#RSSAILING – As has become a tradition in the RS200 and RS400 fleets in Ireland, the final showdown of the season will take place this weekend in the confines of Dun Laoghaire's Harbour walls, with a crash bang wallop series of races, comprising the RS Sprint Trophy.

This is essentially a programme of single lap races, over a square course, with barely enough time to catch a breath, let alone pop and drop a kite. Obviously the emphasis is on boat handling and heads out of the boat, as the usual 90 degree shifts in the harbour can make one's track very short, or very long, depending on how you go about it!

The usual suspects will be there from the two asymmetric fleets, with a few new owners keen to make an entrance, but probably hoping to spare a few blushes too...

All good fun and games, and the weather looks perfect, so why not pop down to the harbour to see the fleets in action.

Matters commence at 11am, and run throughout the day to the final rounds late afternoon.

#RS – The weather Gods promised lots of wind, then none, then some, and then in the end there was some, then none.

That said, the excellent Race Team managed to get 3 terrific races in on Saturday in a shifty F1-2, and even more impressively managed to squeeze something out of nothing to get a two lap race in on Sunday morning when it looked like nothing would happen.

14 RS200s were immediately under pressure from local form man Graeme Noonan, who was ably assisted by the top crew Heather King, fresh from helping Trevor Fisher to top spot in the 200s at the Northerns a few weeks ago. The team put in three bullets on Saturday, and were only topped on Sunday when a left hand shift in the start sequence caught all but Roy van Maanen and Glen Reid on the hop, and they were able to launch a mighty port tack start on the pin, to clear the fleet by 40 metres and disappear off the radar to take the win. As usual, lots of jockeying for the rest of the spots, with Frank O'Rourke finishing third overall behind Van Maanen.

Top Junior boat in the 200s were David Johnston and Louise Flynn-Byrne of Howth Yacht Club.

In the 400s, with 15 entries, Bob Espey and Michael Gunning were making short work of the job, by leading home the first two races, before coming under pressure in Race 3, being caught out by some left shifts coming off the land in the dying breeze, to count a 4th in race 3. With some better sleep on the Saturday night, and some readjusted drinking techniques, they were quickly into the groove on Sunday to hold off Sean Cleary who sailed a great race after a cheeky port tack start, to raise them to third spot overall. Despite getting a Black Flag on the Sunday morning, Paul McLaughlin and Mick McKinley from Cushandall had done enough on Saturday to hang on to second spot. Rob Hastings (Bosun Bob) sailed a blinder to really up the ante and picked up fourth, whilst Andy Verso and Oisin Baugh continue to show great promise to pick up top Junior boat. Brian Holmes started to move forward, despite his dental issues and vomiting during Saturday, and a warm welcome to newly weds, Avril and David Doherty of Monkstown in Cork, who arrived with next to no time in the boat, and showed it won't be long before they are fully in the thick of it. Great too to see a girl driving an Irish 400, showing us all that it is not just a bloke's boat to helm. Sufficiently impressed were we, by their enthusiasm, that we are convinced that we should visit Cork for the Southerns in 2013, and have our Nationals there in 2014.

In the Fevas, Emer Rafferty and Roseanne Cassidy from the George took top prize ahead of Molly Wheeler abd Megan Callen of Howth YC.

So that concludes the circuit for 2013, with just the Sprints in 2 weeks time at RStGYC in Dun Laoghaire on Saturday 20th October. Some new faces will be appearing for that one, as new, second hand 400s (if you know what I mean) especially, are being purchased on a weekly basis, which should boost the fleet greatly next year. We are hoping to see James Espey, Ireland's Laser Olympian straight legging it for entire races next season, as well as a smattering of new faces (mostly blasters from the past) joining the fray – all very exciting times for the RS fleet

Thanks of course to Greystones Sailing Club for laying on the usual great hospitality with complimentary burgers and healthy side dishes with green stuff and beans for the hungry arrivals ashore, and a great evening in the clubhouse with the rugby on the big TV, a smashing meal and a real welcome for the visitors, which went on the wee small hours – great stuff Greystones!

#endeavour – Ben Saxton and Alan Roberts, representing the RS200 class, are the new Endeavour dinghy champion of champions having won the event at Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex this afternoon.

Twenty-two year-old Saxton from Grafham Water Sailing Club, and Roberts from Hayling Island Sailing Class made an impressive start to the Topper-supported Endeavour championship at the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club yesterday with three firsts and a third place, which put them in the overnight lead in the 25-strong fleet. They then went on to win the first of two races today before the wind finally disappeared. This left them five points clear ahead of last year's Endeavour champions – Nick Craig and Toby Lewis – who took overall second place.

Saxton's win was particularly impressive because until the Calltracks-sponsored Endeavour training day on Friday, he had never stepped foot in a Topper Xenon before. Although Roberts, his teammate, finished second place at the Endeavour championship as crew last year and was able to bring valuable experience to the team this weekend, the pair had never sailed together in a spinnaker boat before. Interestingly, they immediately gelled as a team and the combination of good starts, good sailing and being able to seek clear air to gain the all-important speed advantage in the super-competitive fleet, are what really gave them the winning edge.

Commenting on his win, Saxton said: "I am unbelievably happy with this result. I can't quite believe it. We thought if we sailed well we could do it, and we did. I am extremely grateful however, I had Alan's previous Endeavour experience to work on, plus I am sure years of sailing at Grafham Water helped me today because it was really shifty on the Crouch."

Roberts added: "Having almost won it last year against Nick Craig, it is definitely good to come back and seal it the way we did. Racing against the likes of Nick [Craig], the Olympic boys [Christian Birrell and Luke Patience] and so many good people, makes it a really great event, and one that I really want to return to. Hopefully next year."

Second placed Craig spoke highly of the winning team: "It is very impressive that Saxton has won it first time. That is something I couldn't have done. He probably had a stone or two less weight in the boat than us, which may have helped a bit, but generally it was down to really good sailing, which is what matters."

Setting a course in today's shifty, light winds and strong tidal conditions on the River Crouch was a race officer's nightmare. Thankfully Kim Allen managed to make the best of the conditions and successfully completed two races before the wind died away altogether.

The final race winners in today's light, taxing conditions were Jasper Barham and Graham Sexton representing the Laser 2000 class. They only had one race finish outside the top five, and a win in today's final race was enough to secure a podium position after six races.

Christian Birrell, who won the event with Stuart Bithell in 2010, and then finished fourth overall last year representing the Enterprise class, finished this year's event fourth once again, this time sailing for the Merlin Rocket class. He managed to beat his 2010 team mate Bithell, and Luke Patience (470 Olympic silver medallists), by four points.

Fifteen RS 400s, from as far South as Glandore and as far North as Cushendall formed the main appetiser for the latest RS Ireland traveller series event. A smaller group of RS200s and RS Fevas also battled it out over the two days of the RS Northern Area Championships on glorious Strangford Lough. The racing came courtesy of the most hospitable of hosts at Strangford Lough Yacht Club and their team headed up by Emily Smith and Charlie Horder.

Saturday's racing was a blustery game of snakes and ladders with the RS 400 fleet continually trading blows and producing a different winner in each of the three races.

In the RS200's Heather Craig advised Trevor Fisher on how to do it, as they led overnight with three straight bullets.

In the Feva class, local boys Robbie and Peter Gilmore came good to lead overnight with an impressive score of 1, 3, 1.

The evening brought some "sensible drinking" and fine dining courtesy of event sponsors www.MashDirect.com . Rumours of some out of tune singing also circulated the following morning with some labelling it as Karaoke.

Sunday dawned a bit wet, but as the sun came out, it got even wetter for the back half of the RS 400 fleet as a whooping 30 knot right handed squall cuffed those taking too long to reach the windward mark in race 2, with entertaining variations on how not to bear off, hoist, gybe, stack it etc. Those who did set kites, (which was all but one) where treated to a somewhat out of control reach, (in which most helms would agree, they played very little part) as the mild mannered 400s decided they would steer themselves safely at 20 knots to the downwind position some 200 metres to the right of the last mark. Much swimming was done. There was a welcome rest whilst the PRO rearranged the course for the final race, in lovely sunshine, with some cheeky puffs that allowed all to arrive ashore nicely enthralled by the day's activity.

In the final mix, the Ballyhome duo of Bob "The Laser" Espey and Michael "The other Laser" Gunning took top spot by in RS400 class. Five different winners in six races showed that it was no push over for the lads.

In the RS200 class Heather Craig and Trevor Fisher had the luxury of discarding a second place, the only blot on an otherwise perfect score card to round out a clinical win.

In the Feva class Robbie and Peter Gilmore continued with Saturdays fine form with a 2,1,1 score to take a decisive victory. Perhaps Santa might have to squeeze an RS200 down the Gilmore chimney this year!

Next up for the Irish RS Classes is Greystones and the Sothern Championship on 6th and 7th of October. The local contingent will no doubt be ready to repel the Northern invaders, who are currently very much growing in strength and numbers.

#RS SAILING - Howth Yacht Club hosted 54 boats in three classes for the RS400, RS200 and RS Feva National Championships over the weekend (click HERE for photos).

The Irish version of the 'RS Games' proved a big hit with all competitors. The race management team, headed by PRO David Lovegrove, did a fantastic job to get 10 races in for all three classes in spite of some shifty conditions.

This was all the more impressive as each course change required the moving of up to 10 marks. No mean feat, but the Howth Yacht Club team took it in their stride.

In the RS400 class, bothers Emmet and James Ryan from the Royal St George Yacht Club took the top spot. They didn’t make things easy by using up a discard on the first race of the event and only snatched the win on the last run of the last race having rounded the final weather mark in fourth place.

Greystones class stalwarts Simon Herriott and Tom Moran took second place, while in third place, and the top youth RS400 team, was a very impressive display by Andy Verso and Oisin Baugh, also from Greystones.

In the RS200 class it was another family affair and another Royal St George win with father-and-son pair Sean and Stephen Craig taking first place. It was extremely tight at the top of the 200 fleet with only three points separating the top four boats in the end.

Teams from Greystones filled the next two podium places with Frank and Kevin O’Rourke taking second and last year’s champions Roy Van Maanen and Glen Reid taking third place.

In the Feva class, GB sailors filled the top three slots with Elliott Wells and Jake Todd taking the title on count back from fellow Hayling Island sailors Tom Darling and Will Dolin. Chay and Stirling Taylor took third place.

In the battle for local/Irish bragging rights, Eoin Lyden and Brian Stokes from Cork got one over the Dublin rivals to claim top Irish Feva spot.

Full results can be found at the Howth Yacht Club website at www.hyc.ie, while photos of the event are available HERE.

#RS – UK visitors are among the teams expected to compete in the RS Class National Championships - incorporating the RS Feva, RS200 and RS400 divisions - that will be hosted by Howth Yacht Club from August 17th-19th. A schedule of 10 races for each class is planned by top race officier David Lovegrove and his team.

Entries for the 3-day event from North and South of the border are expected for the RS200 and RS400 championships while the RS Feva event will feature boats from the established fleets in Dun Laoghaire, Greystones, Cork and the host club plus some UK boats travelling over too.

The Feva is a familiar sight in Howth and event chairman Chris Howard says his team are looking forward to also welcoming the 'bigger sisters' in the RS Class for the National Championships which is being supported by a number of sponsors.

#RS – The second event of this year's RS400 and RS200 traveller series was held at Newcastle Yacht Club Co. Down. The picturesque race area at the foot of the Mourne Mountains proved to be a tough test for both crews and hardware. A strong force six westerly brought plenty of gusts and shifts down the course on both Saturday and Sunday. This provided lots of thrills and occasional spills. Two masts from the twenty six boat fleet paid the price on Saturday. Unfortunately for John Lowry and Emmet Connon, they lost their mast on completion of the final gybe to the finish line with a healthy lead over the rest of the RS400 fleet.

Despite the challenging conditions, race officer Robin Gray from Ballhomle and his team did a top job to knock out six races for the two classes.

In the fourteen strong RS400 fleet, reigning national champion Simon Herriott and Shane Mac Carthy came out on top. They were pushed all the way by Paul Mc Laughlin and Michael Mc Kinley from Cushendall, with the pair only two points off top spot. Brothers Emmet and James Ryan from The Royal St George finished in third place. With multiple race winners over the two days the overall standard in the Irish 400 fleet is certainly starting to tighten up. Any minor mistakes were severely punished.

In the twelve boat fleet of RS200's, Graeme Noonan and Brian Mac Carthy dominated proceedings. The pair had a convincing win, scoring five firsts and a second. Current national champions Roy Van Maanen and Glen Reid had a comfortable second place. Local Newcastle crew, Clive Coffey and Helen Cassidy took the final podium spot.

Next up for the RS fleet is the Irish Nationals which will be held at Howth Yacht Club from the 17th to the 19th of August.

#RS SAILING - UK RS Association chairman Pete Vincent will be running another RS200 and 400 demo day from the Royal St George Yacht Club on the weekend of 24-25 March.

The well-known expert on RS boats is being brought to Dublin by RS400 owners Richard Tate and Emmet Ryan, who are "really keen to get an RS fleet up and running" in Dun Laoghaire.

"After the huge attention our boats have drawn both ashore and on the water, we feel there is already a keen interest from a broad cross section of sailors to learn something more about these incredible hiking dinghies," says Tate.

"There is a ready-to-race format for both RS200s and 400s to have a full season of racing every Tuesday and Thursday in Dublin Bay right from the go."

The RS200 is described as a "natural progression" from the RS Feva, while the RS400 "takes the concept one step further and way beyond". Both classes provide high performance assymmetrical racing for all age groups.

If you are thinking about moving into an RS200 or 400, this is the perfect opportunity to help you make your decision.

All demo sails must be booked in advance by contacting Pete Vincent directly at +44 7812 899 043 or [email protected].

This Saturday's inaugural RS400 & RS200 Sprint Trophy hosted by the Royal St George Yacht Club, sees the regular contenders face off in this season's finale against some formidable additions to these growing classes.

In the RS200 class National Champions Roy Van Maanen and Glen Reid will come into the event as favourites. However, the entry of the husband and wife team of Sean and Heather Craig of the Royal St George is sure to mix up the class status quo.

Heather Craig has already scored a very impressive 2nd at this year's RS200 Nationals, which were held at Cushendall. Sean Craig is sure to apply all of the asymmetric spinnaker skills, which he has honed in the Sb3 class to full affect on home waters.

The unassuming young Greystones pairing of Sean Cleary and Steven Tyner are the dark horses of RS200 fleet. They have been gradually climbing the ranks of the class since they made the transition up from RS Feva. They have already applied what they have learned in the Fevas at this years Nationals in Cushendall taking 3rd place overall.

In the RS 400 fleet, a strong contingent from the Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club is expected to put up a challenge to the dominance of the Greystones based National Champion Simon Herriott. The Royal North pairing of Michael McAllister and Michael Patton are sure to feature, after finishing 2nd at the Nationals. Michael McAllister is on winning form. He was part of Peter Kennedy's team, which won last weekends Sb3 Midland Championships.

Liam Donnelly and Andrew Vaughan have plenty of experience onboard and will relish the prospect of the breezy forecast.

There are also some new faces making their debut the 400 class. Wayfarer national champion Trevor Fisher has teamed up with the very capable Selina Dicker. This team could prove to be a potent combination. Selina has a wealth of asymmetric experience from her time on the UK Laser 5000 circuit.

Bernard Fitzpatrick of the Royal Cork Yacht will also make his RS400 debut. Bernard was a vital part of Mark Mansfield's 1720 European Championship winning crew and has spent the last four seasons as bowman on the international Melges 32 circuit. He is looking forward to the event as his first chance to race in the RS400.

Making his long awaited return to the RS400 class is Dave Cheyne. Dave is looking forward to combining next years RS Traveller series with his Sb3 class commitments.

Please see these Youtube videos below, which give an idea of what to expect from the RS boats. However the weather featured in the videos is unlikely to be repeated for this weekend. See if you can spot the cameo from our own Dave Cheyne in the RS400 clip.

RS400

RS200

For information on the RS Sprint Trophy e-mail [email protected]

There has been a call for the Irish Sailing Association (ISA) to take a lead in the big decisions that face youth sailors on what classes to sail to after they leave the ranks of the Optimist, Topper and Feva classes. The call comes from a leading junior organiser who does not wish to be named.

Although youth sailing is buoyant in Ireland it is known there is a 'high attrition rate' among teenagers. The lack of transfer in to senior dinghy classes has been a cause of concern for many clubs around the country.

The comments follow a recently published  article on Afloat.ie promoting the RS 200 dinghy as a progression boat for juniors.

"We need a class that will keep youths engaged. The 420 and 29er are great boats but require higher levels of boathandling, are much more competitive and tend to attract the top sailors"

"While the ISA's Olympic ambitions are great to see, it will fail the sport as a whole if it does not tackle this gaping need, the organiser says.

Read the RS 200 article by Ciara Byrne and the junior organiser's comments here