Malahide Yacht Club's Dermot Cronin sailing with his son Paddy has won the double–handed division of the Rolex Middle Sea Race. The stand out international result for the Irish double–hander was achieved on his Beneteau 40.7 Encore. 

Encore from Malahide on her way to overall victory in the double–handed class. Photo: Rolx/Carlos Borlenghi

Cronin is a regular competitor in the 600–mile race but this is understood to be the first time the Irish yacht has been sailed double–handed in the Mediterranean fixture.

The Irish duo, who finished 37th overall beat the UK based Neo 400 Banks Sails Racing by more than two hours on corrected time in a time of five days, 11 hours and 43 seconds. 

Malahide YC commodore Graham Smith was one of the first to offer congratulations to the Cronins. 'It's great news, richly deserved and we are delighted for Dermot and Paddy, he said.

The father and son team took just over five days and night to complete the race. Paolo Semeraro's Neo Double Banks Sails Racing had led for much of the race but finished in second place after a strong finish from the Irish team. Beppe Bisotto & Manuel Polo racing Fast 42, Atame was third. This was Beppe's 11th Middle Sea Race and his fifth Double Handed.

Dermot Cronin competed with his First 40.7, Encore, in the last Rolex Middle Sea Race with a full crew but didn't finish the race due to rudder problems in heavy weather. Dermot and his son Paddy have raced double handed before but nothing like the Rolex Middle Sea Race.

“Last year watching the Prize Giving for the Rolex Middle Sea Race, I remember thinking that the only chance I have to get on that stage is with my son Paddy.” commented Dermott Cronin. “Paddy has been tremendously successful racing double handed and I was delighted when he agreed to team up with me this year. I have huge respect for Paddy, I get quite emotional just thinking about that, I call him my master and commander, unequivocally he is the skipper and I am the crew. We have sailed for years and for me it doesn't get any better than this.”

“Probably the stand-out memory of the race was when we approaching Malta.” Commented Paddy Cronin. “We could pick up the tracker again, we knew we were in contention but we had no idea we were leading the Double Handed Class. Initially we thought that would be easy but then we started doubting that, so we put up the spinnaker in strong breeze and the snuffer jammed at the top and we knew that like that we couldn't get it down. So I went up the rig, hoisted by my Dad. It was blowing 25 knots in a confused sea and I was bouncing around and I was thinking we had messed the race up. So to be honest, when we came through the line there was more feeling of relief than anything else. When you finish a race like that it is almost surreal, you are so wrapped up in the race and we only came back to reality when we had a lovely reception from Barry Hurley, who won the Two Handed Class in 2012.”

It will be an emotional moment for Dermot and his son Paddy, when they take to the stage tomorrow, for the Rolex Middle Sea Race Prize Giving Ceremony.

Other Irish sailors competing inlcuded David Kenefick sailing with Artemis in 75th place with Ireland's former Green Dragon, now in Austrian hands, in 76th. 

Competing in class four on Xp–act Banks Sails Racing were Andrew Boyle, Philip Connor,  Barry Hurley and Kenny Rumball who finished 21st overall.

Meanwhile, Vincenzo Onorato's Italian Cookson 50, Mascalzone Latino, with Northern Ireland's Ian Moore as navigator, corrected out to win the overall prize for the race rating under the ORC Rule. The top three yachts came from three different classes, 57 yachts entered the race under the ORC rating system, which rated the yachts by time over distance. In second place overall was Michele Galli's Italian TP52, B2 with Francesco de Angelis as tactician. In third place overall was Milan Hajek's First 40.7, Three Sisters with a crew all from the Czech Republic.

2015 Maxi 72 World Champion winning navigator, Ian Moore spoke about the Mascalzone Latino victory. “This is the first time we have sailed together as a team for over a year and we put in a great performance. Our team and the boat performed well over a broad range of conditions, and we especially made big gains in the light winds. B2 was always going to be quicker than us in a straight line and they did well in the transition zones at Stromboli and Capo San Vito. We did catch up 14 miles on the first night going past Mount Etna, which was a big gain for us. On the leg from Lampedusa to the finish, there were a lot of thunderstorms and we saw one wind shift of 50 degrees, which we got spot on. This was an exciting race for us and tactically extremely difficult.”

In ORC One, Michele Galli's TP52, B2 was the winner from Hungarian RP60, Wild Joe, skippered by Marton Jozsa. In third place was Vicente Garcia Torres' Spanish Swan 80, Plis play was third.

B2's navigator, Nacho Postigo commented ”I think the 50-52 feet is a good length for this race. The TP52 is an all-round boat, with very little weaknesses, a good compromise between rating and speed. For me this was a typical Middle Sea Race; you struggle to find the wind, and when you do, it happens in excess. This time it was more about managing the light than about strong winds. For me, this is one of the most challenging races in the world. In this race there is a strong association between land and sea, and this drives you to take many important decisions along the way; sometimes, mistakes are really expensive here.”

ORC Two featured three canting keel yachts. Mascalzone Latino was the winner and there was a close battle for second place. Franco Niggeler's Swiss custom 42, Kuka-light, had an epic battle with Guido Paolo Gamucci's Italian Cookson 50, Cippa Lippa 8. Kuka-Light crossed the finish line of the Rolex Middle Sea Race just eight minutes ahead on corrected time to take second place ahead of Cippa Lippa.

ORC Three was won by the Turkish Ker 40, Arkas Flying Box, skippered by Serhat Altay, Arkas Flying Box was also placed 10th overall in ORC. Bastiaan de Voogd young Dutch team racing Sydney 43 Coin Coin was second. Vittorio Biscarini's Italian Mylius 15, Ars Una was third.

“Our Code Zero was a real weapon this race, especially in the wind holes.” commented Martin Watts, Arkas Sailing Team Coach. “There was no end to the enthusiasm from the team in their first major offshore race. Morale was very high on board and the team sailed very well together, I must say they are a real treat to sail with. Our ultimate goal for this year was to win our class at the Rolex Middle Sea Race and our efforts have achieved that, so we are absolutely delighted.”

ORC Four produced a tense battle for the class win, Christopher Opielok's Corby 38, Rockall IV from Hong Kong, corrected out to win the class by under an hour from three Maltese yachts, Christoph Podesta's First 45, Elusive II BOV was second, Sonke Stein & David Anastasi's J/133, Oiltanking Juno was third. Josef Schulteis & Timmy Camilleri’s Xp-44, Xp-Act Bank Sails was fourth by less than five minutes after time correction.

“In the light conditions, we were up against it but once we got into the breeze, this was more advantageous for Rockall, as we have a superior righting moment with a deep heavy keel.” Commented Rockall IV crew, Simon 'Cake' McCarthy. “The team did a great job at Pantelleria, we must have passed about 20 boats with our Code Zero up and at Lampedusa, we knew we were going well. Then the breeze just built and built and in big waves, we were on the edge of control. It was an awesome finish to the race.”

ORC Five produced one of the closest battles of the race. Lee Satariano & Christian Ripard's Maltese J/122, Artie won the class and also placed fourth overall under ORC. Costantin Manuele's First 40.7, Canevel Spumanti from the Yacht Club Adriaco, Trieste was second. Jamie Sammut's Maltese Solaris 42, Unica was third and Laurant Charmy's French J/111 SL Energies Groupe Fastwave was fourth. All four yachts finished within an hour of each other on corrected time.

“Mentally that was a very tough race and at times very frustrating.” Commented Artie's Lee Satariano. “At many stages of the race, if we could have found more wind, we would have done. The crew agree that we probably sailed the boat better this year than we have ever done. We sailed every leg really well and made very few errors. We set out to win our class and we are very happy that we have achieved that.”

ORC Six was won by Three Sisters taking part in their seventh race, the team from the Czech Republic corrected out to beat Grand Soleil 37, Sagola-Biotrading, skippered by Peppe Fornich. The crew are from the Yacht Club Favignana, the Aegadian Island of Favignana marks the northwest corner of the course. Gherardo Maviglia's Beneteau Oceanis 430, Amapola representing Circolo Velico Fiumicino, Roma was third. 

#420sailing – Four Royal Cork, two Howth/Skerries combinations plus a Kinsale YC and Malahide YC team will contest the 420 and 470 Junior European Championships in Gdynia, Poland this morning.

The seven boat Irish youth sailing line up comprises Harry Whitaker and Grattan Roberts, RCYC; Peter McCann and Arran Walsh RCYC;  Lizzy McDowell and Cara McDowell Malahide Yacht Club; Douglas Elmes and Bill Staunton, RCYC; and Skerries/HYC; Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove, Howth YC/Skerries SC; Cliodhna Ni Shuilleabhain and Jil McGinley Kinsale YC and Royal Cork YC and Ewan McMahon and Colin O'Sullivan, Howth.

The two Junior European Championships are held alongside each other to support the natural transition between the 420 and 470, although the racing format and course areas are separate.

A total of 332 sailors are competing, with teams from 25 nations contesting the 420 Junior Europeans and 470 Junior Europeans. Joining the European nations are teams from Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, New Zealand and the USA.

Warm-up events for both classes has seen the 470 Class running a three-day training clinic led by world-class coach Nigel Cochrane (CAN), whilst the 420 fleet has enjoyed the Polish 420 National Championships as a training ground. The 420 National Championships gave an early taste of form with fifty-eight teams competing, including twenty-five international teams. The Nationals was won by Greece's Nikolaos Brilakis/Nikolaos Georgakopoulos and top ladies team were Poland's Ewa Romaniuk/KataRzyna Goralska in second overall.

Some of the sport's most talented youth teams are set to flex their muscles on the race tracks of Gdynia, including the 2014 470 Men Junior World Champions, 470 Women Junior World Championship podium finishers, the defending 470 Women Junior European Champions and a stellar line up of 420 sailors including medallists from the recently held 420 World Championships and the ISAF Youth Sailing World Championships.

Keeping Poland's ambitions burning strong are 38 of the nation's best young sailors, with ten teams in the 470 fleets and a fourteen-boat line-up in the 420 Class.

The 2014 420 and 470 Junior European Championships officially opened this evening at an opening followed by sailors' buffet.

470 MEN AND WOMEN
Reigning 470 Junior World Champions, Jordi Xammar/Joan Herp of Spain successfully defended their 2013 Junior World Championship title in Italy in June and are now on a quest to do the double this year and add the 470 Junior European Championship to their growing gold medal haul. After their win at the 2013 470 Junior Worlds, the pair fell short of the podium at the 2013 Junior Europeans, finishing 4th by 10 points, so are back to make amends. Competing here in Poland was a last minute decision for the pair who were on vacation and simply had an overwhelming mission to compete and try to claim the Championship medal which has so far eluded them.

"We were not planning to come, but then we decided we'd better come just to see what we could do here," smiled Xammar. "The 470 Junior Europeans has not been our Championships. We have won five other junior world titles and this is the only one we haven't won."

Predicting what will give them the edge on the race track, Xammar continued, "The wind conditions and speed are not going to be the priority here. I think more important will be tactics and strategy around the race course."

The Spanish are joined by six of the other teams in the overall top 10 from the 470 Men Junior Worlds, so an intense battle is on the cards.

In the 470 Women, defending 470 Women Junior European gold medallists Anna Kyselova/Anastasiya Krasko from the Ukraine are back to defend national pride. The pair claimed silver at the 2013 Junior Worlds, but with a raft of penalty scores at this year's 470 Junior Worlds year in Italy failed to show their true form, and didn't qualify into the Medal Race top ten 10. The pair have parked that that disappointment firmly behind them and know they can win gold here if they focus on a consistent scoreline.

Teams lining up against them include silver medallists at the 470 Junior Worlds Jess Lavery/Megan Brickwood from Great Britain and the bronze medallists Noya Bar-Am/Rimon Shoshan from Israel, These three teams, are joined by five more of the top 10 from the 470 Junior Worlds in italy.

The British pair have had a break from international competition since the Junior Worlds, focusing on work commitments and training in the UK, so are also fresh to the race track.

"We have had a good few days training out here and had some good tuning with the Canadian team," commented Lavery. "It has gone well so far and we are getting familiar with the venue and feeling happy with how we are sailing."

The 470 Men and Women will race as two separate fleets, each fleet contesting a single series of 10 races, followed by the ten-boat Medal Race final. Racing is scheduled to get underway at 1100 hours on Wednesday 13 August 2014.

420 OPEN
In the 420 fleet, there are numerous familiar faces who have headed to Poland straight from the 420 Worlds in Travemuende, Germany and are back on the race track for the 420 Junior Europeans. To ensure quality of racing, entries are limited with a strict quota of seven teams per nation, apart from the host nation who can enter 14 teams. Teams race all together, so mixed teams, men and ladies teams all up against each other.

In 2013, the 420 Ladies controlled the leaderboard, claiming gold and silver, with the men's teams surprisingly off the pace in last year's windy conditions at Pwllheli, Wales.

Lighter winds are forecast for the Championship here in Poland, but judging from today's practice race, it may be more to do with who can read the wind best as shifty conditions look set to prevail.

Spain's Silvia Mas/Marta Davila won the ladies 420 division at the ISAF Youth Worlds and are looking forward to the challenge of racing in an open fleet

"I think for me it is more fun," laughed Mas. "It is a different thing just sailing with just girls compared to mixed. In the lighter winds the girls all do better, but we drop down when the wind picks up. I think it is really fun to sail all together."

"It is a bit shifty and the waves are quite difficult, particularly on starboard," she continued. "But it is the same for everybody."

The summer has been a gruelling back to back schedule of Championships, which take their toll.

"I am a bit tired," said Mas. "But I am feeling OK as although I have raced lots of Championships I have learnt a lot."

Also amongst the pre-race favourites will be the silver medallists at the 420 Worlds, Hippolyte Macheti/Sidoine Dantes of France who were also honoured as the top team placed team aged 18 and under and crowned Junior 420 World Champions.

As well as the Greek winners of the Polish 420 National Championships, local 420 team Ewa Romaniuk/KataRzyna Goralska will also be amongst the frontrunners.

Romaniuk/KataRzyna Goralska dominated during the early stages of the last year's 420 Junior Europeans, before struggling to maintain consistency and finishing 11th overall. But 2013 was a different game, as it marked their first season together. Rock forwards 12 months and the pair have far more experience to their credit and also secured the bronze medal at this year's ISAF Youth Worlds, up from 9th overall in 2014. They didn't compete at the 420 Worlds earlier in August, so are fresh for racing here in Gdynia.

Absent from the start line will be recently crowned 420 Ladies World Champions, Italy's Carlotta Omari/Francesca Russo Cirillo, and silver medallists Kimberly Lim/Savannah Siew who flew back to Singapore to prepare for upcoming school exams. Their absence also leaves the door open for the 420 Worlds bronze medallists Aikaterini Tavoulari/Fotini Koutsoumpou of Greece to step up. The pair gave the series leaders a run for their money in Germany and can do the same in Poland, particularly after their 7th overall at the Polish 420 Nationals.

There are numerous faces who can rise to the top from the 108 talented 420 teams competing, so expect some early leaderboard charges from Wednesday's opening three races.

Racing Schedule
Racing kicks off on Wednesday 13 August with three races scheduled for all fleets starting at 1100 hours. The 108 boat 420 Fleet have been split into two fleets, yellow and blue and will be re-seeded for each of the three days of qualification, after which they will advance through to gold and silver fleets for the final series.

The 470 Men and 470 Women are sailing a single race series in separate fleets, with 11 races scheduled followed by the top 10 Medal Race.

#malahide – Malahide Yacht Club's annual cruiser regatta, sponsored by SPAR, attracted 24 boats in three classes who sailed two back-to-back races on courses set by PRO Neil Murphy in light southerly to south-easterly breezes.

Class 2 and 3 did windward-leeward courses while the White Sail class completed Olympic triangle courses and the day saw visiting Howth boats top the table in each class on both handicaps.

Class 2 was headed by Impetuous (Noonan & Chambers) from Sunburn (Ian Byrne) in 2nd and MYC's XtraTime (Michael & Paul Arthurs) 3rd.

Vincent Gaffney's Alliance II had two race wins to take the Class 3 honours, ahead of Blue Jay (MYC Youth Team) on ECHO and Scandal (Brian McDowell) on IRC. Scandal was 3rd on ECHO and Goyave (Russell Camier) was 3rd on IRC.

The White Sails division saw a comfortable overall win by David Sargent's Indulgence ahead of Toughnut (Simon Revill) and Spellbound (Graham Burrows).

#malahide – Two Malahide sailors, Gemma McDowell and Sarah McKernan, travel to the USA this week to represent Scouting Ireland and Malahide Yacht Club at the William I Koch International Sea Scout Sailing Regatta in Long Beach, California. The two scouts earned the right to compete by winning the Irish Scout Sailing Championship on the Broadmeadows last August.

The biennial regatta will see teams from Brazil, England, Ireland, Finland, Poland, Portugal, New Zealand, South Africa and Trinidad and Tobago square off against their American counterparts from a dozen states in a week of competition in Flying Junior sailboats. Gemma and Sarah will also compete as part of international eight-man crews on board Catalina 37s.

The week-long regatta will end with an awards dinner where America's Cup-winning skipper and philanthropist Bill Koch will present the Koch Cup to the winning team.

Scouting Ireland Sea Scout Commissioner, Stephen Taylor, will travel with the team along with Kate O'Farrell, team manager, and Colum McCaffrey who has coached the team.

#opti – Beijing Olympian Ciara Peelo, a former Optimist sailor, is organising a reunion of Irish Optimist dinghy sailors young and old next month (October 12) at Malahide Yacht Club in North Dublin.

The idea is to get as many people from the 70s, 80s, 90s back together and catch up. This is aimed at anyone and everyone who sailed optimists during this time. 'As we were all quite young then and parents were a very important part of our Optimist sailing we are aware that many of our parents made great friends during our time sailing and we inviting any parents along too' says Peelo.

Malahide Yacht Club at St. James Terrace has undergone a major overhaul in the last couple of years and there is now a brand new clubhouse in the Broadmeadows and the club has offered the optimist gathering the use of the club Topaz dinghies in order to run a small regatta on the Saturday.

There will be a small cost of €20 to cover food on the night.

Please book by emailing [email protected]

Malahide Yacht Club has announced the appointment of Brian McDowell as Sailing Development Manager, a newly created position which will be a critical element of an ambitious development strategy for the Club to make sailing more accessible to the public, better utilise its modern Dinghy Sailing Centre facilities at the Broadmeadows, provide more sail training courses and further encourage membership growth.

Among his responsibilities will be the organisation of junior and adult dinghy sailing and training on the Broadmeadows, and keelboat sailing from the Lower Estuary.

A highly experienced sailor and long-time member of the Club who in the past has been MYC's Junior Affairs Officer and Sailing Development Officer, Brian was also the Project Manager in the construction of the new Dinghy Sailing Centre opened a year ago as part of its development strategy.

The paid post of Sailing Development Manager is an unusual step for a club the size of Malahide, but the MYC Executive Committee felt it was needed if it was to properly fulfill its commitment to open the sport up to a wider audience.

"We believe we couldn't achieve these objectives through voluntary effort alone," said Commodore Bob Sugrue "so we have gone down this route. Brian's experience, his vision for the future and his enthusiasm marked him out as the right person for the task and we are pleased to have him on board as we go forward."

Following on from its hosting of the 420 Class Leinster Championships the previous weekend, Malahide Yacht Club’s newly re-developed Dinghy Sailing Centre at the Broadmeadows was the scene for a highly successful Early Bird Regatta (Saturday 31^st March) which attracted 60 boats in four classes from Dun Laoghaire, Howth, Sutton, Rush, Skerries and Malahide.

The event, supported by Dinghy Supplies, Starbucks and Dunnes Stores, had three races for each class, sailed in moderate northerly winds on Olympic courses set by Race Officer Neil Murphy. The outstanding performance on the days was Howth’s Ronan Cull who topped the Laser class with three wins to finish 1^st overall ahead of Daragh Peelo (MYC) and Daragh Sheridan (HYC).

The Laser Radial division was dominated by MYC sailors, with Derek Sheehan, Ciaran Costello and Darren Griffin heading the rankings while Stephen Craig of the Royal St.George YC won the Laser 4.7s.

His younger brother Harry headed the senior Optimist fleet ahead of Skerries’ Ben Walsh and Conor Kneafsey (National YC) while another NYC sailor Peter Fagan topped the junior fleet ahead of Malahide’s Gemma McDowell and Nicola Ferguson (NYC).

Philip McDowell (with crew Cian Buckley) of the host club won the 420 Class and the Topaz honours went to Malahide’s Conor Costello from clubmates Diarmuid Marron and Peter Cunning.

Malahide Yacht Club’s next open event on the Broadmeadows is the Topaz National Championships in late June while in April, introductory sailing courses will be provided for the three local primary schools and an Open Day for those interested in joining the club will be held on Saturday 21^st April.

#MALAHIDE – Guests of Honour at Malahide Yacht Club's official opening of its newly rebuilt dinghy sailing centre in Malahide include Ireland's only ever Olympic sailing medal winner David Wilkins.

The Moscow 1980 Olympian will join the Mayor of Fingal and the Club's Commodore and Officers on Sunday week (March 11) at the Broadmeadows, on the Sea Road in Malahide for the official ceremony. 

Flor O’Driscoll, who recently retained his J24 National title and won Class 3 in the Dublin Bay Challenge, added to his season’s haul of trophies by winning the Malahide Marina-sponsored J24 Eastern Championships hosted by Malahide Yacht Club last weekend.

Something of a dress rehearsal for Irish entries in next week’s BMW J24 Europeans at Howth, the second day of the event was hampered by bad weather which prevented racing. Four good races on the Saturday however, with courses set by PRO Neil Murphy, produced competitive racing with four different race winners.

‘Hard on Port’ (Flor O’Driscoll, HYC) had a 3, 4, 1, 3 scoreline, giving him a one point advantage over second-placed ‘Crazy Horse’ (Mossy Shanahan, HYC) who edged out ‘Jibberish’ (O’Kelly/Wormald/Walsh, HYC) on count-back.

Malahide Marina J24 Eastern Championship results:

1. Hard on Port       Flor O’Driscoll      HYC           11 points
2. Crazy Horse        Mossy Shanahan HYC           12 points
3. Jibberish            O’Kelly etc          HYC           12 points
4. Sayonara           Murphy/Darrer    HYC           14 points
5. Jeb Stuart          Andrew Mannion  LRYC         17 points
6. Scandal             Brian McDowell   MYC          18 points

There will be an added nautical flavour to this year’s Malahide Festival with the introduction of a new feature entitled ‘Malahide Afloat’, devised by Malahide Yacht Club and organised on Saturday 23^rd July in conjunction with Malahide Marina and Malahide Sea Scouts - as the organisations most closely associated with the town’s most natural resource – and it includes a €5 overnight berth in the marina for any visiting boat on the Saturday night.

In what is a loose-knit collaboration, the three groups are hosting activities which amply demonstrate Malahide’s marine ties and so encourage even greater usage of the town’s marine-based facilities and its renowned seaside setting.

Malahide Yacht Club is hosting its annual ‘Wicklow Vase’ Race when dinghies from the Broadmeadows section of the club race against the keelboats out at sea and then meet up in the St.James’s Terrace clubhouse for the prize-giving (around 5.30pm). Boats will gather in the Lower Estuary from 1.30pm and the race will start at 3.00pm. The clubhouse will be open to visitors during the afternoon – new members are welcome - and the club will be ‘dressed overall’ with flags and bunting for the occasion.

Over at the Marina, one of Malahide’s major landmarks, visitors will be welcomed on to a section of the pontoons to gain a close-up view of yachts and motor-cruisers and experience the ‘maritime feeling’ at water-level. For safety reasons, numbers on the marina pontoons at any one time will be limited but access will be free and marina staff will be on hand to answer questions about boat ownership etc.

Visiting boats will be offered a special Festival rate of €5 to berth in the Marina on the Saturday night, on condition they register with the Marina Office on arrival, quoting ‘Malahide Afloat’.

Malahide Sea Scouts - one of the largest Scout groups in the country - have planned a day of action afloat. There will be skiff rowing races, canoe races and canoe polo, all taking place in the Lower Estuary. The Scout Den at the bottom of St.James’s Terrace will also be hosting an open day for prospective new scouts and their families to check out all the facilities and equipment on offer at Malahide Sea Scouts. It will provide an insight into what the Sea Scout movement is all about.

Further details from: Graham Smith – Malahide Yacht Club – 086-2580510