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A Sigma 33 One Design keelboat racing on Dublin Bay Photo: AfloatA Sigma 33 One Design keelboat racing on Dublin Bay Photo: Afloat

Displaying items by tag: Royal Irish Yacht Club

With less than a month to go the Fastnet race Niall Dowling and Nick Smyth will be co skippering the J111 'Arabella' under the burgee of the Royal Irish Yacht Club. 'Arabella' the first J111 in Europe has had an extensive offshore campaign since winning the Hamble Spring Series in April. The Fastnet Race is the focus of their 2011 campaign.

'Arabella' currently lies 2nd out of over 300 boats in the RORC Overall Series behind Piet Vroon"s Kerr 46 Tonnerre de Breskens. Crew for the Fastnet will include Class 40 sailor John Cunningham, GBR Olympic Finn coach Matt Howard, Volvo sailor Craig Bowie. Also on board Dowling's long term friend, skipper and double handed campaigner Michael Boyd a veteran of many Fastnet campaigns the first of which was on the Irish Admirals Cup team in 1983 will further bolster the offshore experience. The dynamic duo of Peter Knight and Aaron Cooper both amongst the elite graduates of the Solent Keelboat Academy will cover roles of bowman and navigator respectively.

When asked about the campaign Dowling said "this campaign is all about getting a group of friends that used to sail a lot together back out there. Nick and I used to race dinghies, instructed sailing together in Dun Laoghaire and campaigned offshore. Nick has been doing lot of competitive team racing but until this campaign the last offshore race we did together with Michael was the Round Ireland race in 2006 ... . The RORC Eddystone Race in May definitely showed there were no cobwebs as Nick drove most of the way back from the lighthouse topping out at 22.6 knots and averaging mid teens! John although normally based in the US has been doing a fellowship at Cambridge University and has been on board since the boat arrived". Irish Olympic Finn sailor Tim Goodbody and the National Yacht Club's now Brighton based boat designer Jonny Coate are also regulars on board. For the Fastnet there will be a competitive fleet of 77 boats in IRC2 where 'Arabella' currently lies 2nd in the series behind RORC commodore Andrew Mc Irvine's First 40 'La Reponse'.

Published in Fastnet
Competitors in this year's Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta are set to race for the ultimate bragging rights in a new bonus event.
The Royal Irish Yacht Club is proposing the one-day event on Sunday 31 July modelled on the ISA All Ireland Sailing Championship, where up to 16 teams will compete in a winner-takes-all contest with the prize of a significant voucher to go against their annual Dublin Bay Sailing Club subscription.
The best helms from Cruisers 1, 2 and 3, White Sails, Sigmas, Dragons, 31.7s and SB3s will compete using the symmetrical kite J80s in a round-robin fleet racing format.
Each participating DBSC class will have one team, selected by being the highest ranked DBSC boat in the Dun Laoghaire Regatta. Each class can decide if the team is chosen on a  design, IRC or ECHO basis.
More details will be available in due course from the Royal Irish Yacht Club.

Competitors in this year's Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta are set to race for the ultimate bragging rights in a new bonus event.

The Royal Irish Yacht Club is proposing the one-day event on Sunday 31 July modelled on the ISA All Ireland Sailing Championship, where up to 16 teams will compete in a winner-takes-all contest with the prize of a significant voucher to go against their annual Dublin Bay Sailing Club subscription. 

The best helms from Cruisers 1, 2 and 3, White Sails, Sigmas, Dragons, 31.7s and SB3s will compete using the symmetrical kite J80s in a round-robin fleet racing format.

Each participating DBSC class will have one team, selected by being the highest ranked DBSC boat in the Dun Laoghaire Regatta. Each class can decide if the team is chosen on a  design, IRC or ECHO basis.

More details will be available in due course from the RIYC website.

Published in Volvo Regatta

Royal Irish club-mates made a clean sweep of Cruisers I tonight in a Dublin Bay Sailing Club Thursday night race that started in a medium south easterly wind but ended in a glassy calm writes our Dublin Bay Correspondent.

Cruiser One Race Results Scrubbed - Update Here

Light air speed is a quality of the fast hull shape of the Archambault A35 design and thus is was Peter Beamish's Aztec from the Royal Irish Yacht Club that got the better of a light air duel with the Mills 30 Raptor (Denis Hewitt) and the J109 Indecision (Declan Hayes). 

There was no recorded results in Cruisers II but in Cruisers III another Royal Irish entry, Ken Lawless's immaculate Supernova continues its winning run, in light, moderate and heavy airs. Tonight, the Dubois Starfish type took another first, this time from Sean Doyle and Gerry Byrne's Impala Huggy Bear from the National Yacht Club. Third was the club's only Sadler 34SE, Lady Rowena (David Bolger).

By 9pm, except for those boats with the most diligent trimmers on board, the bulk of the spinnakers across the bay had collapsed and a flood tide took a grip on the fleet. It was a big contrast to last Thursday when all racing was scrubbed due to the strong north-westerlies.

It was still a lovely night afloat tho and despite the drop in wind the bonus was most fleets got a finish. Full DUBLIN PORT Dublin Bay Sailing Club Results for 2 JUNE 2011 below: 

CRUISERS 1 Echo- 1. Aztec 3 (Peter Beamish), 2. Raptor (D.Hewitt et al), 3. Indecision (Declan Hayes et al)

CRUISERS 1 - 1. Aztec 3 (Peter Beamish), 2. Jalapeno (Dermod Baker et al), 3. Raptor (D.Hewitt et al)

CRUISERS 3 Echo - 1. Supernova (K.Lawless et al), 2. Huggy Bear (S.Doyle/G.Byrne), 3. Carrabeg (D.Martin/R.Deasy)

CRUISERS 3 - 1. Supernova (K.Lawless et al), 2. Huggy Bear (S.Doyle/G.Byrne), 3. Lady Rowena (David Bolger)

DRAGON - 1. Diva (R.Johnson/R.Goodbody), 2. Phantom (D.Williams/P.Bowring), 3. Susele (Michael Halpenny)

FLYING FIFTEEN - 1. Hi Fibre (Michael McCambridge), 2. Mellifluence (Tom Leonard), 3. Out of the Blue (F.Mitchell/G Grier)

GLEN - 1. Pterodactyl (R & D McCaffrey), 2. Glendun (B.Denham et al)

RUFFIAN 23 - 1. Shannagh (S.Gill/P.MacDiarmada), 2. Champagne (Des Thorpe et al), 3. Carmen (Michael Hinkson et al)

SB3s - 1. Flutter (Andrew Algeo), 2. Sandy Bottom (Gordon Judge), 3. Sin Bin (Barry O'Neill)

SHIPMAN - 1. Curraglas (John Masterson), 2. Invader (Gerard Glynn), 3. Poppy (Peter Wallis et al)

SQUIB - 1. Tais (Michael O'Connell), 2. Chillax (Mary McLoughlin), 3. Perfection (Jill Fleming)

WHITE SAIL CRUISERS Echo - 1. Persistence (C. Broadhead et al)

WHITE SAIL CRUISERS - 1. Persistence (C. Broadhead et al)

Published in DBSC
A strong, unstable and blustery airflow produced exciting, and at times marginal racing conditions at the week end for the East Coast Dragon Championship hosted by the Royal Irish Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire.

Despite Race Officer Jack Roy's skill and patience only four of the six race series was completed as a full gale swept through the bay on today.

In winds gusting up to 30 knots on the Friday and Saturday the tricky conditions produced four different winners, but Cameron Good and his team from Kinsale showed the most consistency to take the championship. Richard Goodbody from the host club was a close second, with Royal North of Ireland's Simon Brien third.

The Dragon focus now turns to Kinsale for the Nationals in August, and the last chance for visitors to check out the venue for the the Dragon Gold Cup in 2012'

Dragon East Coast Championship 2011 Results

1st Cameron Good, Simon Furney, Henry Kingston KYC
2nd Richard Goodbody, Rick Johnson, Rob Johnson RIYC
3rd Simon Brien, Mark Brien, David Good RNIYC
4th Andrew Craig RSGYC
5th Martin Byrne RSGYC

Published in Dragon
Dun Laoghaire's future lies in tourism and leisure, according to a submission on the new 'master plan' for the busy harbour.
The Irish Times reports that the town's top sailing and yacht clubs, who have come together under the banner of Dun Laoghaire Combined Clubs, are putting aside their individual interests "in favour of a larger and longer-term vision for the harbour".
The clubs' submission urges a rethink on public access to both the shore and water sides of the harbour. Inprovements in linking the town with the harbour area are already a goal of the master plan.
"Properly developed with a marine tourism and leisure focus [Dun Laoghaire] can generate new and sustainable sources of income." they said.
Dun Laoghaire Combined Clubs comprises the 'big four' waterfront clubs - the National, Royal Irish, Royal St George and Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club - as well as the Dublin Bay Sailing Club and the Royal Alfred Yacht Club.
The Irish Times has more on the story HERE.

Dun Laoghaire's future lies in tourism and leisure, according to a submission on the new 'master plan' for the busy harbour.

The Irish Times reports that the town's top sailing and yacht clubs, who have come together under the banner of Dun Laoghaire Combined Clubs, are putting aside their individual interests "in favour of a larger and longer-term vision for the harbour".

The clubs' submission urges a rethink on public access to both the shore and water sides of the harbour. Inprovements in linking the town with the harbour area are already a goal of the master plan.

"Properly developed with a marine tourism and leisure focus [Dun Laoghaire] can generate new and sustainable sources of income." they said.

Dun Laoghaire Combined Clubs comprises the 'big four' waterfront clubs - the National, Royal Irish, Royal St George and Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club - as well as the Dublin Bay Sailing Club and the Royal Alfred Yacht Club.

The Irish Times has more on the story HERE.

Published in Dublin Bay

Spot the mark was the order of the day on Dublin Bay for this afternoon's Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC) race as boats, ships and racing marks appeared - and disappeared - in a sea mist that persisted all afternoon.  The south easterly breeze that had prevailed this week means Forty foot mark, located just off Sandycove point, has got more than its fair share of use. Last Thursday's courses came in to play again this afternoon in Scotsmans bay.

David Williams of the Royal St. George Yacht Club sailing Phantom produced the same form as Thursday night to win from Michael Doorly in Aphrodite in a seven boat Dragon fleet. In the Flying fifteen's Frank Burgess  of the National Yacht Club won both races. The SB3 results have not been recorded and nor have Cruisers Zero. John Maybury's Cruiser one entry, the J109 Joker, was a winner on IRC and Chris Moore's J109 Powder Monkey was the ECHO handicap winner. The rest of the DBSC results from this afternoon's race are below:

As the DBSC fleet sailed back to their moorings more boats appeared out of the mist around 4.30pm. It was the leading pack of the ISORA fleet returning from their second race to Rockabill and back. And bringing them home was Bay regular Derek Martin's Lively Lady. Click for our ISORA story here.

DUBLIN PORT Dublin Bay Sailing Club Results for 7 MAY 2011

BENETEAU 31.7 - 1. Flying Machine (Conor O'Gallagher), 2. Prospect (Chris Johnston), 3. Bluefin Two (M & B Bryson)

BENETEAU 31.7 Echo- 1. Prospect (Chris Johnston), 2. Fiddly Bits (Kevin Byrne et al), 3. Flying Machine (Conor O'Gallagher)

CRUISERS 1 - 1. Joker 11 (John Maybury), 2. Something Else (J.Hall et al), 3. Aztec 3 (Peter Beamish)

CRUISERS 1 Echo - 1. Powder Monkey (C.Moore/M.Byrne), 2. Joker 11 (John Maybury), 3. Aztec 3 (Peter Beamish)

CRUISERS 2 Echo - 1. Dick Dastardly (B.Cusack et al), 2. Jawesome 11 (V.Kennedy/M.Dyke), 3. Smile (O'Connell/Healy/O'Sullivan)

CRUISERS 2 - 1. Jawesome 11 (V.Kennedy/M.Dyke), 2. Bendemeer (Lindsay Casey Power), 3. Smile (O'Connell/Healy/O'Sullivan)

CRUISERS 3 Echo - 1. Gung Ho (G & S O'Shea), 2. Hyflyer (John Barnard), 3. Cacciatore (Anne O'Callaghan et al)

CRUISERS 3 - 1. Gung Ho (G & S O'Shea), 2. Hyflyer (John Barnard), 3. Papytoo (M.Walsh/F.Guilfoyle)

CRUISERS 4 - 1. Maranda (Myles Kelly), 2. Ghrazel (Charles Pearson)

DRAGON - 1. Phantom (D.Williams/P.Bowring), 2. Aphrodite (Michael Doorly et al), 3. Susele (Michael Halpenny)

FLYING FIFTEEN - 1. Snow White (Frank Burgess), 2. The Big Bow Wow (N.Meagher/N.Matthews), 3. Fflogger (Alan Dooley)

FLYING FIFTEEN Race 2- 1. Snow White (Frank Burgess), 2. Hi Fibre (Michael McCambridge), 3. The Gruffalo (Keith Poole)

GLEN - 1. Glenluce (D & R O'Connor), 2. Glenshesk (L.Faulkner et al), 3. Glendun (B.Denham et al)

IDRA 14 FOOT - 1. Dunmoanin (Frank Hamilton), 2. Doody (J.Fitzgerald/J.Byrne), 3. Squalls (Stephen Harrison)

IDRA 14 FOOT Race 2- 1. Dunmoanin (Frank Hamilton), 2. Squalls (Stephen Harrison), 3. Doody (J.Fitzgerald/J.Byrne)

MERMAID - 1. Jill (P.Smith/P.Mangan), 2. Lively Lady (G O'Neill & M Hanney), 3. Kim (D Cassidy)

MERMAID Race 2- 1. Lively Lady (G O'Neill & M Hanney), 2. Jill (P.Smith/P.Mangan), 3. Kim (D Cassidy)

PY CLASS - 1. E Ryan (RS400), 2. F.Heath (Laser 1), 3. Desmond McCarthy (Laser 1)

PY CLASS Race 2- 1. F.Heath (Laser 1), 2. Desmond McCarthy (Laser 1), 3. E Ryan (RS400)

RUFFIAN 23 - 1. Ruffles (Michael Cutliffe), 2. Ripples (Frank Bradley), 3. Diane ll (Bruce Carswell)

SHIPMAN - 1. Gusto (C Heath), 2. Jo Slim (J.Clarke et al), 3. Whiterock (Henry Robinson)

SIGMA 33 - 1. White Mischief (Timothy Goodbody), 2. Gwili Two (D.Clarke/P.Maguire), 3. Popje (Ted McCourt)

SQUIB - 1. Femme Fatale (Joe O'Byrne), 2. Kookaburra (P & M Dee), 3. Nimble (Brian O'Hare)

SQUIB Race 2- 1. Femme Fatale (Joe O'Byrne), 2. Nimble (Brian O'Hare), 3. Kookaburra (P & M Dee)

WHITE SAIL CRUISERS Echo- 1. Sea Safari (Jacquelin Smith), 2. Calypso (Howard Knott), 3. Nirvana (Bernard Neeson)

WHITE SAIL CRUISERS - 1. Calypso (Howard Knott), 2. Act Two (Michael O'Leary et al), 3. Arwen (Philip O'Dwyer)

Published in DBSC
14th July 2009

Royal Irish Yacht Club

“Some things in life extend beyond ordinary experience – the Royal Irish Yacht Club is such a place, once enjoyed it can only be equalled by return.”

royal_irish_card_front_sm.jpg

The painting of the Royal Irish Yacht Club (above) is an extract from a larger painting of the club from the marina by one of the RIYC members, Desmond McCarthy.

For the latest RIYC news click HERE

Part of Club life is availing of the magnificent Clubhouse facilities where you can meet new people and develop lasting friendships. The Club hosts a wide variety of social events throughout the calendar year making it easy to keep in touch with fellow yachtsmen and women. As well as the regular scheduled events the Club caters for parties to celebrate the holidays, informal events, educational seminars, theme dinners, and all occasions. All this and more is brought to you by our highly qualified and professional catering team.

We are extremely proud of our catering department that facilitates all types of gatherings, both formal and casual, and always to the highest quality and standard. We have a number of venues within the Club each of which provide a different ambience to match your particular needs.

The Dining Room – This elegant room is steeped in club tradition. The décor creates an atmosphere of elegance and is the perfect venue for fine dining. Our menu offers a blend of the finest international cuisine using the freshest local produce. This is complemented by a fine selection of fine wines and unobtrusive friendly service. We know our kitchen will help you discover many culinary treasures.

The Upper Bar – A great meeting place for members. Relax with a glass of wine beside the fire and enjoy good conversation and the intimate surroundings. Our bar staff is committed to good service

The Drawing Room – A comfortable lounge tastefully decorated. Use it to relax and read the daily papers and journals. Bring a friend for tea/drinks. In winter the fires are ablaze creating that special warm atmosphere. This room is also used for cocktail receptions and private parties. We also provide daily a Traditional Afternoon Tea.

The Library – Recently restored has a wealth of sailing knowledge on its shelves. This Room is frequently used for meetings, seminars, business meetings, briefings, launches and small conferences. Reap the highest level of achievement in a traditionally peaceful and undisturbed working enviroment. It is the perfect private dining venue, for parties from 10 to 40, or cocktail receptions.

The Wet Bar – The venue for ‘many occasions’, The Wet Bar, since its refurbishment, has become the flagship for our function department as well for our Casual Dining programme. It is a multi-faceted room and can host a multitude of different functions. It is ideal for banquets, birthday celebrations, dinner/dances, weddings etc can also can be converted into a bistro for theme events and culinary journeys. It has a maximum seating capacity of 140. The centre of the room is dominated by a hi tech bar which sets the tone for intimate yet informal dining experiences. Our catering department will supply you with a comprehensive list of our extensive range of menus. We tailor make every function to suit your needs.

Weddings – The Dining Room at the Royal Irish is an ideal venue for your wedding reception. Beautifully decorated with old world charm, Waterford crystal chandeliers and exquisite views of Dublin Bay create the perfect setting. We cater for up to 90 guests. Superlative cuisine and unparalled service are the order of the day with waiter service all evening.

The Deck – the Club’s ‘al fresco’ venue. Relax and enjoy Irelands balmy days overlooking the Bay and the yacht basin. It is ever popular on Sunny evenings watching the sun set and enjoying the ambience of our wonderful club.

Sailing Suppers and Barbeques – During the sailing season we serve sailing suppers in the Wet Bar on Thursday and Saturday Evenings. Great food, great vibes after a great sail. In Good weather we serve BBQs on the deck for the yachtsmen returning from their evening sail.

(All details and image courtesy of the Royal Irish Yacht Club) 

 

Royal Irish Yacht Club, Harbour Road, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin. Tel: 01 280 9452, fax: 01 284 2470, emai: [email protected]

 
Have we got your club details? Click here to get involved

Published in Clubs
Page 17 of 17

How to sail, sailing clubs and sailing boats plus news on the wide range of sailing events on Irish waters forms the backbone of Afloat's sailing coverage.

We aim to encompass the widest range of activities undertaken on Irish lakes, rivers and coastal waters. This page describes those sailing activites in more detail and provides links and breakdowns of what you can expect from our sailing pages. We aim to bring jargon free reports separated in to popular categories to promote the sport of sailing in Ireland.

The packed 2013 sailing season sees the usual regular summer leagues and there are regular weekly race reports from Dublin Bay Sailing Club, Howth and Cork Harbour on Afloat.ie. This season and last also featured an array of top class events coming to these shores. Each year there is ICRA's Cruiser Nationals starts and every other year the Round Ireland Yacht Race starts and ends in Wicklow and all this action before July. Crosshaven's Cork Week kicks off on in early July every other year. in 2012 Ireland hosted some big international events too,  the ISAF Youth Worlds in Dun Laoghaire and in August the Tall Ships Race sailed into Dublin on its final leg. In that year the Dragon Gold Cup set sail in Kinsale in too.

2013 is also packed with Kinsale hosting the IFDS diabled world sailing championships in Kinsale and the same port is also hosting the Sovereign's Cup. The action moves to the east coast in July with the staging of the country's biggest regatta, the Volvo Dun Laoghaire regatta from July 11.

Our coverage though is not restricted to the Republic of Ireland but encompasses Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the Irish Sea area too. In this section you'll find information on the Irish Sailing Association and Irish sailors. There's sailing reports on regattas, racing, training, cruising, dinghies and keelboat classes, windsurfers, disabled sailing, sailing cruisers, Olympic sailing and Tall Ships sections plus youth sailing, match racing and team racing coverage too.

Sailing Club News

There is a network of over 70 sailing clubs in Ireland and we invite all clubs to submit details of their activities for inclusion in our daily website updates. There are dedicated sections given over to the big Irish clubs such as  the waterfront clubs in Dun Laoghaire; Dublin Bay Sailing Club, the Royal Saint George Yacht Club,  the Royal Irish Yacht Club and the National Yacht Club. In Munster we regularly feature the work of Kinsale Yacht Club and Royal Cork Yacht Club in Crosshaven.  Abroad Irish sailors compete in Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) racing in the UK and this club is covered too. Click here for Afloat's full list of sailing club information. We are keen to increase our coverage on the network of clubs from around the coast so if you would like to send us news and views of a local interest please let us have it by sending an email to [email protected]

Sailing Boats and Classes

Over 20 active dinghy and one design classes race in Irish waters and fleet sizes range from just a dozen or so right up to over 100 boats in the case of some of the biggest classes such as the Laser or Optimist dinghies for national and regional championships. Afloat has dedicated pages for each class: Dragons, Etchells, Fireball, Flying Fifteen, GP14, J24's, J80's, Laser, Sigma 33, RS Sailing, Star, Squibs, TopperMirror, Mermaids, National 18, Optimist, Puppeteers, SB3's, and Wayfarers. For more resources on Irish classes go to our dedicated sailing classes page.

The big boat scene represents up to 60% of the sail boat racing in these waters and Afloat carries updates from the Irish Cruiser Racer Association (ICRA), the body responsible for administering cruiser racing in Ireland and the popular annual ICRA National Championships. In 2010 an Irish team won the RORC Commodore's Cup putting Irish cruiser racing at an all time high. Popular cruiser fleets in Ireland are raced right around the coast but naturally the biggest fleets are in the biggest sailing centres in Cork Harbour and Dublin Bay. Cruisers race from a modest 20 feet or so right up to 50'. Racing is typically divided in to Cruisers Zero, Cruisers One, Cruisers Two, Cruisers Three and Cruisers Four. A current trend over the past few seasons has been the introduction of a White Sail division that is attracting big fleets.

Traditionally sailing in northern Europe and Ireland used to occur only in some months but now thanks to the advent of a network of marinas around the coast (and some would say milder winters) there are a number of popular winter leagues running right over the Christmas and winter periods.

Sailing Events

Punching well above its weight Irish sailing has staged some of the world's top events including the Volvo Ocean Race Galway Stopover, Tall Ships visits as well as dozens of class world and European Championships including the Laser Worlds, the Fireball Worlds in both Dun Laoghaire and Sligo.

Some of these events are no longer pure sailing regattas and have become major public maritime festivals some are the biggest of all public staged events. In the past few seasons Ireland has hosted events such as La Solitaire du Figaro and the ISAF Dublin Bay 2012 Youth Worlds.

There is a lively domestic racing scene for both inshore and offshore sailing. A national sailing calendar of summer fixtures is published annually and it includes old favorites such as Sovereign's Cup, Calves Week, Dun Laoghaire to Dingle, All Ireland Sailing Championships as well as new events with international appeal such as the Round Britain and Ireland Race and the Clipper Round the World Race, both of which have visited Ireland.

The bulk of the work on running events though is carried out by the network of sailing clubs around the coast and this is mostly a voluntary effort by people committed to the sport of sailing. For example Wicklow Sailing Club's Round Ireland yacht race run in association with the Royal Ocean Racing Club has been operating for over 30 years. Similarly the international Cork Week regatta has attracted over 500 boats in past editions and has also been running for over 30 years.  In recent years Dublin Bay has revived its own regatta called Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta and can claim to be the country's biggest event with over 550 boats entered in 2009.

On the international stage Afloat carries news of Irish and UK interest on Olympics 2012, Sydney to Hobart, Volvo Ocean Race, Cowes Week and the Fastnet Race.

We're always aiming to build on our sailing content. We're keen to build on areas such as online guides on learning to sail in Irish sailing schools, navigation and sailing holidays. If you have ideas for our pages we'd love to hear from you. Please email us at [email protected]