Is Dun Laoghaire Harbour a busier dinghy sailing venue on Autumn Sundays than it is in Summer? Certainly if yesterday's activity at the National Yacht Club, Royal St. George YC, Royal Irish, Irish National Sailing School and DMYC is anything to go by. 

While Anthony O'Leary was winning the All Ireland sailing championships just off the harbour mouth there was no less than six other fleets racing or race training in and around the east coast port. Just as the season is meant to be tapering off Fireflies were team racing from the Royal St. George Yacht Club and Fireballs were giving 'just for fun' demo sails from the DMYC but far and away the main point of interest in the NYC was for the Jelly Bean Junior Regatta (pictured above) that had a variety of fleets racing across the harbour. 

In addition Laser 4.7s were training in Scotsman's Bay and a number of foiling Moths came out to play when the breeze puffed up to 15 knots yesterday afternoon. A perfect breeze to give the INSS novices plenty of fun on the east bight in colourful Laser Pico dinghies.

If there was any disappointment it was that there were few – if any at Ireland's biggest sailing centre – that ventured out to spectate at a thrilling final of the All Ireland Sailing Championships but that's because Dun Laoghaire sailors were all too busy sailing themselves?

Day two of the Optimist Leinster championship at Howth Yacht Club dawned with a lot less wind than the previous one, posing difficulties for sailors and race officers alike.

Launching was slightly delayed as the optimistic sailors waited for the wind to fill in.

The feather weights in the fleet cheered silently whereas the heavy weather sailors hoped that windguru had got it wrong and that perchance 20 knots was on the way.

Race 4 of the championship was completed in 7 knots of breeze and in the senior fleet Cathal O'Regan RCYC took a bullet followed by Jack Fahy Rsgyc. In the juniors Royal Cork took line honours with Michael Crosbie taking first followed by Harry Twomey. After this the longed for discard kicked and places reshuffled.

Race five of the championship was started for the junior fleet in 5 knots of breeze but had to be abandoned after a significant wind shift which would have resulted in an unfair race.

Once again the junior fleet started but after the wind died away the PRO made the wise decision to once again abandon as too much was at stake to risk having a floating race.

Ribs were sent out in all directions in search of the elusive wind which appeared to be playing hide and seek. Finally wind filled in and having moved the course in the direction of Portmarnock one race was completed for both senior and junior fleets. The 3pm deadline for starting a race was fast approaching and having all had a long day on the water and sailed fairly PRO Richard Kissane made the wise decision to send the fleet home.

Local sailor and overnight leader Dylan O'Grady had to concede to Cathal O'Regan for Leinster Championship honors as the cork sailor won out on count back. In the Junior Fleet Aoife Byrne was the outright winner followed by the National Yacht Clubs Conor Gorman who had improved tremendously on his position from yesterday.

The Regatta fleet once again had a great days sailing and PRO Des Flood managed to get one race in which was won by HYC's Sarah Evan's. The overall winner of the regatta fleets 4 races was John Twomey.

The top 5 winners in the Senior and Junior Fleets are listed below.

Senior Fleet

1 Cathal O'Regan Royal Cork Yacht Club
2 Dylan O'Grady Howth Yacht Club
3 Kate Darcy Royal Cork Yacht Club
4 Tom Higgins Royal St. George Yacht Club
5. Charlie Cullen National Yacht Club

Junior Fleet

1 Aoife Byrne Royal Cork Yacht Club
2 Conor Gorman. National Yacht Club
3 Rory O'Sullivan. Royal Cork Yacht Club
4 Harry Twomey Royal Cork Yacht Club
5 Leah Rickard National Yacht Club

Congratulations to the event management and hospitality teams in HYC chaired by ISA board member Robert Dix for hosting a fantastic event.

This concluded the IODAI event roundup for the season. Prizes were awarded first to the. Regatta Fleet sailors and then later the main prize giving concluded at 5 pm.
Congratulations to all the sailors who have learnt so much over the season see you all next year!

Howth Yacht Club hosts the final day of the Leinster Optimist Championships this morning with in excess of 150 entries. Saturday dawned bright and if not sunny, exceedingly pleasant. The wind was from the north approx 12 knots and the there was definitely an autumnal nip in the air.

Richard Kissane as PRO started the proceeding at 11 am with a sailors briefing and the sailors launched shortly afterwards. It was a beat out to the course beside Irelands eye but luckily the tide had turned and helped the sailors on their way. After the sailors had launched refreshments and home made goodies were served to parents with donations going to Crumlin Children's Hospital.

3 races were completed on the main fleet course with the wind dropping over the course of the day to approx 6 knots and times and veering slightly easterly. HYC's own Dylan O'Grady had a stormer of a day with a 1st, 2nd and third but he can't rest on his laurels just yet as Kate Darcy from RCYC is hot on his heels a mere one point behind followed slightly further back on 12pts by Tom Higgans.

Over in the Junior Fleet (aged 12 and under) Aoife Byrne from RCYC is leading the charge winning the first two races and taking a 4 th in the 3 rd she is followed by the home clubs Eve McMahon and her own team mate Rory O'Sullivan.

Regatta fleet sailors sailed in the sheltered waters behind Aqua restaurant under the watchful eye of lead coachs Mark Condy and Emma Davis. They had a fantastic days sailing as they practised the skills learnt over the season. 3 short races were also completed for these younger sailors with Thomas O'Neill, Juilette Garett and John Toomey each taking a race win.

HYC's hospitality didn't disappoint and the sailors were served delicious spaghetti bolognese with garlic bread followed by ice cream in the main dining room of the club.

Racing continues today and with lighter winds forecast it's still all to play for...

After eight days of light or no winds the biggest ever Optimist World Dinghy Championships concluded in Poland. 

58 nations and 275 competitors raced over nine days but it was Singapore who came out on top with three Gold medals and one Silver.

Team Ireland learned many 'valuable lessons', according to coach Thomas Chaix on social media. On the results side, Harry Bell was top half, Peter Fagan scored Ireland's only top 10 race result and finished seventh overall in the Bronze fleet. Gemma McDowell was 31st girl and Clare Gorman 35th. The youngest team member Micheal O'Suilleabhain gained experience and raced in bronze. 

Next year the World Championships are in Villamoura, Portugal

#optimist – The Optimist class will be team racing in the waters off Howth Yacht Club this weekend competing against each other to get a winner of the VP Trophy with races umpired by national & international race umpires writes Jill Somerville. This event is organised by IODAI & HYC together.

The Vice President's Trophy was inaugurated in 1986 and has been running on and off for the past 29 years. The trophy & event was created by Helen Mary Wilkes who at the time of inception was the Vice President of the world governing body for Optimists, IODA.

Helen-Mary and Robert Wilkes have been the driving force of Under-16 sailing globally. Their contribution to the global development of junior sailing has been immense and was recognized by ISAF a number of years ago when at the ISAF Council meeting in 2008, President of the International Sailing Federation, presented the ISAF President Development Award to Helen-Mary WILKES and Robert WILKES for their services to junior sailing.

Initially specializing in event organisation, Helen-Mary Wilkes became Vice-president of IODA in 1985, President from 1989-1998, Vice-President of Honour from 1998-2005. Helen-Mary & Robert Wilkes have been involved with the Optimist class for over 35 years and here in Ireland the IODAI class benefited considerable from Helen-Mary's vast experience.

She developed the VP Team Racing event which is a club event for Optimist sailors with at least one sailor of each gender on the team. Teams are made up of 4 sailors from the one club and for the 2015 event there are 8 teams entered. A schedule of 28 round robin races have been drawn up with each of the teams due to sail against every other team and then the option of a semifinals & finals weather & time dependent. Key clubs in the Optimist scene such as HYC, RCYC and R.StGYC and the IODAI world's team will all fight it out on Sat 13th in waters off HYC. There will be good viewing from Aqua restaurant or the pier in Howth. The wining club team will head to the Optimist European Team Racing Championships in Aug in Ledro Italy. Race Officers Neil Murphy & Richard Kissane will be hoping for a little more wind than is currently forecasted to get through the heavy race schedule and we hope to have a winner declared late on Saturday afternoon. IODAI wishes good luck & fair sailing to all in the event.

#optimist – Howth Yacht Club's Harry Bell was the winner of a cut–short Optimist Ulster Championships at Ballyholme Yacht Club yesterday. Like other east coast sailing events Satuday's schedule was blown out and three races were sailed on Sunday. Lough Derg Yacht Club's Sarah Levie was second in the 32–boat senior fleet and third was the Royal St. George's Hugh Kennedy. Results for the senior, junior and regatta fleets are downloadable below. 

#optimist – Optimist dinghy ace Micheal O'Suilleabhain of Kinsale Yacht Club took a well earned win on home waters yesterday with a ten–point margin in the senior fleet after six races sailed at the Munster championships. The 13–year–old beat the Royal St. George's Tom Higgins with Howth Yacht Club's Jamie McMahon third in the 41–boat main fleet. In the junior fleet 12-year–old Robert Keal beat club mate Harry Twomey in a one–two for Royal Cork Yacht Club. Results for both fleets are available to down laod below as jpeg files.

The Optimist Munsters had an excellent entry of 36 boats in the Regatta fleet, all very enthusiastic and rearing to go in the excellent conditions prevailing on Saturday. They sailed against the magnificent backdrop of Charlesfort and, with the promise of more wind for Sunday, the Race Officer got in four races on the day. The very active youngsters came ashore tired but vey satisfied with their day and looking forward to enjoying some time in Kinsale but aware of the fact they had to be rigged and ready to go to sea at 9.30am on Sunday. 

Following all this activity the young competitors set about tidying and packing away their gear in preparation for the journey home. The Regatta prizegiving was held separately from the Senior and Junior fleets. Some of the regatta sailors and their families were then able to leave early for the journey home to various parts of the country with a large contingent heading for Dublin.

Others had older brothers and sisters sailing in the two higher fleets and they were able to enjoy themselves around the club facilities while waiting for the second prize giving to finish.

#royalcork – The Organisers of August's Cork Dinghy Fest 2015 have introduced an Optimist fun fleet to this year's event. This fleet is for the sailors that do not qualify for the main optimist fleet. The Royal Cork Yacht Club idea is that this fleet will take part in some point to point fun races, like a race around Spike Island or a race up the Owenabue River at high tide. The young sailors will also be involved in fun shore side activities if the weather does not permit them to take to the water on any given day. This is seen as a great way to include as many sailors as possible in the festival without compromising the racing of the other fleets.

The new format dinghy week runs from 20th – 23rd of August.

The main Optimist fleet has also been limited to the first fifty entrants. Sailors must be ranked in the top fifty, from their Junior or Senior National rankings 2014.

Event plans are now well under way and it is shaping up to be a unique sailing experience, with four main race areas as well as two point to point race areas.

Here is a quick look at what's on, according to the RCYC:

1. Fun activities for all after sailing, (Stand up paddle board races, adult Optimist racing etc.)
2. Aprés sail music,
3. Anto's Famous BBQ.
4. Special guest speakers,
5. Dinghies on display.
6. Invitational sailing by other classes after racing.
7. Tidal Briefing for the next day on each race area.
8. Night time bands and DJ's.
9. Dedicated camping

#youthnationals – There were thrills and spills galore at Royal Cork Yacht Club today (Saturday) in the penultimate day of the Irish youth sailing national championships writes Claire Bateman. The ebb tide flowing out of the Eastern Bank in Cork Harbour and the opposing forces of the W/S.W wind gusting up to 26 knots made for difficult conditions for the ISA pathway sailors. Indeed so much so that the Laser 4.7s and Toppers had to make do with just one race before they were towed home. Meanwhile the Laser Radials and the 420s had an exhilarating day of racing but racing for the 420s was abandoned before Race 4 and the Laser Radials completed three races.

To quote Rory Fitzpatrick, Youth Performance and Development Manger: "I was out with the 420s and Laser Radials today and the whole fleet was incredibly impressive. The way they handled the exceptionally difficult conditions demonstrated clearly that these dedicated sailors have spent some considerable hours in their boats". It also has to be said that it is to the credit of the Race Officer for these two fleets, Alan Crosbie, that great concern for all the competitors was his primary objective and to see that all who were retiring or capsized were accounted for. He had a mother ship and rescue standing by. He was also heard on radio instructing all rescue and support RIBS to be alert to the fact there was another squall on its way. It brings your scribe back to one day some moons ago when he was dealing with a fleet of bucking bronchos all being skittish at the start of a race and the dulcet tones came over the radio saying "I'm watching you, they are watching you from the pin end and God is watching you from above". Today the dulcet tones came over the radio again to advise "this will be a black flag start as we have no time for messing today".

On the Optimist course as one approached the fleet in the morning, several competitors, prior to racing, went off on a reach and loud whoops of delight could be heard as the youngsters surfed the waves, here again under the watchful eye of the rescue RIBS. Once again, they sailed a longer day than any other fleet getting in another four races. One has to really admire the determined grit of these young sailors. Every inch of the Curlane Bank was utilised to day to give these youngsters the longest beat possible.

Forecast for tomorrow (Sunday) is for more strong wind and hopefully racing will be able to take place.