The DBSC Water Wag dinghy fleet raced their last race of the season on Wednesday for the Candlelight Trophy at Dun Laoghaire Harbour on Dublin Bay.

Race Officer Tadgh Donnelly set a course of three rounds, four beats in winds of eight-ten knots from 200 degrees.

The race start was delayed by 20 minutes until the visiting cruise ship tendering at the harbour finished.

24 boats started, including a visiting boat, the last wag built; No. 52 Miss Scarlett was constructed in France earlier this year.

Tim Pearson in Little Tern number 36 takes third place in the Water Wag Candelight Trophy at the finish line buoy from number 38, Guy Kilroy in Swift Photo: Ann Kirwan

The race was won by number 15, Moosmie sailed by John O'Driscoll, Second was Mariposa, number 45, Cathy Mac Aleavey. The third was number 36; Little Tern sailed by Tim Pearson.

Results are below

A strong turnout of Water Wags on Wednesday night in Dun Laoghaire Harbour counted for the National Yacht Club's Women at the Helm regatta as well as regular Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC) points. 

19 Wag dinghies entered 'WATH', all helmed by women.

Race Officer Harry Gallagher of Sutton Dinghy Club set a course of three rounds and four beats in the sub-10-knot breeze.

Rio Olympic silver medalist Annalise Murphy crewed for her sister Claudine in Mollie and the sister's parents Con and Cathy came up from Domineer in County Tipperary taking advantage of yesterday’s lay day in the Fireball Worlds on Lough Derg where Con is Race Officer and also competed as regular Wag racers. Cathy helmed Mariposa with Con crewing as usual.

Number 49 Hilda sailed by Heather King was the winner, Number 45 Mariposa sailed by Cathy MacAleavey second and Number 15 Moosmie third. Third, in the WATH race was Nicky Gray.

The 23-boat Dublin Bay Water Wag dinghy fleet had one light air race on Wednesday evening (August 17th) in Dun Laoghaire Harbour.

DBSC Race Officer Tadgh Donnelly set a course of three rounds (four beats) in a six-knot breeze from 120 degrees.

Guy Kilroy's Swift (Number 38) was the race winner, with Justin Geoghegan's Swallow (40) second and Hilda sailed by Martin Byrne (49) in third. 

Guy Kilroy's Swift (Number 38) was the Water Wag DBSC race winner Photo: Ann Kirwan

In a tight finish to Wednesday's single DBSC Water Wag dinghy race inside Dun Laoghaire Harbour, Guy Kilroy executed a race-winning move at the favoured end of the finish line to take the gun. 

Race Officer Tadgh Donnelly set a course of three rounds and four beats. There were 22 starters in a southeasterly breeze of 7-8 knots.

22 Water Wags turned out for the Wednesday night race at Dun Laoghaire Harbour Photo: Ann Kirwan/DBSC

Kilroy no. 38 (Swift), who was in fourth place at the third weather mark, pipped Adam Winkelmann no. 46 (Mademoiselle), followed by Hugh Delap no. 21 (Jacqueline) on the line as the video below shows.

Laura and William Prentice sailing Tortoise were the winners of Wednesday night's DBSC Water Wag race at Dun Laoghaire Harbour.

The wind was 10 to 13 northwesterly on the Harbour course.

Race Officer Harry Gallagher set three rounds (four beats) for the 26-boat fleet.

Second was Guy Kilroy's Swift with Cathy Mac Aleavey's Mariposa in third place.

John O'Driscoll's Moosmie was the winner of the Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC) single Water Wag dinghy race on Wednesday evening in trying conditions inside Dun Laoghaire Harbour.

Following a postponement for 15 minutes, Race Officer Ian Mathews started the race setting a course of two rounds for the 25 starters.

Mathews shortened after one round and a second beat to finish at the weather mark.

William Prentice's Tortoise was second

Scroll down for results below

The Water Wag Royal Irish Yacht Club regatta race prize was won on Wednesday night by the club's Bairbre Stewart and Pam McKay in light airs in Dun Laoghaire Harbour.

The prize was presented by club Commodore Jerry Dowling to the crew of Freddie at Wednesday's glorious RIYC's pre-regatta reception on the clubhouse balcony, ahead of Saturday's Drumshanbo Gin regatta.

Bairbre Stewart and Pam McKay sailing Water Wag Number 43, Freddie to a RIYC Regatta race win. See vid below Photo: Brendan Briscoe

Swallow sailed by Justin Geoghegan and Alison Hackett of the Royal St.George Yacht Club Photo: Brendan Briscoe

Second place was Swallow sailed by Justin Geoghegan and Alison Hackett of the Royal St.George Yacht Club. Clubmates Vincent Delany and Emma Webb were third in Pansy.

A great Water Wag turnout for the inside Dun Laoghaire Harbour RIYC Regatta race on Wednesday evening Photo: Brendan Briscoe

Overall, after nine races sailed in the Wag's Jubilee Cup Series, and with three discards in play, RIYC's Guy and Jackie Kilroy lead the 42-boat entry.

As Afloat previously reported, The main RIYC regatta on Saturday promises a jam-packed day ashore on Saturday as well as on the water in Dublin Bay with music, food and of course cocktails.

Details of the day’s entertainment options can be found below and on the RIYC website HERE.

Royal St. George's Sean and Heather Craig were first race winners in Wednesday's Dublin Bay Sailing Club Water Wag Race at Dun Laoghaire Harbour, a result that also put them in the frame for overall NYC Water Wag Regatta honours. 

Race Officer Tadgh Donnelly gave the Water Wags two races in a light southeasterly breeze (SE 5-7kts) at Dun Laoghaire Harbour. 

The first race was three rounds, and the second race was two rounds.

Results were:

Race 1:
1. 19 Shindilla - Seán Craig
2. 42 Tortoise - William Prentice
3. 1 Ethne - David Sommerville

Race 2:
1. 38 Swift - Guy Kilroy
2. 1 Ethne - David Sommerville
3. 45 Mariposa - Cathy MacAleavey

Water Wags had two races in a light southeasterly breeze (SE 5-7kts) at Dun Laoghaire Harbour

Tonight’s racing also counted as the Wag’s National YC regatta.

Results for the NYC Water Wag 2022 Regatta:

1. Shindilla, Sean and Heather Craig,
2. Ethne, Dave Sommerville and Emer Kelly,
3. Swift, Guy and Jackie Kilroy.

First Div 1B, Sara Paul and Ailvhee Smith

First Div 2 Coquette, Seymour Cresswell and Beno Mc Cormack

The main NYC Regatta is sponsored by Davy Stockbrokers and will be held this Saturday as Afloat reports here.

This evening’s Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC) Water Wag dinghy racing at Dun Laoghaire Harbour is cancelled due to the forecast of winds gusting up to 30 knots until 9 pm.

Live Dublin Bay webcams on this link here

When the weather patterns conspire to provide wet or rugged sailing on Ireland’s sea coasts, the shrewd mariner heads for the inland sea that is Lough Ree, which has been geographically measured with some elegant 19th Century science as being plumb in the very middle of the Emerald isle. For in such a location, no matter what the conditions are like on the coast, on Lough Ree you’ll have the entire province of either Leinster or Connacht or both to provide you with a lee. And additionally, by some happy freak during the past weekend of strong winds and much rain elsewhere, somehow Lough Ree experienced so little in the way of precipitaton that most sailors in the Clinkerfest barely noticed it at all, with the final evening provide a serene yet colourful sunset to round out a unique event in considerable style.

Mermaid Magic – we may think of the Mermaids as originating in Dublin Bay, but some of the first boats were built by Walter Levinge beside Lough Ree. Photo: John Malone

Former LRYC Commodore Garret Leech was still in the senior role when he set the notion of Clinkerfest in motion to celebrate LRYC’s 250th Anniversary back in 2020. And though the pandemic has caused a two year delay and a certain creakiness in some would-be participants, the idea was not allowed to die - not least because it had engendered one of the best event logos anyone has ever created in Ireland, a logo appropriate to the fact that clinker boat-building is now recognised as a World Heritage Activity.

The Clinkerfest Logo stylishly honours what is now a international culturally-recognised method of boat construction 

Nevertheless while some participants might have preferred a bit more time for leisurely consideration of all the clinker-built boat types involved, and the different techniques used in their design and construction, others from the more race-oriented classes were bursting with competitive energy after virtually two seasons of constraint. And with a race team headed by Garret Leech with Owen Delany and the support of Alan Algeo and Eileen Brown (almost all former LRYC Commodores) the administrative talent was there to keep sailors busy afloat.

SODA Chairman Philip Mayne finished 14th overall in No 83 after nine hard-fought races. Photo: John Malone

SHANNON ODs BIGGEST FLEET

While LRYC may be celebrating their Quadrimillennial in a two year retrospect, the Shannon One Designs are fully immersed in the throes of the increasing pace of their current Centenary Year. And though the class is traditionally at its greatest numerical strength in the time-honoured regattas of August, fleet numbers are already up with every weekend as that final coat of varnish finally gets applied, and boats turn out to race – and race hard.

A different world of sailing for Garrett O’Neill and his crew. If any spray dares to come aboard, you can simply swallow it….Photo: John Malone

Thus they’d an entry of 29 for Clinkerfest, and while not all were fully race ready, at the sharp end of the fleet for a demanding total of nine races, the top six helms were Mark McCormick, David Dickson, Andrew Mannion, Cillian Dickson, Frank Guy and Cathal Breen.

INTERNATIONAL 12s

The International 12s – which originated in 1912 – continue to be hugely popular in The Netherlands, Belgium and Italy, but they’re gradually reviving in Ireland in both their una-riggged and sloop-rigged form. And while travel difficulties meant that not all of a significant contingent from the Continent could make it in the end, a couple of gallant Dutch boats managed to get to Ree, while the fleet was also enlarged by the inclusion of a brace of Rankin 12s from Cork Harbour. Here too they’d nine challenging races, and Bert Bos won while Gernt Kiughist was second, with Mark Delany best of the home division in third.

By making the journey to Lough Ree, the crew of this Dutch International Twelve found much better weather than they’d have had at home. Photo: John Malone

MERMAIDS

We may think of the 17ft Mermaids as very much a class of Dublin Bay origins through their designer J B Kearney, but in fact the first boats were built in 1932 by the great Walter Levinge of Lough Ree. So there was a sense of home-coming in their participation, Jim Carthy winning in Vee from Paul Smith & Pat Mangan in Jill, with Darach Dinneen taking third in Red Seal.

Proper summertime sailing for Mermaids at Clinkerfest. Photo: John Malone

WATER WAGS

The Dublin Bay Water Wags of 1887 and 1900 vintage had many sailors racing in Clinkerfest, but as there’s extensive cross-pollination with the Shannon One Designs, there were more of them racing in the SODs than in the Wags, which managed to get just four boats down to Lough Ree from Dun Laoghaire. That said, they had the distinction of being the most senior class, with David Kelly in Eva winning after the nine races from Mike Magowan in Mary Kate, with third place going to Dermot Bremner in Alfa.

A celebration of Ireland’s leading clinker-built classes in the display of models by Reggie Goodbody of Lough Derg YC. Photo: John Malone

IDRA 14s

Though the 1946-vintage IDRA 14s have held many famous championships with LRYC, few would think of them as a Lough Ree class. Thus there was special satisfaction when Billy Henshaw – who lives on he shores of the lake – emerged as overall winner, with Pierre Long getting second and Pat O’Kelly third.

There was special cheer for the IDRA 14s with Billy Henshaw providing a local winner. Photo: John Malone

The complete results are here

FUTURE CLINKERFESTS

Clinkerfest deserves to be a major feature of the national programme in the future, and Lough Ree’s indisputably central location in Ireland surely gives it the first claim to be its permanent home. The problem is that as our sailing gets back up to pre-pandemic speeds, several events will re-emerge claiming equal rights to the coveted Bank Holiday weekend at the beginning of June.

Getting stuck in….The Shannon One Designs launch themselves into a programme of nine races in two days. Number 50 (Mark McCormick) was to emerge as overall winner. Photo: John Malone

But that’s a discussion for another day. Right now, there’s a feeling of wonder that in a weekend when several coastal events were either cancelled or gave their participants quite a drubbing, a secret inland sea in the middle of Ireland was able to provide a fascinating and varied fleet of true classics with the chance to contest no less than nine very competitive races in eminently sailable and often strongly sunny conditions, while at the same allowing their dedicated owners and crews to revel in a shared enthusiasm for a boat construction method whose inherent functional beauty is now a globally-recognized art and craft.

Evocative conclusion to a great regatta – final Clinkerfest sunset at Lough Ree YC marina. Photo: Clodagh Flannery