Tralee Bay Sailing Club in Fenit may seem a long way from the established sailing centres in Cork, Dublin and Belfast Lough writes W M Nixon. But it is set in the heart of one of the most energetic and sports-mad areas in Ireland, and if it were to re-name itself as the Kingdom of Kerry Yacht Club, it might better express its key role in channeling the sailing spirit of Ireland’s largest and most characterful county.

With a proper marina well filled with serious boats and set within the shelter of Great Samphire Island where Fenit Harbour provides total shelter, the hospitable village is accessed by a causeway bridge. And at Fenit itself, Tralee Bay SC in its spectacular location above the dinghy park and slip provides a strong focal point to co-ordinate sailing at every level from a village which has the added advantage of being south-facing.

Optimists launching for a major championship at Tralee Bay SC

The marina at Fenit loking east

The Roll Call of historic sailing events – local, national and world level – which have been staged here in the club’s sixty years would put many a larger and longer-established club to shame. But such has been the hectic level of activity in every area of sailing that the club find their 60th Anniversary is roaring down the line for celebration on July 16th without a reasonably complete selection of historic material in place in order to do the TBSC story full justice.

In other words, if you’ve relevant sailing and sailing people photos going back to 1956 and even beyond, please get them to the club pronto, as they want to have a proper exhibition in place to tell the Tralee Bay Sailing Club Story on July 16th when a programme of special events afloat and ashore will celebrate three score years years of a great sailing club.

Big sailing winds - ICRA Nationals in Tralee Bay. Photo: Robert Bateman

Three Tralee Bay Sailing Club members set out from Fenit in county Kerry yesterday to retrace a TBSC voyage first made 25 years ago. Ribbers Cian O'Donnell, James Landers and Giles Kelliher set out from the most westerly port in Europe on the 700–mile circumnavigation. Pit stops are planned in Burtonport tonight, then Bangor, Kilmore Quay, Dingle before returning home to Fenit. 

Beautiful sunshine and a wide range of wind speeds greeted the participants of the two day training weekend organised by Simon McGibney from ICRA/WIORA and Des McWilliam and Graham Curran of UK McWilliam Sailmakers. This was the second year of the training clinic, successfully hosted again by Tralee Bay Sailing Club with boats from the Royal Western Yacht Club, Galway Bay Sailing Club, Foynes Yacht Club and Tralee Bay Sailing Club taking part.

Building on the format developed last year the weekend began with an early start for a long day on the water with OOD Peter Moore and his team from TBSC. Des and Graham were on the water in RIBs and followed the fleet throughout the day, observing and videoing race starts, mark roundings, tacks, gybes, sail trim etc. They also went onboard boats to watch crews as they went through procedures and throughout the day were able to interject with advice when required.

The race team got in seven races on a windward leeward course with the addition of a gate to ensure boats completed gybing manoeuvres downwind. To keep racing interesting crews had to listen out for any ‘special instructions’ from the OOD such as every boat must put in a certain number of tacks before the windward mark. Racing was very close with an evenly matched fleet of boats competing. The weekend also included practice race starts which consisted of eight races starts run off one after another with just three minute countdowns. Exhausting work for crews but great for practicing skills! Saturday drew to a close with BBQ in clubhouse overlooking the beautiful Tralee Bay a full debrief session an each of the skills where crews had the opportunity to watch some of the recorded footage of the day. After the debrief session Elaine O’Mahoney from Foynes Yacht Club ran a very entertaining nautical quiz, which the participants really enjoyed.

Graham Curran of UK McWilliam Sailmakers onboard Huntress 

There was plenty of chat about the live results that were efficiently provided by ICRA’s scoring guru Denis Kiely and could be accessed by competitors between races out on the water on ICRA’s website www.cruiserracing.ie.

Racing on Sunday began early again – something about being ashore for a Kerry/Dublin football match! The training team got in another seven races to bring the tally to fourteen for the two day training clinic. The weekend concluded with a final debrief session with Des and Graham and a lot of happy crews went home with a bit more knowledge on how to improve their racing. Looking forward to the next one! Would highly recommend this training clinic to any club to organise. Contact can made with Des through here 

#TBSC - Tralee Bay Sailing Club hosted the UK Sailmakers Ireland team of Des McWilliam and Graham Curran on the water for two days of coaching this past weekend (13-14 June).

A series of 16 races was run over the two-day event in Fenit, where a lot was learned and plenty of fun was had by all, as the video above can attest! A photo gallery of the weekend is also available HERE.

#icranats – Take sixty-one offshore racers, recruited from Ireland's leading sailing centres. Place them in a bay of stunning beauty, set among spectacular mountains perhaps, but nevertheless a bay which is inescapably located right on Ireland's Atlantic weather frontier. Then take a witch's brew of weather, with at least three different low pressure areas circling with malice around your race area on an axis of about 400 miles.

That done, carefully calibrate the line of the Polar jetstream so that its most vivid red hues on the charts are located precisely over your chosen location, massively accentuating the power of any breezes or rainstorms occuring within its ambit. Then sit back and contemplate the extreme results of your wicked work. And what you have is precisely the setup which developed as the four day WIORA Championship and ICRA Nationals were staged at Tralee Bay.

For the ICRA Nats from Thursday June 13th to Saturday June 15th, they'd scheduled six races in a no-discard series. They did well to get a series with the minimum staging of three races, two on the Thursday in champagne sailing conditions, and then as the weather went down the tubes on Friday, just one hour long event in filthy rain to hit the quota.

Sailingwise, Saturday was totally blown out. But they'd a result already, and of course by having the incorporated WIORA series starting a day earlier, the most enthusiastic participants saw themselves as losing only one day's racing out of a four day series. Horses for courses, perhaps, but for some determined western sailors, this was exactly as it should have been. They're singularly proud of the fact that WIORA has held an annual championship since 1976 – it's an education to read on their website the champions list of gallant western boats and skippers going back 37 years – while ICRA is the new boy on the block, still wet behind the ears with its foundation as recently as 2002.

Tralee Bay, a place of stunning beauty a great sailing venue twice visited by the ICRA national fleet. Photo Bob Bateman

The lead-in to the series at Tralee was deceptive, as the Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race of June 7th, used by many as a feeder, was gentle summer sailing at its very best. The very best, that is, if you won on a rising breeze from the back of the fleet, which is what Tralee skipper Brian O'Sullivan and his crew managed with their veteran Oyster 37 Amazing Grace. But maybe not so good for the O'Leary family with their Baltimore/Crosshaven Ker 39 Antix, which achieved line honours in handsome style in Dingle, only to see their placing slip to 14th overall as the tail-enders became the leaders.

The Oyster 37 Amazing Grace from the host club. Photo: Bob Bateman

So as the boats gathered in Fenit a couple of days later, there was keen anticipation to see if the pattern of the Dingle race results could be reversed. And there was a completely new boat in the picture too. The latest race machine from X Yachts of Denmark, the XP33, made her debut only last November. But Conor Fanning of X Yachts secured one for Ireland, and with Colin Byrne of Dun Laoghaire on the helm and the legendary Jochem Visser on the strength, clearly this boat Bon Exemple was one to watch.

IRC one champion Bon Exemple, is the new Xp33 design. Photo: Bob Bateman

Not all boats had entered both championships, so the WIORA Overall Results posted soon after Friday's gloomy token race have notable absentees. In IRC0 the four entries appropriately had a western champion, Martin Breen's Reflex 38 Discover Ireland with Denise Phelan's Ker 37 from Jump Juice second five points behind. But in IRC 1 the points margin was in a different league – the XP 33 was put of sight with just 5 points, while John Gordon's X332 from Mayo had 20. Another western boat, Ray McGibney's Dehler 34 Dis-a-Ray from Foynes, won IRC2 with 9 points from two Corby 25s, Liam Burke's Tribal from Galway on 14, and Rob Allen's Smile of Kirush and Galway on 20. IRC 3 saw an east coast winner, Barry Cunningham's Quarter Tonner Quest from the RIYC by 10 points from the 15.5 of the host club's Gary Fort with his J/24 Jaguar.

Antix, the Ker 39, is the IRC Zero champion. Photo: Bob Bateman

When the ICRA imprimatur came into play on the Thursday, the competition notably intensified, and the pace of sunny Thursday was maintained into Friday's "grand soft day, thank God". The Antix crew were in fighting form in the five boat IRC 0, but fair play to the Galwaymen on Lynx Clipper, they were only 2.5 points adrift at the end, Antix on 5.5 to Lynx's 8, while ICRA Commodore Nobby Reilly of Howth took third with co-owner Alan Chambers on their Mills 36 Crazy Horse Mills 36, only 1.5 points behind Lynx.

The big turnout in IRC 1 saw Bon Exemple resume her successful debut, but not until after she'd trailed Pat Kelly from Rush with his J/109 Storm – the Fingal flyers finished only two points behind the hyper-hot new X boat, and another J/109, Ian Nagle's Jelly Baby from Cork, was in the hunt too, finishing on 10 to be 3 points clear of Paul O'Higgins Corby 33 from Dun Laoghaire.

IRC2 had an even better geographical spread of top boats, underlining the truly national nature of this event. Indeed, in this class it was international, as winner Nigel Biggs with his Half Tonner Checkmate may race for RStGYC in Ireland, but he's from North Wales, and you're as likely to find him competing in the Solent. Normally it's a direct ding-dong between Checkmate and David Cullen's classic Half Tonner King One from Howth, but Ray McGibney from Foynes with his veteran Dehler 34 Dis-a-Ray pulled off a coup by getting between them with second on 9 points while King One was third on 12, fourth going to Paul & Deirdre Tingle of Cork with the Corby 25 Alpaca while sister ship Tribal (Liam Burke, Galway) was fifth.

Barry Cunningham of Dun Laoghaire in IRC3 was the only skipper to pull off the double of winning overall in both WIORA and ICRA with his sweet little Humphreys Quarter Tonner Quest. The enthusiastic Losty team from Cobh with their restored French Quarter Tonner Illes Pitiuses were second on 8 points to Quest's 5, while local helm Gary Fort was in the frame again, third on 9 points with his J/24 Jaguar, well clear of fourth placed Alliance II, Vincent Gaffney's interesting and rare Laser 28 from Howth, on 16 points.

The marina in Fenit was the base for the60-boat ICRA championship fleet. Photo: Bob Bateman

When Tralee Bay SC staged the Irish Intervarsity Team Racing Opens for 26 teams back on the St Patrick's Weekend in March, they had great luck with the weather – reasonably gentle sunny conditions, while most of the rest of Ireland continued ion th grip of winter. So maybe the Kerrymen used up their quota of good weather luck three months ago. But although the last day may have been blown out on Tralee Bay for the ICRA Nats, when the sailing was good, it was very good indeed, and the images from this championship show sailing at its best.

Champions with ICRA commodore Nobby Reilly (centre) at TBSC. Photo: Gareth Craig

ICRA Feeder races from Dublin bay, Galway bay and the Shannon Estuary, some with early starts to avail of favourable tides are planned for early June all to arrive in good time for the Fenit based National Cruiser Championships.

The Dun Laoghaire to Dingle (D2D) race starting on Friday, June 7th from Dublin Bay has over 20 boats entered so far. Significantly entries are ranging on IRC handicap points difference from .898 to 1.144 and maybe higher, so there will be a well spread fleet going down the east coast of Ireland on June 7th.

A favourite west coast feeder is the O'Sullivans Marine 100–mile race. This annual fixture is planned to leave Galway docks at 20.00 also on Friday, June 7th for an over night race into Fenit marina the following day and is billed as ideal for ICRA boats coming from Sligo, Mayo, Clifden.

Some of the country's biggest yacht clubs have yet to enter ICRA's cruiser national championships due to get underway in less than a month's time (June 13th to 15th).

The country's biggest club Royal St. George Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire has a single entry and the neighbouring National Yacht Club fleet has still to enter the ICRA cruiser national championships at Fenit in County Kerry, one of the biggest events on the Irish cruiser–racing calendar. 

60 boats are now entered from around the country and the expectation is that a buoyant entry of up to 70 yachts (see below) will be racing in Kerry waters, a number that outstrips the British fleet that usually attends the UK IRC Nationals.

Currently hosts Tralee Bay SC have 11 boats entered, Royal Cork has seven. Mayo Sailing Club has six, Galway Bay five. Foynes YC on the Shannon estuary and the Royal Irish in Dun Laoghaire and Howth YC each have four boats attending. Sligo YC has two.

KInsale Yacht Club, the host of the Sovereign's Cup that follows the ICRA Nationals later in June, has yet to enter with any boats for Fenit.

ICRA recognise both IRC and ECHO equally awarding Gold Silver and Bronze medals in each category. 'Interestingly the RORC have recently copied the Irish system by introducing a performance handicapping system effectively ECHO to run alongside IRC because they have seen how effectively progressive Echo works for us' says ICRA's Barry Rose.

'This ensures competitive interest through the fleets and achieves a good balanced spread of prizes' he adds.

Dubarry are sponsoring innovative day prizes for crews on the winning boat which will mean all the crew get rewarded. No boat can win two sets of day prizes spreading these prizes further.

This year ICRA Commodore Norbert Reilly has introduced a novel idea of a Club team prize sponsored by WD 40. All boats from each Club will be automatically entered and the top three boats results from each Club will decide the winner.

Dave Cullen has already been appointed Howth Yacht Club Captain and has laid down the challenge to all other Clubs to join in the spirit of the team event involving all boats.

The non–spinnaker boats will compete for the ICRA Corinthian Cup trophies recognising the growth and importance of this sector.

Entries to date as per Tralee Bay SC

A super Class 1 fleet is building for June's ICRA national championships.

In fact, Class 1 is now emerging as a cracking class. Entry includes four J109's, including defending champion Ian Nagle's "Jelly Baby" from RCYC, former Champion Pat Kelly from Rush SC and HYC in "Storm" and from the Royal Irish both Declan Hayes in "Indecision" and John Maybury in "Joker 2".

The hosts have produced a promo vid. We like the J24 wipe out at about 58 seconds on the timeline – Check it out above!

These will be joined by Paul O'Higgin's competitive Corby 33 "Rockabill" RIYC/ NYC, along with Denis Hewitt and gang in "Raptor" RIYC and the likes of Derry Good's X362 sport "Exhale II" from RCYC to name but a few.

The West Coast will be represented by Dan Counihan's First 36.7 "Galileo" from TBSC and Barry Heskin from GBSC in "Now What". The Galway Bay Dubois 33 of Barry Heskin, featuring many of the stalwarts from the Joggernaut days in a now toned down version. Martin Breen, also, from Galway will have something to say when it comes to results, so watch this space and watch the west awake!

Lastly, a very exciting new boat will join the fray – Colin Byrne from Royal Irish will be helming an Xp33, rumoured to be a flyer and yet to be named!

Good news is that the discount entry date has been extended for more than 2 weeks to 15th May, so get your entries and payment in now to take advantage of this very generous offer.

Don't miss the unique opportunity to compete in the magnificent waters of Tralee Bay for the Irish Cruiser Racing Association's national championships in conjunction with WIORA's own championships, both in IRC and ECHO.

With only 6 weeks remaining, it is all systems go for the Irish Cruiser Racing Association's National Championships in Tralee Bay (starting June 13th), held in conjunction with the West of Ireland Offshore Racing Association's own championships, starting on June 12th, 2013.

If you haven't entered yet, do so immediately! Otherwise, you will be missing a brilliant event in the Irish sailing calendar this year! If you have entered already, and have not sorted out your accommodation and berthing requirements, now is the time to do so. Entries are coming in hard and fast, so get on board with what will be a major event in Irish sailing! Each and every fleet is building up nicely, with fierce competition expected across the board. Two classes are expected in "White Sails/Non Spinnaker" and just because spinnakers will not be flying, these classes will be fought tooth and nail!

#icra – A fleet of 40 boats with some high calibre entries are entered so far for the ICRA National Championships at Tralee Bay Sailing Club in June.

This year organisers says there is equal focus on IRC and ECHO handicaps in the National Championships with equal trophies prizes and recognition together with the ICRA Corinthian Cups for the Non-Spinnaker Divisions means that all Club sailors are catered for say organisers.

Division 2 is already shaping up to be a great fleet with the Corby 25 Tribal (ex Yanks and Franks), Liam Burke from Galway Bay entered and Dave Cullen's Half-Tonner King One from Howth Yacht Club. Nigel Biggs' Half-Tonner Checkmate XV from Dun Laoghaire's Royal St George is also in. There are also expected entries from skippers Frank Desmond, Peter Deasy and Mark Ivor's Cork Week winning Bad Company from the Royal Cork and Martin Reilly's Half-Tonner Harmony from Sligo Yacht Club.

Division 3 already has two hot quarter tonners Diarmuid Foley's Anchor Challenge from the Royal Cork and Lostys Illes Pitituses from Cobh Sailing Club as well as the defending champion Tiger (Neil Kenefick).

Division 1 is also building with likes of Raptor Denis Hewitt and partners and Joker 2 John Maybury both from the Royal Irish Yacht Club and Exhale Derry Good from Royal Cork Yacht Club leading the charge.

Division 0 sees ICRA Commodore Norbert Reilly's Crazy Horse Howth Yacht Club lining up against Anthony O' Leary's Royal Cork Antix who will be using the Dun Laoghaire to Dingle race as a feeder. Gloves Off skippered by Kieran Twomey and Conor Phelan's Jump will also be likely to travel from Royal Cork.

The ICRA Corinthian Cup will be sailed for non spinnaker classes at the same time and is expected to draw significant interest.

As before in Tralee, WIORA West Coast Championships is 'intertwined' with the ICRA's and starts a day earlier on 12th finishing on the 14 th as an extra bonus for all those who travel.

The facilities of Fenit Harbour including marina berths for the duration of the event together with inexpensive lift in and out are a bonus for ICRA.  TBSC promise a carnival atmosphere in the club and throughout the village with pubs and restaurants doing their bit to make sailors welcome.

Entry discount applies before 27th April 2013 so don't delay - get your entry in now at www.traleesailingclub.com

#Space - An Irish sailor has her sights set on a voyage of a different kind - into space!

Mags O'Sullivan sails with Tralee Bay Sailing Club, but she's also a trained pilot who has previously flown to the edge of space in a Russian MIG fighter jet - and she currently hopes to be successful in the Lynx Space Academy programme.

One lucky astronaut will get the chance to fly to earth orbit on the new Lynx X-COR Space vehicle - and O'Sullivan will have to compete against hundreds of other hopefuls to make it to the second stage of the competition, from which only 22 will be chosen from 200 contenders for training in Florida.

She's currently in 46th place, but she needs the support of Ireland's sailing community if she is to have a solid chance of securing her dream.

Vote for Mags O'Sullivan by visiting her profile page on the Lynx Space Academy website and clicking the Vote button.