Swords Sailing Club (SSBC) hosted the 2023 Eastern Championships in the multihull class on September 2nd and 3rd, attracting a fleet of 16 boats. The event saw a total of seven races completed over two days, with wind speeds ranging from light to medium. Sunny skies and warm weather made for a very pleasant weekend of racing at Swords.

On the first day, four races were done after a one-hour delay waiting for the wind to fill in. The races were called perfectly by Race Officer Niall Gallagher from the neighbouring Malahide Yacht Club. They ran efficiently back to back on a windward leeward course, including an excellent spinnaker downwind finish line.

Race 1 saw Matt McNichol BYC and Patrick Billington WSC fly off the pin end to establish an early lead, a pattern they more or less continued for the day, establishing themselves in a commanding lead overnight.

The battle for second place battle proved very competitive, with Stephen and Siobhán Broaders SSBC claiming 2nd in r1 and r2, and Simon and Ann O'Gorman SSBC taking 2nd in r3 and r4. Both teams sat in 2nd and 3rd place with a 1-point difference overnight.

Multihull Eastern champions at Swords Sailing and Boating Club - Matt McNichol BYC and Patrick Billington WSC sailing an F18

Day two saw similar conditions, with three races on the slate. Race 5 saw light airs, and Stephen and Siobhán got away to reach windward first, but Matt and Patrick found their way past them at a tricky leeward end. Simon and Ann stayed in touch to claim 1st on schrs handicap.

Race 6, with breeze kicking in, saw David Biddulph and Orlaith Sweeny SSBC come into form and sail a great race to claim 1st. Stephen and Siobhán finished ahead of Simon and Ann to set up a final race showdown between the two.

Simon and Ann O'Gorman retain the Donny McKay H5.9 trophy and second overall sailing a Hurricane 5.9sx at the Multihull Eastern champions at Swords Sailing and Boating Club

Race 7 saw Matt and Patrick return to winning ways, claiming the final race win. But the battle for second overall was won by Simon and Ann by a single point, leaving Stephen and Siobhán in 3rd overall.

Simon and Ann retained the Donny McKay H5.9 trophy and 2nd overall sailing a Hurricane 5.9sx. Sean Lemonnier and Aly Osullivan GBSC won the junior fleet sailing a spitfire. Shane Peal and Jackie Malone SSBC won class 2, sailing a Dart16x.

The Eastern champions were Matt McNichol BYC and Patrick Billington WSC, sailing an F18. 

Results are below

Third overall - Stephen and Siobhán Broaders SSBC sailing an F18 at the Multihull Eastern champions at Swords Sailing and Boating Club

Sean Lemonnier & Aly O'Sullivan GBSC win the junior fleet sailing a Spitfire at the Multihull Eastern champions at Swords Sailing and Boating Club

Shane Peal & Jackie Malone SSBC win class 2, sailing a Dart16x at the Multihull Eastern champions at Swords Sailing and Boating Club

Adrian Allen and Barry Swanston from Ballyholme regained the Irish title at Antrim Boat Club last weekend after an exciting high wind tussle with the 2022 Champions Matt and James McNicholl.

Runner up was Wyatt Orsmonde, crewed by Tom Murphy (SSBC) and in third place it was the Galway pair, Yannick Lemonnier and Laurik Mattieu.

Sean Lemonnier and Ally O'Sullivan from Galway Bay Sailing Club won the Junior prize.

Antrim Boat Club lies on the sheltered northeastern shore of Lough Neagh, the largest freshwater lake in the UK. It is pleasantly situated in woodland and has a safe area of about six square miles for racing, while at any time never being out of sight of land.

Yannick Lemonnier and Laurik Mattieu in their multihull from Galway Bay Sailing Club

The fleet came from the four corners of Ireland, with one competitor Wyatt Orsmond flying in from Portugal.

Saturday's four races were sailed in fantastic Lough Neagh conditions of 15 - 20 knot winds, with no quarter being given between five of the leading catamarans. The rest of the fleet, including two talented Junior sailors from Galway, swapped positions throughout the racing. At the end of the day, Adrian and Barry had a small lead over last year's champions, all to play for on Sunday.

Close Multihulls racing on Lough Neagh Photo: Richard Swanston

Sunday brought sunshine and calmer weather, and three races would be held in the lighter airs. Lough Neagh served up flukey lake conditions with sharp increases of breeze from mirror-like flat water. Racing got underway in a solid force 2-3, the two leaders jousted with each other only to find Matt McMurtry and Emma Greer and Watt and Tom Murphy ruining the party, a four-way fight now.

Unfortunately, the last race had to be abandoned after the wind came up briefly to 25 knots and dropped to 5 -10 knots to allow the course to be changed, and race started then abandoned as it switched twice through 180 degrees and disappeared.

Race Officer was the expert Aidan Pounder on a difficult day for race management, and it was remarked that “ The IMA sincerely thanks all at Antrim Boat Club and their members for their enthusiasm and friendliness.
The club is a superb example of the organisation for an excellent championship”.

Irish Open Multihull Championship results 2023

This past weekend at boot Düsseldorf was a big one for Dun Laoghaire-based agents MGM Boats, with the world premiere of Jeanneau’s new DB/37 and the launch of the electric Delphia 10 Lounge — as well as the reveal of the new flagship of Prestige’s M-Line in the M8.

Following the M48, the first in the M-Line that was launched last year, the multihull M8 promises an unprecedented experience: to live in perfect harmony with the sea on smooth, serene cruises, more respectful of the environment with a reduced fuel consumption.

The M8 also aims to redefine the onboard experience with a living area of more than 270 sq m “unequalled in its category” and twin hulls ensuring natural stability and excellent seaworthiness.

The M8 is being touted as ‘a true villa on the sea’, to which this artist’s impression of the interior can testify | Credit: Prestige Yachts

“The M8, flagship of the M-Line by Prestige, represents the quintessence of our savoir-faire in terms of design, elegance, and fit and finish,” says Erwin Bamps, vice president of Prestige.

“I would like to underscore the unique character of Prestige, the only Franco-Italian yacht builder in the world, today, combining the French mastery of serial production and Italian heritage in large yacht construction.”

While remaining faithful to Prestige’s identity, the M8 features a distinctive hull, designed from the start uniquely for a motor yacht.

Living is easy onboard the M8, its creators promise | Credit: Prestige Yachts

The result is a multihull that is less wide but taller than a sailing catamaran, offering unequalled surface area and dimensions, which Prestige says is never before seen in existing monohulls and multihulls on the market.

“The M8 is a true villa on the sea,” says its designer, Camillo Garroni. “The layout, living spaces, ease of movement and safety on board have been designed to optimise the experience of the owners and their family.”

Discover new horizons, get closer to nature and reconnect with yourself and others in a spacious, refined, bright environment with the M8 from Prestige. There’s more on the Prestige website — and if you’re at boot Düsseldorf this week, meet the team from MGM Boats for details.

This year’s RORC Caribbean 600 features a spectacular MOCRA Class with 10 multihulls in action. Whilst the overall winner of the RORC Caribbean 600 will be the monohull with best corrected time under IRC, racing under the MOCRA rating rule, many of the multihull class of 2022 are new to the race and the winner, after time correction, is wide open. The 600-mile RORC classic will headline a Line Honours re-match for three 70-foot trimarans which went hard and fast for the line in this year’s RORC Transatlantic Race.

Giovanni Soldini’s Multi70 Maserati (ITA) won the 3,000-mile race by a paper-thin margin and also holds the RORC Caribbean 600 Race Record (2019 - 30 hours, 49 minutes, 00 seconds). Peter Cunningham’s PowerPlay (CAY) and Jason Carroll’s Argo (USA) will be looking to push Maserati all the way for the 2022 RORC Caribbean 600. PowerPlay took Line Honours in 2020 by less than five minutes from Argo, with Maserati third. The wild card for Multihull Line Honours is Antoine Rabaste’s Ultim’Emotion 2 (FRA), which has a waterline advantage over the three 70-foot trimarans. The multihull leader on the water is expected to change many times - be prepared for a photo-finish, potentially at record pace.

“The RORC Caribbean 600 is a very different race to the RORC Transatlantic. We will have more crew because of the many manoeuvres around the course,” commented Maserati’s Giovanni Soldini. “For sure Maserati is a faster boat than our record race in 2019, but to break it will depend on the conditions. Compared to Argo and PowerPlay our best wind angle is downwind above 16 knots when we are very quick, but on a tight reach, the competition can be just as fast. For Maserati the best performance will come if we stay in pressure and make good manoeuvres. We have a plan for rounding every island, but that can change in a moment depending on the situation of other boats and if the wind direction changes. I am sure it will be a fantastic race!”

This year’s race has attracted a fascinating entry of multihulls, all of which are very capable of winning the MOCRA Class. With 10 teams entered, this is the second-largest entry for multihulls in the 14-year history of the RORC Caribbean 600.

Christian Guyader’s Saveol (FRA) skippered by Gwen Chapalain, and Club 5 Oceans (FRA) sailed by Quentin le Nabour are both ORC50s; a new class for the 2022 Route du Rhum. Light-weight, with a huge sail area and rotating mast, Guyader Saveol and Club 5 Oceans are capable of finishing the race in under 48 hours. Club 5 Oceans put in a great performance for the 2022 RORC Transatlantic Race, finishing the 3,000-mile course in under 12 days. For the RORC Caribbean 600, Club 5 Oceans will race with 10 crew, mainly from Russia. Christian Guyader racing Guyader Saveol is taking part in his second RORC Caribbean 600 and has an all-French crew of six. This year’s race is very much unfinished business for Guyader, having failed to complete the course in 2018.

Vincent Willemart’s TS42 Banzai (BEL) will race with just four on board, all from Belgium. Banzai was third in the MOCRA Class for the 2021 Rolex Fastnet Race, beating Argo and Maserati after time correction. Vincent Willemart has a formidable track record racing with the RORC, winning the 2014 RORC Season’s Points Championship overall with his MC34 Azawakh.

Gilles Lamire’s Groupe GCA-1001 Sourires (FRA) is a proven winner; the Ocean Fifty (ex Multi50) won class in the 2019 Transat Jacques Vabres, racing two-handed with Antoine Carpentier. Groupe GCA is all-carbon, flying on foils and capable of 40 knots of boat speed! Lamire is taking part in his second RORC Caribbean 600 having podiumed in 2018 with French Tech Caraîbos.

Selika, skippered by Andrew Bland, is a new concept from the drawing board of Frers Yacht Design. The bluewater performance catamaran has the latest foiling package and will have an international crew of eight. With a full interior and a powerful sail configuration, Selika will revel in big airs and sea state. Aldo Fumagalli’s Neel 47 Minimole (ITA) is a Marc Lombard design. The smallest multihull in the race, with a full interior weighing in at just over 10,000 kg, Minimole has little chance of keeping up with the sporty larger multis, but has a significantly lower MOCRA rating than the entire class.

Multihull boatyards have revealed some information about 2022, with the trend moving towards catamarans and trimarans that increasingly focus on performance, the technical aspects, comfort, finishings and interior design.

That's the view of the organisers of the 13th multi-hull show that gets underway in LA GRANDE MOTTE (Hérault) in the South of France in April. 

The seaside resort in Occitanie with its harbour in the centre of the town will become the “Multihull Capital” for five days when it hosts this event from April 20 to 24th. 

The line–up for 2022 looks exceptional in terms of the quantity and range of boats, and if we listen to what the builders are telling us, there is much more to come, because sailing on two or three hulls whips up a lot of enthusiasm.

Here are just a few of the premieres expected: 

• Balance 482 / BALANCE shipyard (United-States)
• BALI 4.4 / CATANA group (France)
• CATANA OCEAN CLASS / CATANA group (France)
• C-CAT 48 / C-Catamans shipyard (Italy)
• Dragonfly 40 Ultimate / Dragonfly shipyard (Danemark)
• Lagoon 51 / Lagoon shipyard, Beneteau group (France)
• Libertist 853 / Libertist Yachts shipyard (Poland)
• ORC 57 / Marsaudon Composites shipyard (France)
• Nautitech 44 Open / Nautitech shipyard (France), BAVARIA group
• CK67 / Squalt Marine International (Tunisia)
• Leopard 46PC / Robertson & Caine shipyard (South Africa)
• Windelo 54 / Windelo shipyard (France)

After an intense Atlantic battle, Giovanni Soldini's Multi70 (ITA) Maserati has crossed the finish line first in the 8th edition of the RORC Transatlantic Race, finishing at: 05:51:41 UTC in Grenada on Saturday 15 January to take Multihull Line Honours.

Next to cross the finish line off Camper & Nicholsons Port Louis Marina, Grenada was Peter Cunningham's MOD70 PowerPlay at: 06 46 42 UTC.

Skipper Giovanni Soldini and crew (Vittorio Bissaro, Oliver Herrera Perez, Thomas Joffrin, Francesco Pedol and Matteo Soldini,) with Media man, Alberto Origone on Multi70 Maserati before the start

The Irish Multihull Committee has postponed its Eastern Championships at Wicklow Sailing Club and the Irish Open Championships at Swords Sailing Club due to Covid 19.

Both events will now take place in 2021.

Ballyholme Yacht Club has agreed to upgrade the 'Weekend of Speed' on October 17th and18th to the Irish Open Championships for the multihull fleet. The weekend will also see 49er and 29er skiffs in action on Belfast Lough.

The last of three Irish Multihull events this year will be the Northerns at Ballyholme Yacht Club on Belfast Lough on 17th and 18th October. It also has the grand title of Weekend of Speed, rescheduled due to COVID 19. Before the finale are the Easterns at Wicklow, on 5th/6th September, rescheduled due to the now cancelled Round Ireland race being on the same weekend. The Nationals are at Swords on 18th and 19th September. For the Weekend of Speed World F18 Championship Race Officer Robin Gray will be keeping the fleet in on their toes in Belfast Lough.

At BYC an expected fleet of over ten Multihulls will be joined by ten to fifteen 29ers, and ten 49ers, the latter to include Olympic campaigners Ryan Seaton and Seafra Guilfoyle, the under 23 World champions, Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove; Matt McGovern and other up and coming youth 49ers.

 Chair of the IMA Richard Swanston says " We are bringing in some innovative initiatives to encourage as many competitors as is possible (given the restraints of COVID) to support the efforts of the host Yacht Clubs. To that end there is a 50% Discount on all I.M.A. entry fees including Saturday evening food and a travellers' incentive for competitors who enter all three events. A bonus is free entry to the final event of the year at Ballyholme if all events have been attended but to avail of the discounts, competitors must pre-enter. It is essential to enable the clubs to organise race committees, food etc. in what are very difficult times". He adds " We have invited overseas competitors to attend any event with a free entry".

A few years ago, well actually it’s pushing on eight years now, four Hurricane 5.9 catamaran’s from Swords Sailing and Boat Club (SSBC) sailed from Howth Yacht Club to the Rockabill Lighthouse and back writes multihull sailor Stephen Broaders. I was onboard one of them and we spent a long time talking about how great it was to do a long passage type sail on fast beach cats and that we should definitely get out on the Irish Sea again soon

There were many coastal races or rallies on catamarans in years gone by such as the Lambay race, Skerries to Clogher Head, an Irish Sea crossing and other parts of the Irish coast around Cork, Galway and more.

So year after year passed by and we would occasionally mention the idea of doing another long coastal trip. Most of the Hurricanes had switched to the more modern F18 class as a result of the World Championships coming to Ballyholme in 2014. In the following years more joined us and we found ourselves going to the F18 World Championships in Germany 2015, Denmark 2017 and Spain 2019 for big fleet world-class racing which was and is a fantastic experience but in the backs of our minds we all still had this desire to get some coastal sailing done in Ireland

So late last year with a bit of pestering from a certain tall South African in our fleet and a chat with his crew who happens to be a member of Wicklow Sailing Club I decided to hell with it I’m gonna get this thing organised. I called the IMA Chair and asked could I put a date in for a coastal raid from north Dublin to Wicklow, he said yes, absolutely great, yes do it!

So I got the date set and put it out there to the fleet, we got commitments from four boats to do it. With about two weeks to go, I called Howth Yacht Club and asked could we launch from there and they very kindly said yes, providing us with excellent facilities as they had with the Rockabill trip eight years earlier. At the same time the crew I mentioned earlier contacted Wicklow SC who were delighted to assist so all was in place for our grand return to the open seas.

F18’s in Howth Yacht Club - a C2, Nacra Infusion, Hobie Wildcat & Hobie Tiger

In the week leading up to our Saturday departure we all started watching the weather forecast but as each day passed the wind predicted got lighter and lighter. By Thursday it was actually showing 0 knots gusting 2 in Dublin Bay and I thought oh well that’s that scrapped. Friday came and it showed a marginal improvement we had some breeze 6 knots or so but still not quite enough.

By 12 noon I was thinking of canning it as the phone rang, it was from a Mini Transat sailor from Galway who persuaded me to go ahead and set sail early, he had spent a bit of time looking at weather patterns and forecasts and was sure it would be ok. I also had the South African desperately trying to get back for it with delayed planes & taxis etc who was looking forward to it and didn’t want to disappoint him, So I said ok let’s go ahead,

A very long day ensued with boat derigging, re-rigging and bringing cars, vans and trailers to Wicklow and eventually getting back to Dublin for 1:30 am for a few hours sleep.
We all got ourselves over to Howth for 7:30 am and I looked at the forecast in the taxi en route and hallelujah it was showing 10 knots gusting 16.

"At 9:30 am we set sail from the mouth of Howth Harbour, escorted out by a very curious seal"

After an hour and a bit getting one boat finished and all the sails hoisted we were ready to set off. Many thanks to Howth YC for accommodating our early start.

At 9:30 am we set sail from the mouth of Howth Harbour, escorted out by a very curious seal all the boats stayed together as we rounded Howth Head, accompanied by a cover RIB from SSBC.

After a bit of tricky sailing passing the Cliffs of Howth, we headed out across Dublin Bay. With no ships passing, we began to sail fast with spinnakers flying part way and two sail reaching the rest. As we got halfway the excitement was building on each boat as we realized we are doing it and the conditions are perfect. We sailed on passing Dun Laoghaire reaching Dalkey island within 30 minutes of leaving Howth harbour. Smiles all round especially on the Hobie Tiger where Sean Lemonnier, age 11, a very promising and enthusiastic young cat sailor was having a blast out on the wire downwind. 

After a quick chat to the local fishermen on the water in Dalkey, we headed for Bray, stopping there just off the beach for refreshments. They probably don’t know but the Bray airshow had f18s flying by...well kind of!

On again and out around Bray Head towards our next regrouping spot Greystones. We were hitting top speeds of 20knots at this point in flat water and 20 degrees, Perfect.

A Multihull heading for Wicklow Sailing Club
Waiting for us on the water in Greystones was a RIB from Wicklow Sailing Club which had made its way up to assist with cover. After we made contact with them on VHF radio and another regrouping we continued on flying spinnakers and gybing every 10 minutes or so in an exhilarating

impromptu race to Wicklow, with one boat going inshore, two going out and in again crisscrossing in close quarters, everyone had a smile from ear to ear, it truly was magical and if you ask each of us to describe the experience we just don't have the words to articulate it.

Finally we made it to Wicklow Harbour to a great welcome from Wicklow SC, we were cheered into the slip and helped up to the club where we were fed & watered by a very enthusiastic & generous group of fellow sailors at the club before heading back out to take part in their round the cans racing with the juniors

A truly great weekend of sailing with lifetime memories, well done to all those who took part and helped to make this happen, long-distance raids are definitely back on the calendar going forward, now to start planning the next one, whos up for it?

Sailors
The author - Stephen Broaders – Nacra Infusion- Sword Sailing and Boating Club (SSBC) The tall South African- Wyatt Orsmond – C2 -SSBC
His crew from Wicklow - Patrick Billington – C2 - WSC
Mini Transat sailor - Yannick lemonier – Hobie Tiger - GBSC

The other sailors
Pawel Trojanowski Hobie Wildcat - SSBC Sean Duranbusch Hobie Wildcat -SSBC Siobhan Broaders Nacra Infusion -SSBC Sean Lemonnier Hobie Tiger - GBSC Laurick Mathieu Hobie Tiger - GBSC

Special thanks to –

Dermot McHugh RIB - SSBC Kinga Trojanowska RIB -SSBC
Evan Orsmond and Conor Kavanagh helping with rigging and de-rigging. Fred Connolly, Marina Supervisor Howth Yacht Club
Caroline Gore-Grimes Honorary sailing secretary Howth Yacht Club

Wicklow Sailing Club (WSC)
David Balesty – Race Official - WSC Kyran OGrady – Rib (Commodore) - WSC Isobel OGrady – Rib - WSC
Denise Cummins – Onshore support, BBQ – WSC
Mark Redmond – Onshore support, Bar - WSC Richard Swanston BYC - IMA CHAIR

Swords Sailing Club (SSC) hosted Australian multihull sailor Mitch Booth who competed at no less then four Olympics in the Tornado class, medaling twice. Here Patrick Wodhams of SSC describes the training weekend with the sailor who has competed in 64 World championships and won 10 of them.

Mitch now resides in sunny Spain and is in demand around the globe advising and training with Olympic teams and class associations. Some of us were lucky enough to meet and race against him at the 2017 F18 World’s in Denmark.

With eight F18’s, two Hurricane 5.9’s and one F16 in attendance, Mitch brought the sun with him from Spain, day one looked like we would have no wind as a result; the forecast was quite light. However, first up was a briefing in the club house; going over all that secret racing stuff we all want to know. Tuning, boat handling, tactics/strategy, starts, acceleration, mark rounding’s, tacking/gybing and of course going fast……

Armed with some of that secret knowledge, like gladiators ready to tend their chariots we rigged our boats, 1 extra notch here, an extra pound on the Loos gauge there; with brief boat on boat one on ones with Mitch. By the time we had finished and got kitted up, we were greeted by the start of a fantastic sea breeze building as we launched our boats for our first on the water session.

If you have been lucky enough to compete at a World’s or any big fleet racing, you will know that starts are crucial. Boat handling is key to parking the boat and making sure you don’t collide with anyone; most importantly that you get away fast into clean breeze from the front row and don’t get rolled or spat out the back. Assistant coach Dermot McHugh and his brother Kevin ferried Mitch around and laid the marks for our quick turn around practise starts, each with varying degrees of success and one or two boats OCS or so we thought.

After lunch the fairly constant sea breeze created almost perfect champagne sailing conditions. We progressed to a one lap race after every third start finishing downwind with crews trapezing and kites flying.

After a fantastic first day, we headed back into a debrief session utilising excellent drone footage courtesy of Kinga Trojanowska. There was no hiding and the guilty OCS culprits were well and truly outed, all in good jest. A delicious barbecue and refreshments followed with some great stories to be heard form Mitch and all.

Day two started exactly the same as day one with the sun shining and not much breeze. Following a quick briefing in the clubhouse, we congregated around one boat in the boat park as Mitch went through rigging and tuning for all the varying conditions. Sail shape and airflow over it, are all influenced by the many controls at the helm and crews disposal, getting them all in the optimum position at the right time is somewhat of a black art; times that by three to include the mainsail, jib and gennaker and you can see why this crucial knowledge separates the master from the pupil. Following Q’s & A’s everybody agreed and enlightened by a true master.

As we consumed a quick lunch the magnificent sea breeze had kicked in, we launched and sailed a square course to cover all points of sail as Mitch and Dermot followed us round with varying tips on what we could do to improve. By 2pm we joined the Swords scheduled racing for the afternoon and put into practise all that we had learnt. We were joined on the water by quite a few Lasers, and other boats that made up the remainder of the Swords fleet. Great fun as we weaved in and out on a fantastic sailing weekend finally.