The selection of Howth Yacht Club as Ireland’s latest MG Motor “Sailing Club of the Year Award” represents a remarkable harmony of achievement between the competition winners and the sponsors, with Howth Yacht Club becoming “Sailing Club of the Year 2023” as the all-electric MG4EV is acclaimed as Ireland’s “Car of the Year 2023”.

Howth YC came rocketing in style and readiness out of the global pandemic’s frustrations to find itself in a 2022 season of remarkable achievement at home, on the national scene, and abroad at the top international level. And it has been a time of record club membership, with numbers totalling 2,173 in all categories undertaking a hugely varied range of activities afloat and ashore at all stages of competitiveness.

This vividly reflects the club’s dynamic interaction both with the community on its home peninsula, and with a more widely-spread membership, some of whom are happy to travel significant distances to get to Howth – in several cases internationally - in order to enjoy the special “Howth sailing and boating product”. This has developed so successfully over the years that 2023 is the sixth occasion on which Howth YC will be holding the top club title in the 44 years of this informal inter-club contest’s existence, a record of achievement matched only by the National Yacht Club of Dun Laoghaire and the Royal Cork Yacht Club in Crosshaven.

MG4 EV “CAR OF THE YEAR 2023”

Like Howth Yacht Club, sponsors MG Motor enter 2023 on a real high. The international company has been facing the challenge of developing an affordable electric car for some years now, and while impressive progress had been made with several models, it has only been in recent months that the real breakthrough has come with universal approval for the MG4 EV family saloon.

The Howth Yacht Club marina/clubhouse complex was initially created literally “out of nothing” in the empty and dry-at-low-tide southeast corner of Howth Harbour between 1981 and 1987, with additions and improvements continuing ever since

This “hot-hatch” variant of the award-winning MG4 EV will become available during 2023

In Ireland, this breakthrough first came late in 2022 with lavish praise from the Sunday Business Post. But it was in December that the “we’re walking on air” level of recognition was reached, when all The Irish Times motoring writers enthusiastically agreed that the MG 4EV was The Irish Times “Car of the Year 2023”.

Sailing people are more aware than most of the benefits of clean air and the potential of different environmentally-friendly and relatively noise-free methods of generating motive power for vehicles afloat and ashore. So this happy coincidence of mutual acclamation for two outstanding organisations is a matter of special celebration in a world in which good news seems to have become a rare commodity.  

HOWTH’S SENSE OF CONTINUITY KEY TO SUCCESS

In announcing Howth YC’s success today, we have to take a snapshot of the club as it is now. But of course, like all successful sailing organisations, it is a strong sense of continuity in administration afloat and ashore, combined with sailing enthusiasm and success on the water, that keeps things humming smoothly along, with the regular Changes of the Watch at the Annual General Meetings reflecting the quietly renewing pool of people willing to serve an organisation of this size, complexity and energy.

Incoming HYC Commodore Neil Murphy has participated and served in sailing in Howth, in Ireland, and internationally for many years. Photo: W M Nixon

Thus it was as recently as December 13^th that Vice Commodore Neil Murphy – who for very many years has put even more into sailing than he takes out of it -  succeeded cruiser-racer skipper Paddy Judge as HYC Commodore. But it was the end-of-year announcement of Afloat.ie’s December “Sailor of the Month (Services to Sailing)” national award to Paddy Judge which was able to highlight the fact that his period of service had gone way beyond ascending the ladder in the officer ranks, as he had been the club’s voluntary General Manager for the difficult years as HYC – like clubs everywhere – dealt with and then recovered from the massive problems posed by the economic recession of 2009-2012.

In doing this he was ably supported throughout by Honorary Secretary Bernie Condy, who continues with her customarily under-stated yet very effective dedication to HYC. But the running of the club on a day-to-day basis was restored to normality with the appointment of Aideen Doran as General Manager in September 2020 in time for Paddy Judge to take over as Commodore in December of that year.

HOWTH PENINSULA GEOGRAPHICALLY DEFINED ITS OWN PANDEMIC RESTRICTIONS

He succeeded Ian Byrne, who had drawn the short straw in being Commodore during the most intense periods of pandemic lockdown. But Ian had provided exemplary leadership through personally acquainting himself with each and every last detail of the new regulations and limitations in order to permit sailing at Howth whenever possible.

Ian Byrne (Commodore 2018-2020) and Paddy Judge defining the two metre inter-person pandemic limit at the clubhouse

The Howth peninsula came into its own as a clearly defined naturally distance-limiting compliant area for in-bubble activity, and one of the fascinations of it all – as the vaccination programme got under way – was the discovery that the peninsula had more healthy inhabitants over the age of 85 than the authorities had fully realised. Of course they were all on some GP’s register, but as the fittest of them never bothered their doctors very much from one year to the next, it was an agreeable surprise to discover just how many sprightly ninety years olds there were about the place.

RAVE AT THE WAVE

This spirited attitude is reflected in the fact that Howth Yacht Club doesn’t behave like a 128-year-old organisation burdened by its long history. On the contrary, if you’d been at the rave night or some other special during the club’s nationally-contested biennial Wave Regatta at the beginning of June (when the overall winner was Howth’s own Demot Skehan with his vintage MG34 Toughnut) you could have been forgiven for thinking this was some volume-enhanced pop-up setup which would be completely gone by Monday. 

Overall wnner Dermot Skehan with his successful Toughnut crew and Commodore Paddy Judge at the Howth Wave Regatta in June

Equally, the club’s senior class - the 1898-established jackyard tops’l toting Howth 17s, designed by founding Commodore Walter Boyd, do not see themselves as sacred relics to be lovingly preserved by their owners on a curator and caretaker basis. On the contrary, the key people in keeping the class thriving down the years, mad keen sailors such as Nick Massey, Peter Courtney and Ian Malcolm, have done so on the basis that the Seventeens are all there to provide first class one design racing,

The 17ft Class Association members expect to have at least 60 races per year, with the 125^th Anniversary in 2023 being enhanced by the fleet upping sticks in late June and taking themselves to Baltimore in West Cork – led by Class Captain Dave O’Shea - for the special 125^th birthday bash, and much racing.

COMMUNITY SPIRIT

The perfect topsail set on a Howth 17 by Peter Courtney’s 1911-built Oonagh (right) in close competition with the 2019-built Orla. Photo: Neil Murphy

The Seventeens personify the community spirit of Howth sailing, seen at its best back in March 2018 when Storm Emma flattened the shed on the East Pier in which seven Seventeens were in winter storage. In a first pessimistic assessment, it was reckoned maybe five were write-offs. But in the end, only one was a complete re-build, the rest were restored through the skills of boatbuilder Larry Archer, and a happy dream came true in August 2022 when the 1907-built Rosemary – dubbed the IKEA boat after being found as little more than a flat-pack after Emma came to call – went so well in her restored condition that helmsman Davy Jones won the closely-contested National Championship for his co-owners George Curley and David Potter by a whisker, at something like the fifth stage of a points countback.

Davy Jones and crew celebrate their extremely close win of the Howth 17 Nationals in August 2022 with Rosemary.  Photo: Patricia Nixon

“The IKEA Flatpack Boat” – Rosemary as she was in March 2018, after Strom Emma had swept through Howth

Meanwhile the Boat of the Year on a season-long points basis was Davy Nixon’s Erica, unusual for having been built in a shed at Howth Castle in 1988 when the St Lawrence family were still in residence after 817 years. As it happens, one of Howth’s significant occurrences in 2022 was the departure of the St Lawrence family after 851 years in the castle. But there are four very ancient Howth families which pre-dated them still in residence in the village, and as like as not you’ll find one of them sailing against or in the Brains’ Trust, which campaigns Erica, where the crew panel includes Fred Connolly who is both the HYC Marina Superintendent and the Howth Lifeboat cox’n, while another notable on the strength is the Peninsula’s computer genius and AI expert, who’ll have the answer to your high-tech query before you’ve even thought of the question.

HOWTH MOVES TO WICKLOW

This sense of a supportive Howth community emerged in an unusual way at the start of the SSE Renewables Round Ireland Race from Wicklow on June 18^th. Mike & Richie Evans of Howth had entered their successful little regatta-winning J/99 Snapshot for what was to be her first major offshore race. But though Stephen Quinn’s J/97 Lambay Rules from Howth has been an impressive Round Ireland performer in times past, the old salts on the waterfront wasted no time in telling the Evans brothers that they were taking on a notoriously tough race in what was little more than a glorified day sailer.

Where else would you get a lighthouse with flower-filled window-boxes? The reassuring presence of HYC Senior Committee Boat Star Point - aka “The Men’s Shed Afloat” -  entering Howth Harbour. Photo: Annraoi Blaney

Thus in his report of the race for the HYC Website, Mike Evans noted how reassuring it was to find that HYC’s senior Committee Boat Star Point had been recruited down to Wicklow to start the Round Ireland Race in the absence of the usual Naval Service vessel. In Howth the more irreverent may refer to Star Point as the “Men’s Shed Afloat”, but for Snapshot’s crew it was almost as though they were going off on an evening race at home rather than taking on the world and the largely unknown challenge of the Atlantic.

The Evans brothers’ J/99 Snapshot under Wicklow Head at the start of her successful Round Ireland Race, which contributed to her becoming ICRA Boat of the Year. Photo: Afloat.ie/David O/Brien

They soared through the race, frequently leading overall, and though the cards hadn’t fallen their way in the final stage, the masterly way in which they short-tacked along the beach inside the worst of the foul tide in the final miles to the finish saw Snapshot move up the rankings to a close second overall and comfortably first of all the Irish entries, an achievement which made a major contribution to her being declared the “ICRA Boat of the Year 2022”. 

INTERNATIONAL JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT

With a regularly-competing international lineup which includes Rob Dickson contesting the 49er to World Champion level with Sean Waddilove of Skerries as crew, plus Eve McMahon, Rocco Wright and Luke Turvey leading the charge as very junior yet seriously competitive  ILCA/Laser contenders, Howth finds itself sharing their success with all Ireland. But either way, there’s no denying that Eve brought back at least two Gold Medals from world level contests, while Rocco had at least one and many other successes at home, so the future for Howth and Ireland looks bright, with new talent such as Harry Dunne coming up through the Optimist ranks.

ILCAWorlds Gold Medallist Eve McMahon welcomed back to Dublin Airport by her parents Vicky and Jim

That said, more senior campaigners should be given every credit when success is achieved, and Howth’s leading J/80 international campaigner -Pat O’Neill who had already carved out big wins in Europe  - went to the US in 2022 for the J/80 worlds at Newport, and returned with the Bronze, a notable success wrested from the core of the J/80 heartlands.

J/80 World Championship Bronze Medallist Pat O’Neill (second left) with his crew in Newport, Rhode Island

FORTY YEARS OF THE MARINA

At home meanwhile, Howth was quietly celebrating the 40^th Anniversary of its marina in the best possible way, by using it at full capacity for a continuous programme of sailing training for all ages, an intense fixture list of club racing events, and the hosting of majors. Among these, the J/24 Europeans was a highlight, with Howth’s own David Lovegrove officiating in his role as an International Race Officer at one of several majors which resulted in his spending 25 days during 2022 afloat and actively administering significant championships.

Race Officer David Lovegrove at his work. Commodore of Howth Yacht Club for its Centenary in 1995, he is busier than ever these days, spending a total 25 days afloat in 2022 running major sailing events. Photo: Judith Malcolm

But for most folk, the marina is a friendly and rewarding place to keep a boat, and ever since it came into being, the club’s largest single section has been the Cruising Group. First convened in the 1980s by Gary McGuire, and larger and more active than ever these days with its record of achievement since 1982 including Pat and Olivia Murphy’s really excellent nine-year global circumnavigation with their 40ft cutter Aldebaran, in many ways the Cruising Group is what HYC is all about.

As for the future, 2023 is already well set up with the Howth programme book-ended by the National Youth Championship in April and the ICRA Nationals at the beginning of September. Looking at Howth’s busy and well-filled sailing and fishing harbour today, you might well think the basics of it have been there for a very long time. But the fact is that only forty years ago what is now the highly active and successful clubhouse/marina setup was no more than an enormous pit in the harbour, and filling it in the most useful possible way required a very special club and community effort whose spirit is happily stronger than ever today.

Howth Yacht Club and Marina today. Forty years ago, this was empty space, and still a dream whose fulfillment required enormous club and community effort

After missing out on racing the previous week due to a piercing easterly gale, the race officers of the HYC Dinghy Frostbites – which has attracted entries from clubs near and far - decided that three races would be run on 11th December, instead of the usual two writes Conor Murphy, This effort to catch up on races was welcomed by the sailors across the fleets, as all eyed up an opportunity to climb another place or two in the series results, which remain tight across the board.

The eagerness of the sailors was muted somewhat by a stiff northerly breeze, stronger than expected. More than one sailor who had over-indulged in the Christmas buildup on the previous evening - after looking at a light and pleasant forecast - was left contemplating the outcome of those choices made in the merriment of the night before. The northerly breeze imposed order on the launching process, but once sailors made it to the race course, they arrived to a laid Olympic course; shorter than usual, to allow the three races to be completed before any frostbite set in. All fleets started together each time, and were well behaved to get away cleanly.

Daragh Kelleher of Skerries staving off the challenge of Dan O’Connell of Cove in the Howth racing. Photo: HYC

In the ILCA 7s, the same four -- Ronan Wallace of Wexford, Rory Lynch of Baltimore, Daragh Kelleher of Skerries and Dan O’Connell of Cove - battled it out around the racecourse each time, swapping places at each corner and fighting until the finish line. Conor Murphy trailed the leading pack each time, never quite breaking into it, finishing 5th in each race. Dave Kirwan of Malahide and Stephen Quinn of Howth battled it out for 6th and 7th in each race, swapping positions more than once. Ronan Wallace leads the series by 7 points, and only 2 points separate Daragh and Rory in 2nd and 3rd, so it’ll be close-racing to close out the series.

Munster v Leinster….Rory Lynch (Baltimore SC) leading Ronan Wallace (Wexford HB&TC) and Dan O'Connell (Cove SC) to the leeward mark

In the ILCA 6s, Marco Sorgassi (Royal St George YC) demonstrated why he’s leading the series with a solid three bullets, beating many of the ILCA 7s around the course at the same time. Hugh Delap, Fiachra Farrelly and Una Connell filled out the rest of the fleet. While Marco has a 10-point gap to Hugh in 2nd, only 3 points separate Hugh and Fiachra in 3rd, so it’s all to play for on the 18th December.

In the ILCA 4s, Aisling Kelly had a stormer and clinched three 1sts, leaving Riaghan Boardman (Rush), Maebh Butterly and Charlie Power fighting it out over the remaining spots. Riaghan leads the overall series, but with only 2.5 points between him and Aisling; if Aisling keeps her form, then it’ll come down to the wire next week.

The PY Fleet saw Daragh Sheridan (Howth) continue his dominance with another 3 wins in his RS Aero 7, while Abby Kinsella (RS Aero 6) and Howth’s Hugo Micks (Fireball) fought it out for 2nd and 3rd places. Hugo leads the series overall, but Daragh and Abby are close on his heels.

Having a ball……Hugo Micks (HYC) with his classic Fireball leads the PY Division despite being up against much more modern designs. Photo: HYC

While the pre-Christmas series wraps up this coming weekend on the 18th of December if a possible predicted gale doesn’t materialise, there’s plenty more Frostbite sailing yet to come:

• The New Year's Day race will go ahead as usual, with a slightly later start time. All entrants from the pre-Christmas series are entered automatically, and it's a surefire way to blow away the cobwebs!
• The Spring HYC Frostbite series kicks off on Sunday, 8th January, 2023, and will run each Sunday until 5th March.
• The famous Round the Island Race takes place on Saturday, 11th March, where everyone and every dinghy is invited to race around Ireland's Eye, finding the quickest route in either direction.

Overall results can be found below

A well-attended Annual General Meeting at Howth Yacht Club last night (Tuesday) saw Commodore Paddy Judge standing down after a period of service which was much longer than his time as Commodore would suggest, as he also stood in as Honorary General Manager for a significant period as the club adjusted to rapidly changing circumstances.

This management structure saw it successfully transformed into a thriving organisation with more than 2,000 members when all categories are included, while 2022 - its 40th year operating its own marina - saw a remarkable range of trophies being won by members at home and abroad.

Having served as Vice Commodore and in many other capacities both in Howth and at national level for many years, Puppeteer 22 skipper Neil Murphy takes on the mantle of Commodore. And while it is now some years since Breda Dillon was HYC's first female Commodore, it is encouraging to see that several noted women sailors are included in the new Board of Directors elected at the Annual General Meeting. The following members were elected to serve on the Board for next year: 

Neil Murphy, Commodore
Kevin Monks, Vice Commodore
Christina Knowles, Rear Commodore
Gary Cullen, Rear Commodore

Caoimhin O'Laoi, Honorary Treasurer
Bernie Condy, Honorary Secretary
Emmet Dalton, Honorary Sailing Secretary

Cormac Farrelly, Committee Member
Lara Jameson, Committee Member
Robert Kennedy, Committee Member
Tom McMahon, Committee Member
Jill Sommerville, Committee Member
Darren Wright, Committee Member 

With more than 2,000 members, Howth Yacht Club's celebrations in 2022 have included marking 40 years of operating its own marina

The new Board is looking forward to a successful year of sailing and social events at the Club. Under the leadership of Neil Murphy and the incoming Board, the Club will continue to promote the sport of sailing and to maximise the opportunities for both its members and for newcomers to enjoy the beautiful waters off Howth.

The Club would like to thank outgoing Commodore, Paddy Judge, and the retiring Board members for their hard work and commitment and looks forward with excitement to the start of 2023 activity in just two weeks' time.

New Year's Day racing for dinghies and keelboats will get a very busy year underway, during which Howth YC will host the Irish Sailing Youth Nationals, as well as the National Championships for both the Irish Cruiser Racing Association (ICRA) and the ILCA (formerly Laser) Class.

The Changing of the Watch at Howth Yacht Club - Paddy Judge hands over to Neil Murphy

The HYC Dinghy Frostbites kicked off its 2022/2023 season in perfect conditions on Sunday, with 40 boats entered, blue skies, and a warm southerly breeze putting on a special show of benevolence for the first of the planned 18 weekends of dinghy racing writes Conor Murphy.

The regulars welcomed newcomers from all over Dublin and further afield.

Also joining the fleet were some long-time HYC members - lately more used to keels and crew delegation - who have swapped their usual chariots to experience hiking pads, toe-straps, and the challenges of verticality - welcome to Colin and Ronan. The 22/23 series is a first for the long-running event in that a PY class is competing alongside the traditional Laser/ILCA competitors.

Racing kicked off after a slight delay, due to the shifting southerly breeze coming over the Head. A highly qualified team of Neil Murphy, Richard Kissane, and Liam Dineen started all the Classes together. The strong ebb tide, and an excess of enthusiasm by some to bag a front-row spot, saw the fleet immediately earn the first General Recall of the winter. A successful restart under the U flag sent the fleet on their triangular course.

Due to some challenges in finding the gybe mark (or at least the correct one from the selection available) in the rougher water of the Sound, a windward-leeward course was set for the second race, which got away cleanly on the first attempt.

Competition is tight across all ILCA fleets, with 4 of the top 5 Irish-ranked sailors competing in the ILCA 7 fleet. The 7s saw very close racing with multiple lead changes throughout both races, as each sailor sought the best breeze and least tide on a challenging race track.

Series regulars Ronan Wallace of Wexford (1, 2) and Daragh Kelleher of Skerries (3, 1) lead the fleet, followed by event newcomer Rory Lynch (2, 3). A special shout-out goes to Conor Costello for finishing the first race before accepting defeat and acknowledging that the bung is definitely a critical piece of equipment and best fixed in the transom
before going afloat - he thankfully made it back to the Club before going into full submarine mode.

The ILCA 6 fleet saw extra competition this year, with two Dun Laoghaire Masters joining the fray. RStGYC’s Marco Sorgassi showed the fleet a clean pair of heels with two wins, showing good pace to keep up with a lot of the ILCA 7s. HYC’s Una Connell follows, leaving Hugh Delap and Fiachra Farrelly tied in 3rd.

A strong turnout in the ILCA 4s sees Howth’s Cillian Twomey leading the pack, with Ciara McMahon, Des Turvey, and Aisling Kelly trailing, only a point separating them.

The new PY fleet had a mix of participants and is being led by ex-ILCA 4 sailor Abby Kinsella in her RS Aero 6, winning convincingly over Aoibhinn Farrelly’s RS Feva and Hugo Micka’s Fireball. Competition is sure to ramp up over the coming weeks, with more RS Aeros already entered, as well as an RS800.

The series continues next week, and all dinghies from all clubs are welcome to take part in some of the best winter racing in the country.

The growing Irish RS Aero fleet closed out its summer season with a blustery Eastern Championships in Howth Yacht Club on the Hallowe’en Weekend. Thrills, spills and tactical racing were the order of the day, while shifting winds and strong tides gave the competitors something extra to think about while trying to keep the boat upright.

Top UK Aero sailor Peter Barton from Lymington (where the surname ‘Barton’ is sailing royalty) led a pre-event coaching day on Friday. It’s a testament to the International Aero community how generous the leading sailors are in sharing their tips for success. And the takeaway from this was there is no substitute for time in the boat – it was a shared experience and not at all a hard sell for the RS Aero.

Racing was postponed on Saturday due to torrential rain and blustery winds. Sunday provided champagne conditions to complete four races. Racing was held in the Sound close to Ireland’s Eye, where it was important to be aware of the tidal flow.

Local sailor Paul McMahon may have been out of his usual role at the front of the Puppeteer 22 fleet, but he showed some good late season Aero RS form, taking three wins from four races. Despite that, racing was actually very close. The overall result was still up for grabs on the last beat of the last race, with Peter Barton getting caught out of the tide and on the wrong end of a wind shift, allowing Paul to take the final race and title.

Daragh Sheridan of HYC coming in under an “interesting” sky to take third overall

Irish Champion Daragh Sheridan finished in third, one point behind Peter, with a seriously consistent score-line never outside the top three, while visiting Dublin Bay and Strangford Lough sailors Noel Butler and Hammy Baker rounded out the top five.

First Master from Greystones in his ILCA 6 rig was Roy Van Maanen, with new Aero owner Abby Kinsella taking first Youth and Female. Thanks from the Irish Aero RS Class to all involved in running the event, INSS for providing spares, support and prizes, Rooster Sailing providing plenty of goodies and Howth Yacht Club for providing top class hospitality.

HYC Vice Commodore Neil Murphy with Paul McMahon, Aero RS Eastern Champion 2022

Howth Yacht Club celebrated the Halloween bank holiday weekend with the annual Dinghy Regatta on Sunday, 30th October. Despite the later-than-usual timing, entry numbers were high, with 54 boats from as far as Lough Ree Yacht Club, Wexford Harbour Boat and Tennis Club and Cushendall Sailing and Boating Club, along with the more local clubs of Sutton DC, Clontarf Y & BC, Skerries SC, Malahide YC, Rush SC, and Dun Laoghaire’s National YC and Royal St. George Yacht Club.

Unfortunately, the days of strong winds preceding the event did not abate sufficiently to allow the full spectrum of dinghies assembled to ultimately sail, with the Race Officer David Lovegrove making the hard decision to keep the Topper, ILCA 4, Feva and Optimist Regatta fleets on the hard. But those confined to shore were consoled with the popular fare available in HYC’s lively Light House hospitality facility.

This left the IDRA 14s, ILCAs 7 & 6, and the Optimist Main Fleet to set out and test their mettle on the high seas. After a short postponement, the first race was off with steady winds that decreased but kept the fleet on its toes with some sporting gusts. Throughout the second race, the wind quickly gained strength, causing the Race Officer to abandon the last race, by which time winds of 36 knots were being recorded on the Committee Boat.

In the IDRA fleet, first place and the Wilkinson Cup was taken by Ryan Cairns and Orla Doogue (CYBC), with second going to Alan Carr and Sarah Robertson (SDC), with Christian Lorenz and Pat O’Kelly (CBYC) in third.

The Optimists saw Harry Dunne of HYC – still buoyed up by finishing ahead of Rocco Wright in the Junior National Championships at Schull - securing first place and the Drisheen Cup, Hannah Scott (HYC) taking second, with Nicole Quinn (HYC) in third.

If the Optimist podium was all Howth, the ILCA 6s were very different - first place went to long-distance Glens of Antrim visitor Barry McCartin (Cushendall SBC), second to Daniel O’Hare (Rush SC) and third to Dave Kirwin (Malahide YC). Finally, in the ILCA 7 fleet, first place and the Heron Trophy was won by Darragh Kelleher (Skerries SC), with Conor Murphy (HYC) taking second place, and Stephen Quinn (HYC) in third.

With six solid race results already on the leaderboard, the weekend’s seventh and final race of the Beshoff Motors Autumn League at Howth Yacht Club came through as a bonus with an often sunny though brisk and freshening southerly. But it was a wind which was steady neither in direction nor precise in pressure, though at least it could be relied on to be ever-present in one form or another.

Yet with many of the nine classes so close in points at the top that this last contest became the decider, it was - as one seasoned campaigner was to comment - like a fabric workshop in the HYC racing area beyond and around Ireland’s Eye. For the wind direction was busily weaving throughout the race period, yet at every level of each fleet, crews and helms were doing their damnedest to keep at least one and usually several other boats very tightly stitched up.

In all, it was classic Howth sailing, as the ebb was running for much of the racing, but by the finish the new flood was setting in. This meant that for the bigger boats finishing to the east of Ireland’s Eye, the sea had smoothed somewhat and there was no tidal mini-race off The Stack. But for the smaller craft finishing in the Sound, the final beat took that little bit longer, requiring total concentration right to the finish.

Checkmate checks out with success – the biggest boat in the fleet, the First 50 Checkmate XX (Dave Cullen & Nigel Biggs) finished the series with Class 1 line honours win and second on CT in the last race

CLASS 1

This was the day of days for the biggest boat in the fleet, Dave Cullen and Nigel Biggs’ new First 50 Checkmate XX, as she romped round the course to take line honours by nearly five minutes ahead on the water of Robert Rendell’s Grand Soleil 44 Samatom. However, Mike & Richie Evans’ J/99 Snapshot concluded a great season - which had opened with them being a close second overall and top Irish boat in the Round Ireland 2022 back in June - with yet another CT win in the Howth series, though Checkmate XX managed to hang onto second on CT, albeit by just one second ahead of Pat Kelly’s J/109 Storm from Rush SC.

Overall, Snapshot had it convincingly by 9 pts to the 16 of Stephen Quinn’s J/97 Lambay Rules, Storm getting third with 24pts.

CLASS 2

The various X Yachts in this division just loved the day that was in it, with the Gore-Grimes family’s veteran war horse Dux taking line honours and the CT win in conditions when the usually challenging Corby Impetuous (Fergal Noonan and Robert Chambers) didn’t seem at all happy – she finished back in fifth.

However, solid results earlier in the series meant that Paddy Kyne’s Maximus – logging a second – just hung onto the overall lead on 12 points, with the tie break of Dux and Impetuous on 13 seeing the latter taking the number-crunching edge for second.

A perfect day for X Yacht racing, and by the end of it the veteran Dux (Gore-Grimes family) had taken line honours and the CT win in Class 2

CLASS 3

It doesn’t really get better than discarding a second in a series when all your other races are bullets, and Stephen Mullaney’s Insider – current Irish Sigma 33 Champion for good measure – now has the minimum six points to look back on after the 2022 Autumn League, with Conor Fogerty’s museum piece Silver Shamrock (Half Ton World Champion 1976) in second overall on 16, third going to Malahide visitor Kahera (Russell Camier). 

CLASS 4 (White Sail)

Despite the beefy weather, Stephen Harris’s First 40.7 Tiger had to be content with second in this last race, Colm Berminghan’s Elan 333 Bite the Bullet sailing a blinder to win by three minutes on CT. But a scorecard of three wins and three seconds kept Tiger at the top of the leaderboard, with Bite the Bullet second and White Pearl from Malahide (David Greene) third.

D’unbeatables….Stephen Mullaney’s Sigma 33 Insider finished the series on minimum points, the only boat to do so

CLASS 5 (White Sail)

This class of little ’uns musters very few IRC boats, and here the winner overall was Steffi & Windsor’s veteran Club Shamrock Demelza. But in the much larger HPH Division, Demelza had to be content with third overall, the honours going to Mary Ellen (O’Byrne, Finucane & Carty), with Richard Flood & Lorcan Greene’s Joker’s Wild in second.

HOWTH SEVENTEENS

When we remember that just four years ago the 1898-founded Howth Seventeens were wondering if they had a future at all, after Storm Emma in March 2018 had flattened both their winter storage shed on the East Pier and several of the boat within, then the contemplation of their racing in the Autumn League 2022 is a real wonder, as it has never been better.

In one of the gentler phases on Saturday, the Howth 17s Isobel, Orla and Gladys round the Portmarnock Mark. Photo: David O’Shea

It went to the wire in this final race in more ways than one, for although it was comfortably topsail weather when they went out, it was getting towards the upper limits at the finish. Under her new mast as used a week earlier, Davy Nixon with Erica would have had his second dismasting of the season, as the fancy spar was more like a trout fishing rod. But for the final race he changed back to the class’s battered but durable spare stick, and was able to drive his 1988-built boat with so much confidence that he beat nearest challenger Deilginis (built 1907, Toomey, Kenny & Massey) by two minutes to win overall by half a point, third going to the 1919-built Orla (Marc FitzGibbon & Darragh Gallagher. On HPH, Rima Macken’s Eileen won from Zaida (Carroll, Houlihan & Hurley). 

PUPPETEERS

Howth Yacht Club is in the happy position where its two most completely local classes – the Howth Seventeens from 1898 and the Puppeteer 22s from 1978 – are both in great heart, with the Puppeteer 22s this past weekend having a classic contest. The two leading boats – Paul & Laura McMahon’s Shiggi-Shiggi and Neil Murphy & Con Costello’s Yellow Peril – zapped across the line with just ten seconds between them. Right on their heels were overall points leader Trick or Treat (Alan Pearson & Alan Blay) who were in turn just staying ahead of Weyhey (Ian Dickson), No Strings (Terry Harvey) and Harlequin (Dave Clarke).

The Puppeteer 22s had the closest racing in the fleet, and Yellow Peril (Neil Murphy and Con Costello) missed the win in the fina race by just ten seconds

But while others had had their moments of glory through the series, Trick or Treat was a real Steady Eddy from start to finish, discarding a third to take it by 10 points to the 16 of Shiggi-Shiggi, just one point ahead of Yellow Peril. On HPH, No Strings was tops with Weyhey second and Ghosty Ned (Donal Harkin) third.

SQUIBS

Robert Marshall, the Pied Piper of Killyleagh, may have led the Squibs to Lough Derg a week ago when they learned that fresh water can be every bit as rough as salt. But at least they managed some racing down there when Howth was blown out. And nothing daunted, the Squibs were back on the Howth line this past weekend doubling up on their racing, with the Marshall boat Slipstream holding her overall lead with a third in the final race, the win in that going to Tiger Roll (F O’Leary) with Thomas O’Reilly’s Cool Beans second.

TEAM PRIZE

To absolutely nobody’s surprise, the three boat Team Competition’s lead was retained overall by the T.I.Ts – Tiger, Insider, and Trick or Treat - who ran away with it on a final score of 246 pts to the 510 of Bite De Bells (Isobel, Demelza and Bite the Bullet), with Team Perilous (White Pearl, Yellow Peril & Kahera) third.

HOWTH KEEPS BUSY

There isn’t a pause for breath over Hallowe’en in the Howth late season programme, as the Dinghy Regatta is on October 30th, and then the annual Howth Frostbites (of which more tomorrow - it goes back to 1974) gets underway on November 6th.

Hallowe'en hit: Jeremy Beshoff of Beshoff Motors (left) with Alan Pearson, co-skipper of all-conquering Puppeteer 22 Trick or Treat

The Howth Peninsula was buzzing with sailing sport at the weekend, with the top level of competition on its southwest side at the national Champions’ Cup raced in GP 14s at Sutton Dinghy Club, while there was competition at every level you’ve ever heard of (and probably a few levels you can barely imagine) in the Beshoff Motors Autumn League, a truly all-sorts nine classes Saturday series until October 22nd which – on this its fourth day – managed to pack in two more races in idyllically sunny conditions to have six races in the can, and two weekends still to play for.

Admittedly the pressure to build up the figures on the leaderboard did see a certain amount of localized over-lapping between some different race areas in the first contest. But by Race 2, everything went as smooth as a bird, and a lot of very happy budgies came ashore firmly of the opinion that they already have the stuffing knocked out of the coming winter……..

It was that kind of day – blue skies, blue sea, and a moderate though easing and slowly backing westerly which managed to hang in, despite the spring ebb tide’s best efforts to take away its eminently usable pressure.

CLASS 1

Stephen Quinn’s J/97 Lambay Rules may have been showing the way in the early stages of the series, but Mike & Richie Evans’ J/99 Snapshot – already a star of the Irish national scene inshore and offshore in 2021 and 2022 - banged in a solid first and second on this outing to take the overall lead by two points from Lambay Rules, with Pat Kelly’s J/109 Storm from Rush lying third overall, but well back on 20. Saturday’s second race saw a new name in first – Nobby Reilly’s Classic Half-Tonner Ghost Raider.

Back in the saddle – the Evans’ brother’s multiply successful J/99 Snapshot heading for her second win on Saturday 

CLASS 2

The big breeze of a week earlier may have favoured the various X Boats, but Fergal Noonan & Robert Chambers’ vintage Corby Impetuous found things to he liking to take a couple of wins, putting her one point ahead overall of Paddy Kyne’s Maximus with another X, Clan Gore-Grimes’ Dux, now third OA.

CLASS 3

Stephen Mullaney’s Irish Champion Sigma 33 Insider seems to find almost all conditions to her liking, she has now registered the colander condition of five bullets in Class 3, though admittedly, she managed to dodge one in Saturday’s second race with a second when Vincent Gaffney’s Laser 28 Alliance II snatched the lead, with third going to Conor Fogerty’s 1976-vintage Silver Shamrock, which now lies second overall on points.

In Class 1, Pat Kelly’s J/109 Storm (Rush SC) leading from Nobby Reilly’s Classic Half Tonner Ghoster Raider (winner of Race 2) and the J/97 Jeneral Lee (Colin & Kathy Kavanagh)

CLASS 4

Colm Bermingham’s Elan 333 Bite the Bullet and Stephen Harris’s First 40.7 Tiger shared the firsts and seconds on Saturday in this white sail division, but over the series to date Tiger is still ahead of BTB, with Malahide’s White Pearl (David Greene) in third.

CLASS 5

Notwithstanding the close proximity of a notable birthday with a zero and a five in it for one of the owners, Windsor and Steffi’s veteran Club Shamrock Demelza continued ahead with two wins in the other White-Sail Class, with the Real McCoy and the Genuine Cregan second every which way in their attractive vintage First 38 Out & About. 

Another look at that classic change-in-the-weather sky, with Howth 17s Erica (David Nixon, 18), Hera (Mjchael & Jane Duffy, 9) and Deilginis (Toomey/Massey/Kenny, 11). 

HOWTH 17s

The Magic Circle in the 1907s-built Deilginis emerged from Saturday’s mega-tussles still in the overall lead, but now only by half a point from Davy Nixon in the 1988-vintage Erica of the Whippy Mast. In fact Erica - having seen off overall leaders Deilginis and Orla (Marc FitzGibbbon & Darragh Gallagher) by taking second in the first race when Ian Malcolm with Aura was first - found her lead in Race 2 being most closely challenged by the helmsman’s brother-in-law Davy Jones steering the 2022 National Champion Rosemary (David Jones, David Potter & George Curley). Erica emerged just ahead to move up to half a point behind Deilginis overall.

Family affair. Davy Nixon with Erica (18) makes away with the Howth 17 win in the second race ahead of brother-in-law Davy Jones in Rosemary (12). Photo: Judith Malcolm

The Puppeteer 22s are having a great series - photo shows Flycatcher (187, Michael McKeon), Mr Punch (187, NiBhraonain Wilson), Blue Velvet (5526, Gerard Kennedy) and Yellow Peril (Murphy/Costello) beyond. It’s a class rule to race with the marina berth-accessing outboards in place like this, for as they say themselves, when you’re at the helm you don’t see the intrusive outboard at all unless you’re looking astern to see how big a lead you’ve got, and that’s okay.

Puppeteer 22 Papageno (K & B Barker) as seen from sister-ship Yellow Peril. One of the spin-offs from a popular Autumn League is that, as seen here, boats are kept in prime order right to the end of the season

PUPPETEER 22

Overall leader Trick or Treat (Alan Pearson & Alan Blay) remained consistent with two seconds, but the racing was excellent with fresh names in the top three, with Paul and Laura McMahon’s Shiggi Shiggi, the beautifully-restored prototype Puppeteer 22 of 1978 vintage, taking a third and first, while Garrett May’s HoneyBadger took a first and third. Overall, David Clarke’s Harlequin is second on 15 points on a tie break with Shiggi Shiggi and Yellow Peril (Murphy/Costello) in some of the best racing across all classes.

The club Squib Tiger Roll (80) demonstrating the class’s sit-in comfort potential - remarkable for a 19ft racing keelboat – with overall leader Slipstream from Killyleagh (102) beyond. The class’s national focus this coming weekend is on the Freshwater Keelboat Regatta at Dromineer on Lough Derg

SQUIBS

With the Irish Squib Class’s “National Energiser” Robert Marshall from Killyleagh on Strangford Lough beavering away to build up the entries from home and abroad for this coming weekend’s Keelboat Freshwater Regatta at Dromineer on Lough Derg, we can expect a slim Squib presence at Howth on Saturday, October 15th. But meanwhile, last Saturday in the Beshoff Motors Autumn League, he retained his overall points lead with a third (discarded) and a second, the wins being taken by Jeff Kay’s Chatterbox and the HYC boat Tiger Roll, with Thomas O’Reilly’s Cool Beans also in the frame.

TOP TITS IN TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP

The well-meant Team Championship with three boats from three different classes is a good idea in theory, and will certainly be repeated. But when you get some really shrewd mutual boat recruiting going on pre-series, it makes a bit of a nonsense out of it all. Heaven only knows when and in what Masonic Hall the T. I. T team was put together, but when you have Tiger, Insider and Trick-or-Treat racing in support of each other, after six races the rest are nowhere.

This is Autumn 2022 – the al fresco après sailing Brains’ Trust at Howth Yacht Club 

All Photos Courtesy Howth YC unless otherwise credited.

Detailed Results below

As reported in Afloat.ie, the showing by Pat O'Neill and his Howth crew in the J/80 Worlds at Newport, Rhode Island during the past five days seemed to be improving in tandem with the improvement with the weather, and having been there or thereabouts in the early races, he and his team
were very much totally there in third overall as the series concluded last night at the east Coast USA's renowned sailing Mecca.

Pat O'Neill of Howth is a seasoned international campaigner with his championship crew in the J/80 fleet. But until now, most of his successes overseas have been achieved on the European circuit. This week, however, Team O'Neill have made the Transatlantic hop to the J/Boat heartlands at Newport, Rhode island, where they've found that the reputation of New England as a place for gentle sailing in the Fall - unless there happens to be a hurricane about - doesn't always hold up, as there have been some rugged and not very warm conditions to contend with.

Despite that, the Howth team have been in there battling for a place on the podium, and though the two leaders - Glenn Dardon of US and Per Roman of Sweden - are veering towards being out on their own ahead overall after three races, the Irish boat has put in a steady scoreline of 9, 6 and 4 - it's certainly trending in the right direction - to be,fifth overall, with more racing scheduled for today (Friday), and the series concluding tomorrow (8th October)

J/80 Worlds results