The Irish RS200/400 fleets return to Lough Derg this month for the year's final event on 23/24 September at Killaloe Sailing Club Co. Clare, and boats are expected to travel from all parts of the country for the Inland Championship.

From the North, Luke McIlwaine/Ryan Wilson and are leading the Travellers Series among the favourites in the 400 and the Hills duo in the RS 200.

Blessington and Greystones SC are expected to supply good numbers from the East Coast.

In the West, Galway and Callaun bring boats to compete with the biggest fleet (12 boats) coming from Killaloe, including 2022 RS400 Inland Champion Govan Berridge/Dave Coleman in their brand new boat.

Entries for the event are still open here for anyone wishing to join the 33-boat fleet.

The NOR, Entry Page, SI's, accommodation/camping info, and Whatsapp Group are all listed on information page here

The Irish RS AGM is to be scheduled in the middle of October and will decide on Irish events for 2024.

Killaloe Sailing Club (KSC) on the southern shores of Lough Derg held a very successful event to mark the opening of its new clubhouse and facilities on Saturday, 22nd April, and despite the cool, damp weather, around 250 people were in attendance. Many participated in Try Sailing and Lake Trips, and there was a barbeque and an opportunity to socialise for all.

Tony O’Brien, the Mayor of Clare and Phyll Bugler, Deputy Mayor of Tipperary were also in attendance together, with TDs Cathal Crowe and Minister for State Kieran O’Donnell. A very notable participant was fellow KSC member Pat Lawless, just back from the Golden Globe Race 2022. He presented a burgee to Killaloe Sailing Club from the Royal Cape Yacht Club, who looked after him so well after his retirement from the Golden Globe.

A highlight of the opening ceremony was the presentation to KSC by Pat Lawless (seen here in Capetown) of a Royal Cape YC burgee.

The club development has taken six years to come to fruition, and cost €0.75m. This was funded via Leader Funding accessed through the Clare Local Development Company and North Tipperary Local Development Company, the Tomar Trust, a Sports Capital Grant – and club members who provided loans and supported many fundraising events over the last few years.

Commenting on the event, Club Commodore John Callanan said, “We were delighted with the turnout, and the day was great fun. It's always nice to see past members and dignitaries come out to support Killaloe Sailing Club, and the fact that Betty McMahon, whose late husband was one of the founders of the club, was in attendance is particularly special. Hopefully, the event and the upcoming season will give even more people the sailing bug at our family-friendly club. Special thanks to our development Committee chaired by Sue Concannon and her team. Well done, Sue.”

The Club is open to new members and further details can be found at www.killaloesailingclub.com or via email to [email protected]

The “Try Sailing” programme could have used more wind, but many people gave it a go nevertheless

Killaloe Sailing Club (KSC) will be celebrating sixty years of increasingly busy and expanding activity when the 1963-founded club opens its new clubhouse on the wooded Clare shores of Lough Derg on Saturday, April 22nd. The new premises reflect the setting, with a nod to Scandinavian forest lodge design in the pleasing overall effect of the attractive complex.

The grand opening will take place from 4 pm till 8 pm on Saturday, 22nd April, and will include a BBQ, sailing and lake trips (assuming the weather is amenable) for attendees, and an opportunity to socialise and see the new facilities. The event is open to all, and KSC looks forward to welcoming a big crowd on the day.

SIX YEARS IN THE MAKING

The club development has taken six years to come to complete fruition, and cost €0.75m. This was funded via Leader Funding accessed through the Clare Local Development Company and North Tipperary Local Development Company, the Tomar Trust, a Sports Capital Grant, and of course club members themselves, who generously provided loans, and supported many fundraising events over the last few years.

Commenting on the event, Club Commodore John Callanan said, “We are delighted with our new clubhouse and facilities, and can’t wait to welcome everyone to our opening event on 22nd April. Members old and new will be very welcome, plus anyone from the local community who would like to join us and perhaps have a go at small boat sailing - with the help of an experienced helm of course.”

Noted as a stronghold of Laser racing, Killaloe SC has seen a significant increase in the number of newer boat types. 

Remarking on the development, Chair of the Development Committee Sue Concannon said: “It is fantastic to see our club development up and running at our thriving club. It’s been a long process with many twists and turns, but seeing it finished makes all the hard work worthwhile.”

Commodore John Concannon can be contacted at 083 460 7433.  Further details of the event and try sailing options can be found at www.killaloesailingclub.com/go

Fifteen Fireballs competed in the two-day event at the completely remodelled club on the shores of Lough Derg.

The class were greatly honoured to be the first class hosted by KSC since the completion of their brand-new clubhouse. On the Saturday night the class sat down to a terrific meal hosted by club volunteers in its function room, the first meal in the newly built room. The area around the club has been completely remodelled with greatly improved boat and vehicle parking, and room for tents and camper vans.

All in all, the completion of the works is a huge achievement and the Fireball class were delighted to be the first customers.

Briefing at Killaloe sailing club ahead of the Munster Fireball championships

The event itself was a tale of two halves. The forecast for day one was to be breezy, shifty and exceptionally gusty and for once the forecast was 100% accurate. With the conditions just seven boats launched initially to test the waters, in every sense. As the morning wore on that number increased to ten as conditions eased somewhat. Race one was a windward-leeward affair and in fact principal race officer Doireann Kennedy, mentored by Geoff O’Donoghue, wisely stuck to windward-leeward courses for the day, giving sailors the choice of angles downwind, and allowing the race team to quickly re-configure the course for big shifts. And it was those big shifts which provided the greatest challenges during racing, with stinging gusts striking at unexpected angles leading to that water sampling mentioned earlier.

Butler/Oram won races one and three, but didn’t have things their own way by any means. They were frequently beaten to the weather mark and it was their brave/inspired choice of downwind angles where they pulled back places. While most of the fleet tried to follow the gusts downwind Butler/Oram took off in frequently extreme directions, seeking out more pressure and high-wiring down the runs to take places and get back into contention. Race two was won by Ed Óg Butler and Sean Collins who were fast throughout the entire event in all conditions, and were especially sharp upwind.

Frank Miller and Hugo Mickova sailed consistently on day one, posting three third places in the breezy stuff. Josh Porter and Cara McDowell, being lighter, were a bit behind on day one with two fifths in the first races but a second in the final race of the day when conditions had lightened somewhat. Before the meal on Saturday night the class had an open forum meeting to get views on the season ahead and in particular to get views on the racing calendar for 2023. It was especially heartening to see so many young faces at the meeting and get feedback for the next season. Since many Fireballers also sail other classes balancing the racing calendar is never easy. After the meal and some libations, the sailors crawled back to their various tents, vans, hotels and apartments.

Chara McDowell and Josh Porter with organiser Jim Ryan (rt)

Sunday dawned as expected with little wind but by the time the sailors convened at the club there was a very decent land breeze. However, by the time boats launched that breeze had considerably reduced and then disappeared. Consultations with Geoff O’Donoghue led to the prediction of a thermal wind filling from the opposite direction and so it proved, allowing three “Olympic Triangle” races to be sailed in a fair breeze. Race four was won by Porter/McDowell, leading Butler/Oram and Thomas Chaix/Conor Flynn across the line. Porter/McDowell took the gun again in race five from Butler/Oram and Butler/Flynn.

Sean Collins and Ed Og Butler 

The final race was a fraught affair with a port/starboard incident leading to Porter/McDowell doing turns, and a very interesting gybe mark situation where Butler/Oram went on what seemed like a gybing dance to attempt to get the inside overlap at the mark in very thin air. We can’t report whether they legally acquired that overlap as it looked distinctly hairy from our viewpoint but they emerged with the inside berth. It was a very noisy affair but Ed Óg did not follow through with a protest. We don’t know if that’s because he is a gentleman or if he conceded that an overlap was established in time. If it was the former his good sportsmanship was rewarded because he and Sean Collins won the final race, with Butler/Oram relegated to fourth through some shifts and light patches approaching the finish.

Butler/Oram were able to discard that race to take the overall with a three-point lead, and Porter/McDowell took second on equal points with Butler/Collins who finished third overall. Miller/Mickova took fourth place overall. Special praise has to go to Jakub Ozarek and Lara Killen from East Down who showed great boat handling ability in all the conditions and went on to win the silver trophy at their first ever Fireball event. And a round of applause for Lara’s dad Paul who drove from East Down and organised the camping and feeding of the youth team. Second Silver were Richard Street/Ollie Lloyd and third were Brenda Nash and Glen Fisher. Another youth team took the classic trophy, carried off by Sam Street and Denis Cully from Blessington SC, with Sam’s father the indefatigable Richard Street as logistics manager and master chef, as well as sailing the event himself.

Sam Street and Denis Cully won the classic prize

At the prize-giving ceremony led by main organiser Jim Ryan much thanks and praise went to the club and its volunteers and small gifts were presented to the race officers. It is fair to say that this was an extremely successful event, capping off a remarkable season for the class in Ireland. Despite the effort and time which went into the recent Worlds just a few miles up the lake at LDYC the class is energized and rejuvenated and very much looking forward to the winter DMYC Frostbites series, to the summer 2023 season in Ireland, to the French Nationals in nearby Brittany and to the Europeans in Slovenia next September.

East Down YC's Jakub Ozarek and Lara Killen won the silver trophy

2022 Fireball Munster Championships results

On the 4th September, Limerick sailor Pat Lawless will begin the ‘Race of his Life’, sailing solo around the world in the Golden Globe Race 2022, non-stop and unassisted by technology other than a compass, sextant, the stars and the sun. And Killaloe Sailing Club are proud to have an association with newest club member Pat on his worldwide voyage, with the Club undertaking a successful fund-raiser for him last year.

As a supporting organisation, the club logo will be engraved onto the bulkhead of his boat. Pat is sailing in a 36ft Saltram Saga in an event no Irish person has managed to complete before now, though in the previous race in 2018, Gregor McGuckin of Malahide in a Biscay 36 managed to get as far as the Indian Ocean before being dismasted, while he was rewarded internationally with the prestigious Rod Stephens Seamanship Trophy of the Cruising Club of America for his heroic efforts - despite having only jury rig - to rescue another disabled entrant.

Limerick sailor Pat Lawless

It’s the longest, loneliest sporting event in the World - nine months at sea alone in a small boat. It entails stepping back to the Golden Age of solo sailing, with no modern technology, sailing the race in the spirit of Brendan the Navigator and Conor O’Brien of Foynes, the first skipper to take a small boat around the world via the three great southern capes. An heir to this tradition, Pat Lawless grew up around boats learning to sail on the River Shannon, building his first boat at the age of just 12. And he has already sailed over 10,000 miles solo, while he is also no stranger to dinghy sailing.

The Golden Globe Race 2022 starts on 4th September, 2022 from Les Sables d’Olonne, France.

Work has begun on the new clubhouse facilities for Killaloe Sailing Club near Ogonelloe on the southwest shores of Lough Derg, with the recent official turning of the first sod at the site a very significant milestone for the club.

Jim Ryan, a long standing member and driving force behind club development, highlighted that the new facilities will greatly enhance not only Killaloe Sailing Club’s offering to its current membership, but will also provide a wonderful amenity for the populations of the wider Clare, Tipperary and Limerick areas.

“Until now,” he said, “the club has been somewhat limited in developing its true potential, due to our restricted on-shore facilities. But with the building of the new clubhouse, the proper provision of running hot and cold water, showers, kitchen, changing rooms, indoor teaching facility and much more will be available to attract newcomers and established sailors alike”.

Cllr. Dr. Phyll Bugler was enthused that it was wonderful to see facilities like this being developed in Lough Derg, with a focus on developing the youth, with sailing being an excellent activity for confidence-building and both positive mental and physical health.

KSC Commodore John Callanan commented: “ The sailing conditions on our great lake are second to none, and offer some of the best inland leisure sailing and inland racing in Ireland. The sailing community love to travel and compete in different locations around the island, and overseas. With these new facilities, Killaloe Sailing Club looks forward to welcoming many visitors to the area in the years to come, thereby boosting the local hospitality economy”.

Killaloe Sailing Club says it has a reputation as being a family-friendly club, and warmly welcomes new members and visitors alike.

Anyone curious about starting to sail, or looking to re-start again after a break (even perhaps after a couple of decades of non-sailing like some recent new members), are welcome to visit the club on any Thursday evening or Sunday morning, or drop a line to: [email protected]

The total cost of the Killaloe Sailing Club development is over €700,000. It is part-funded by the LEADER program, through the National Development Plan and by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development supported by the Clare and Tipperary LEADER Development Companies. Generous support has also been received from the Tomar Trust, and Sports Capital, and the stated aim is for the joys of sailing to be discovered by a broader range of the population.

The club must undertake a significant fundraising schedule of events in order to raise the match funding.

The man of the moment at Killaloe Sailing Club on Lough Derg is their sailing coach Rory Miley, who was instructing on the adult course on Sunday afternoon when he spotted a small cruiser up the lake with the crew waving for help. Rory went to assist, and found an elderly man in the water without a buoyancy aid, and some way off from the cruiser in significant distress.

Apparently he’d been in the water for some time, but Rory managed to get him into the KSC safety boat, then back on the cruiser (which had broken down) to reunite him with his distressed grand-daughters.

Rory then called the coast guard to tow them back to Killaloe, and having double-checked that all was okay, he returned to continue coaching his students.

Killaloe Sailing Club on the beautiful southern shores of Lough Derg is a community-orientated, not-for-profit, Irish Sailing-accredited amateur, small boat sailing club.

This little club – totally volunteer-run – now has the fully-developed vision of building a stylish new clubhouse, as the current facilities are becoming totally unsuitable for an enthusiastic organisation of Killaloe SC's expanding size.

Planning permission has been secured to build a new Clubhouse, the plans including changing rooms with toilets and showers, a common room and small kitchen, raised walkways, and a covered training area. There'll be facilities for the disabled, and an enlarged boat shed together with a new cark park and an enlarged dinghy park.

In order to raise much-needed funds, the Club is running a Raffle this Autumn, whereby the winner will take a home a brand-new Laser dinghy, worth a spectacular almost €8,000.

Only 100 tickets are being sold, and 50 of them have been sold already. These tickets are not waiting around! As soon as all the tickets are gone, the raffle will take place and will be formally adjudicated.

The prize is a Laser XD ICE Blue, and comes with Carbon Mast, Launching Trolley, Top Cover and Foil Bag. The winner can choose any Rig size - 4.7, Radial or Full Rig.

For newcomers to sailing, the word is that Lasers are suitable for both beginners or more experienced sailors, and from teenagers to adults. Killaloe Sailing Club already has a sizeable fleet of Lasers in the Club, so should the winner wish to sail within the Club, or even race on any Tuesday evening in the Summer, or Sunday morning in the cooler months, then there will be plenty of competition for them to make it exciting.

Killaloe Sailing Club plans for the coming years include continued extension of links with the local community through arrangements with the Scouts, Cubs, local language and state schools. KSC will also be hosting regional and even national events, and expanding the number of Irish Sailing accredited sailing courses on offer, thereby ensuring the continued pipeline of new sailors to the sport in the well-proven Killaloe tradition.

Anyone interested in purchasing a ticket, please email: [email protected] with your contact details and the number of tickets requested.

For any queries, please text/call John at 083 4607433. Alternatively, tickets can be purchased via the 'ClubZap' app https://clubzap.com/download, where you scroll to 'Other' and then to 'Killaloe Sailing

Killaloe Sailing Club enjoyed their first day back on the water in recent days, in preparation for the next stage of reopening the country from tomorrow, Monday 8 June.

Other sailing clubs welcoming Phase 2 of the recovery roadmap were Cullaun Sailing Club, who said they are looking forward to seeing all members from across Co Clare or within 20km of the club (which includes the northern part of Limerick city) set sail over the coming days.

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the latest stage of relaxing restrictions against coronavirus will allow for non-competitive and unsupervised activity for up to 15 people, including trainers and coaches, up from the previous four.

https://t.co/nn4lsagY0j Phase 2 sailing starts on Monday and we are really looking forward to it see our newsletter above @ClareChampion @ClareEcho @Claresports @AfloatMagazine pic.twitter.com/BsXyhN5Vqt

— Cullaun Sailing Club (@cullaunsailing) June 6, 2020

Mixed household crew will also be allowed for larger multi-hander vessels were social distancing can be maintained.

The club is also asking all members to complete a contact tracing form in line with Irish Sailing and Government guidelines and help ensure continued sailing activity without the reimposition of restrictions.

Great first day had by all . Well done to Cillian and the safety team #irishsailing ⁦@AfloatMagazine⁩ ⁦@Irish_Sailing⁩ ⁦⁦@waterwaysirelan⁩ pic.twitter.com/xeqW1Nq2Ut

— Killaloesailingclub (@KillaloeSC) June 1, 2020

#RS - Killaloe Sailing Club is hosting the RS Inland and RS Feva Western Championships this weekend, starting today Saturday 11 August.

The RS sailing community will be out in force on Lough Derg for the weekend, with full camping facilities available at the club and a barbecue set for this evening at 6.30pm.

For more details on the event see the RS Ireland website HERE.