubble	Farr halftonner	Class 2
85	Johnny Treanor	National Yacht Club		IRL 3721	ValenTina	J112e	Class 0
86	Declan Gray	Howth Yacht Club		Irl3230	Sapphire	Oceanis 323 Clipper
87	Ger Smith / Niall Sabongi	Skerries Sailing Club		IRL4443	An Oifig	Sigma 33
88	Carty Finucane O'Byrne	Howth Yacht Club		IRL 1430	Mary Ellen	.
89	Roddy cooper	Howth Yacht Club		3	LEILA	17 footer
90	William Lacy	Howth Yacht Club		IRL 8322	Sojourn	Arcona 400

Two US-based sailors will add an international flavour to the fourth Irish RS Aero National Championships on the 15th & 16th of June at Howth Yacht Club.

Paul McMahon of the host club is the defending champion and will be hoping for a repeat on home waters. The sailors will also be hoping for a repeat of the classic Howth Easterly conditions of last October’s event.

The Principal Race Officer for the event is top sailor Nigel Biggs.

The Nationals will once again be supported by KODC Advisory who also sponsored the Easterns in Howth last year.

A key feature of many RS Aero events, which has proved very popular, is top-class coaching before the event and Thomas Chaix has agreed to provide a session on Friday afternoon.

Entry can be made here. There may be opportunities to charter an Aero for the event. Please contact Daragh Sheridan at [email protected] for further information.

The ILCA Masters National Championships proved that the ILCA is a boat for all ages. The masters travelled to Howth Yacht Club to race in the sunshine and a steady south-easterly breeze ranging from 8 to 14 knots. Under the watchful eye of Race Officer Neil Murphy and his team, six races took place over two days in the ILCA 6 and ILCA 7 fleets.

Masters sailors are split into five categories: Apprentices aged 30 to 45, Masters aged 45 to 54, Grand Masters 55 – 64, Great Grand Masters 65 – 74, and Legends 75+. Within each fleet, multiple contests take place, and prizes are awarded in each category and for overall winners.

2024 ILCA Masters National Championship Masters Championships competitors post racing on Sunday at Howth Yacht Club

In the 24-boat ILCA 7 fleet, Dan O’Connell and Rory Lynch, both regular Howth winter sailors, battled hard for the top spot, while Conor Byrne, last year's winner, was not far behind. After two wins in race 4 and 6, Rory Lynch topped the fleet and Apprentice category. Dan O’Connell, was second overall and first Master. while Conor Byrne last year 39s Masters Champion had to settle for third overall and second Apprentice. The top Grand Master was Nick Walshe, starting and finishing strong with a third in race one and a second in race six.

Baltimore Sailing Club's Rory Lynch - ILCA 7 Masters National Champion

In the ILCA 6 fleet, Conor Clancy and Sean Craig were well-matched rivals, both finishing all races in the top four. Sean Craig showed his experience with three race wins, discarding a fourth to take first overall and top Grand Master. Conor Clancy was just three points behind and finished second overall and top Apprentice. Conor Barry sailed a very consistent series, winning race six to take third place and top Master.

Royal St. George Yacht Club's Shirley Gilmore, the Women's Irish Masters ILCA 6 National Champion 

In the ILCA 6 Women's category Shirley Gilmore, Judy O’Byrne, Mary Chambers, Alison Pigot and Carla Fagan were racing hard. Shirley Gilmore inched ahead after day one and, with a fourth in race six, did enough to retain her Women’s Masters title, with Judy O’Beirne finishing second and Mary Chambers third overall. Alison Pigot was second in the Grand Master category, while Carla Fagan was the top Apprentice.

As always, Howth Yacht Club ran a top-class event. Jill Sommerville and Conor Murphy did an exceptional job organising it.

ILCA Ireland’s next event is the Ulster Championships which takes place in County Antrim Yacht Club on the 22 and 23 of June.

Full results below

The weekend's almost freakish display of the Northern Lights were better seen in some places than others. Howth on its peninsula avoided the later thundery rain which affected other parts of the country, some with flooding. The HYC Photography Fellowship were busy, with the Talented Turveys' Conor Turvey - best known for ace helming on the Howth 17 Isobel - managing to get a quartet of images of such quality that the stars themselves are seen clearly as part of what are some very big pictures - in every sense.

Howth's outer harbour is looking eastward, with the HYC Howth 17s and Squibs making up the bulk of the fleet lying to moorings. Photo: Conor Turvey

The humble Starter's Hut on the East Pier fronted up the most colourful display. Photo: Conor Turvey

Howth Lighthouse - probably the most-photographed building on the Peninsula - had to share the stage with a rare display of cosmic glory. Photo: Conor Turvey

When it was announced that the three-day Howth Wave Regatta 2024 would be in the last full May weekend of Friday 24th to Sunday 26th, there was a certain thoughtful sucking of the molars among the waterfront pundits. For this was clear evidence that the over-crowded cruiser-racing programme had led the Howth event organiser Brian Turvey into going head-to-head with the Scottish Series for the timing of his home event, which has Porsche as the classy lead sponsor.

Thus the most basic metric of the wisdom (or not) of his decision lay in two simple outcomes – which way would John Minnis’s A35 Final Call II from Belfast Lough go, and which way would Pat Kelly’s J/109 Storm from Rush incline her attention?

HARD-HEADED CHOICES

For both boats have found the Scottish Series to be a very happy hunting ground for conspicuous success in recent years. They are the form boats. Yet both boats and crews are noted for making very hard-headed decisions about where they’ll get their best competition in this time-precious age, resulting in something of a zero sum situation when events precisely clash.

So although it was the solidly reliable First 50 Checkmate XX (Nigel Biggs & Dave Cullen) which led the way in becoming Entry Number One for Wave, it was when Final Call II came in at Entry 22 and Storm came in at Entry 68 that the Waterfront Brains Trust agreed the Turvey Team had successfully made the crucial cut – the show was definitely on the road.

John Minnis’s Archambault 35 Final Call II from Belfast Lough on her way to success in Dublin Bay. She is headed south again for Howth Wave 2024 in ten days’ time. Photo: Afloat.ie/David O’Brien

John Minnis’s entry was especially fulsome, as he’d enthused about the quality of racing he’d experienced in previous visits to Howth. Yet the 2023 ICRA National’s event success at Howth had been achieved despite a very disobliging weather pattern, so it seems that it’s the general atmosphere - in addition to the quality of racing when available - which is Wave’s USP. and it has also attracted a representative Cork contingent.

“Ya just gotta learn to live with it” – Pat Kelly in the midst of his crew shrugs his way through another Storm success at the Scottish series, but for 2024 Storm is Entry 68 in Howth Wave. Photo: Marc Turner

HOWTH ENTERTAINMENT RATING A CONSTANT

But the entertainment value of Howth Yacht Club’s setting in a picturesque and hospitable fishing/sailing port is more or less a given when you add in the hectic social programme available. Thus in the end it’s the quality of the racing which is the ultimate factor, and it’s Howth’s race team – whose talents are regularly hi-jacked off around the corner of Howth Head by Dublin Bay Sailing Club – that gives the greatest and most continuous attention to improving the product.

Now, wouldn’t this be quite the place for a party? Howth Yacht Club and the village by night. Photo: HYC

Then too, with this major regatta being so conveniently provided right on the threshold of Dublin means that the organiser’s tolerance in accepting entries up to just three days in advance causes the weather situation and its immediate prospects some ten days hence to be a factor in some crew and boat participation decisions.

Let’s hear it for the big one! Checkmate XX racing at the ICRA Nationals 2023 in Howth. Owners Dave Cullen and Nigel Biggs find that a boat of this size provides added opportunities to give dinghy sailors their first serious keelboat experience. Photo: Annraoi Blaney

PLUS CA CHANGE……..

Thus it’s a matter of things changing all the time in order to stay the same, as Wave is ultimately based around Howth Yacht Club’s signature event, the Lambay Race. Originally using a trophy donated by the Stokes family in 1899, it was first known to have been eventually maiden sailed in 1904 (it didn’t do to rush into new things back in them days), and since then its mystique has increased with every year.

CENTENARY? WHAT CENTENARY?

Yet its Centenary in 2004 passed with little enough fanfare, as Howth may have been experiencing some “Centenary Fatigue”, what with the hundredth of Howth YC in 1995, and the big hundred of the ancient Howth 17 class in 1998. You can have enough of centenaries, whatever they may celebrate.

So the annual Lambay Race has gradually and rather quietly become a cornerstone of the architecture of the Fingal sailing programme. And traditionalists would argue that all they should have to do is fire a starting gun from the Howth pierhead when the tide is flooding north through Howth Sound, and send the fleet of multiple classes on the most basic course round the always slightly mysterious Lambay (please don’t call it Lambay island, “island” is implicit in that “ay” ending), and then time them home again when the ebb hustles them south.

The original Lambay Race course was very basic, but since 1904 various zigs and zags have been added

LENGTHENING THE COURSE

But that results in a course of only fifteen or so sea miles when something special is needed, so they’ve introduced all sorts of variants in order to provide extra length and ensure there’s a good beat or two. But whether or not you agree with what they do is rather dependent on how well you did.

I did my first Lambay on Johnny Pearson’s 8 Metre Cruiser/Racer Orana in 1970, when she was still smelling of roses thanks to having been overall winner of the RORC Beaumaris to Cork Race of 1966, a triumph achieved by the genius tactics of Brian Hegarty. Quite how we did round Lambay four yearslater is long forgotten, so obviously we didn’t win, but the good news is that the 1960-built Orana has since been meticulously restored by an owner in the south of England, and has been cutting a dash at the Morbihan Festival in Brittany.

The late Johnny Pearson of Howth’s 8 Metre C/R Orana is now based in the English Channel, and here is showing her well-maintained condition at the Morbihan Festival in South Brittany.

Subsequent Lambay Races have been done in boats as small as a Squib – you could keep racing flat-out sustained by an easily-handled diet of Superquinn of Sutton Cross’s superb Scotch eggs and a screw-top bottle of cider, something that kept you going on a Howth 17 too – while at the other end of the size scale, the serious biggies like Perry Greer’s 57ft Helen of Howth and Otto Glaser’s all-varnish Tritsch-Tratsch II tried to outdo each other in the style of their mid-race lunch.

The Howth 17s Aura (Ian & Judith Malcolm) and Pauline on the north side of Lambay. Photo: John Dean

USING THE ZIGS TO CHANGE SAILS FOR THE ZAGS

Naturally a bit of us inclines to go along with the traditionalists who say the course should be simply there and back. But it has to be admitted our big win came in 1981 thanks to the zig-zag nature of the course set from Lambay south. It was our first year with the Hustler 30 Turtle (bought in a Leeson Street night-club around 4 o’clock in the morning, but that’s another story) which had lovely Hood sails, but the jibs and genoas were hanked on. Yet with a strong but steadily easing sou’wester, coming back fro Lambay the zigs while screaming along under spinnaker enabled us to change up from working jib through No 2 (a really wonderful sail) to face the beats on the zags with the right cloth set, until the last zag leg to the finish was close-hauled under the No 1, going like a train.

The Hustler 30 Turtle racing with her hanked-on Hood No 2 genoa set. She managed to win the new-syle Lambay Race 1981 thanks to being able to change up on the headsails during the short spinnaker legs.

BAD CAREER MOVE

It was beginner’s luck. But it was a very bad career move to have had it right in such a major scenario, as our ECHO handicap went so stratospheric that it continued to penalize us when we moved on up to a 35-footer ten years alter. So with both boats, for any subsequent sniff of the silverware we had to go to the then-considerable expense of getting an impartial Channel Handicap rating and subsequently going IRC, with the latter being no cake-walk as they wouldn’t allow us to be weighed for measurement with the chain locker filled with the 45 fathoms of seven-eighths tested cable we reckoned made her a proper cruiser-racer.

All of which seems rather a long way from the Lambay Race 2024 and Howth Wave 2024 enveloping it, but then the Lambay can attract some odd boats, everything from the hottest new things to boats as old as Methuselah. Memorable in the latter category is a Lambay Race aboard Adrian “Stu” Spence’s 1873-vintage pilot cutter Madcap which – despite her supposedly speedy pilot cutter pedigree – managed to be beaten boat-for-boat by the mighty Clondalkin-built Galway Hooker Naomh Cronan, helmed in considerable style by Paddy Murphy who’d come across from Renvyle on Connemara’s Atlantic coast, and made his journey well worthwhile through this success.

Adrian “Stu” Spence’s Pilot Cutter Madcap on one of his Arctic cruises. Built 1873, she is believed to be the oldest boat ever to take part in the Lambay Race, but on the day……

…….Madcap was beaten boat-for-boat round Lambay by the Clondalkin-built Galway Hooker Naomh Cronan, helmed by Paddy Murphy from Renvyle in Connemara. Photo: W M Nixon

ENTRIES CLOSE MAY 21ST

Meanwhile, returning to prospects for Howth Wave 2024, we’re kept on tenterhooks by the fact that entries are being accepted right up to Tuesday May 21st. We can see this becoming a dangerous game, maybe even involving AI. As clubs become increasingly proud and sure of their race management equipment, we can see entries being accepted as they show up. Which, as it happens, was the way it always used to be:

“Didn’t you know we were coming? Sure didn’t we come last year? Of course were coming again this year – who’d have thought there was any need to tell you?

Olympians and former champions are set to compete in this year's ILCA Masters Championships at Howth Yacht Club. The event comes just nine months after the North Dublin club hosted the national championships for the 2023 class last August.

One of the main attractions of the event will be the ILCA 7 fleet, where defending champion Conor Byrne of the RStGYC is expected to face stiff competition from the likes of 1984 and 1988 Olympian Bill O'Hara. Byrne, who has taken fourth and second place in the regional ILCA events so far this year, is set to put up a strong defence of his title.

Nick Walsh of RCYC, winner of the 2022 Masters Championships and second place in 2021, will also be competing, along with Dan O'Connell of Cobh SC, who was second in the 2022 Masters Championships.

Royal St. George's Sean Craig of Dun Laoghaire Harbour competing in the 2023 ILCA 6 Grand Masters World Championships in Adelaide, Australia Photo: Jack Fletcher

In the smaller rig ILCA 6s, a strong Royal St. George Yacht Club turnout is expected, led by Sean Craig, who won the event in 2022 and 2021. Craig's clubmate Darren Griffin has also taken podium places in the past two years, while Hugh Delap, who was the first master at the recent Munster Championships, narrowly missed out on a podium place last year.

Shirley Gilmore is defending her Ladies Masters National Title and will be up against Mary Chambers, Great Grand Master who took line honours last week in DBSC. Also competing is Carla Fagan of the host club, Ali Pigott of the National Yacht Club and Judy O'Beirne, Dun Laoghaire ILCA Class Captain from the Royal St George Yacht Club.

The event will be overseen by Race Officer Neil Murphy, along with the rest of the race committee from the recent HYC Dinghy Frostbites. 

Howth Yacht Club in Ireland is set to receive a full container of 12 Melges 15s next week, as the class continues to grow rapidly.

This arrival will double the Irish fleet to 24 boats, with a strong fleet of 13 boats ready to sail in Howth’s Thursday dinghy racing, where a diverse range of owners ranging from the Oppie ‘Dad’ to the ‘Cruiser Racer’ will take ownership.

Many owners are reportedly returning to dinghy ownership after a long hiatus, while family is also a common theme with parents, partners, and siblings all set to sail and race on Howth waters this summer.

The Demo weekend off Ireland's Eye that led to the Melges 15 order of 12 boats for Howth Photo: Tom Ryan 

Irish promoter john sheehy says Tthe Melges 15 fleet is the fastest-growing dinghy fleet around the world, and with the arrival of these 12 boats, class numbers will top 800 internationally.

Boat numbers 796 to 807 will make their new home in the waters off Ireland’s eye, with one boat (805) owned by Howth Yacht Club itself, providing members more chances to get afloat. Club fleets have been popping up in the US over the last year, with Houston Yacht Club perhaps showing Howth Yacht Club the way forward with their own club-owned fleet of boats.

New Melges 15s are loaded in the factory. Next stop Howth Yacht Club!

The Irish national championships are set for Howth on August 24th and 25th, and with expected international entries, the event should be a competitive fair, pushing the fleet past 24 boats.

Bob Fannin Jnr feels most at home on the high seas. For as the Bristol-based writer, broadcaster and university lecturer told the members of the Cruising Group at his former club of Howth on Tuesday night, when sailing the sea, life is simple. There are basically just three very important matters that have to be handled very well indeed on a daily basis, with the ship tidy and properly shipshape - and the food good - well up the list.

Yet in trying to live a decent shore life, a natural seaman is constantly assailed by what seems like wave after wave of relative trivia that needs constant attention. But he or she soon learns that you can survive and get by with “a barely acceptable level of response”, however unsatisfactory that may seem. That said, he gave an understanding nod to the old dictum “that when a man gets to like a sea life, then he is not fit to live on land.”

Bob Fannin Jnr – “in the years he has been away, he has somehow ended up looking like Bruce Springsteen’s seagoing brother”

UNMATCHED SEA-GOING EXPERIENCE

His sea-going experience is off the scale, and in the years he has been away, this talented son of sailing cartoonist Bob Fannin Senr has somehow ended up looking like Bruce Springsteen’s sea-going brother. That’s as may be. But with skippers and shipmates like Arctic-pushing John Gore-Grimes and world-girdling Bill King on smaller yachts, combined with years of experience in the Caribbean and Mediterranean with classic big superyachts like Sumurun, Puritan and Tuiga, the depth of knowledge and tough experience he can draw on is mind-boggling.

Some of Bob Fannin’s best classic experience was gained on the renowned 15 Metre Tuiga

But out of all that, he says that the simple most important thing is something that he learned from Bill King, something that is sublime in its simplicity. The secret to keeping the sailing show on the road in a lengthy sailing project, says Bob, is to be found in straightforward kindness and thoughtfulness towards your shipmates.

KINDNESS IS ALL

He frankly admitted that this was something he personally had to learn, remarking that until he sailed with Bill King, it wouldn’t have been his first reaction in difficult times, or indeed in most times. But Bill King with his unrivalled range of experience knew how to get the best out of his shipmates through empathy, courtesy and the right level of tolerance.

Bill King of Galway – “in getting the best out of a crew, the right level of kindness is everything”

It was so central to his character that you got the feeling that this was the way he’d been born, but Bob says Bill King modestly claimed he’d had to learn it like most other truly successful skippers.

Since then, Bob has tried to carry this approach with him, even if it sometimes took quite a bit of personal adjustment. But it certainly has stood him to the good, as he was able to review a hugely-varied sailor’s life, a way of life that clearly has provided him with more experiences than the entire enthralled HYC Cruising Group combined.

The 1914-vintage Fife ketch Sumurun

The annual Brassed-Off Cup for Optimists which has been running in Howth for 21 years, was held on Sunday in breezy south easterly conditions over a relatively flat sea with some strong gusts to test the boat handling of the fleet. Eighteen enthusiastic sailors took part with the event being used by many as a final practice session before the Irish Sailing Youth National Championships in Royal Cork next weekend.

Given that the event schedule was three races without a discard, the PRO had hopes that the fleet might not be too aggressive on the start line and tried the first start on a Blue Peter. After a general recall, with at least half the fleet over, as promised in the briefing, the U flag was then broken out for all subsequent starts.

On the second race start, the tide under the fleet picked up pace and was a major factor in two general recalls. The race committee was beginning to anticipate a long day on the water and was relieved to get the race away on the third attempt. By the third race, the sailors seemed to have mastered the art of starting with tide under them and a clean start was achieved on the first attempt.

The overall and Senior Fleet winner with three bullets was Juliet Ryan HYC/MYC/Royal St George Yacht Club who built a commanding lead in each of the races. The Junior Fleet winner was Juliet’s younger brother Ollie Ryan MYC/RStG, who sailed consistently to finish 7th overall.

Always having the Friday and Saturday of the last weekend of March as the "fixed fixture" for your annual event is usually guaranteed to provide lively conditions and Howth YC's Scorie Walls's regular yearly staging of the University Keelboats team champs, using the club's flotilla of J/80s, has again been appropriately rewarded in 2024, even if some of the racing had to be sailed with a mandatory reef in the main.

GOING MAD WITH THE COLOURED SAILS

As there was nothing said about restrictions on going mad with the coloured sails up front, the sailing students made full use of the offwind opportunities. And none more so than University College Cork, captained by Michael O'Suillebhain of Kinsale, with the UCC team heading home with the top prize.

"Sailing off the east coast in the mad March days...." Everything under control at this stage, but it's anybody's guess what might happen if that black squall finlly hits the fleet. Photo: Emmet Dalton

Those who are resident and with a sea view at Howth have become accustomed to seeing the local club-owned J/80s being used for HYC's extensive sail training and introduction afloat programme. And - not to put a tooth in it - in those circumstances, the boats aren't necessarily seen to be looking their best. But all credit to Ireland's student sailors, they were on top of the challenge from the get-go, there was exceptonally close racing throughout, and the J/80s were looking great in these past two days to remind us what a notably handsome little craft we have with this classic J/Boat.

The "Scorie Walls College Keelboat Champs" provided the opportunity for competent student sailors to demonstrate the J/80 at her handsome best. Photo: Emmet Dalton