Four points separate the top four boats going into today's second day of sailing in the SB3 Eastern Championship at Howth Yacht Club. Yesterday's opening races were sailed in fresh (but later moderating) north-easterlies, big swells and lumpy seas which contributed to several retirals during the three-race schedule writes Graham Smith.

The conditions didn't seem to bother the 30-strong fleet in Race 1 with all bar one boat crossing the finishing line, the honours going to Andrew Algeo's 'Flutter' from the Royal St.George YC. Another visitor, 'Sibelius' (K.Dorgan) from Carrickfergus took second ahead of another northerner, former Olympian Peter Kennedy of RNIYC in 'Ridgefence.com'. Local interest was maintained by 'Sharkbait' (Duncan/Moran/Morris) by finishing 4th, a promising start for what would become an even better day.

Heavy going at the SB3 Easterns. More photos on the gallery here. Photo: Brian Carlin

Race 2 saw HYC's 'Sharkbait' take line honours ahead of Sean Craig's 'Yeti' (RSt.GYC) while 'Sibelius' came home third to keep the pressure on the leader. 'No Name' (Darren Martin of Strangford Lough) took 4th and Andrew Algeo's 5th kept him in touch after two races. Kennedy in 'Ridgefence.com', however, was one of six boats forced to retire but unlike four boats which could not continue racing, he was able to return to the action for the third race.

In fact, he bounced back rather well with a 5th in that last race so he is not out of contention yet. Sean Craig's 'Yeti' went one better than in Race 2 with a bullet, this time changing places with Howth's leading contender 'Sharkbait'. 'Sibelius' and 'Flutter' continued to demonstrate admirable consistency, finishing 4th and 5th respectively.

It doesn't get much closer at the top of the leaderboard after PRO Harry Gallagher and his team got the three races completed and as the Championship reaches its half-way stage, HYC's 'Sharkbait' (Duncan/Moran/Morris) has the narrowest of margins over 'Sibelius' (K.Dorgan), with 'Flutter' (A.Algeo) two points adrift and 'Yeti' (S.Craig) another point behind, the reward for consistency so far.

Placings after 3 races at Howth Yacht Club

SB3	Easterns
Plc.	Boat	Owner	Club	Gross	Disc	Nett
1	Sharkbait	Duncan/Moran	HYC	7.00
2	Sibeluis	K Dorgan	CSC	8.00
3	Flutter	A Algeo	RStGYC	10.00
4	Yeti	S Craig	RStGYC	11.00
5	Pattersonlifts	G Patterson	RNIYC	28.00
6	Seriously Bonkers	Cuppage/Lee	RStGYC	29.00
7	Bad	G Dowling	RIYC	31.00
8	Bluebird	C MacAleavey	NYC	31.00
9	No Name	D Martin	SLYC	32.00
10	Shockwave	E Quinlan	HYC	32.00
11	Toucan 3	A Vaughan	RNIYC	33.00
12	Dinghy Supplies	S Murphy	HYC	36.00
13	Ridgefence.com	P Kennedy	RNIYC	39.00
14	Investwise	May/Quinn	HYC	41.00
15	Sin A Bhuifl	Guinness/Costigan	HYC	43.00
16	Lupi D'Irlanda	M Sorgassi	RStGYC	47.00
17	Monkey	Cassidy/Others	HYC	53.00
18	Mr Bump	D Taylor	CSC	60.00
19	Ruby Blue	A O'Connell	RStGYC	61.00
20	Quantitative Easing	P McMahon	HYC	62.00
21	Kick'er Off	Cook/Dicker	RStGYC	62.00
22	No Name	D MacCauley	CSC	66.00
23	Sunday Brunch	R Tate	RStGYC	67.00
24	Smoke on the Water	B Hobby	GISC	70.00
25	Bomchickawahwah	J O'Dricsoll	RStGYC	72.00
26	Seriously Blonde	J Toettcher	RStGYC	72.00
27	Mahanama	R Downing	KYC	75.00
28	Sirius Black	Hudson/Leech	ASC/LRYC	77.00
29	Rubadubdub	N Doherty	NYC	90.00
30	Sandy Bottom	G Judge	RStGYC	93.00

FINE DAY FOR SPRING WARMER FINALE

Howth Yacht Club's Spring Warmer Sailing Series, sponsored by Key Capital Private, came to a close on Saturday afternoon after the eight classes completed the six-race series in conditions which, while pleasant, were particularly frustrating for the race officers. With the winds shifting from northerly to easterly as the day wore on, it was no surprise that the starts for both races were delayed until conditions settled.

In terms of numbers, the SB3s had the biggest entry with 17, with a dozen or so out each week. Sharkbait (Duncan/Moran) and Yeti (Sean Craig, RStGYC) dominated proceedings on the last day, notching 1^st and 2^nd respectively in both races. While that was no doubt satisfying, it wasn’t enough to prevent the consistent Eoin Quinlan in ‘Shockwave’ from taking the overall prize.

The Quinn/O’Flaherty partnership in Fetching has been the crew to beat in the Etchells from day one and while Kootamundra Wattle and Jabberwocky took turns to win on the last day, two second places was more than enough for Fetching to head the fleet overall. That their discard was a second place speaks volumes for their dominance.

Class 1 was a three-boat affair but it was Storm (Pat Kelly) who headed Equinox (Ross McDonald) with two wins to take the overall honours by two points on IRC, although the order was reversed under ECHO.

Xtra Time (M&P Arthurs, MYC) enjoyed success in the first race but it was never going to be enough to upset the odds on Maximus (Pat Kyne) winning the Class 2 trophy on IRC, with the Howth boat also winning on ECHO as well.

Over on the ‘inshore course’, Class 2 was effectively a match-race between two boats – Gecko and Starlet – who took it in turns to win the races so that in the end they couldn’t be separated and had to share the spoils.

Lough Erne visitor JP McCaldin got away well to win the first race and with two guns and two seconds over the first two weekends had the luxury of retiring from the final race knowing that the series was wrapped up. Scandal from MYC (with Mossy Shanahan on helm) won well in the last race to share second overall with Flor O’Driscoll’s Hard On Port.

The only perfect score of the series was in the Puppeteers where Dave Clarke’s Harlequin topped the fleet with a peerless six guns and the margin of victory was such that they also won on handicap. Eclipse (A & R Hegarty) had a satisfactory series, finishing runner-up on both scratch and handicap.

Visiting boats dominated the Squibs from day one and while Royal North entry Toy for the Boys (P.Wallace) won the penultimate race, normal service was resumed with Lola (F.Whelan, RStGYC) in the last, to take the title by a clear four points from another George boat Nimble (O’Hare & others). 

This weekend sees the Dublin Bay Prawn Festival (1-3 April) take place at Howth Harbour and throughout the peninsula, writes Jehan Ashmore.

A Sampi trail will be held in various pubs and hotels on the Friday night starting at 7pm, no booking is required. On the Saturday afternoon there is a Prawn Shelling Competition starting at 2.30pm.

Howth Yacht Club will open its doors to public viewing on the Saturday and the Howth Coastguard Station (West Pier) will also be open on that day too in addition to the Sunday. The West Pier is also to host a Fishing Techniques demonstration on Sunday at 3pm.

On the mornings of Saturday and Sunday a self-guided walk from Howth to up to Howth Hill taking up to two hours will meet at The Courthouse at 10am. The walk which is to be pre-booked and registered online is also suitable for families. The route is weather dependant and will follow one of the four looped walks.

The Irish Seal Sactuary will be offering a seal watching tour and harbour walks guided by volunteers on the Saturday and Sunday. An information stand will be made available for more details click www.irishsealsanctuary.ie

Throughout the weekend there will be all day events which include island boat / eco tour trips and the National Transport Musuem, noting that these activities will be charged. It should be noted that festival programme is provisional and is subject to change.

For more information about the full festival programme logon HERE and by contacting Howth Tourist Office on 01 8396955 and by email: [email protected]

Howth Yacht Club will launch its programme of open sailing events for 2011 at the club house tomorrow evening (Thursday 31 March).

In addition to running club sailing throughout the year, and both junior and adult sailing courses to get more involved in the sport, HYC will also be hosting more than 20 open events this year. 

These are set to include local, provincial, national and international championships, which are hopes to attract visitors from all over Ireland and beyond.

For more details visit the Howth Yacht Club website at www.hyc.ie.

The highly successful HYC Spring Warmer series in April, this year sponsored by Key Capital Private, has been expanded to include Classes 1, 2, 3 and Puppeteers along with the usual sailing one-design classes – Etchells, J24s, SB3s and Squibs.

Over 40 boats took part in the 2010 series and with the SB3 Easterns taking place in Howth at the end of April and the Cruiser Classes getting racing practice ahead of their ICRA Championships, the standard of competition should be even higher this year.

Taking place over the first three Saturdays in April, the 2011 series will have two race areas for the eight classes. The racing format will be the same as last year with two windward/leeward races scheduled for each of the 3 Saturdays finishing with a prize-giving after the final races on April 16th.

First guns will sound at 10.55 on April 2nd and entries can be made online on www.hyc.ie.

Howth Yacht Club has announced its first ever coaching development manager.

Graeme Grant has been appointed to the position to help enhance the skills of members across all levels.

The 36-year-old Scot comes highly experienced, with Irish Sailing Association (ISA) qualifications as an Instructor Coach, Adventure Instructor and Powerboat Instructor among others.

Past sailing successes include the Scottish 420 Nationals and the Hornet Youth Worlds. Grant was also part of the British Olympic 470 Development Squad in the build-up to the 1996 games in Atlanta.

Since 2005 he has filled various coaching spots throughout Ireland, and is also bosun of ISA's Sailfleet J80s, a position he retains with his new role.

The Howth Yacht Club website has more on the appointment HERE.

There will be no match racing on the south coast this year following a rejig of the fixtures calendar.

After two years of expansion for match racing in terms of events the theme for 2011 is consolidation.

Changes to the ISA SailFleet schedule for the boats mean that we have had to go through a rejigging of the match racing calendar.

The major impact is that Royal Cork YC are to take the boats latter than originally hoped meaning that they will be unable to host a leg of the Tour.

With Kinsale not taking part in the SailFleet scheme this year that means no match racing on the south coast for the first time in a couple of years.

With no tie up with the Dun Laoghaire Festival of Cultures available this year a date of July 23rd and 24th has been settled on for the Ireland vs The World International.

The highlight of last year this event will once again pit Irelands 6 best match racers against 6 teams from the rest of the world. Once again National and Tour champion John Sheehy will captain the Irish team.

The Leinster Match Racing Open, to be hosted by the Royal Irish Yacht Club, has been moved to July 16th and 17th to allow it to act as qualification for the Irish team for the following weekend and to give Laura Dillion and the Gladiators (Sam Hunt, Paddy Blackley, Peter Bayly, Richard Murphy) competitive practice immediately before heading over to Poland to represent the country at the ISAF Nations Cup.

Howth Yacht Club's, Dublin Match Racing Open stays with a date of September 3rd and 4th before we head for Lough Derg and the Womens (October 15th and 16th) and Open National Championships (November 5th And 6th).

All of the above means that here will be no Munster Match Racing Open this year and work continues to find a host for the IUSA Student Match Racing Nationals with Galway a potential for early April. There has been considerable work on the cost of entry for events over the winter and the majority of events will have a basic entry of €330 this year. All events will be run at ISAF grade 3.

Revised calendar

July 16-17th – Leinster Match Racing Open, Royal Irish Yacht Club
July 23-24th – Ireland vs The World International, Royal St George Yacht Club
September 3rd and 4th – Dublin Match Racing Open, Howth Yacht Club
October 15th and 16th - Womens Match Racing Championships, Lough Derg Yacht Club
November 5th and 6th – National Match Racing Championships, Lough Derg Yacht Club

HOWTH YACHT CLUB. LASER FROSTBITE SPRING (O'ALL) 13/02/2011 LASER STANDARD: 1, Daragh Sheridan HYC (25.00); 2, Evan Dolan NYC (27.00); 3, Daragh Kelleher SSC (32.00); LASER STANDARD APPRENTICE: 1, Conor Murphy HYC (13.00); 2, Darach Dineen HYC (14.00); 3, Brendan Costello MYC (19.00); LASER STANDARD MASTER: 1, Evan Dolan NYC (21.00); 2, Daragh Kelleher SSC (21.00); 3, David Quinn HYC (29.00); LASER STANDARD GRAND MASTER: 1, Daragh Sheridan HYC (8.00); 2, Stephen Quinn HYC (16.00); 3, Robin Hegarty HYC (26.00); LASER RADIAL: 1, Robert Ferris HYC (14.00); 2, Vincent Varley MYC (14.00); 3, Ciaran Costello MYC (19.00) BRASS MONKEYS SPRING (RACE) 13/02/2011 Class 2 HPH: 1, C'est la Vie Flannelly/Others; 2, Rum Doodle D Byrne; 3, Maximus P Kyne; Class 3 HPH: 1, Invader G Glynn; 2, Scullduggery G Forde; 3, Pucaban G McGuire; Class 1 Non Spinny HPH: 1, Lady See P Connolly; 2, Thar Saile C o'Laoi; 3, Out & About T McCoy; Class 3 Non Spinny HPH: 1, SunChaser M Marr; 2, Stromcrow D Cronin; 3, Hippocampus B O'Loughlin

Frostbite Interclub Masters Challenge / Howth Round the Island Race - March 12th

All Laser sailors are invited to join the Howth Winter Laser fleet for our End of Season race and party. The event is intended to be a friendly end of season get together for the Masters sailors in the three main frostbite fleets - Dun Laoghaire, Ballyholme and Howth. Other clubs are also welcome, and we have extended invites to Skerries and Rush who have new frostbite fleets this year.

- First Gun at 10:55 on Saturday 12th March
- 3 Races planned - 2 Windward Leeward races (40 mins. in length) and the traditional Howth Round the Island Race (usually takes about 35-40mins)
- Enter on the day with €10 entry fee, and additional €20 to join us for our end of season prizegiving lunch (3 courses). Lunch is planned for 3pm, with the Rugby international at 5pm on big screens in the club.
- Prizes for the following:

- Overall prize for the best Club Masters team. The results over all 3 races of the best 3 Masters (Over 35) are counted from each club with no discards, with overall prize and bragging rights going to best club.
- Round the Island Race Trophy, as a standalone race
- Excellent spot prizes provided by Dinghy Supplies

The event is focused around the Masters sailors interclub challenge, but all Laser sailors are welcome on the day. Please confirm interest to David Quinn by Friday 4th March for lunch numbers in particular. Notice of race will be published on the Howth website shortly.

September 09th - 15th 2011. Hot on the heels of running the Etchells Worlds this year, Howth Yacht Club is already well advanced in its planning for the 2011 European Championship of the J/24 Class.

With over 5,000 boats in 27 countries, the J/24 is the world's most popular one-design keelboat and has attracted many of the sport's top talent since it was first designed over three decades ago.

A fleet of up to 50 boats from eight to 10 European countries is expected in Howth for the event, being staged between September 9th and 15th next year. The organising committee is chaired by former HYC Commodore Derek Bothwell and ISAF International Race Officer David Lovegrove is the PRO.

A large Irish representation will also feature at Howth, with a number of well-known sailors in other classes already expressing an interest in competing. The Europeans will also be one of six qualifying events for the 2013 Worlds being hosted by Howth, as decided by the Irish J/24 Class Association at its recent AGM.