#moth – Maybe it's the fun factor, maybe its the fear factor – Graeme Grant braved the strong winds off Howth today to sail his Moth foiling dinghy on the first day of the inaugural Moth Irish Championships.

Capable of sailing at over 30 knots, Grant demonstrates the foiling dinghy (pictured above) that has captured the imagination of a number of Irish dinghy sailors and led to this weekend's first gathering of hydrofoil sailors in Ireland.

Four International Moths are sailing from Dun Laoghaire on a regular basis. Dun Laoghaire boats usually take part in the DBSC summer series PY racing along side a growing fleet of 49ers. The number includes Laser European Champion Annalise Murphy. 

One Fastacraft Zero sails from Blessington Sailing Club, in County Kildare. Blessington offers a great place to learn to sail Moths in flat lake water with the safety of the shore never too far away.

One Ninja based in Howth is sailed by Graeme Grant.

Built almost entirely out of carbon fibre, the International Moth is the most technically advanced racing dinghy in the world. With an all up weight of around 30 kilograms, the boat is designed and built to fly.

The International development sailing class has a history of 75 years of continuous innovation.

#Moths - If you enjoyed all the action of the America’s Cup recently, you'll be sure to love watching the Moths racing in Howth for the 2013 Irish Open next weekend.

Howth Yacht Club will play host to the event on 2-3 November for the international Moths, foiling single-handed boats that are very fast and incredibly exciting to sail - and to watch!

Spectator boats will be available on both days of the event, and the organisers will do their best to facilitate anyone interested in being on board - contact Laura Dillon at [email protected] indicating which day you would prefer to watch.

Organisers are also hoping to have some video footage playing in the bar on Saturday evening after the day's racing, and all are welcome to attend.

In addition, organisers are looking for a number of yachts, motor boats and RIBs to take some spectators out - anyone willing to volunteer should contact Laura Dillon via the email address above as soon as possible.

#allirelandsailing – Racing under the shadwo of a gale warning SB20 champion Ben Duncan has been crowned All Ireland Sailing Champion after a single day seven race regatta in changeable conditions at Howth Yacht Club this afternoon. Full results downloadable below as a jpeg file.  Second was junior champion Seafra Guilfoyle. Flying fifteen champion Ian Mathews was third.

The day began with the 16 class representatives and their crew being split in to two eight boat fleets. Due to the forecast weather conditions for Sunday, the decision was made to sail two races in each fleet in the morning with the top four teams from each progressing to the Final Series which would take place in the afternoon. Sailing in the Irish Sailing Association's J80 keelboats, the first eight teams took to the water for a 10.30am start in a 15 knot south-westerly.

Leading the fleet in the first race was SB20 champion Ben Duncan who took the bullet followed byMatthews from the National Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire and John McGuinness from Moville in Donegal. It was local Howth Yacht Club sailor Cillian Dickson who took the win in the second race followed by Ben Duncan with Ian Matthews in third.

On a total of 3 points, Ben Duncan and crew Joe Turner and Davie Taylor were the overall winners of the first fleet earning their place in the afternoon's Final Series. Also progressing to the Final were Ian Matthews (5 points), Cillian Dickson (6 points) and John McGuinness (8 points).

Facilitated by an on-the-water changeover, the second eight teams began racing almost immediately as strong winds were forecast for the early afternoon. Fireball sailor Noel Butler took the first win followed by a third in the second race, securing his place in the final. Also moving forward was Colin Byrne from Dun Laoghaire with two second place finishes and tied on 4 points with Noel Butler. Finishing third overall in the fleet on 5 points was teenager Séafra Guilfoyle who was invited to the championships upon winning the Junior event last month in Cork. And the sailor taking the last place in the Final Series was Trevor Kirkpatrick from Carrickfergus with a total of 8 points.

J80 fleet start during the ISA senior all Ireland championship 2013 hosted by Howth yacht club Dublin

Seafra Gulfoyle from the Royal Cork Yacht Club with crew members Dylan O'Grady Patrick Crosbie Nick Walsh won the final race of the ISA All Ireland sailing championships and secured 2nd overal for the event which was hosted by Howth yacht club in Dublin.Crew member Dylan O'Grady (nearest) was the youngest competitor at just 11 years of age.

Ian Matthews of the National yacht club Dun Laoghaire crewed by Keith Poole and Nial Meagher finished third overall in the ISA Irish senior all Ireland championships hosted by Howth Yacht Club Dublin.

Overall winner of the Irish senior all Ireland championship Ben Duncan his crew Joe Turner/Davie Taylor work hard upwind during the event hosted by Howth yacht club Dublin.



J80's sailing close to Ireland eye during the ISA senior all Ireland championship 2013 hosted by Howth yacht club Dublin.



Ben Duncan ISA Irish senior all Ireland champion 2013

All sailors returned to the shore after the fleet racing had finished as the wind had picked up to almost 30 knots. After a two hour break and the boat draw racing resumed at 3.55pm. Three final races were successfully completed in 8 knots but after the second race Ben Duncan had the championship in the bag. He went on to win two of the three races and placed second in the other winning the event on a total of 5 points with a four point lead. In second place was young Séafra Guilfoyle who won the last race of the regatta and finished on a total of 9 points. Séafra also had the youngest crew member of the event on his team, Dylan O'Grady who is only 11 years old. Bronze went to Ian Matthews who finished on 12 points.

#allirelandsailing – Prior commitments mean the All Ireland sailing champion Peter O’Leary will be unable to defend his 2012 title.  Nor will any of his Olympic 2012 team mates make the Howth Yacht Club start line as Annalise Murphy, Ryan Seaton and Ger Owens, who all received nominations, bow out of tomorrow's competition, where big breeze is expected. The ISA released the line up of 16 competitors this morning. Download line up below as a jpeg file.

As Afloat.ie reported earlier the ISA initially planned a prequalification round for the event for tomorrow but these plans appear to have changed, giving an appearance that 16 is all that could be mustered, a far cry from a few years ago when there were complaints over not getting invited, even to the prequalifying Friday line-up of 28 plus classes. 

The 16 class representatives hail from all four corners of the country; nine sail from Dublin, three from Cork and one a piece in Westmeath, Limerick, Donegal and Antrim.

Mermaid – Mark Boylan, Skerries SC; Fireball – Noel Butler; ICRA '1' – Colin Byrne, Royal Irish YC; Laser Radial – Thomas Chaix, Kinsale YC; J24 – Cillian Dickson, Howth YC; SB20 – Ben Duncan; Junior Winner – Séafra Guilfoyle, Royal Cork YC; Shannon OD – Laurence Hanley, Lough Ree YC; Ruffian – Trevor Kirkpatrick, Carrickfergus SC; Wild Card – Finn Lynch, National YC; Flying Fifteen – Ian Mathews, National YC; ICRA '2'– Simon McGibney, Foynes YC GP14 – John McGuinness, Moville BC; RS400 – Emmet Ryan, Royal St George YC; Multihull – Mark Small, Kinsale YC; Howth 17, Mike Toomey, Howth YC.

Among them is a strong up-and-coming youth contingent. Finn Lynch from the ISA Academy earned a wild card nomination for his recent performance at the Laser European & World Championships. The 17 year old took home three medals at the regatta including Gold - U21 Men’s Laser Radial Worlds, Silver – Men’s Laser Radial Europeans and Bronze – Men’s Laser Radial Worlds. Joining Finn in the line-up will be fellow Academy member Séafra Guilfoyle who earned his place by winning the Junior All Ireland event last month in Co. Cork.

Representing the Mermaid class will be Mark Boylan who this year became the youngest ever Mermaid National Champion at the age of 20. And making up an all youth crew for Optimist Squad coach Thomas Chaix will be Dara O’Shea and Douglas Elmes who have since graduated from Oppies and Johnny Durcan who is still on the national Optimist Squad.

The 16 boats will compete in two fleets of eight on Saturday, each scheduled for three races. From there the top three boats from each fleet will progress to Sunday’s final four-race series with two places remaining for the top two boats from a two-race repechage on Sunday morning.

Up to 25 knot south westerly winds are forecast for both days of competition.

Howth RNLI Annual Supporter's meeting will be held in Howth Yacht Club on Wednesday 6 November at 8pm.

The meeting is an opportunity to thank those who have supported Howth Lifeboat station, give them a chance to meet the crew and update supporters on how their donations have contributed to saving lives at sea.

There will be a presentation of a Lifeboat Crew Awards to a crew member who has shown great skill and expertise. Certificates will also be awarded to groups and individuals who have carried out fundraising in aid of the RNLI. Ronan Murphy and the team in Toned Fit took part in and brought their StaminUp group to the Hell & Back Challenge in February. Gavin Pitcher of City Kayaking who organised the Dublin City 5km Kayaking Challenge in April. Jennifer Murphy and Brendan Mulligan cycled from London to Paris in aid of Howth RNLI in August. Louise Wolff one of our newest crew members, is taking part in the Dublin Marathon to raise funds.

RNLI Christmas Cards and souvenirs will be on sale on the night, and supporters can find out more about the RNLI Reindeer Run to be held in Marlay Park on Sunday 1 December

#opti – In a show of strength for Royal Cork Yacht Club youth sailing, the Munster club took the top three places in the Optimist Leinster Championships senior fleet and also won the junior fleet at this weekend's Leinster Championships at Howth Yacht Club.

Bitterly cold conditions, a confused sea, wind gusts of over 20 knots, and a rip-roaring tide made the young sailors value their warm sailing clothing at Howth Yacht Club.

With an attendance of 138 sailors it was certainly going to be some event and so it proved. There were 43 sailors in the Senior fleet, 55 in the Junior fleet and 40 in the Regatta fleet.

Excellent if difficult conditions prevailed yesterday. Wind on both days was westerly with a touch of North. Sailing yesterday started later than today with the result the fleets experienced an ebb tide in quite a long race. Today sailing was started earlier to give the sailors better racing with races somewhat shorter and the fleets sailed with a flood tide so all round excellent sailing conditions were experienced to test the sailors. Winds yesterday (Sat) were much stronger medium to fresh 15/16 knots with stronger gusts.

Conditions to day were somewhat lighter with 5/6knots of breeze and there were two black flag starts. Conditions yesterday were reported as being extremely cold with much warmer conditions today. Reports back from the sailors pronounced the racing as excellent with great sailing and all credit due to the race officials.

In the Senior Fleet the winner was Harry Durcan, RCYC, current National Champion, second James McCann RCYC and third Johnny Durcan, RCYC.

In the Junior fleet the winner was Chris Bateman, RCYC, followed by James McMahon HYC and Ella Hemeryck, NYC.

The Regatta fleet was won by Conor Gorman, NYC, followed by Hugh O'Connor, NYC with Ruth Lacy, HYC third.

In a tense and closely fought final day, Tim Healy and his crew from Newport, Rhode Island, on board 'Helly Hansen' were impressive winners of the BMW J24 World Championship at Howth Yacht Club, with eight top-five results (including three race wins) in the 10-race series.

Healy, who previously won the title in 2010, was pushed all the way by the defending champion Mauricio Santa Cruz from Brazil on 'Bruschetta', who also demonstrated remarkable consistency, but who had to be content with the runner-up spot, four points adrift of his rival.

Third place overall went to another American crew led by Travis Odenbach from Rochester on 'Honey Badger' who had been the series leader overnight but who did not enjoy the final day. A 20th and an 8th effectively knocked his chances, although he was only two points off Santa Cruz in the end.

In fresh westerly winds which touched 25 knots at times, the penultimate race saw a second win in the series for Britain's Ian Southworth on 'Il Riccio', ahead of fellow Briton Bob Turner's 'Serco'. Third place went to local Howth skipper Mossy Shanahan on 'Crazyhorse', following up on his great form the previous day, a result which contributed to him finishing as the top Irish boat overall in 19th place.

Success in the last race went to the German boat 'Rotoman' (Tobias Feuerherd), with Keith Whittemore ('Furio') from Seattle 2nd and Santa Cruz 3rd. The Brazilian, however, needed Healy to be further down the fleet than his finishing place of 5th and so surrendered his world title to the American crew by four points after the one allowed discard.

With the exception of the Tuesday when racing was abandoned due to lack of wind, the championship featured four good racing days, with the wind strength progressively increasing as the week went on. There were six different race winners and the four US entries all finished in the top 10 which featured two German boats and the sole Italian entry.

After 10 races, the overall standings (after one discard) were:

1. Tim Healy (USA) 38 points
2. Mauricio Santa Cruz (Brazil) 42 points
3. Travis Odenbach (USA) 44 points
4. Ian Southworth (GB) 53 points
5. Tobias Feurherd (Ger) 73 points
6. Keith Whittemore (USA) 77 points
7. Bob Turner (GB) 83 points
8. Ignatio Bonanno (Italy) 88 points
9. Tony Parker (USA) 114 points
10. Sullberg (Ger) 115 points

http://www.hyc.ie/J24worldChampionship2013/

It was very much a case of North American domination on the fourth day of competition at the BMW J24 Worlds at Howth Yacht Club, with Tim Healy of Newport winning the first and third races of the day while compatriot Travis Odenbach's win in the second one has taken the crew from Rochester, NY, into the overall lead going into the final day.

Conversely, it was not such a good day for the South Americans from Brazil as defending champion Mauricio Santa Cruz had his worst results of the series, highlighted by an 18th in the second race, which drops him to third overall. It proved a very good day, however, for Mossy Shanahan of the host club who scored a 6th, 3rd and 4th, each finish being the best local result in the series to date.

In fresh winds that fluctuated between south-west and west in direction, Healy enjoyed the conditions best to take the gun in the first race of the day from Britain's Ian Southworth and then Odenbach, while Santa Cruz's 7th dropped him from top spot after six races.

The biggest upsets came in the seventh race of the series, where several of the leading boats were caught out by a significant wind-shift on the first beat and eventually ended up in mid-fleet positions. Odenbach, on the other hand, clawed his way back superbly to take line honours ahead of Britain's Paul Williams and Ireland's Shanahan to open up a lead at the top of the leaderboard.

The series' eight race was another triumph for Healy and his crew but his biggest rival Odenbach secured a second for a highly consistent 3, 1, 2 scorecard for the day. After a poor result in the previous race, Ian Southworth returned to form to finish 3rd and move into 4th overall.

Two more races are scheduled for the final day (Friday 30th) to complete the 10-race programme, with all eyes on the two US crews and Santa Cruz as the main contenders for the title. Odenbach holds a 6-point lead over Healy who has only one point to spare over the Brazilian.

After 8 races, the provisional overall standings (with one discard) are:

1. Travis Odenbach (USA) 23 points
2. Tim Healy (USA) 29 points
3. Mauricio Santa Cruz (Brazil) 30 points
4. Ian Southworth (GB) 46 points
5. Rotoman (Ger) 55 points
6. I. Bonanno (Italy) 65 points
7. Keith Whittemore (USA) 68 points
8. Bob Turner (GB) 70 points
9. Sullberg (Ger) 88 points
10. Tony Parker (USA) 90 points

http://www.hyc.ie/J24worldChampionship2013/

Editor's note: When the J/24 Worlds came to his home port of Howth this week, W M Nixon found himself seeing familiar sailing waters as though for the first time. Read his sailing blog from midnight on Friday on Afloat.ie

In stark contrast to the previous day, ideal sailing conditions prevailed at Howth on the third day of the BMW J24 World Championship to allow three races to be completed, resulting in just seven points separating the top five boats after one discard is taken into account.

Defending champion Mauricio Santa Cruz from Brazil, a model of consistency with four top three finishes, leads the fleet overall but the crew from Rio is being pressed all the way by former World Champion Tim Healy of the USA who is only two points adrift. He in turn has only two points to spare over Britain's Ian Southworth.

The third race of the series, in fresh south-easterly winds, saw Healy take line honours ahead of Bob Turner (GB), another American Travis Odenbach and Santa Cruz.

Turner's boat, helmed by Nathan Batchelor, went one better in the fourth race with a comfortable margin of victory over Santa Cruz who had Ian Southworth (GB) chasing him. The British boat had a cracking start and the leading pack all gained by going right on the first beat.

Southworth, who was black-flagged with five other boats on the abandoned race on day 2 and carried the penalty into the third day, made up for that disappointment with a bullet in the fifth race. Healy finished up a satisfactory day with a second ahead of Santa Cruz to set up an interesting penultimate day of competition.

With five races completed, the provisional overall standings (with one discard) are:

1. Mauricio Santa Cruz (Brazil) 11 points
2. Tim Healy (USA) 13 points
3. Ian Southworth (GB) 15 points
4. Travis Odenbach (USA) 17 points
5. Keith Whittemore (USA) 18 points
6. I. Bonanno (Italy) 27 points
7. Bob Turner (GB) 32 points
8. Blankeneser SC (Ger) 32 points
9. Tony Parker (USA) 38 points
10. Joersfelder SC (Ger) 39 points

http://www.hyc.ie/J24worldChampionship2013/

#j24 – Lack of wind and strong tides played havoc on day two of the BMW J24 World Championship at Howth Yacht Club leaving Principal Race Officer David Lovegrove with no alternative but to abandon racing.

A 6-knot north-westerly breeze allowed the third race of the series to be started eventually but once the boats rounded the windward mark, the wind dropped away and a north-flowing flood tide meant the entire fleet was left motionless, with no chance of a finish.

After a delay of almost three hours, continued windless conditions forced abandonment for the day.

With the two races sailed on the first day the only ones to count so far, Keith Whittemore from Seattle still heads the overall rankings by two points from defending champion Mauricio Santa Cruz of Brazil.

Racing is expected to resume on Wednesday (28th).