Dun Laoghaire based photographer Gareth Craig has added to last Saturday's Dun Laoghaire to Dingle race coverage with a selection of start images on the Afloat Gallery here. Our race start coverage from the National Yacht Club is here.

Starting at 1000 this morning, the ebb tide will make up for the light winds forecast for the early part of the Dun Laoghaire to Dingle race writes our Offshore Correspondent. However, it looks likely that anchoring will play a role once the flood sets in and there may be some close work inshore to escape the worst of the tide. It looks unlikely that any of the fleet will make the Tuskar before the next ebb which may well carry the whole fleet around the first waypoint and into the building headwinds.

This should advantage the smaller boats of the fleet initially, but could help the larger boats to get further along the south coast before the westerly sets in around midnight Sunday.

Alan McGettigan's Pride of Dalkey- Fuji should show a clean pair of heels to the fleet, but she will always be fighting the handicap and a slow start will not suit.

Expect to see quite a battle between 2009 winner Cathal Drohan's X41, Legally Brunette, the Tyrell J122 Aquelina and the relatively unknown Steve Kershaw's Fortuna Redux, the South African built Fast 42.  ISORA class leading form has already been shown by Richard Tudor's Sgrech and Vincent Farrell's Tsunami, while Matt Davis' Sigma 400 Raging Bull is a recent winner.

While the handicap suggests that Pride of Dalkey-Fuji  should take line honours, the current forecast suggest the overall winner will come from the lower rated boats.

Its going to be an interesting few days.

 

Dublin Bay local Adam Hyland has won the Optimist Leinster Championships on home waters this afternoon in blustery conditions that saw the series completed in the comparative shelter of Scotsman's bay in the lee of Dun Laoghaire's East pier as winds across Dublin Bay hit 25 knots from the West. Howth Yacht Club sailors Sean Waddilove and Robert Dickson were second and third respectively.

The Championships hosted by the National Yacht Club also featured racing in the Junior and Regatta fleets. The juniors was won by Ronan Cournahane and regatta racing by Eva Millar.

Results below.

Series Place	Sail No	Fleet	Helm	Prize Age	Club	Series Points	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Race 4
1	1413	Gold	Adam HYLAND	14	RStGYC	7	1	3	52	3
2	1437	Gold	Sean WADDILOVE	14	SSC/HYC	8	5	1	2	52
3	1355	Gold	Robert Dickson	13	HYC	11	2	15	8	1
4	1443	Gold	Sean Gambier-Ross	14	KYC	13	4	7	52	2
5	1407	Gold	Conor O'Beirne	13	RStGYC	18	12	6	6	6
6	1441	Gold	Eoin Lyden	14	RCYC / BSC	20	11	5	18	4
7	1433	Gold	Jil McGinley	14	RCYC	24	9	10	5	52
8	1305	Gold	Sandy APLIN	13	RStGYC	26	32	14	3	9
9	1440	Gold	Harry Whitaker	14	RCYC/BSC	26	35	11	7	8
10	1307	Gold	Anna Kelly	13	RCYC/BBSC	29	10	8	12	11
11	1438	Gold	Sean Donnelly	14	NYC	36	23	9	4	52
12	1315	Gold	Fergus Flood	13	HYC	37	19	4	14	52
13	1316	Silver	Ross Quirke	14	NYC	39	7	28	25	7
14	1444	Gold	Sophie Browne		TBSC/RCYC	40	15	16	9	52
15	1420	Gold	Megan Parker	13	SSC	41	18	18	23	5
16	1425	Gold	Douglas Elmes	13	RCYC/WHSC	41	16	19	10	15
17	1335	Gold	Scott Levie	14	LDYC	42	8	40	22	12
18	1415	Silver	Caitlin Waters	15	RStGYC	50	25	32	15	10
19	1410	Gold	Daire Cournane	13	RCYC/KYC	56	3	52	1	52
20	1314	Gold	Alexandra Walsh	14	RStGYC	56	17	23	52	16
21	1369	Gold	Adam D'ARCY	13	RCYC	57	30	22	13	22
22	1340	Gold	Alacoque Daly	13	TBSC	58	27	24	20	14
23	1436	Gold	Daniel Raymond		NYC	63	13	31	19	52
24	1446	Silver	Stephen Judge	13	RIYC	64	21	37	24	19
25	1298	Gold	Bill Staunton	14	SSC	65	24	20	21	52
26	1352	Silver	Cara MC DOWELL	13	MYC	66	26	27	27	13
27	1439	Gold	Peter McCann	14	RCYC	68	14	2	52	52
28	1234	Gold	Mark Bolger	14	RStGYC	69	28	13	28	52
29	1442	Gold	Cliodhna Ni Shuilleabhain	13	KYC	70	41	12	17	52
30	1422	Gold	Chloe Eggers	14	RStGYC	75	6	17	52	52
31	1361	Gold	Aoife Hopkins	13	HYC	76	20	40	16	52
32	1332	Silver	James O'Connor	13	RStGYC	76	22	38	33	21
33	961	Silver	Claire O'Sullivan		RCYC	81	34	35	30	17
34	1427	Silver	Jacob MARTENSSON	14	RIYC	81	31	36	26	24
35	1360	Silver	Nicole Hemeryck	13	RIYC/WHSC	82	33	29	52	20
36	1349	Gold	Conor KNEAFSEY	14	NYC	84	42	25	34	25
37	1243	Silver	Charley Breen	13	RCYC	88	40	33	29	26
38	1358	Silver	Erica Markey	13	HYC	94	45	39	32	23
39	1225	Gold	Peter Healy	14	KYC	102	39	52	11	52
40	1375	Gold	Richard Hogan	13	HYC	102	29	21	52	52
41	122	Silver	Fionn O'REGAN	14	DSC	103	38	34	31	52
42	1392	Silver	Cian BUCKLEY	14	MYC	104	43	26	35	52
43	1154	Gold	Ciaran Finnegan	13	WHSC	107	37	52	52	18
44	1389	Silver	Laura COLEMAN	13	RIYC	124	44	43	37	52
45	1303	Silver	D.J. MCGOVERN	14	MYC	129	36	41	52	52
46	1278	Silver	Eoghan O REGAN	13	RCYC	140	52	52	36	52
47	1313	Silver	Alex Kavanagh	13	HYC	146	52	42	52	52
48	768	Silver	Julia GEOGHEGAN	13	RIYC	156	52	52	52	52
48	1218	Silver	Emer Rafferty			156	52	52	52	52
48	1359	Silver	Isabel CAHILL	13	HYC	156	52	52	52	52
48	1402	Silver	Lucy McCutcheon	14	RStGYC	156	52	52	52	52

Junior Division

Series Place	Sail No	Fleet	Helm	Prize Age	Club	Series Points	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Race 4
1	1411	Gold	Ronan Cournane	12	RCYC/KYC	7	1	5	1	13
2	1408	Gold	Kate Lyttle	12	RStGYC	8	3	11	3	2
3	1346	Silver	Philip McDowell	12	MYC	11	12	8	2	1
4	1012	Gold	Niamh Henry	12	RStGYC	12	4	4	4	5
5	1343	Silver	Colin O'SULLIVAN	12	MYC	15	8	2	5	9
6	1282	Silver	Oskar Cahill	12		15	5	3	7	7
7	1372	Gold	Isabelle Delamer	12	HYC	19	6	9	14	4
8	1347	Silver	Ben Walsh	12	SSC	21	2	14	13	6
9	1266	Gold	Scott O'Sullivan	12	KYC	22.5	7	7.5	8	18
10	1341	Gold	Ewan MCMAHON	12	HYC	24	9	1	15	14
11	1290	Silver	Harry Durcan	12	RCYC	25	13	6	11	8
12	1421	Gold	Evie Byrne	12	NYC	28	10	12	6	16
13	1302	Gold	Harry Craig	12	RStGYC	31	21	7	22	3
14	1217	Gold	Rebecca O SHAUGHNESSY	12	RCYC	32	11	10	16	11
15	1445	Silver	Hugh Perrette	12	NYC/SDC	43	14	19	10	21
16	1342	Silver	Darragh KELLY	12	SDC	44	57	13	9	22
17	1148	Gold	Eoghan O'Buachalla	12	TBSC	44	23	16	12	16
18	1119	Silver	Conor LEE	11	GBSC	47	15	18	17	15
19	1246	Silver	Johnny Durcan	12	RCYC	55	20	17	18	57
20	1143	Silver	Richard McGinley	11	RCYC	56	16	27	20	20
21	1399	Silver	Daniel Hopkins	11	HYC	58	17	31	57	10
22	1324	Silver	Heather SPAIN	12	NYC	65	30	24	24	17
23	1291	Silver	Amy CARROLL	11		65	25	22	19	24
24	1382	Silver	Conor Byrne	12	NYC	67	22	20	25	57
25	1403	Silver	Jamie O'GRADY	11	HYC	71	19	26	26	27
26	1357	Silver	James McCann	11	RCYC	75	18	57	31	26
27	1297	Silver	Luke MCGRATH	11	RCYC	76	28	25	57	23
28	1404	Silver	Alex O'GRADY	11	HYC	77	31	23	23	31
29	8	Silver	Emma Parker	10	SSC	78	57	29	21	28
30	1275	Silver	Nell STAUNTON	11	SSC	80	24	57	27	29
31	1294	Silver	Tom KEAL	10	RCYC	86	29	28	29	57
32	1192	Silver	Rachel Eggers	11	RStGYC	89	27	30	57	32
33	1244	Silver	Alix Buckley	11	SSC	90	57	21	57	12
34	1153	Silver	Ronan WALSH	11	RCYC	117	32	57	28	57
35	1435	Silver	Patrick RIORDAN	12	RIYC	139	57	57	57	25
36	1089	Silver	Harry BELL	10	RNIYC	140	26	57	57	57
37	1397	Silver	Lucy DONWORTH	12	RCYC/BSC	144	57	57	57	30
38	1293	Silver	Killian MCHUGH	12	GBSC	144	57	57	30	57
39	698	Silver	Shane O'Brien		SDC	171	57	57	57	57
39	885	Silver	Imogen MCNAMARA	11	RIYC	171	57	57	57	57
39	934	Silver	Jane Bolger	10	RStGYC	171	57	57	57	57
39	989	Silver	Lucy WATERS	11	RStGYC	171	57	57	57	57
39	996	Silver	Gavin Roche Griffin	11	RStYC	171	57	57	57	57
39	1195	Silver	Grace O'Beirne	11	RStGYC	171	57	57	57	57
39	1196	Silver	Oisin LYONS	11	GBSC	171	57	57	57	57
39	1233	Silver	Sarah CUDMORE	11	rcyc	171	57	57	57	57
39	1253	Silver	Sarah LEVIE	11	LDYC	171	57	57	57	57
39	1255	Silver	Ros Morgan	12	SSC	171	57	57	57	57
39	1280	Silver	Gemma MC DOWELL	11	MYC	171	57	57	57	57
39	1296	Silver	Phoebe NORWOOD	12	RIYC	171	57	57	57	57
39	1309	Silver	Helen O'Beirne	11	RStGYC	171	57	57	57	57
39	1354	Silver	David O'REILLY	11	GBSC	171	57	57	57	57
39	1364	Silver	Dara Donnelly	12	NYC	171	57	57	57	57
39	1379	Silver	Max Kavanagh	10	HYC	171	57	57	57	57
39	1384	Silver	Sally BELL	12	RNIYC	171	57	57	57	57
39	1423	Silver	Tom SHANAHAN	12	NYC	171	57	57	57	57

Regatta Division

Sail No	Helm	Prize Age	Club
0	Eva MILLAR	9	RNIYC
683	Micheal O'SUILLEABHAIN	9	KYC
697	Eoin LYONS	9	GBSC
720	Mairead MCHUGH	10	GBSC
778	Rosa GEOGHEGAN	11	RIYC
786	Caoimhe Totterdell	10	NYC
795	Cormac BUCKLEY	10	MYC
819	Cian MURPHY	10	NYC
838	Conor WALSH	8	RCYC
844	Robert KEAL	0	RCYC
960	Siofra COLLINS	10	GBSC
998	Louis MILLAR	11	RNIYC
1009	Kate D'ARCY	10	RCYC
1018	Jamie MCMAHON	9	HYC
1034	Peter SHANAHAN	10	NYC
1081	Peter FAGAN	11	NYC
1133	Cliona COYLE	11	NYC
1150	Patrick COYLE	13	NYC
1173	Megan CAHILL	11	HYC
1182	Clare GORMAN	10	NYC
1196	Michael CARROLL	10
1204	Brian FOX	13	TBSC
1208	William SPAIN	11	NYC
1236	Finn MATTHEWS	12	GBSC
1242	Alison MAGUIRE	11	RIYC
1254	Emily Whitaker	10	RCYC/BSC
1269	Guy Withinshaw WITHINSHAW	10	NYC
1274	Nicola FERGUSON	11	RIYC
1283	Ella HEMERYCK	10	RIYC/WHSC
1321	Katie-Jane Marshall	10	NYC
1348	Ella DUFFY	11	NYC
1394	Neasa O'CONNELL	9	RstGYC
1396	Morgan Lyttle	9	RStGYC
6102	Rory COLLINS	8	GBSC
GBR3280	Emma WILLIAMS	9	RStGYC

A combination of an impossibly tight deadline, the high cost of entry and an appalling vista for sailing sponsorship in Ireland this season has halted any chance of an Irish entry into the La Solitaire du Figaro race when it sails in to Dun Laoghaire harbour on August 10th.

Competitive race entry costs ranged from anywhere between €60-250,000.

As late as February National Yacht Club organisers were touting the possibilities of two Dublin entries in to the race. It was a scenario that would have added extra spice for an Irish audience during the Figaro's only foreign stopover at the Irish east coast port.

A 71 boat fleet is expected to stay in Dun Laoghaire for four days and the National Yacht Club is staging a special festival around it.

Latest La Solitaire du Figaro news here

 

Offshore racers Jedi, Aquelina and at least five J yacht designs – including George Sisk's new J111, Wow – are entered for next month's Dun Laoghaire to Dingle offshore sailing race (D2D) from the National Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire on June 11.

The last D2D race in June 2009 attracted 39 entries and a course record was set by Michael Cotter's Whisper. This year, organisers Martin Crotty and Brian Barry along with Dingle Harbour master Brian Farrell remain confident that they will break the 40 boat barrier. They may well be right as the event has been specifically timed to bring Dublin boats to the south coast for ten days of racing at the ICRA Nationals in Cork Harbour and the Sovereigns Cup the following week in Kinsale.

The event is also benefitting from inclusion in this year's ISORA calendar.

With just under a month to the start of the race 19 boats are officially entered (see table below) for the 320-miler but the National's Olivier Proveur says the club also expects the following: Tsunami (Beneteau 40.7 – Vincent Farrell), Quite Correct (Beneteau 54DS – John Roberts), Class 40 (Alan McGettigan), English Mick, Sailing West Intuition, Raging Bull (Sigma 400), Legally Brunette, Saxon Senator and Dublin Bay yacht Tiamat may also enter.

Full entry list below at May 19th:

Spindrift	HR34	David Kelly
Dinah	JOD35	Barry Hurley
Powder Monkey	J109	Chris Moore
Lula Belle	Beneteau 36.7	Liam Coyne
Orna	Grand Soleil	Philip Dilworth
Aquelina	J122	Sheila/James Tyrrell
Ocean Blue	Pacific Seacraft 42	Francis Cassidy
Wow	J 111	George Sisk
Emir Herr	Beneteau 47.3	Liam Shanahan
Something Else	J109	John Hall
Premier Cru	Beneteau 50	Alan Jackson
Lisador	Dehler 36	Henry Hogg
Jedi	J109	Andrew Sarratt
Galway Harbour	Reflex 38	Martin Breen
Betty Boop	Puppeteer 330S	John Alvey
Tom Crean	SJ320	Yannick Lemonnier
Mojito	Bavaria 39	Peter Dunlop
Fortuna Redux	Fast 42	Steve Kershaw
Yahtzee	Beneteau 411	Richard Mossop

 

In the UK, National Fishing Month 2010 was a resounding success with 330 events taking place across the country attracting over 13,500 participants of all ages, ethnic backgrounds and social profiles. Research complied by Substance from a sample of 11% of these events showed that 24% of the participants were female, 75% were male, 51% fell into the 7-14 age range and 24% of participants came from the top 30% most deprived areas as listed by the 2007 Index of Multiple Deprivation.

National Fishing Month is believed to have encouraged over 200,000 new anglers into the sport through the events held over the last 19 years.

This year's event, 16th July to 14th August 2011, has already got off to a wonderful start with Dean Macey adding his endorsement to the initiative.

Dean commented: "I have been fishing for as long as I can remember and where ever I go in the world, I will always bump into someone that also loves fishing. It's such a great hobby - you get to spend time outdoors, appreciate Mother Nature, meet some great people and if you're really lucky, witness some marvelous creatures.
Dean continued: "When I was a kid, I found it hard to get my head around school work or any kind of discipline. If it wasn't for fishing and athletics I dread to think where I would be right now. Between them, they gave me something to focus on and keep me off the streets.
"Throughout my athletics career, fishing helped me mentally unwind and I'm sure without it, I would have burnt myself out. Whether it's a day on the rivers, sleeping under the stars on a still water for a few days or jumping on a plane to fuel my passion abroad, I don't mind. I love it all, and for the most part, I think almost everyone would if given the chance. That's why I support National Fishing Month and urge everyone to get involved and take part. Everyone I have ever taken fishing has loved it and you can't keep them off the bank now. Give it a go, you owe it to yourself!"
As in previous years, the focus is to encourage every family member to have a go at fishing from whatever cultural or social background they may be from. The initiative's timing continues to be deliberately planned to incorporate the end of the school terms and more of the school holidays to enable activities to be linked with both schools and families. Again, by extending the timetable, fishery owners, angling coaches and retailers will have a greater span of time to be able to take part and support events in their areas.

National Fishing Month aims to highlight and celebrate angling, bringing the sport to the attention of the general public, generate positive PR in all forms of media and to encourage would-be anglers of all ages and from all backgrounds to try angling and to take it up as an environmentally based recreation. There will be hundreds of events all over the country organised by coaches from the PAA and the ADB, on behalf of the Angling Trust, independent fishery owners, the Environment Agency, fishing tackle retailers and manufacturers who give their time, their fishery pegs and loads of products for free.

Richard Wightman from the Environment Agency added: "We are really pleased to be able to continue our support for NFM in 2011 and beyond. This year offers a fantastic opportunity in the shape of a prolonged and well-timed Easter, May Bank Holiday, plus the additional Royal Wedding break at the end of April. What better time to help more people get into and stay in fishing. Let's all do what we can to make the most out of it."

If you would like to take part and have a go at fishing, take a look at the events that are already listed on the National Fishing Month website www.nationalfishingmonth.com <http://www.nationalfishingmonth.com> and enter your postcode. The events closest to you will then be listed and you can find out more details from there.

An ocean cruise by a husband and wife from the shores of Galway Bay to Tahiti in the midst of the Pacific in an owner-built boat has been awarded Ireland's senior cruising trophy, the Faulkner Cup of the Irish Cruising Club, which has been in annual contention since 1931.

Fergus and Kay Quinlan live in the Burren in County Clare, and in 1997 they launched the steel van de Stadt 12-metre cruiser Pylades, which they'd built themselves. They've made several voyages and have been in the Irish Cruising Club's award list before. But at the ICC's AGM in the National YC on February 18th they deservedly got the big one, the Faulkner Cup, for the first stage of a global circumnavigation which began from their home port of Kinvara in the summer of 2009, and a year later they'd reached Tahiti.

Their cruise continues, so the award was made in absentia. Adjudicator Brian Cudmore of Cork made the point that their informative log included much general and often entertaining information, and it becomes even more interesting the further you got into it, so he's keenly anticipating the next inmstalment.

The Strangford Cup for an alternative best cruise could not have been more different, both in location or boat type. The 44ft Young Larry may have been built of steel in 1995, but she was based fairly precisely on the design of a gaff cutter built in 1907. And though the rig has been made more manageable through being a yawl, even the mizzen is gaff-headed, while the main sets a topsail. Not the most-easily handled rig for challenging seas, you might well think, but Maire Breathnach (originally from Dungarvan) and her partner Andrew Wilkes, crewed by Maire's niece Sibeal Turraoin, took Larry Og – which looks for all the world like a smaller Asgard I – right through the Northwest Passage to Alaska, an extraordinary one-season achievement.

The ICC members logged some other notable Atlantic voyages, with Michael Coleman of Cobh, a Port of Cork Pilot before he got the free bus pass, making a fine Atlantic triangle to the Azores, then Newfoundland, and so home to Cork, visiting many islands with his well-found 1988 Oyster 53 Oyster Cove. It was all done with a crew of average age 66, senior member Tom Noonan aged 76, and worthy winners of the Atlantic Trophy.

Over the years since its foundation in 1929, the Irish Cruising Club has become the trustee and adjudicator of many trophies, twenty in all, and two of them were special presentations in 2010. The Donegan Memorial Trophy went to Ruth Heard, an ICC member since 1967. She has cruised both to the Azores and Iceland, but is honoured this year in celebration of her remarkable contribution to the rebirth of the inland waterways, and to mark the re-opening of the Royal Canal. Ruth Heard was on the crew of Harklow, the last boat to transit the Royal in 1954 before its half century of official closure which was gloriously reversed in 2010.

And once upon a time, the ICC was the organiser of Ireland's Admiral's Cup campaigns. Though many members still race offshore as individuals, the club has long since focused totally on cruising. But it has a general trophy, the John B Kearney Cup for Services to Irish Sailing, and for 2010 it was awarded with acclamation to the successful Irish Commodore's Cup Team.

National Yacht Club Manager, Padraic Conneely is retiring and the Dun Laoghaire club is advertising the position this morning in the Irish Times. 

In a message to members this week Commodore Peter Ryan said Conneely 'has been a huge part of the Club for 21 years and it will be a difficult task to find a replacement of his quality and commitment'.

The newspaper advertisement says the successful candidate 'will have a strong hands on approach to managing a tight knit, highly motivated team of professionals'.

Applicants are requested to email [email protected] before March 1st.