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Displaying items by tag: Mayo Mayhem

Mayo Mayhem, Ireland's biggest windsurfing competition, was held last Friday and Saturday on Elly Beach Belmullet Co Mayo.

This year, the Mayhem event achieved a ranked two-star event on the International Windsurfing Tour.

Elly Beach was filled with colour as the competition attracted close to 50 windsurfers in both the Pro and Armature fleets.

The event had a mix of the best of Irish competing side by side with international competitors from France, Germany, Belgium and Scotland.

Mayo Mayhem - Competitors were scored on their massive Jumps and loops in the air and how they surfed the powerful Atlantic waves Photo: Eugene T CunninghamMayo Mayhem - Competitors were scored on their massive Jumps and loops in the air and how they surfed the powerful Atlantic waves Photo: Eugene T Cunningham

The conditions were perfect with strong southerly winds and three metre waves.

Competitors were scored on their massive Jumps and loops in the air and how they surfed the powerful Atlantic waves. Results below

Pro Fleet
1st Niclolas Quemener (France)
2nd Dieter Van Der Eyken (Belgium)
3rd Finn Mellon (Ireland)
4th Julius Byrne (Ireland)

Women's
1st Katie Mcanena (Ireland)
2nd Aoife Cooke (Ireland)
3rd Amy O'Donnell (Ireland)

Amateur Fleet
1st Tom Lotocki (Poland/Ireland)
2nd Colin Colville (Northern Ireland)
3rd Phil Hayden (Ireland)
4th Sean Keane (Ireland)

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Mayo Mayhem windsurfing wave competition held its fifth edition on Achill Island, in County Mayo, at the end of September, and the organisers have released a post-event video (below). 

The Mayo Mayhem weekend results also decided the Irish windsurfing wave title.

The competition was held in superb condition for a windsurfing wave competition, with Keel beach looking more like Hawaii as it was sunny all weekend with side shore winds of about 20 knots and good size waves of up to three metres.

Previously the competition has had two starboard and two Port tack conditions; this year, it was back to starboard tack. These conditions allowed the competitors to show their wave-riding skills and super-high jumps and loops. In total, there were 36 competitors across the Pro and Amateur fleets.

Two days of competition were run with points awarded each day, and then the points were combined to get an overall result.

In the end, the Pro fleet win went to Alex Duggan, with Julius Byrne in second and Nial Mellon in third.

In the Amateur fleet, Ross Gsamelov took the win from Bob Hagan in second, with Ant Byrne in third.

There was particular praise for Amy O'Donnell, the only female competitor to take on these fun but challenging conditions.

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The Kingstown to Queenstown Yacht Race or 'K2Q', previously the Fastnet 450

The Organising Authority ("OA") are ISORA & SCORA in association with The National Yacht Club & The Royal Cork Yacht Club.

The Kingstown to Queenstown Race (K2Q Race) is a 260-mile offshore race that will start in Dun Laoghaire (formerly Kingstown), around the famous Fastnet Rock and finish in Cork Harbour at Cobh (formerly Queenstown).

The  K2Q race follows from the successful inaugural 'Fastnet 450 Race' that ran in 2020 when Ireland was in the middle of the COVID Pandemic. It was run by the National Yacht Club, and the Royal cork Yacht Club were both celebrating significant anniversaries. The clubs combined forces to mark the 150th anniversary of the National Yacht Club and the 300th (Tricentenary) of the Royal Cork Yacht Club.

Of course, this race has some deeper roots. In 1860 the first-ever ocean yacht race on Irish Waters was held from Kingstown (now Dun Laoghaire) to Queenstown (now Cobh).

It is reported that the winner of the race was paid a prize of £15 at the time, and all competing boats got a bursary of 10/6 each. The first race winner was a Schooner Kingfisher owned by Cooper Penrose Esq. The race was held on July 14th 1860, and had sixteen boats racing.

In 2022, the winning boat will be awarded the first prize of a cheque for €15 mounted and framed and a Trophy provided by the Royal Cork Yacht Club, the oldest yacht club in the world.

The 2022 race will differ from the original course because it will be via the Fastnet Rock, so it is a c. 260m race, a race distance approved by the Royal Cornwall Yacht Club as an AZAB qualifier. 

A link to an Afloat article written by WM Nixon for some history on this original race is here.

The aim is to develop the race similarly to the Dun Laoghaire–Dingle Race that runs in alternate years. 

Fastnet 450 in 2020

The South Coast of Ireland Racing Association, in association with the National Yacht Club on Dublin Bay and the Royal Cork Yacht Club in Cork, staged the first edition of this race from Dun Laoghaire to Cork Harbour via the Fastnet Rock on August 22nd 2020.

The IRC race started in Dun Laoghaire on Saturday, August 22nd 2020. It passed the Muglin, Tuscar, Conningbeg and Fastnet Lighthouses to Starboard before returning to Cork Harbour and passing the Cork Buoy to Port, finishing when Roches's Point bears due East. The course was specifically designed to be of sufficient length to qualify skippers and crew for the RORC Fastnet Race 2021.

At A Glance – K2Q (Kingstown to Queenstown) Race 2024

The third edition of this 260-nautical mile race starts from the National Yacht Club on Dublin Bay on July 12th 2024 finishes in Cork Harbour.

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