Menu

Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Lambay Race Enjoys Sunshine and North-Westerly Winds

14th June 2010
Lambay Race Enjoys Sunshine and North-Westerly Winds

The 160 entries – something of a sailing record in recent times – for this year’s Lambay Race – sponsored by Electro Automation Group in Howth Yacht Club - enjoyed a superb day afloat, basking in sunshine as they worked their way through light to moderate north-westerly winds around the island and back to their respective finishes. Race photos from Gareth Craig on the Afloat gallery here.

A number of classes had shortened courses and the dying wind saw 30 boats failing to finish. Visiting boats represented almost one-third of the total entry and they went home with nearly half of the divisional honours.

It was a good day for Paul O’Higgins’ ‘Rockabill V’ from the National YC which enjoyed success on the double, winning Class 1 on both IRC and ECHO handicaps, with the IRC win a matter of 7 seconds on corrected time from HYC’s ‘Crazy Horse’ (Norbert Reilly).

For once, it was not the multiple National Champion boat ‘Kinetic’ at the front of the Class 2 fleet but it was a very tight affair between two other HYC boats. ‘MiniMumm’ (Cobbe/McDonald) was a mere 40 seconds ahead on water (but 1.25 minutes corrected on IRC) of ‘Superhero’ (Byrne/Banahan) but enjoyed a much more emphatic win on ECHO by 8 minutes. Dave Cullen’s ‘King One’, third on both handicaps, took the IRC Restricted prize.

The biggest class in the regatta was the 28-boat fleet in Class 3 which was dominated on the water by two visiting J24s – ‘Hard on Port’ (Flor O’Driscoll, RSt.GYC) and ‘Scandal’ (Brian McDowell, MYC) and while the Dun Laoghaire boat was a comfortable winner, it was Basil McMahon’s ‘Holly’ which came through to take 2nd on IRC and also win on ECHO.

It was another southside entry, ‘Orna’ (P.Dilworth, National YC) which showed the way in emphatic fashion in the White Sail A Division, winning IRC by a massive 11 minutes corrected and ECHO by a more modest 1.35, both times ahead of Kieran Jameson’s ‘Changeling’. Local honour was restored in the White Sail B Division with ‘Flashback’ (Gregory/Breen), with a good win on IRC and a narrow one (5 seconds) on ECHO ahead of Charlie Boyle’s ‘On the Rox’ which had the consolation of taking the HPH prize.

The one-design classes had disappointing fleets compared to the cruisers but that didn’t mean any lack of competition. Seven E-boats travelled from Clontarf for the event and it was ‘OctopussE’ (P.O’Neill) which headed the race by an impressive 7 minutes from ‘Eagle Eye’ (O’Hara/Smith).

Only four Etchells made the starting line and unsurprisingly, the O’Grady/reilly partnership on ‘Kootamundra’ won by over 5 mnutes from runner-up ‘Northside Dragon’ (D. McManus). Seven 31.7s, representing four different clubs, saw a double whammy for Royal Irish visitor ‘Attitude’ (D.Owens), just ahead of HYC’s ‘C’Est la Vie’ (Flannelly & Others).

Nine Ruffians came from Dublin Bay and after 4 hours racing, only 1 minute separated ‘Shillelagh’ (Berber/Caldwell, NYC) and ‘Shannagh’ (S.Gill (RSt.GYC) while of the five Squibs in action, only ‘Puffin’ (Emer Harte) and ‘Pot Black’ (the McMurtrys) managed a finish and in that order too, both on scratch and HPH. Peter Courtney’s ‘Oona’ headed the Howth 17s’ fleet by three minutes from ‘Rita’ (Lynch/Curley) while ‘Rosemary’ (Curley/Jones) enjoyed handicap success.

The exception to the small one-design numbers was inevitably the Puppeteers who managed to get 17 boats on the starting line and the conditions were clearly to the liking of Alan Pearson and crew on ‘Trick or Treat’ because their 4 minute margin over ‘Harlequin’ (Clarke/Egan) on the water translated into a 4-second handicap win over ‘Cloud 9’ (C.Feely)

The Lambay Race Committee was chaired by James Markey, who was delighted that entries exceeded expectations, and the sponsors were Electro Automation Group, a leading specialist in such areas as automated car park systems, gate and door access control systems, and intelligent transportation systems.

 

HOWTH YACHT CLUB.  LAMBAY REGATTA (RACE) 12/06/2010   Class 1 IRC:  1, Rockabill V P O'Higgins NYC;  2, Crazy Horse N Reilly HYC;  3, Pretty Polly C Horrigan NYC;  Class 1  ECHO:  1=, Rockabill V P O'Higgins NYC;  1=, Rollercoaster C & P Power-Smith RStGYC;  3, Raptor Hewitt/Others RIYC;  Class 2  IRC:  1, MiniMumm Cobbe/McDonald HYC;  2, Superhero Byrne/Banahan HYC;  3, King One D Cullen HYC;  Class 2  ECHO:  1, MiniMumm Cobbe/McDonald HYC;  2, Superhero Byrne/Banahan HYC;  3, Dochas J Molohan HYC;  Class 2  IRC RESTRICTED:  1, King One D Cullen HYC;  2, Toughnut D Skehan HYC;  3, Bendemeer Casey/Power RStGYC;  Class 3  IRC:  1, Hard on Port F O'Driscoll RStGYC;  2, Holly B MacMahon HYC;  3, Scandal B McDowell MYC; Class 3  ECHO:  1, Holly B MacMahon HYC;  2, Saki McCormack/Ryan RIYC;  3, Hard on Port F O'Driscoll RStGYC;  First 31.7 SCRATCH:  1, Attitude D Owens RIYC;  2, C'est la Vie Flannelly/Others HYC;  3, Magic D O'Sullivan RIYC;  First 31.7  ECHO:  1, Attitude D Owens RIYC;  2, C'est la Vie Flannelly/Others HYC;  3, Bluefin Two M & B Bryson NYC;  Puppeteer  SCRATCH:  1, Trick or treat A Pearson HYC;  2, Harlequin Clarke/Egan HYC;  3, Eclipse A & R Hegarty HYC;  Puppeteer  HPH:  1, Trick or treat A Pearson HYC;  2, Cloud 9 C Feely HYC;  3, Nefertari Morgan/Murray HYC; Squib  SCRATCH:  1, Puffin E Harte HYC;  2, Pot Black R & I McMurty HYC;  Squib  HPH:  1, Puffin E Harte HYC;  2, Pot Black R & I McMurty HYC;  17 Footer  SCRATCH:  1, Oona P Courtney HYC;  2, Rita Lynch/Curley HYC;  3, Rosemary Curley/Jones HYC; 17 Footer  HPH:  1, Rosemary Curley/Jones HYC;  2, Echo B & H Lynch HYC;  3, Pauline O'Doherty/Ryan HYC;  Etchells SCRATCH:  1, Kootamundra O'Grady/Reilly HYC;  2, Northside Dragon D MacManus HYC;  3, Jabberwocky S Knowles HYC;  E Boat SCRATCH:  1, OctopussE P O'Neill CY&BC;  2, Eagle Eye O'Hara/Smith CY&BC;  3, Aoife B Linnane CY&BC;  Ruffian 23  SCRATCH:  1, Shillelagh Berber/Caldwell NYC;  2, Shannagh S Gill RStGYC;  3, Diane 2 A Claffey RStGYC;  SB 3  SCRATCH: 1, Shockwave E Quinlan HYC;  White Sail A  IRC:  1, Orna P Dilworth NYC;  2, Changeling K Jameson HYC;  3, Empress 111 T FitzPatrick HYC;  White Sail A  ECHO:  1, Orna P Dilworth NYC;  2, Changeling K Jameson HYC;  3, Empress 111 T FitzPatrick HYC;  White Sail B  IRC:  1, Flashback Gregory/Breen HYC; 2, On the Rox C & J Boyle HYC;  3, Brazen Hussy Stirling/Barry HYC;  White Sail B  HPH:  1, On the Rox C & J Boyle HYC;  2, Brazen Hussy Stirling/Barry HYC;  3, Alphida H Byrne HYC; White Sail B  ECHO:  1, Flashback Gregory/Breen HYC;  2, On the Rox C & J Boyle HYC;  3, Mac Magic D & P McCabe HYC

 

Published in Howth YC
Afloat.ie Team

About The Author

Afloat.ie Team

Email The Author

Afloat.ie is Ireland's dedicated marine journalism team.

Have you got a story for our reporters? Email us here.

We've got a favour to ask

More people are reading Afloat.ie than ever thanks to the power of the internet but we're in stormy seas because advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. Unlike many news sites, we haven't put up a paywall because we want to keep our marine journalism open.

Afloat.ie is Ireland's only full-time marine journalism team and it takes time, money and hard work to produce our content.

So you can see why we need to ask for your help.

If everyone chipped in, we can enhance our coverage and our future would be more secure. You can help us through a small donation. Thank you.

Direct Donation to Afloat button

Howth Yacht Club information

Howth Yacht Club is the largest members sailing club in Ireland, with over 1,700 members. The club welcomes inquiries about membership - see top of this page for contact details.

Howth Yacht Club (HYC) is 125 years old. It operates from its award-winning building overlooking Howth Harbour that houses office, bar, dining, and changing facilities. Apart from the Clubhouse, HYC has a 250-berth marina, two cranes and a boat storage area. In addition. its moorings in the harbour are serviced by launch.

The Club employs up to 31 staff during the summer and is the largest employer in Howth village and has a turnover of €2.2m.

HYC normally provides an annual programme of club racing on a year-round basis as well as hosting a full calendar of International, National and Regional competitive events. It operates a fleet of two large committee boats, 9 RIBs, 5 J80 Sportboats, a J24 and a variety of sailing dinghies that are available for members and training. The Club is also growing its commercial activities afloat using its QUEST sail and power boat training operation while ashore it hosts a wide range of functions each year, including conferences, weddings, parties and the like.

Howth Yacht Club originated as Howth Sailing Club in 1895. In 1968 Howth Sailing Club combined with Howth Motor Yacht Club, which had operated from the West Pier since 1935, to form Howth Yacht Club. The new clubhouse was opened in 1987 with further extensions carried out and more planned for the future including dredging and expanded marina facilities.

HYC caters for sailors of all ages and run sailing courses throughout the year as part of being an Irish Sailing accredited training facility with its own sailing school.

The club has a fully serviced marina with berthing for 250 yachts and HYC is delighted to be able to welcome visitors to this famous and scenic area of Dublin.

New applications for membership are always welcome

Howth Yacht Club FAQs

Howth Yacht Club is one of the most storied in Ireland — celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2020 — and has an active club sailing and racing scene to rival those of the Dun Laoghaire Waterfront Clubs on the other side of Dublin Bay.

Howth Yacht Club is based at the harbour of Howth, a suburban coastal village in north Co Dublin on the northern side of the Howth Head peninsula. The village is around 13km east-north-east of Dublin city centre and has a population of some 8,200.

Howth Yacht Club was founded as Howth Sailing Club in 1895. Howth Sailing Club later combined with Howth Motor Yacht Club, which had operated from the village’s West Pier since 1935, to form Howth Yacht Club.

The club organises and runs sailing events and courses for members and visitors all throughout the year and has very active keelboat and dinghy racing fleets. In addition, Howth Yacht Club prides itself as being a world-class international sailing event venue and hosts many National, European and World Championships as part of its busy annual sailing schedule.

As of November 2020, the Commodore of the Royal St George Yacht Club is Ian Byrne, with Paddy Judge as Vice-Commodore (Clubhouse and Administration). The club has two Rear-Commodores, Neil Murphy for Sailing and Sara Lacy for Junior Sailing, Training & Development.

Howth Yacht Club says it has one of the largest sailing memberships in Ireland and the UK; an exact number could not be confirmed as of November 2020.

Howth Yacht Club’s burgee is a vertical-banded pennant of red, white and red with a red anchor at its centre. The club’s ensign has a blue-grey field with the Irish tricolour in its top left corner and red anchor towards the bottom right corner.

The club organises and runs sailing events and courses for members and visitors all throughout the year and has very active keelboat and dinghy racing fleets. In addition, Howth Yacht Club prides itself as being a world-class international sailing event venue and hosts many National, European and World Championships as part of its busy annual sailing schedule.

Yes, Howth Yacht Club has an active junior section.

Yes, Howth Yacht Club hosts sailing and powerboat training for adults, juniors and corporate sailing under the Quest Howth brand.

Among its active keelboat and dinghy fleets, Howth Yacht Club is famous for being the home of the world’s oldest one-design racing keelboat class, the Howth Seventeen Footer. This still-thriving class of boat was designed by Walter Herbert Boyd in 1897 to be sailed in the local waters off Howth. The original five ‘gaff-rigged topsail’ boats that came to the harbour in the spring of 1898 are still raced hard from April until November every year along with the other 13 historical boats of this class.

Yes, Howth Yacht Club has a fleet of five J80 keelboats for charter by members for training, racing, organised events and day sailing.

The current modern clubhouse was the product of a design competition that was run in conjunction with the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland in 1983. The winning design by architects Vincent Fitzgerald and Reg Chandler was built and completed in March 1987. Further extensions have since been made to the building, grounds and its own secure 250-berth marina.

Yes, the Howth Yacht Club clubhouse offers a full bar and lounge, snug bar and coffee bar as well as a 180-seat dining room. Currently, the bar is closed due to Covid-19 restrictions. Catering remains available on weekends, take-home and delivery menus for Saturday night tapas and Sunday lunch.

The Howth Yacht Club office is open weekdays from 9am to 5pm. Contact the club for current restaurant opening hours at [email protected] or phone 01 832 0606.

Yes — when hosting sailing events, club racing, coaching and sailing courses, entertaining guests and running evening entertainment, tuition and talks, the club caters for all sorts of corporate, family and social occasions with a wide range of meeting, event and function rooms. For enquiries contact [email protected] or phone 01 832 2141.

Howth Yacht Club has various categories of membership, each affording the opportunity to avail of all the facilities at one of Ireland’s finest sailing clubs.

No — members can join active crews taking part in club keelboat and open sailing events, not to mention Pay & Sail J80 racing, charter sailing and more.

Fees range from €190 to €885 for ordinary members.
Memberships are renewed annually.

©Afloat 2020