It’s a Céad Mile Fáile to the world's oldest keelboat fleet to Carbery’s 100 Isles in West Cork from June 24 to 30.

As Afloat reported previously, the classic Howth 17s from Dublin will sail around Fastnet Rock next month, marking their 125th anniversary.

As Afloat reported previously, they will launch on Saturday, 24th of June, in Baltimore Harbour and plan to spend a full week in West Cork to include some cruising and some racing.

Weather permitting, they plan a circumnavigation to include Schull, Crookhaven, Fastnet, Cape Clear Island and Baltimore.

They will arrive on Cape Clear around 2-3 pm on Wed 28th.

"Every boat will be a winner. Every participating boat merits an award. What better than an engraved bottle of 3Sq Miles Gin from Cape Clear Distillery, which will include both the logo and the name of the boat, according to local promoters.

The participating boats In the 125th Anniversary Celebration of The Howth 17s are as follows:

• 3 Leila built in 1898
• 6 Anita 1900
• 7 Aura 1898
• 8 Echo 1914
• 11 Deilginis 1907
• 12 Rosemary 1907
• 14 Gladys 1907
• 16 Eileen 1908
• 17 Oona 1909
• 18 Erica 1988
• 19 Isobel 1988
• 20 Sheila 2008
• 21 Orla 2017

In April 1898 the little gaff sloop Rita came sailing into Howth Harbour, the first of the five new inaugural Howth 17s built by John Hilditch of Carrickfergus on Belfast Lough to reach their home port. The 90-mile open-water voyage from her birthplace was undertaken by owner Noel Guinness, who had decided with four other serious enthusiasts in what was then Howth Sailing Club that they needed a new One-Design boat which was more robust than the lightly-built Half Raters they’d been using until then.

They asked their Commodore Herbert Boyd – already an amateur yacht designer of proven talent – to create an able little boat “that would last well, and be safe”, and the Boyd-designed Howth 17 (she’s 17ft waterline and 22ft 6 ins LOA) has since done that and more.

Rita and Aura sailing together in Howth in May 1898. Photo: W N Stokes

Rita and Aura at the South Rowan Buoy off Howth, Saturday May 6th 2023. Photo: David O’Shea

The “First of the First” – Noel Guinness (left) helming Rita in 1898. Photo: W N Stokes

Some of Rita’s sister-ships took longer to make the passage, with overnight stops in a few cases, but by late April, the little fleet was gathered, and the first race was scheduled for April 30th. But bad weather prevented this, so they finally had their maiden race on May 4th 1898, with Rita winning.

THE 1898 CLASS GETS ADDED BOATS AFTER 1900

In those days with just five boats, identity was by hull colour, but sail numbers were introduced as new boats joined the class from 1900 onwards, and Rita became Number 1. However, when the 75th Year Race was held in 1972, there was scant acknowledgement of historical precedent. For although the winner was one of the five original Hilditch boats, it was Norman Wilkinson’s Leila, No 3, and he continued this cavalier disregard for historical proprieties by also winning the Centenary Race in 1998.

CLASS CAPTAIN IS “CAT-HERDER-IN-CHIEF”

However, the 125th Anniversary this year has been brought under way in proper history-respecting style under the direction of Class Captain David O’Shea - aka “The Cat-Herder-in-Chief to the High Kings of Ireland”. Not only did the Centenary Race scheduled for May 4th have to be postponed by bad weather until last Saturday - May 6th - but the winner was that same Rita which won the first race in 1898, now owned by Marcus Lynch and John Curley, with Jim Cotter and Susan O’Mara as crew.

Rita sailed a brilliant first leg against the tide to emerge at the north end of The Sound at Howth with a clear lead, followed by Roddy Cooper’s Leila and Ian Malcolm’s Aura. Photo: Judith Malcolm

The fleet on Saturday was divided in two, with the five Originals going first and “The Others” sailing the same course, but with a five minute gap between the starts. Conditions off Howth for a day sponsored by Acadia, the financial risk management specialists, were wellnigh ideal, with sunshine blocked only occasionally by the cloud cap on the Hill of Howth. And a strong Spring ebb in the Sound sharpened the early-season attempts at a southeasterly summer breeze to create perfect jackyard topsail-setting conditions, and truly open competition in racing conditions.

SUBLIMINAL EFFECTS OF HISTORY

Yet so powerful were the possibly subliminal effects of history that anyone relying on the performance showings of 2022 to make predictions for this first very special race of 2023 would have been well off target. The 2022 “National Champion”, the 1907-built Rosemary that is now owned by David Jones, David Potter and Mary Curley following the much-lamented passing of the nonagenarian co-owner George Curley, was only an also-ran.

As for 2022’s Boat of the Year, Davy Nixon’s 1988-built Erica, it seems that it was her turn to Take One For The Team. For if there was a tactical or other error to be made at any stage of this Quasquicentennial Race, then Erica embraced it with enthusiasm.

The Topsy Turvey boat? In the race for “The Others”, Conor and Brian Turvey’s 1988-built Isobel was second for much of the course, but snatched the lead from Peter Courtney’s Oona nearing the finish. Photo: David O’Shea

But despite the general absence of 2022 form, very much present was the Ghost of Races Past. Race Officer Paddy Cronin – a former Seventeen owner of many successful years of competition – set them a running start from the East Pier, as the weather-going ebb made it a controllable situation. But from the off it looked as though the hand of history was on Rita’s helm, and though Michael Dufy’s Hera was getting into the frame towards the finish, the first race for the original five boats, the Quasquicentennial Race itself, was won by Rita exactly as Divine Providence had intended.

Hint of approaching summer? Some of the fleet racing in “The Others” division, with build dates ranging from 1907 to 2021. Photo: David O’Shea

TOPSY TURVEY

As for The Others, for most of the race Peter Courtney sailing Oona was holding the lead, as is right and proper for the member of a family that has been involved with the class since 1907. But nearing the finish things went topsy-Turvey, as you might say but we wouldn’t, with the 1988-built Isobel (Conor & Brian Turvey) slicing into a last-minute lead.

The Isobel winning crew with the Cat-Herder-in-Chief are (left to right) Brian Turvey, John Deegan, Conor Turvey, Howth 17 Class Captain David O’Shea, and David O’Farrell. Photo: Brian Turvey

The Howth Seventeens have endured and prospered – there’s at least one new boat now nearing completion – probably because if they had to select a class motto, it would likely be “When God Made Time, He Made A Lot Of It”. Thus it takes them a while to get everyone into full commission each year, but thanks to David “Daisy” O’Shea’s boundless enthusiasm and encouragement, there were fourteen boats from the current class complement of twenty out and racing on Saturday, an unprecedented number so early in the season.

Supreme Champions: the crew of Rita with the Class Captain are (left to right) Jim Cotter, Susan O’Mara, Marcus Lynch and John Curley plus David O’Shea. Photo: Brian Turvey 

WEST CORK RAID

They’ll be settling into regular club racing on Tuesday evening and next Saturday, and the next major is the Lambay Race on Saturday, June 3rd, following which there’s the 21st Century equivalent of the Sack of Baltimore from June 24th to July 1st, when this ancient class celebrates its 125th birthday with a week of racing among the ports and inlets and islands of West Cork. You can hardly say we haven’t warned you.

Winning owners with the event sponsor are (left to right) John Curley and Marcus Lynch of Rita, Conor Turvey of Isobel, Donal Gallagher of sponsor Acadia, and Brian Turvey of Isobel. Photo: David O’Shea

With strong easterlies sweeping the East Pier, Howth 17 Class Captain Dave O'Shea has postponed this evening's 125th Anniversary race until early Saturday afternoon; other terms and conditions still apply...

Just get one good strange and distinctive word in your publicity material, and the news will spread like wildfire. Howth 17 Class Captain Dave O'Shea has discovered that the word for 125th Anniversary is Quasquicentennial, and he posted it this morning in the notice for the 125th Anniversary Race coming up this Thursday (May 4th). The magic word is spreading like wildfire in cyberspace, with a remarkable number of comments and fresh input from London, which suggests that life there is still far from emerging from the easy-going WFH mindset, but that's a problem for Mr Sunak and his mates.

Meanwhile, the problem in Howth is whether the present volatile weather will be providing reasonable conditions at 19:00 hrs on Thursday when two races will be sailed - one for the original five 1898 boats, and the other for "the others" - boats built between 1900 and 2017.

A reference to the June 1998 Afloat Magazine reveals that the Centenary Race was won by Norman Wilkinson's Leile, which also won the first race in 1898, so there's unreasonable pressure on current owner Roddy Cooper. Be that as it may, the Soundings column in the back page of that June 1998 edition includes further insights, notably the fact that Norman Wilkinson - then aged 81 - was so completely right-handed that even when sailing on port tack from the lee side in ancient Howth 17 style, he still used his right-hand thanks to being able to curl his long right arm in behind his back in what looked like excruciating discomfort.

Inside-back page from Afloat Magazine, June 1998. 81-year-old Norman Wilkinson wins the Howth 17s Centenary Race despite his odd helming technique on port tack. And in another story, mink make a meal of it in a sinking boat

We could only comment that if Norman - a truly great man - wished to race while standing on his head and holding the tiller with his feet, then that was fine by us. Which in turn, reminded us of the late great Dave FitzGerald of Galway Bay Sailing Club, who was the first western Commodore of the Irish Cruising Club. Dave was boss of Tynagh Mines in Loughrea, and though very much the boss, he was also so totally immersed in mining culture that sometimes in the middle of a club dinner, he would stand up and give an excellent a capella rendition of the rebel miners' anthem, The Ballad of Joe Hill.

At the recent ICC Dinnner in Sligo, his old shipmate Peter Fernis told me this was only the way he did it at polite parties. At a real heavy-going miners or sailors party, Dave's speciality was singing Joe Hill while standing on his head and smoking a large cigar. It's beyond imagination. There's also a little tailpiece in that Soundings column which is a memory of another time. Apparently, a very leaky old wooden boat was waiting to get into the local dry-dock on the Shannon for re-caulking, but was delayed as the boat already being worked on in the dock was running late. But the wooden-boat owner wasn't unduly worried, as his automatic bilge pump kept things under control. However, one weekend he turned up to find the vintage craft had sunk. It seems the electric cables had been knawed through, but not by rats. Mink were the guilty party.

All of which is a long way from Howth on Thursday evening, when Leila has the hand of history on her helm, as she also won the 75th Anniversary Race in 1972 when the class Honorary Secretary, mathematics obsessive Gerald FitzGibbon, insisted that class organisations had no Year Zero. Thus the 75th Birthday Season was 1972. But you'll note that Gerald - having long since gone to the Great Algorithm in the Sky - has left the Class clear to revert to old-fashioned notions of when birthdays occur, and they'll be carrying this with them when they move en masse for their Quasquicentennial Regatta Week in Baltimore and its West Cork environs in the last week of June.

Conor & Brian Turvey's Howth 17 Isobel (no 19, built at Howth Castle in 1988) gleaming in the Spring sunshine as she launches at Howth Yacht Club on Bank Holiday Monday.  Photo: Brian Turvey

As part of the 125th year celebrations for the oldest one design racing keelboat class in the world, the Howth 17s will be travelling to Baltimore, West Cork, this year.

As Afloat reported previously, they will be launching on Saturday, 24th of June, in Baltimore Harbour and plan to spend a full week in West Cork to include some cruising and some racing.

The schedule for the week includes a welcome party on Saturday, the 24th of June, at Baltimore Sailing Club, sailing to Schull on Monday 26th, followed by a stopover in Crookhaven and a trip around the Fastnet Rock on Wednesday 28th June. The class selected Cape Clear Ferries and Cape Clear Distillery as their partners for this special day, finishing at Cape Clear with a tow into the inner harbour for a drinks reception, barbecue and a ferry back to Baltimore that evening.

Thursday will be set aside as a reserve day or 'lay day', allowing sailors and attendees to enjoy the local culture and relaxation. The week will conclude with a final race followed by the prizegiving on Friday, 30th June in Baltimore Sailing Club.

This event is open to all sailors and sailing enthusiasts, and the organisers are inviting people to come and join in the celebrations. There will be plenty of opportunities to sail on the Howth 17s, as well as social events and activities throughout the week. Support boats and enthusiastic chaperones are actively encouraged and should register here or contact the organising committee through class captain David O'Shea.

The Howth 17s are a symbol of the Irish sailing heritage, and this event is a great opportunity to experience the beauty of West Cork and to celebrate the history of one of the oldest one design racing classes in the world.

Howth 17s in Baltimore Schedule (provisional):

Saturday 24th June:
Launching of the Howth 17s in Baltimore harbour
Welcome party in Baltimore Sailing Club

Sunday 25th June:
Day in Baltimore - sail in harbour - possible trip to Sherkin Island

Monday 26th June:
Sail from Baltimore to Schull
Evening in Schull
Return to Baltimore by road

Tuesday 27th June:
Sail from Schull to Crookhaven
Evening in Crookhaven
Return to Baltimore by road

Wednesday:
Trip around the Fastnet Rock
Finish at Cape Clear Island (14:30 - welcome party sponsored by Cape Clear Ferries and Cape Clear Distillery)
Return ferry to Baltimore

Thursday:
Reserve/ Lay Day

Friday 30th June:
Racing in Baltimore Harbour
Prizegiving in Baltimore Sailing Club

Saturday 1st July:
Lift-out from Baltimore

The events in Ireland this week with President Joe Biden and others marking the 25th Anniversary of the signing of Good Friday Agreement in Belfast on 10th April 1998 are a reminder that, at exactly the same time just a few miles down Belfast Lough, a core trio of Howth 17s had arrived in their birthplace – the history-laden port of Carrickfergus – to mark the Centenary of the first five boats of the class being constructed by renowned local boatbuilder John Hilditch, who had made a speciality of series-producing One Design boats which really were one design.

These days, we’ve become accustomed to the historic Howth 17s of 1898-vintage – the world’s oldest keelboat class still sailing as originally designed – putting in admired appearances at classic boat festivals at home and abroad. But just twenty-five years ago, with the Class’s Centenary looming, they tended to be homebirds, though a couple had been transported to the famous Brest Festival in France in 1972, where they formed a special bond with Eric Tabarly and his Cork Harbour-built 1898-vintage 43ft gaff cutter Pen Duick, while some had made significant voyages, and one had even been used as a honeymoon cruise yacht.

Carrickfergus Harbour and Castle much as they were when the first Howth 17s were launched into it in April 1898, with the Hilditch Boatyard sheds right at centre of photo

VOLATILE SITUATION IN 1998

Nevertheless when it was suggested early in 1998 that a representative trio of Howth 17s should be road-transported to Carrickfergus to mark the Centenary properly, there were those who were convinced that in addition to the very volatile political and social situation in the north, the old boats would in any case be shaken to bits on such a journey. But as the Massey brothers of the 1907-built Deilginis had a road-trucking business, they decided to take their own boat and Paddy and Rachel Cronin’s Gladys on a low loader, despite the fact that both boats had actually been built by James Kelly at Portrush on Ireland’s north coast. However, Ian Malcolm had the real McCoy, the 1898 Hilditch-built Aura, and he took her north on the class’s one and only road trailer.

Carrickfergus Harbour waterfront as seen from the Castle keep in the rare old times before it was obliterated by today’s “Marine Highway”. The Hilditch boatyard is in the background, while the long-gone Anchor Inn in the foreground made Carrickfergus Regatta one of the most convivial on Belfast Lough, with the Green between it and the Castle being used for impromptu rugby, cricket and football matches – sometimes all three at once - between the sailing clubs of County Antrim and County Down.

So the show was on the road. But twenty-five years ago the negotiations for the Good Friday Agreement were reaching a crucial stage in Belfast at exactly the same time, and peace was by no means a given. Yet the Howth 17 people were determined that their three-boat delegation – with many friends and supporters - should be in Carrickfergus precisely a hundred years to the day after the first five boats had undertaken their maiden voyage to their home port after launching from Hilditch’s yard in the heart of Carrickfergus’s old harbour right under the distinctive 12th Century Norman Castle.

Aura and Gladys (Paddy Cronin) bid farewell to Carrickfergus Castle before setting off on their Centenary Sail home to Howth

RECEPTION IN MAYOR’s PARLOUR

Thus in 1998 their boats were being launched into Carrickfergus marina and getting the masts stepped even as the political negotiations at Stormont near Belfast entered their final most difficult stage. Yet although the sun shone, it was bitterly cold with a northeast wind and snow flurries. And while the Seventeeners and their supporters were warmly welcomed with a Civic Reception by the Mayor of Carrickfergus David Hilditch (a distant relative of the original boatbuilder) and hospitability received to lunch by the Fairy Class of 1902-vintage at Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club across the lough at Cultra, any sailing had to be restricted to the relatively sheltered waters off Carrickfergus.

Deilginis (Massey syndicate) heading south off the County Down coast while conditions were still moderate. Photo: Damien Cronin

Small boats, big wide sea – Damien Cronin helming Gladys with Deilginis following, and 80 miles to sail through the freezing night to Howth. Photo: Paddy Cronin 

The boats having survived to such a great age, the impression given was that they wouldn’t be expected to replicate the achievement of the original flotilla of 1898 by sailing home the 89 open miles from Carrickfergus to Howth. After all, the conditions a hundred years earlier had at least been warmer though the west wind was brisk, but for 1998 the forecast was for a further freshening of the nor’easter, with the strong possibility of snow.

Yet after completing all their planned activities on Belfast Lough, suddenly on the Sunday afternoon, the three little boats simply sailed for home. Nick Massey and his nephew Ian were on Deilginis, Ian Malcolm and Davy Jones sailed the true Centenarian Aura, and Paddy Cronin and his son Damian swept off into the freezing evening in Gladys.

Aura, with Ian Malcolm and David Jones aboard, starting to experience more demanding conditions as they approach the South Rock Lightship. Taking in a reef offshore in a Howth 17 seldom produces the neat effect created in harbour. Photo: Damien Cronin

The blustering fair wind made for a fast passage, but the temperatures froze in the dark. However, while there were some massive snow-and-wind-filled clouds about, they managed to avoid them. By sunrise next morning, they’d swept into Howth harbour, their crews almost completely frozen but still functioning enough to grab their moorings and get ashore to de-frost in Howth Yacht Club with a full Irish breakfast, while the word came through that back around Belfast Lough, the coastline was now covered in a mantle of snow.

Aura making knots while a snow-shower beyond tries to build itself into a mini-storm. Photo: Damien Cronin

In the twenty-five years since, the Howth 17s have gone from strength to strength. In 1998, it was thought remarkable that they had achieved the Centenary at all. But now, at 125 years old, their busy annual programme continues to provide sixty races every season, their numbers are greater than ever with 20 boats in class and new boats building, and they regularly appear at major classic boat festivals, with the most recent pre-pandemic in 2017 being Morbihan Sailing Week in France in May, and the Classics Division for the Kingstown 200 Cup in the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta in July.

The crew returned from Carrickfergus starting to de-frost in the early morning sun at Howth YC on Monday April 13th 1998 are (left to right) Ian Malcolm, Ian Massey, Damien Cronin, Davy Jones, Nick Massey and Paddy Cronin.

Not even the damage sustained by seven boats on Howth’s East Pier during Storm Emma on Friday, 2nd March 2018 has daunted the Class’s remarkable spirit. The historic Long Shed in which they were stored may have had its roof stoved-in by huge breaking seas, but miraculously only two of the seven boats within were very seriously damaged. Thanks to the skills of multi-talented boat-builder Larry Archer, five were soon seaworthy again, while the severely-damaged Rosemary went into a major repair job which had her sailing again to such good effect that she was the Class’s “National Championship” in 2022, and the most-damaged boat of all, Anita of 1900-vintage, was successfully utilised for an international re-build project in France before returning home to join the fleet.

These wonderful old boats have a lot of sailing in them yet, and in addition to a busy home season in 2023, Class Captain David O’Shea will be leading at least a dozen Howth 17s to Baltimore, West Cork in the third weekend of June for an “intensive” special 125th Anniversary Series, as Baltimore proved ideal for Howth 17s racing when the class took part in the Glandore Classics with a fleet of 15 boats in 2003.

The Centenary Sailing Crews of 1998 re-united at Howth YC twenty years later in April 2018 were (left to right) Davy Jones, Ian Malcolm, Nick Massey, Ian Massey, Paddy Cronin and Damien Cronin. All are in line for the Class’s 125th Anniversary Celebration Special Regatta in Baltimore in June 2023.

Even by the long-view standards of the 124-year-old Howth 17 Class, the 48-year owning partnership in the 1907-vintage Rosemary between David Jones and George Curley - with David Potter more recently joining the strength as George turned 90 last year – is a notably enduring relationship. And in their almost half-century of ownership, Rosemary has sailed hundreds of races and won many trophies.

But never before has she scaled the heights of this weekend, when she became the Howth 17 National Champion 2022 after some notably skilled helming and tactics by Davy Jones, in a five-race series in which the Rosemary team fulfilled the golden rules of making less mistakes than everyone else rather than trying to be perfect, and seeing the series as a whole rather then as a set of individual races.

Being the Howth 17s, their National Championship format is unusual in that they have a pier-start race on the Friday evening without setting their distinctive jackyard topsails, and then on Saturday they aim for four committee boat races under full sail.

In theory, Sunday morning is kept in reserve if needed to make a championship. But with a Race Officer of the calibre of David Lovegrove with his special knowledge of Howth’s racing waters, they had someone who could cope with the rising barometer’s determination to kill the gradient westerly breeze, and he got things off to a good start on Friday night with a skillfully-set course within Howth Sound, where summer evening breezes off the land and sometimes off Ireland’s Eye made racing possible despite a sluicing ebb tide.

Friday evening racing within Howth Sound, without topsails being used. Photo: Patricia Nixon

The finish of Friday’s race close along the pier to avoid the tide was a lineup of noted hotshots, with Deilginis winning from Oona and Isobel Photo: Patricia Nixon

And that first race seemed to set the shape of things to come. For although the Howth 17 Nationals as a stand-alone event have been in being since 2001 (they used to call it the Howth 17s Worlds, but modesty has since prevailed), only eight different boat names have been inscribed on the trophy. And the first four in Race 1 were all from that Roll-call of Distinction, with current club-racing pace-setter Deilginis (Massey/Toomey/Kenny) getting first from Peter Courtney’s Oona, with Brian & Conor Turvey’s Isobel third and Ian Malcolm’s Aura fourth, the first non-former-champion being Orla (Marc FitzGibbon & Donal Gallagher) in fifth.

We say “seemed to set the shape of things to come”, for this meant that going into Saturday’s four open courses, the beginnings of private battles were already in place, and this covering of the expected rivals by the established hotshots left the way clear for Ian Byrne and Eddie Ferris with Gladys to win Race 2 from Michael Duffy’s beautifully-maintained purple boat Hera, which was going at truly purple speeds, as her crewing had a significant input from the Sutton Dinghy Club’s hot GP14 Class.

Michael Duffy’s purple Hera showing a clean pair of heels to Orla and Aura. Photo: Patricia Nixon

Ian Malcolm’s 1898-built Aura – a former winner of the title – gets a burst of speed to carry her across ahead of a trio of top boats. Photo: Patricia Nixon

Yet third just 30 seconds behind was Rosemary with her regular crew, at the beginning of what was eventually to be a beautifully-series. Admittedly it didn’t look like it at the finish of race 3, as she was back in 8th while the re-born Hera had a win. But in between them were assorted proven performers who were now locked more tightly than ever into personal points challenges.

There was a light buildup of cloud later on Saturday, but as it kept the breeze alive it was welcome. Photo: Patricia Nixon

This left the way clear for Rosemary to win Race 4, with second going to Oona (Peter Courtney), who almost invariably has the best-set topsail in the whole class, but then his family have been involved since 1907. Meanwhile, aboard Rosemary they’d already calculated that if they could win the last race with their new-found speed, with Hera managing to stay ahead of Oona in second and third while the private battles kept the half dozen favourites at bay, then they’d be home and dry.

A tall order, perhaps, but sometimes some things are just meant to be so. In retrospect, it all looked beautifully choreographed. There was a confidence about the way Rosemary was first to finish, coming through the line even while other boats went across in the opposite direction, still headed for the lee mark.

Rosemary wins the last race while other boats were still headed down to the lee mark. Photo: Patricia Nixon

The big picture. To win overall, Rosemary not only had to finish first, but she had to ensure that somehow Hera (right) came in ahead of the yellow Oona, which she managed by just two seconds. Photo: Patricia Nixon

And on top of that, having carried the battling Oona and Hera up to weather of the lay-line, Rosemary’s crew had the satisfaction of seeing them pay off with Hera just getting the edge from the safe leeward position. She was second by just two seconds ahead of the Courtney boat, with the now overall-winning crew (having themselves had a half minute lead on Hera) erupting in a fit of air-punching which would have bemused the Victorian founders of this ancient class.

What would the Founding Fathers think? Some distinctly non-Victorian air-punching and beer-drinking from Rosemary’s crew when they’ve worked out that they are the Howth Seventeen 2022 National Champions on count-back. Photo: Patricia Nixon

The air-punching was well merited as they’d already calculated that though they’d finished equal with Hera on 12 points after the discard, they’d dropped an 8th to the Duffy boat’s 10th, making the final lineup:

Howth 17 National Championship 2022:

1st Rosemary (David Jones, George Curley & David Potter) 12 pts; 2nd Hera (Michael Duffy) 12 pts; 3rd Oona (P. Courtney, 13pts; 4th Isobel (Brian & Conor Turvey) 15pts; 5th Deilginis (Massey/Toomey/Kenny) 16pts; 6th Orla (M FitzGibbon & D Gallagher) 21pts. 18 boats raced.

Done it! Rosemary’s crew were Jack Haydon, David Potter and Davy Jones. Photo: Patricia Nixon

One of the Howth 17s’ secrets of survival is that they maintain a diligently-implemented handicap system, and under this the winner was Eileen (R Macken), with the stellar Rosemary taking second, while Silver Moon (Susan Morgan) was third.

Another secret of the class’s survival is their sheer stubbornness. Back in March 2018 after Storm Emma had struck seven of the class in the destruction of their storage shed on Howth’s East Pier, the more impatient and pessimistic observers reckoned that Rosemary was a write-off, for while some boats had suffered only superficial damage, she had been reduced to a flat-pack.

Beyond hope? Rosemary reduced to a flat-pack by Storm Emma in March 2018

But when you’ve been in partnership with a boat for as long as this, different values prevail, and in Larry Archer the Rosemary team had a boat-builder of sufficient eccentricity to agree that she could be squeezed out into her proper shape again, and made fully seaworthy with it. Four years after that scene of disaster, Rosemary has shown how right they all were. And now she is Queen of the Class as they look forward to their 125th Anniversary Celebrations in 2023.

The road to recovery. Rosemary gradually being encouraged back into her proper shape with a new deck and much other work by Larry Archer through the winter of 2018-19. Photo: David Jones

The vintage Howth 17 Class have registered Annual General Meetings every year since 1898. But although 124 summers have passed since their first season of 1898 - which thereby counts as Year One and not Year Zero - they can look back on only 121 seasons, as the Great War of 1914-18 got in the way of sailing in the latter half of 1915, and throughout the summers of 1916, '17, and '18.

Nevertheless, 121 seasons of sailing boats to a design that first raced on Wednesday, May 4th 1898 is probably world-beating, particularly as the five original boats are still part of a class that now numbers twenty. But it's not a thing the people involved get into a pother about, as they're too busy getting on with racing.

Classic yacht purists are sometimes a bit snooty about the significance the Seventeen folk (a motley crew if ever there was one) attach to their racing. But in a normal year, they get between fifty and sixty races fitted in, and it's the sport that is the all-powerful glue holding the class together.

With an attitude like this prevailing, the class's most ancient trophies aren't seen as the Holy Grail - they're much more important than that. And few prizes match the Studdart Cup, presented at the beginning of it all by Johnny Studdart, who represented the more convivial side of the otherwise rather austere 1895-founded Howth Sailing Club, as Johnny sailed the hospitable and perfectly-named little cruising yawl Sunshine, which was already old when the Seventeens came into existence.

The notably convivial Johnny Studdart in the 1890s at the helm of his little cruising yawl Sunshine, which was already a very old boat when the Howth 17s came into existence in 1898. Photo courtesy HYC

But her owner was young in spirit, and he presented the new class with the Studdart Cup with the idea of encouraging season-long involvement, as the boats eligible for it are the winners of the three main evening and Saturday series held each season. If a boat happens to have won two of these series, she automatically wins the Studdart. But the continuing health of the class is indicated by the fact that as often as not there's a three-way sail-off for Old Johnny's cup.

Or more accurately, Old Johnny's Idea. The original Studdart Cup was liberated at dead of night from the Howth home of a several-times-winner very many years ago, doubtless by some idealistic peninsular Robin Hood. But the ideal it represented was so central to the class's history that it was soon replaced, so now they compete for this Unholy Grail with every bit as much enthusiasm.

However, with 2021's peculiar pandemic-distorted season, the final official race of the Howth 17's programme was completed with the last race of the Beshoff Motors Autumn League on October 16th, yet the 2021 Studdart Cup contest between Rita (No 1, John Curley & Marcus Lynch), Aura (No 7, Ian Malcolm) and Orla (No 21, Mark FitzGibbon & Donal Gallagher) was still un-sailed.

Three-way duel. Despite a 119-year age difference in the three boats involved, the 2021 Studdart Cup contest between (left to right) Orla, Rita and Aura lived up to the trophy's reputation for close racing. Photo: Brian Turvey

This had added significance as there's a 119-year age-gap between the first two "originals" and Orla, which was built in 2017 under Ian Malcolm's guidance at Mike Newmeyer's Skol ar Mor in southern Brittany. It was a lineup symbolic of the spirit of the class, so in the end the scope provided by the breezy Bank Holiday Weekend was utilised to the full, with all crews on weekend alert, and the brisk but very sailable sunny sou'wester of Monday morning finally provided a fast contest from a pier start.

Donal Gallagher at the helm of Orla was in the lead at the South Rowan Buoy and was still there – though only just – as they rounded the Spit for the seriously uphill stuff. Though topsails were definitely a no-go, spinnakers were deployed whenever possible. But although the two partners in Orla only acquired her as recently as the Spring of this year when they were so chuffed they had a piper lead the boat to the crane on launching day, they defied their newbie standing, and held the lead with Rita helmed by Marcus Lynch in second closely ahead of Aura.

It was a high and bright note on which to end the season. But now the very old, the old, and the not-so-old boats of this unique class are rapidly going from the harbour, headed for their many and various winter quarters ashore and the TLC which keeps this remarkable show on the road.

A great way to end their first season: Donal Gallagher and Mark FitzGibbon bring Orla to the finish line to win the 2021 Studdart Cup against the distinctive background of Ireland's Eye. Photo: Brian Turvey

With a rising westerly of notably dense air today (Saturday), Race Officer Scorie Walls did well to get three contests completed for the vintage Howth 17s annual championship at their home port, with the fleet benefiting from the class having already completed a sedate mid-week style race without topsails on Friday evening, sailing under a picturesque but pessimistic sky whose indications of stronger winds were borne out as Saturday progressed.

“A picturesque but pessimistic sky” – Friday evening’s race was sailed with an ominously watery sunset. Photo: Brian Maguire

In such conditions, the Debate of the Day with these venerable boats is whether to race with topsails or not. And though a significant number sallied forth with full cloth early on Saturday morning, it was notable that Deilginis utilized a clear OCS in Race 3 to take time out to become bald-headed, thereby enabling her to get a convincing win in the final race and ensure that the title moved on from 2020 champion Pauline (Shane O’Doherty and partners), which had raced without the topsail from the start, yet had logged two useful seconds to keep her in the frame.

Deilginis and Isobel persevering with topsails while Rita and Pauline show that bald-headed was ultimately the way to go. Photo: John Doran

However, although topsail or not was just one of several Issues of the Day, Brian and Conor Turvey kept it centre stage with Isobel by masterfully managing the special trick of a double gybe, ending up with topsail on one side and mainsail on the other - something which newcomers to the class had thought was in the realms of mythology. Fortunately, a photographer was on hand to show it can be done, but he failed to capture the bonus of the helmsman going over the side and being hauled back by the brother grabbing his ankle – “It was only a footnote, really,” we are told.

After a spectacular gyration, it was thought that Isobel had broken her gaff boom………..Photo: John Doran

…..but it emerged that she had managed the Five Star trick of the Double Gybe – topsail on one side, and mainsail on the other. Photo: John Doran

Inevitably there was some damage as the series went on – damage of a type unknown to modern sailors, as they seemed to feature various disconnections with the gaff booms, the most notable being Rosemary whose gaff was irretrievably fractured such that a diet of bread and dripping will be the order of the day in three households until the complete replacement cost is recovered.

When it was still all systems go – Rosemary (foreground) retired with a broken gaff, but once Deilginis (11) had discarded her topsail as the wind freshened - not as easy as it looks – she took the last race and the title in convincing style. Photo: John Doran

The ding-dong for the straight title continued, but freed of her topsail Deilginis had a scoreline - after the discard of her OCS - of two firsts and a third, while defending champion Pauline was on two seconds and a fifth, the third-placed Aura (Ian Malcolm) consistently logging two thirds and a fourth.

Under HPH, the Tom Houlihan partnership with Zaida won overall, but despite a rugged handicap, Deilginis was second, while Sheila (Dave Mulligan & Andy Johnston) was third in a championship which showed this venerable class to be in fine form. Details here 

The 2021 Howth 17 champions with Deilginis – wall-to-wall Masseys except for Mikey Toomey (second left). Photo: Brian Turvey

For more than fifty years now, the 1898-founded Howth 17s have all been located at their port of origin, and the class has been thriving, so much so that serious damage to seven of the boats in winter storage in Storm Emma in March 2018 now seems like no more than a hiccup. The class recovered, with boats repaired or re-built and new ones added, such that assigned sail numbers have gone through the twenty mark. This may not seem such a big deal when international classes run into the thousands. But by local standards at any sailing centre, it's more than healthy, and the intriguing thing is how many locations internationally have contributed to this Howth growth.

With the port having only a limited local boat-building tradition - although two boats were built by the great John O'Reilly in a shed at Howth Castle in 1988 - the class's seemingly inexhaustible movers and shakers such as Nick Massey and Ian Malcolm have since had to cast the net wide for quality work, and this has used talent in Irish counties as diverse as Wicklow, Offaly, Meath, Fingal and West Cork in addition to availing of the subsidised boat-building schools of France.

A new Howth 17 being built at Skol ar Mor in South Brittany

Thus although they may be a one-place one-design, they've an international and forward-looking outlook. So it was an intriguing experience for eleven of the boat to go across to Dun Laoghaire last weekend to welcome home the first three restored Dublin Bay 21s to the National Yacht Club, and be greeted by some very senior sailors as "the Dublin Bay 17s from the noted northside club at Howth".

Fact is, DBSC had the use of the design for a sub-section of the class only from 1907 to 1964, by which time their crews had mostly moved into Glens, while the Dun Laoghaire Seventeens were all brought home to Howth and the TLC which has been lavished on them to varying degrees ever since.

The morning after…. Early on Saturday, July 31st at the National Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire, after eleven Howth 17s had sailed across to join the previous night's Welcome Home party for the three restored Dublin Bay 21s. Photo: David Jones

As to Howth itself being northside Dublin, the reality is it is all actually east of the entire capital, and the sandy link (tombolo if you prefer) to Dublin's associated landmass is so tenuous that it's thought of as being "nearby Ireland".

But not to worry. The Howth-folk are generous of spirit, and in 2021 they've already visited Clontarf for the annual At Home – involving a sporty rounding of the Baily against a north-going tide with the race won by Deilginis – while going to Dun Laoghaire seemed right and proper even if some of the denizens thereof were confused about the type of boats they'd arrived in, and equally confused about points of the compass and relative geography.

Cutting the corner – with a fair wind but a foul tide, two of the Howth 17s try to find the weakest adverse stream right in on the pin of The Baily as they race into Dublin Bay, on course for the 2021 Clontarf At Home. Photo courtesy Howth Seventeen Association

This weekend it's back to local reality for the Howth 17 National Championship. It's officially designated as Friday, August 6th to Sunday, August 8th, but in time-honoured style, Sunday is very much the reserve day, they race on Friday evening and then pile on the races throughout Saturday until the quota is reached so that everything can be done and dusted by the Saturday night prize-giving dinner which - even in semi-socially-distanced times - will not be an event for shrinking violets.

As to results, the defending champions are the Shane O'Doherty team with the 1900-built Pauline. She is usually to be found in the middle of the fleet, but in the 2020 Championship, there were so many private battles going on between the more noted hotshots that Pauline was able to slip through the gaps into a popular overall win.

Back where they belong – Howth 17s racing in the Sound inside Ireland's Eye in July's drought conditions – Oona (foreground) is owned by Peter Courtney, whose family have been involved with the class since 1907. Photo: Jane Duffy

This year a noted pace-setter in club racing has been Isobel (Brian & Conor Turvey), while other names featuring at the front of the fleet have included Deilginis (Massey, Toomey, Kenny), Rita (Marcus Lynch & John Curley), Orla (Marc Fitzgibbon/Gallagher), Sheila (Dave Mulligan & Andy Johnston), Oona (Peter Courtney) and Aura (Ian Malcolm), which is the most recent top scorer as she won on Tuesday evening.

But with a turnout this weekend pushing towards fifteen of these unique boats, if the private battles for which the Howth 17s are renowned develop in their usual way, who knows what new name might come to the fore by nipping through the gaps, like the hero in Jurassic Park……..

After making a perfect job of rounding the final gybe mark, Shane O'Doherty with Pauline was on his way to victory in the Howth 17 2020 Nationals.