After three days of champagne sailing at Howth Yacht Club it was consistency in the largest fleet of the regatta that crowned Clive O'Shea and Tom Durcan's "T-Bone" as the 2016 Sportsboat Cup Overall Champion! The Crosshaven team topped the twelve boat 1720 fleet with two race wins and never posting anything worse than a fourth. Download the overall results below.

The crew had built up a healthy overnight lead coming into the final day of racing, knowing that a good first race would have their class win wrapped up. Maybe it was nerves or more likely some rum still coarsing through their veins but they stuttered on the start line, got squeezed out at the pin and had to do turns for hitting the pin mark. Being last off the line was good news for their competitors but they got on with their race didn't panic chipped away at the fleet and ground themselves back to a fourth place which all but sealed it. While they were still catchable in the final race they were back to regular form, coming out on top in a three way match race at the start it was clear everyone else was fighting for the scraps.

T-Bone winning helmsman Alex 'Bundy' Barry was full of praise for the weekend: "HYC delivered a great event as always, the racing and social scene were excellent and the sunshine topped it off. It was encouraging to see so many young people on the water and in the bar." The team happily took away the Romaine Cagney Bowl, a crystal decanter and a technical Gill jacket on top of their class winners prizes.

The SB20 class was hotly contested with just one point separating the top four boats!!! After nine races and the full shedule completed Shane Murphy's "Two Men and Their Monkey" pipped Chris Arrowsmith's "MSS" with their four race wins trumping MSS' single race win.

The weekend brought out a bigger fleet of SB20s for their Easterns with seventeen boats competing. Dave Barry was absolutely delighted to take the title on board "Lia". Dave had started sailing SB3's back in 2008 in Howth and made reference to an unfortunate incident involving Burrow Beach in his acceptance speech. Needless to say he's much happier with his performances now.

It was Conor Murphy's UCD sailing team "The Implication" who won the J80 class. With all the boats identically set up this fleet was always going to be decided by tactics and boat handling. This crew had clearly got their roles well defined as some of their cornering wouldn't look out of place in an instructional video. After a strong first day their lead was well challenged by Daragh McDonagh's "The Podger" who took four race wins. Ewan McMahon's crew was also in the mix taking two race wins over the weekend.

The small Half Tonner fleet had incredibly close racing. With all three boats routinely running into the last mark of the course all abreast. Most races were only decided by a matter of seconds. Mike and Richie Evans' "The Big Picture" and David Kelly's "King One" shared all the race wins and it was "The Big Picture" who eked out a two point victory.

Many thanks to event chairman Ross McDonald and his team including race management and the event partners Kevin Flanigan Estates and Dalcassian Wines and Spirits and their Goslings Rum and Ginger. We're looking forward to doing it all again in 2018!

Next month's ICRA Nationals at Howth Yacht Club is aiming to attract both spinnaker and white sail sailors and HYC have gone to some lengths to promote its commercial free waters in this latest youtube video. 

The ICRA Nationals are returning to Howth Yacht Club for a record fifth time. 

The organising committee are finalising an exciting and varied racing programme over the 3 days, along with an excellent social programme of shore side activities. With three weeks to go to first gun, it will be a very special event both on and off the water.

For the Corinthian Cups two classes, Race Officer Harry Gallagher and his team have been working on a number of courses, specifically designed for non-spinnaker racing: “In recognition of the fact that many non-spinnaker teams and their classes have asked that we avoid direct downwind racing, we will have a choice of two courses for Friday and Saturday (two races each day). One will be a traditional “Olympic Type” course - Triangle/Sausage/Triangle and the other will be a “Figure 4” course. Diagrams will be provided in the Sailing Instructions. These courses will be laid in positions that will not conflict with the other two courses. On Sunday, a “Passage Type” course is planned the details of which will be provided on the day”.

In the 'spinnaker classes', the three-day championships will comprise of eight fleets with racing taking place over three race areas, guaranteeing keen racing for all participants. Early indications are that there will be very competitive racing for national titles across the various fleets with the addition of a number of new boats planning to participate.

Back on shore there will be a lively social programme including a Caribbean night on Friday and a Regatta Dinner on Saturday followed with famous local band Loose Change playing until late.

The event is sponsored by McPeake Auctioneers, and in association with Dubarry, WD40 and Dublin, a Breath of Fresh Air.

A Howth Yacht Club J24 team won last weekend's Northern championships at Sligo YC with a race to spare. The K25 team beat JP McCaldin's Jamais Encore from Lough Erne Yacht Club for the top slot in a 19–boat fleet. Flor O'Driscoll's HArd on Port from the Royal St. George YC was third. Results are downloadable below. 

Currently, the winning K25 team are in Poole in Dorset, a major J24 centre and are aiming to defend their ICRA title on home waters next month.

Howth may like to think of itself as the Dingle of the East Coast writes W M Nixon, but for the next three days from Friday June 27th, the Fingal peninsular port is taking aboard a distinct West Cork complexion with the Baltimore 1720 fleet setting the pace in Howth YC’s new Sportsboat Cup.

With a entry list pushing towards the 40 mark, more than a quarter of the total sportsboat fleet will be made up of the 1994–vintage Tony Castro-designed 1720s, the five-man boats which have found a new lease of life with a fleet centred around Baltimore Sailing Club.

Although several of the skippers are every bit as well known as active campaigners afloat from the Royal Cork YC at Crosshaven, the word is that when they sail forth in their 1720s, it’s the holiday place in Baltimore that they’re representing, and there’s no doubting the quality of the racing provided for the 1720s in the wide open spaces of Baltimore Harbour.

In one particular case there’s no doubt who is sailing for where either, with Robert O’Leary’s 1720 clearly named Jacob’s Bar making a point, though his father Anthony – a frontline sailor in 1720s for many seasons – stays firmly with his boat’s longtime name of Antix, now almost a generic term for O’Leary craft.

Anthony O’Leary will be racing his 1720 at Howth. Photo: Robert Bateman

However, although the golden oldies of the 1720 division will be making a fine show, in pure numerical standards it’s the SB20s which top the listings with a fleet of fourteen boats, though that will only get up to full strength as the Howth series morphs into the SB20 Eastern Championship. Names to watch include Olympian Peter Kennedy from the north, while Royal St George YC field a strong contingent including former stars in other classes such as Chris Arrowsmith and Marty Cuppage.

The Howth-based J/80s will be out in full strength, and though the chartering skippers are mainly Howth YC’s own, the net has been spread a bit wider to include Dara McDonagh of Courtown SC. And then the net has been spread a bit wider again with a ruling that, for this event, classic Quarter Tonners and Half Tonners will be seen as Honorary Sportsboats, with racing provided for them.

Rory Fitzpatrick sailing Little Drinkie was the clear winner of the Howth Yacht Club 10–boat Moth flutter beating Alistair Kissane sailing Enzo by 5 points. The full results are downloadable below. 

Next month's ICRA Nationals at Howth Yacht Club will feature what looks like the 'hottest cruiser fleet of the year' when class one boats resume battle after last year's epic clash at Kinsale. 

Paul O'Higgins new JPK 10.80 will be up against some good J109's (including John Maybury's Joker which won ICRAs in 2015, Jelly Baby from Cork, Storm from Howth and J/109 newcomer Tim Goodbody). Also in the class one mix will be the A35 Fools Gold which was second to Joker at Kinsale and also won the Scottish series 2015 overall. Former champion, the XP33 Bon Exemple, skippered by Philip Byrne of the Royal Irish, is also a contender.

The cruiser racer body says its decision to apply 'equal status and trophies to IRC and Progressive Echo has attracted support' and overall entries for the championships is now in the sixties. The event is timed to lead into the Round Ireland​,​ WIORA and Cork Week and Calves Week in a summer of​ ​racing highlights.

Although an early discount deadline has now passed, organisers have made the decision to extend it, presumably because they see there is still lots of potential entries to still emerge in each division.

Class two should be very competitive as well with four Half Tonners vying against the home club's X332 Equinox (Ross McDonald) plus a few others. Half tonners won't have their pro sailors however as ICRA rules only allow pros in classes 0 and 1.

Dux from HYC will compete in class three

Class three will see Fusion the Corby 25 of Colwell, Cobbe and Ronan pushed by likes of Anthony Gore Grimes in Dux, the Sigma 33 s and the ICRA Commodore's family boat from Foynes Yacht Club, the McGibney's Dis a Ray. 

The event is under the experienced Chairmanship of Chris Howard who has twice before run championships with ICRA at this County Dublin venue. 

The programme will provide seven races over three day from Friday 10th to Sun 12th June with a mix of windward/leeward courses and interesting round the cans courses.

ICRA will be presenting overall matching perpetual trophies for IRC and ECHO in each Division in addition to ISA Gold, Silver and Bronze medals smartly mounted which are unique to the National championships.

ICRA's Corinthian Cups are also competed for in both Progressive Echo and IRC will provide equally interesting courses, specifically designed for the non spinnaker divisions with overall trophies and glass mountings as prizes.

The ICRA Nationals returns to Howth Yacht Club in early June, timed to lead into the Round Ireland​,​ WIORA and Cork Week and Calves Week to round off a summer of​ ​racing.

The ​combination of IRC and Progressive Echo divisions in all Classes with equal Trophies and ISA National Championship Gold, Silver and Bronze medals ensures strong interest through the fleets.  The event is under the experienced Chairmanship of Chris Howard who has twice before run championships with ICRA at this County Dublin venue. 

An early entry list is admittedly still building but it already features top boats with the likes of Conor Phelan's Jump Juice returning from his success in March's RORC's Easter Challenge.

Early indications are that the hottest fleet could be in class one where, like ICRAs in 2015, some of the most competitive sailing took place. Paul O'Higgins new JPK 10.80 will be up against some good J109's (including John Maybury's Joker which won ICRAs in 2015, Jelly Baby from Cork, Storm from Howth and J/109 newcomer Tim Goodbody). Also in the class one mix will be the A35 Fools Gold which was second to Joker at Kinsale and also won the Scottish series 2015 overall. Former champion, the XP33 Bon Exemple, skippered by Philip Byrne, is also a contender.

Class two should be competitive as well with four Half Tonners vying against the home club's X332 Equinox (Ross McDonald) plus a few others. Half tonners won't have their pro sailors however as ICRA rules only allow pros in classes 0 and 1.

Class three will see Fusion the Corby 25 of Colwell, Cobbe and Ronan pushed by likes of Anthony Gore Grimes in Dux, the Sigma 33 s and of course, the ICRA Commodore's family boat from Foynes Yacht Club, the McGibney's Dis a Ray. 

Class four will see current National Champions Kilcullen the local Howth Yacht Club youth J24 team take on the J24 fleet including the ICRA Commodore Simon MC Gibney the well sailed quarter Tonners and likes of Impalas who can all feature on their day

The Corinthian Cup​s​ ​are well established for the non spinnaker boats and ​are expected to attract a large fleet.

The early Discount deadline for the ICRA Nationals is 6 th May so get your entry in and enjoy great racing and a fun social scene ashore.

With just six weeks to go until the second Howth Yacht Club Sportsboat Cup, enthusiasm is building. Seven fleets are signed up to race over three days at the end of May on two race courses. Richard Kissane and his teams are planning nine windward-leward races for Ireland’s premier Sportsboat Regatta.

In breaking from the mold, the quarter and half tonners are invited to race under IRC. A throwback to when they were the cutting edge racing classes, with spartan on-board facilities, they are now also included in the race schedule. The 'Tonners' are the only fleet not racing as one-design and they will be sharing the race track with the 1720s, SB20s, J80s, Sailfleet J80s, RS Elites and J24s. Notable entries already in are previous Afloat.ie Sailor of the Year Anthony O’Leary who will be racing in the 1720 class, while Howth's Laser Radial supremo Ewan McMahon (recently fifth at the Euros!) who has chartered a Sailfleet J80 and top performer of the Irish Fleet at last year’s SB20 Worlds - HYC's Shane Murphy.

All eight of the ISA Sailfleet J80s will be racing and they are available to public charter, with HYC members getting a special discount. At the recent Student Yachting Nationals there was considerable interest from the competing colleges in availing of this.

To complement the growing social offering, racing will begin each day at midday so there will be time to enjoy a leisurely breakfast and blow off the cobwebs each morning.

Howth Yacht Club’s renowned chef Jason Dunphy (ex Rolys, Conrad and more) will be serving up top notch food after sailing. With relaxed evening buffets on Friday and Saturday night planned before the music will really kick off. Tickets can be bought online when entering from next week.

The Sportsboat Cup is delighted to have Gosling’s Rum on board for the event as drinks sponsor. After racing on Saturday Gosling’s will be on site to promote their delicious Dark ‘n Stormy cocktail. Howth Yacht Club are the first club in Ireland to stock this delightful drink - a great accompaniment to Jason’s food if not immersed in the clubs extensive wine list.

Craneage and berthing is included in the entry fee for all boats competing. Any boats wishing to stay on for the Lambay Races the following Saturday and the ICRA Nationals are offered free berthing for the intervening weeks.

The early bird entry closes after the 1st May so get them in to get best value for your money.

The 2016 Spring Warmer series came to a conclusion at Howth Yacht Club on Saturday. The event was once again sponsored by Key Capital Private. The final Saturday felt more like a Frostbite morning with temperatures at about 2 degrees and snow visible on the Dublin mountains. However, the crews did have a nice breeze of about 16 knots and glorious sunshine to start the day and get the first race under way. The race committee under Richard Kissane’s and Rupert Jeffares experienced eyes were hoping to get three races in to make up for the race lost the previous Saturday.

In the Cruiser Class, Stephen Quinn’s Lambay Rules took the honours on countback by virtue of their one race win from Paddy Gregory and Don Breen’s Flashback. In third place was D. Kelly’s King One looking absolutely fantastic after a “rebranding” and a Winter of hard work.

The J24 racing was dominated by Howth’s K25 team with a clean sweep of three first places. It was great to see two other youth teams out on Brian McDowell’s Scandal and the Johnny Bravo Howth team who came in second and third places respectively.

The SB20 fleet was the largest fleet with 11 boats and they also ran a coaching session around the event under the watchful eye of top coach Mark Rhodes. Michael O’Connor took the win for the third year running from Shane Murphy on the newly named Two Men and their Monkey. In third spot was Ger Dempsey and Chris Nolan on Venuesworld. In fourth was Dave Barry’s Lia.

The prize giving took place with Vice Commodore Emmet Dalton on hand to present the prizes. Shane Gill of Key Capital Private was unable to attend but expressed Key Capital’s delight at being able to support Howth Yacht Club and Irish sailing.

CIT won the IUSA Student Yachting National Championships at Howth Yacht Club, Dublin last Friday by a single point and qualified to represent Ireland at the Student Yachting World Championships in La Rochelle, France in November 2016.

This is the first time CIT have claimed victory at the event in five years. Competing against four other colleges, CIT managed to successfully win the event by a single point over UCD1 and UCD 2. In a day that saw varying weather conditions with both strong and light air sailing, consistency was the key to winning the event.

In a fleet of 7 teams, CIT scored a 3, 2, 2, 2, 1 over 5 races. Coming into the final race of the day, the wind had increased dramatically and shaped up to be a pivotal race where CIT needed to just beat UCD by one place to take home the trophy. The extremely close race saw CIT and UCD alongside each other for the entire race until the last leg of the course where CIT extended a small lead and managed to claim the win by just one boat length gifting them the title of IUSA National Yachting Champions. 

The team consisted of:

Skipper: Jay Stacy (Architectural Technology 3rd year).
Main Trimmer: Marcus Ryan (Marine Engineering 4th year).
Jib Trim: Pearse O’Flynn (Business Information Systems 4th year).
Pit: Amy Harrington (Business Information Systems 3rd year).
Bowman: Louis Mulloy (Energy Systems Engineering 4th year)

Final Standings
1. CIT 10 points
2. UCD 1 11 points
3. UCD 2 11 points
4. DIT 12 points
5. TCD 17 points
6. CIT 2 21 points
7. NUIG 35 points