#waterwags – In celebration of the 1000 years since Brian Boru the High King of Ireland fought against an alliance of Irish and Viking troops, Clontarf Yacht and Boat Club decided to organise a special event to celebrate such an important year with a two day classic boat event. Two Water Wags, Pansy and Good Hope left from Dun Laoghaire at 12.30 hrs. with a fair wind and fair tide and arrived in Clontarf about one hour later. A triangular course had been laid for a variety of different clases who were to sail together. They consisted of E boats, Lasers, Optimist, plastic IDRA 14s and a number of bilge keeled cruisers none of which would be classed as Classic. The real Classics were Dorade an international 12 footer, the two Water Wags and a wooden IDRA 14. Ian Malcolm was there in his Howth 17 footer but he didn't race. It was interesting to compare the speeds of the various boats, with the Water Wags being almost the same speed as the E Boats and slower than Lasers or IDRA 14s.
After the racing was over, we were escorted to a mooring. (When was the last time you picked up a mooring in a Water Wag? ) The club launch took us ashore, and advised us that barmbrack was available if we moved quickly. Fortunately there was some alcoholic beverage, strawberries and ice cream as well as the barmbrack. After lunch Ceolthas Cluain Tarbh provided us with some traditional music, but none of the Wags took the opportunity to dance. We were delighted to meet Jonathan and Carol O'Rourke again.
By 16.00hrs it was time to return home, so the Commodore kindly presented Hal and Vincernt with a banner in memory of the occasion. Vincent reminded the audience of the occasion (probably in the 1950's) when Pansy sailed all the way from Dun Laoghaire to Contarf, only to be told that dinghy racing had been cancelled, because it was too windy.
After admiring Dorade and compimenting its owner, Aidan Henry on his fine boat in the dinghy park, we headed back out to the moorings.
Rigging the Pansy and hoisting the yard wasn't easy as the strong ebb tide was holding the boats stern-to-the-wind on the mooring. Hal was more smart, as he had kept the yard hoisted and wrapped his mainsail tightly and didn't have the same problem. The return trip was a beat all the way so it took about 90 minutes in the force 2 breeze from the east.
The trip was a reminder what a fine boat the Water Wag is for cruising.

#waterwags – The enthusiasm of the Water Wags for the first race of the season was unrivalled in 128th season of Water Wag racing, with 17 boats turning up for the first race on Wednesday 30th. April racing for prizes allocated to the 3 divisions as follows - Division 1A The George Arthur Newsom Memorial Trophy, Division 1B the Hilpotsteiner Tankard and Division 2 The Phyllis Cup. The 12-14 knot wind blew from the South East.

Initially, Guy and Jackie Kilroy in Swift led the fleet but a navigational error resulted in William and Linda Prentice in Tortoise pulling through, followed by Ian and Judith Malcolm in Barbara. Behind this group Freddie, Gavotte, Vela, and Pansy maintained the pressure.

At the finish after 5 laps of the Dun Laoghaire Harbour course, Tortoise won from Swift and Barbara. In Division IB Seymour Cresswell and Philip Mahony in Coquette led from the persistant Dan O'Connor and David Williams in Scallywag. In a surprise result Division 2 was led by Adrian Masterson and his son in Sprite, from Richard Mossop and Henry Rooke in Polly who flew their new Norwegian Blue spinnaker for the first time, and Brian Mc.Bride and Stuart Mc Bean in Nandor took 3rd. place. Next Wednesday will be the second of three races in this early season series.

#inland – Strong winds arrived for the inaugural Waterways Ireland Raid that finishes today and it has produced fantastic photographs including this one above by Nic Compton of Cathy MacAleavey, steering a reefed down Shannon One Design (SOD) dinghy Number 178 across Lough Ree earlier this week. Murphy crewed by her daughter Claudine and Howth YC sailor Amy Wickham sailed from Lanesborough in County Cavan to Lough Ree Yacht Club in just two hours, a journey of some ten miles.

One of the boats taking part in the first Irish Raid was dismasted as the fleet was hit by 25-knot winds crossing Loch Erne on the Shannon River. Former Whitbread sailor and Route du Rhum organizer Sylvie Viant was skippering the Water Wag when the mast collapsed half way down the loch.

"We noticed the mast flexing forward, but the wind was too strong to stop. Then suddenly the whole thing fell forward into the sea," said Ms Viant. "The safety boat came over very quickly, so we weren't in any danger – just disappointed we couldn't carry on sailing!"

Windy conditions for Wags. The boat on the left of the picture lost its mast in one gust. See below. Photo: Nic Compton

The mast was glued back together that evening by a team of volunteers during the stopover at the Lough Ree Yacht Club (LRYC), and Sylvie and her race partner Martine Gahinet-Charrier were racing again the next day.

Come in Number 18, your time is up! A broken spar was quickly repaired. Photo: Nic Compton

Meanwhile, the rest of the crews enjoyed a helter skelter ride in brilliant, but windy, conditions during the fourth day of the seven-day event. Competition was particularily stiff in the Shannon OD class where former Tornado champion Koji Akido vied with Lough Ree Yacht Club commodore Alan Algoe. Despite starting last, the Japanese skipper overtook almost the whole fleet to finish the fourth leg in second place overall, and first in class. First boat home on Lough Ree was the Wayfarer skippered by Monica Shaeffer.

The seven-day event on the Shannon River includes a former Olympian, a transatlantic record breaker, a Whitbread sailor and a former world windsurf champion.

Two local classes, the Shannon One-Design and the Water Wags, joined a mixed fleet of boats in the Open Class to race the 195km course. In a spirit of cross-border cooperation, the first two days of the event took place in Northern Ireland, before the boats crossed the border into the Republic of Ireland and resumed racing down the Shannon River.