Tim Goodbody made the perfect debut in the ultra competitive Irish Cruiser Racing Association class one IRC fleet off Howth this afternoon when he took a four point lead in his new J/109 White Mischief. The Royal Irish Skipper leads the A35 Fools Gold (Rob McConnell) from Waterford Harbour with defending champion, and Goodbody's clubmate, John Maybury, sailing another J109 Joker II, third in the 21–boat fleet. 

The 2016 championships started in light winds of no more than seven knots from the east and strong tidal streams off Ireland's Eye. The Howth Yacht Club based championships has an 86–boat fleet and racing got underway for all classes today and runs until Sunday.

Tim Goodbody's new J109 White Mischief is class one leader in Howth

In Class Zero, Conor Phelan's Jump Juice from Royal Cork leads East Down First 40 Licks by a single point. In class two, Michael & Richard Evans The Big Picture leads Howth club mates Checkmate XV skippered by David Cullen. Third is another HYC boat Fusion skippered by Ricahrd Colwell. In class four  Flor O'Driscoll's J25 Hard on Port also from Howth Yacht Club leads Paul Gibbons Anchor Challenge from Royal Cork Yacht Club.

Download full results after day one below

Ross McDonald’s Equinox from the host club is joined this year by 14 club-mates to contest the Class 2 title on home waters. In fact, all bar one entry are from Howth so a radically different championship is in store for 2016 compared to last year when the ICRA’s were sailed as part of the Sovereigns Cup at Kinsale YC. While McDonald picked up the class title and the overall trophy in 2015, this year Mike and Ritche Evans showed the way around the cans to win the single class 2 race for the opening day.

Due to the class bands split for 2016, last year’s Class 4 winners move up to Class Three and in turn Class Three move up to Class Two.

As a result, Richard Colwell and Ronan Cobbes’ Fusion, defending their Class 4 title from 2015 are now lying third in Class 3. And the Howth Under 25 team that won the Class 4 title in 2015 are currently sixth overall in Class 3 while their J24 sistership Hard On Port skippered by Flor O’Driscoll leads overall after day one in class 3.

Afloat's WM Nixon will have a full review of day one's ICRA racing action in his Sailing on Saturday blog here tomorrow morning.

Read also:

Dublin Yacht Clubs Boast Biggest Entry At ICRA Nationals, Light Winds Forecast At Howth

Howth Yacht Club Lambay Race Was ICRA Nationals Form Guide

ICRA Nats In Howth Yacht Club Will Attract The Cream Of The Fleets

In a further boost to today's first race of the Irish Cruiser Racing Association national championships at Howth Yacht Club, the fleet has risen from 73 to 86 boats in six classes over the past week. While over 24 clubs from all four coasts (as well as Welsh and Scottish entries) are represented, two thirds of the fleet are Dublin based. The biggest participant club is the host with just over a third of the fleet or 35 boats coming from Howth. Not surprisingly, Dun Laoghaire boats make up the next biggest contingent with approximately another third, or 31 boats, coming from the four waterfront clubs; the Royal Irish Yacht Club is sending 17 boats, the National Yacht Club seven, Royal St. George four and DMYC (who stage their own club regatta tomorrow) three.

Somewhat disappointingly, there are only six south coast travellers; Royal Cork Yacht Club and Waterford Harbour SC sent two boats each. Kinsale YC (last year's hosts) and Cove Sailing Club each sent a single entry.

A full updated list of the latest entries by class division published yesterday is below.

Quarter tonner Cri Cri will compete in class three of today's ICRA Nationals in Howth. Photo: Afloat.ie

As previously reported by Afloat.ie, it is class one where some of the hottest racing will be today. The championships is the first major outing for Paul O’Higgins on his 36–footer Rockabill VI, a brand new JPK1080 design. The class one fleet also includes the J/109 defending champion Joker II skippered by John Maybury as well as a selection of other J109s such as Afloat's Irish Sailor of the Year Liam Shanahan and 2016 newbie Tim Goodbody who has joined the J ranks from the Sigma 33 class. John and Brian Hall’s Something Else from the National YC, winners of last month's Scottish Series class two are also in the 19–boat Class one.

Avg Wind:1kts, Gust:2kts, Wind Dir:104 °(E), Wave Height:0.1m, Wave Period:3s, Water Temp:14.2 °C at 10/06/2016 11:02:00

— Dublin Bay Buoy (@DublinBayBuoy) June 10, 2016

The championships look set to be sailed in light winds, for the first day at least, with the possibility of stronger conditions tomorrow. First gun is 1225. Download the Sailing Instructions below. 

Read also:

Howth Yacht Club Lambay Race Was ICRA Nationals Form Guide

ICRA Nats In Howth Yacht Club Will Attract The Cream Of The Fleets

DIV	Sail Number	Boat Name	Type of Boat	Club	Handicap	StartingECHO
0	IRL4208	WOW	Farr 42	Royal Irish Yacht Club	1.123	1.123
0	IRL4076	Meridian	Salona 45	Kinsale Yacht Club	1.112	1.112
0	IRL2007	Jump Juice	Ker 37	Royal Cork Yacht Club	1.109	1.109
0	GBR8038R	Roxstar	XP38i	Clyde Crusing Club	1.084	1.084
0	GBR4041R	Licks	First 40	East Down Yacht Club	1.083	1.083
0	IRL1507	Aquelina	J-112E	Arklow Sailing Club	1.068	1.068
-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1	IRL13500	D-Tox	X 35	Royal Irish Yacht Club	1.044	1.044
1	IRL10800	Rockabill VI	JPK 10800	Royal Irish Yacht Club	1.043	1.043
1	GBR7377	Impostor	Corby 33	South Caernarvonshire Yacht Club	1.035	1.035
1	IRL1348	Adrenalin	A35	National Yacht Club	1.026	1.026
1	IRL7778	Gringo	A35	National Yacht Club	1.024	1.024
1	IRL3061	Fools Gold	A35	Waterford Harbour Sailing Club	1.022	1.022
1	FRA37296	Triple Elf	Beneteau First 35	Faillie Yacht Club & Clyde Cruising Club	1.020	1.02
1	IRL1095	Dear Prudence	J109	Howth Yacht Club	1.020	1.02
1	GBR9498R	Joie de Vie	J109	Galway Bay Sailing Club	1.017	1.017
1	IRL3670	Altair	First 36.7	Cove Sailing Club	1.017	1.017
1	IRL1383	Ruth	J109	National Yacht Club	1.015	1.015
1	IRL7991	Jigamaree	J109	Royal Irish Yacht Club	1.014	1.014
1	IRL1206	Joker 2	J109	Royal Irish Yacht Club	1.014	1.014
1	IRL1141	storm	J109	RSC/Howth Yacht Club	1.014	1.014
1	IRL5109	Jalapeno	J109	National Yacht Club	1.014	1.014
1	IRL811	Raptor	MILLS 30CR	Royal Irish Yacht Club	1.013	1.013
1	GBR1242R	White Mischief	J109	Royal Irish Yacht Club	1.012	1.012
1	GBR7709R	Justjay	J109	Holyhead	1.012	1.012
1	IRL9898	Indecision	J109	Royal Irish Yacht Club	1.012	1.012
1	IRL29213	Something Else	J109	National Yacht Club	1.011	1.011
1	GBR8933R	Bon Exemple	XP 33	Royal Irish Yacht Club	1.009	1.009
-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2	IRL3470	Flashback	First 34.7	Howth Yacht Club	0.987	0.987
2	IRL1332	Equinox	X332	Howth Yacht Club	0.980	0.98
2	IRL9970	Lambay Rules	J97	Howth Yacht Club	0.971	0.971
2	IRL8094	King One	half tonner	Rush Sailing Club & Howth Yacht Club	0.958	0.958
2	IRL2706	Kodachi	Corby 27	Howth Yacht Club	0.955	0.955
2	FRA079	Graduate	J80	Royal Irish Yacht Club	0.952	0.952
2	IRL1484	Harmony	Half Tonner	Howth Yacht Club	0.946	0.946
2	IRL5522	The Big Picture	Humphreys MG 30	Howth Yacht Club	0.945	0.945
2	IRL2016	Checkmate XV	Mod Half Ton	Howth Yacht Club	0.944	0.944
2	IRL2552	Fusion	Corby 25	Howth Yacht Club	0.934	0.934
2	GBR2588R	Rosie	Corby 25	Howth Yacht Club	0.929	0.929
2	IRL988	Dux	X302	Howth Yacht Club	0.927	0.927
2	IRL3022	Xebec	X302	Howth Yacht Club	0.927	0.927
2	IRL7495	Maximus	X302	Howth Yacht Club	0.924	0.924
2	IRL1103	Viking	X302	Howth Yacht Club	0.923	0.923
2	IRL8223	Kamikaze	Sunfast 32	Royal St. George Yacht Club	#N/A	#N/A
-	-	-	-	-	-	-
3	IRL3087	Anchor Challenge	Farr 79 Quarter Tonner	Royal Cork Yacht Club	0.917	0.917
3	IRL4571	Flyover		Waterford Harbour SC	0.913	0.913
3	ITA8709	Cri Cri	Quarter Tonner	Royal Irish Yacht Club	0.906	0.906
3	IRL508	Quest	Quarter Tonner	Royal Irish Yacht Club	0.906	0.906
3	IRL6559	White Hunter	Formula 28 MOD	Howth Yacht Club	0.906	0.906
3	IRL6136	Starlet	Formula 28	Howth Yacht Club	0.905	0.905
3	FRA9186	Cartoon	Quarter Tonner	Royal Irish Yacht Club	0.895	0.895
3	IRL9538	Running Wild - Seachange Now	Impala 28	Royal St. George Yacht Club	0.889	0.889
3	IRL680	Irelands Eye Kilcullen	J24	Howth Yacht Club	0.887	0.887
3	GBR9612	Bambi	Impala	National Yacht Club	0.887	0.887
3	IRL4115	K25 Howth Yacht Club Johnny Bravo	J24	Howth Yacht Club	0.887	0.887
3	IRL3060	Jumpin' Jive	J24	Greystones SC	0.887	0.887
3	IRL4794	Hard on Port	J24	Howth Yacht Club	0.887	0.887
3	IRL3052	Tobago	Sun Light 30	Malahide Yacht Club	0.885	0.885
3	IRL4384	Gala Racing	J24	Foynes Yacht Club	0.884	0.884
3	IRL728	Maximus	J24	Foynes Yacht Club	0.881	0.881
-	-	-	-	-	-	-
4	E127	OctopussE	EBoat	Howth Yacht Club	0.824	0.824
4	8245N	Asterix	Hunter Sonata	Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club	0.823	0.823
4	IRL6556	Challenger	Julien	Howth Yacht Club	#N/A	0.845
4	IRL35	Eleint	Trapper 300	Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club	#N/A	0.83
-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5	GBR1345R	Samatom	XC45	Howth Yacht Club	1.067	1.067
5	IRL6001	Rebellion	Nicholson 58	Howth Yacht Club	1.051	1.051
5	IRL4007	Tsunami	First 40.7	National Yacht Club	1.042	1.042
5	IRL2382	Xerxes	IMX38	Royal Irish Yacht Club	1.024	1.024
5	IRL4073	Splashdance	Dufour40	Howth Yacht Club	1.011	1.011
5	IRL1166	Edenpark	Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 36i	Royal Irish Yacht Club	0.976	0.976
5	GBR8571	Spellbound	Sigma 38	Howth Yacht Club	0.972	0.972
5	IRL1357	Humdinger	Sunfast 37	Carlingford Yacht Club	0.971	0.971
5	IRL17195	Karukera	First	Royal St George Yacht Cllub	0.968	0.968
5	3335C	Bite the Bullet	Elan	Howth Yacht Club	0.958	0.958
5	IRL1333	White Lotus	Elan 333	Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club	0.956	0.956
5	IRL3339	Indulgence	Elan 333	Howth Yacht Club	0.952	0.952
5	IRL3506	Just Jasmin	Bavaria35Match	Royal Irish Yacht Club	#N/A	#N/A
-	-	-	-	-	-	-
6	IRL1517	Alphida of Howth	Sunrise	Howth Yacht Club	0.951	0.951
6	IRL2070	Out & About	Beneteau 38	Howth Yacht Club	0.929	0.929
6	IRL5643	Calypso	Beneteau Oceanis 361	Royal St. George Yacht Club	0.927	0.927
6	IRL657	Voyager	Dehler 34	Howth Yacht Club	0.922	0.922
6	GBR4183	Poppy	Contention 33	Whitehaven Sailing Assoc	0.902	0.902
6	IRL1502	Vespucci	Dehler 31	Royal Irish Yacht Club	0.878	0.878
6	IRL100	Demelza	Club shamrock	Howth Yacht Club	0.876	0.876
6	GBR3550	Lolly Folly	Hanse 350	Howth Yacht Club	#N/A	0.965
6	IRL1186	Rubicon	Jeanneau 36i	Foynes Yacht Club	#N/A	0.985
6	IRL1343	Arcturus	Jeanneau SO	Howth Yacht Club	#N/A	0.945

With just three days to the start of the ICRA National Championships, Saturday's annual Lambay Race at Howth Yacht Club on the same race track provided a last minute form guide. Current forecasts reveal a similar sub ten–knot wind for Friday's first day of the national cruiser championships.

Selected Lambay Race results are downloadable below.

The Lambay Race forecast was for a veering wind out of the NNE at approximately eight knots, but going into the east during the day. The start was held just north of Ireland's Eye which meant a beat against a strong ebb tide in order to round Lambay to starboard. The race was decided on the basis on whether you went for the slacker tide on the Portmarnock shore or if you tacked after the start and hope that the wind veered and favoured the boats that went right.

In the end, the shore won out and big gains went to those that got to the beach first. In a nine boat class one, the fleet split with Paul O'Higgins new JPK 10.80 Rockabill VI, and Conor Fogerty's Bam heading right while Storm went to the shore. Storm rounded Lambay first and held that position through the later part of the race. Generally, the remainder of the race was uneventful and the gains on the first beat were all important to give Storm the handicap win.

In the biggest cruiser class, a 15-boat class two, again it was those that got to the shore had the advantage. A further tactical call was whether to continue up the Portmarnock shore out of the tide and ensure you made the island, or tack onto port earlier against the tide and bet that the wind held enough to get you around. Both options in the end worked out. Stephen Quinn's J/97 Lambay rules took the inshore course. Of those that tacked earlier, Mike and Ritchie Evans Half–Tonner Big Picture, with Cork Olympic helmsman Mark Mansfield on board gained from the early tack to lead the four competing Half Tonners around. At this stage Lambay Rules was leading on corrected time. Over the next two hours however, Big Picture broke away from the other half tonners and started to grind down the time gap to be just behind at the last weather mark with a 30–minute run to the finish remaining. By the line the time difference had contracted further. Lambay Rules made steady progress to take the gun but Big Picture did enough to win on corrected time by two minutes. Dave Cullen's Checkmate took third overall.

It is likely that the four half tonners, the J/97 of Stephen Quinn and the X–332, Equinox of Ross McDonald will be the main contenders in Friday's ICRA championships in Class two. Equinox was sailing in class one in the Lambay race where she finished third.

Howth's own K25 crew were Lambay Race winners in class three

In a nine–boat class three fleet, the dominance of Howth's own K25 team in the J/24 Kilcullen continues. Flor O'Driscoll's Hard on Port was second with Vincent Gaffney's Alliance II third. 

With light winds forecasted for ICRAs, in class zero it should favour Conor Phelan's Jump Juice who is normally very potent in those conditions.

Jump Juice – a light wind contender in class zero

Rockabill VI from the Royal Irish Yacht Club – this JPK 10.80 yacht has an international track record when the breeze is on

In class 1, if it stays light the J109's will be potent. Defending Champion Joker 2 with Mansfield calling the shots, will likely be prominent as will Tim Goodbody's White Mischief, Kelly family's Storm from Howth and John Hall's Something else from Dun Laoghaire. If the breeze comes in and stays in then Paul O'Higgins Rockabill VI will be a favourite to take the win.

In class 2 in light airs, then one of the half tonners should have the edge. Both Checkmate and Big Picture will be without their normal tacticians who are both sailing in class 1. If the breeze comes in Equinox will be hard to beat, as was the case last year in Kinsale.

In Class 3 it will be more open but in the expected light winds the J24's and well sailed quarter tonners will be hard to beat.

Read also: ICRA Nats In Howth Yacht Club Will Attract The Cream Of The Fleets

To say that Irish sailing’s programme in June 2016 is crowded is a massive understatement. It’s a month which needs at least two extra weekends. Yet with only four available, sailors have to make hard choices, both as to where they’ll be competing, and when. W M Nixon tries to make some sense out of it.

There’s no doubting that special buzz in the air. The mood is good. It’s farewell to recession, and hello to more sailing than we can cope with. But even so, with only four weekends in June, and with the weather forgetting for the moment that this is Ireland and not one of the better sailing areas in the Greek islands, we might well dream of grabbing the opportunity while it offers. Carpe Diem. Seize the Day. For the winter will be long. And damp. And grey.

Paul O’Higgins’ new JPK 10.80 Rockabill VI. She is expected to be one of the star turns in the ICRA Nats at Howth in six days’ time

But in today’s world, you simply don’t bunk off for unlimited time as folk did in times past. The reality is that top crew just can’t do everything in the essentially amateur environment and crowded programme which is Irish sailing, and in a busy year there is only so much an amateur sailor can participate in while continuing to fulfill professional and domestic duties. 

Thus we’re looking at an ICRA Nationals in Howth Yacht Club in six days’ time (Friday June 10^th to Sunday June 12^th) which will do well to get total entries over the eighty mark. Doom merchants reckon that Irish sailing should be looking to have a hundred boats in the cruiser fleet at the Nationals in order to indicate full health. It’s not a view I share. This is a good fleet when you consider that they exclude one designs such as the locally-based Puppeteer 22s and the J/80s, and then add in the fact it’s one very crowded month.

Summertime in Howth – this is the HYC upper deck in uncrowded mode. Photo: Courtesy HYC

As it is, in Howth they already have the annual Lambay Race today, which quite an event in its own right, while last night ISORA’s Dun Laoghaire to Douglas IOM race went off as planned. And then in a fortnight’s time the entire island is holding its breath waiting for the start at 1300hrs on Saturday June 18^th at Wicklow of the Volvo Round Ireland Race 2016. This has virtually doubled its entries on the turnout of 2014, and with biggies like Rambler 88 and the MOD 70s involved, it is simply dominating the entire sailing month.

So the remarkable thing about the ICRA Nationals is that though they’ll conclude with basically just a couple of days to go to the start of the countdown to the Round Ireland in Wicklow and Dun Laoghaire, there’ll be crew and boats racing at Howth like there’s no tomorrow. But when tomorrow comes, they’ll be busy re-inventing themselves as new crews with fresh boats and different livery for the Volvo Round Ireland.

Top of the list in this particular quick-change scenario is the Dave Cullen crew with current Half Ton Classic World Champion Checkmate XV. With a good turnout of Half Tonners lined up for Howth, it’s expected that Checkmate will avoid last year’s slip-up in the ICRA Nationals in Kinsale, when they somehow allowed the lead to be snapped up at the end by Ross McDonald's X–332 Equinox. Jonny Swan's Half–Tonner Harmony was third in Kinsale and is racing again in Howth. Added to this Half Tonner line–up in 2016 is Mike and Ritchie Evan's Big Picture, the recent Half Ton winner at HYC's nine race Sportsboat Cup.

Dave Cullen’s Checkmate leading the fleet in the Half Ton Classic Worlds 2015 in Belgium

All the usual suspects…..Dave Cullen and the Checkmate crew after winning the Half Ton Worlds in August 2015

The J/109 Storm in full cry with the Kelly family in charge as usual. But immediately after the ICRA Nationals, she’ll become Euro Car Parks for the Volvo Round Ireland race, with Dave Cullen as skipper.

But regardless of the outcome, the ICRA Nats will have scarcely been put to bed when Cullen and his team re-direct their thoughts to the Volvo Round Ireland, for which they’ve chartered the Kelly family’s J/109 Storm, which will race round Ireland as Euro Car Parks and will have the already high-powered Cullen squad further reinforced by the addition of Maurice “Prof” O’Connell.

All this metamorphosis will be taking place only ten days hence, but by that time a significant array of questions will have been answered about just which Irish cruiser-racers are going best this year. For regardless of numbers, the fact is the lure of a National title really does draw in some very capable crews well able for the top level in the ICRA Championships.

The attractive array of trophies for the ICRA Nats 2016 include embedded medals to remind us that the winners will indeed be National Champions. Photo courtesy ICRA

And in Howth in six days time, much of the interest is going to focus on the lineup of at least nine J/109s, which will be providing some of the best racing available. It’s a dream scenario in terms of sporting potential, as John Hall’s Something Else is fresh home from Scotland with the class win recorded in the Silvers Scottish Series, J/109 newby Tim Goodbody (a Fastnet Race overall win is only one item in his stellar career) is already rising through the J/109 ranks with bullets recorded in this year’s Dublin Bay racing, and he’s convinced there’s a lot more speed to be found in the newest White Michief, and current ISORA Champions the Shanahan family will be there to help him find it with their hyper-successful J/109 Ruth.

Further raising the ante on the J/109 pace will be John Maybury’s Joker, winner in Kinsale last year. As for the Kelly family of Rush Sailing Club, they may be handing over their beloved Storm to the tender care of Dave Cullen and his gang for the Volvo Round Ireland, but as former ICRA Boat of the Year, Storm is going to be very much the Kelly boat, racing as hard as she can under the Kelly colours in six days’ time.

But there is of course much of interest beyond the virtually one design cut-and-thrust of the J/109s, not least in Class 1 where the 2015 Boat of Year WOW (RIYC), George Sisk’s Farr 42 from Dun Laoghaire, is competing.

We don’t have to tell you that the JPK 10.80 won last year’s Rolex Fastnet Race and was right in the frame in the Rolex Sydney-Hobart, but for the O’Higgins crew the fascination will lie in getting to grips with the very commodious JPK 10.80, because for many seasons they’ve successfully campaigned the Corby 33 Rockabill V, for which several adjectives might spring to mind, but “commodious” would not be one of them.

Ross MacDonald’s X332 Equinox was top scorer at Kinsale last year, and will be aiming for a similar performance in her home waters next week. Photo: W M Nixon

Other winners from the ICRA Nats 2015 in Kinsale include Ross MacDonald’s veteran X332 from Howth. Having been in the fray a week ago with his wife Aoife on the 1720 Atara during the Howth Sportsboat Cup series where a first day lead slipped away from them, he’ll be keen to show that Equnox won’t be similarly eclipsed a week hence.

As it happens, the Howth squad - with their headquarters boisterously established in Kinsale’s White Lady Inn – were very much a force to be reckoned with in all classes in the 2015 championship, and another defender back on home water will be the decidedly senior yet still very competitive Ron Holland-designed Club Shamrock Demelza (Windsor Laudan & Steffi Ennis), which swept the board in Non-Spinnaker Class 6, while clubmate Colm Bermingham with the Elan 330 Bite the Bullet did the same in Class 5.

The Club Shamrock Demelza is now pushing forty years of age, yet owners Windsor Laudan and Steffi Ennis were champions at the ICRA Nats 2015 in Kinsale. Photo courtesy ICRA

However, the very fact of sailing an away series seems to bring out an bit of extra competitive edge in many crews, and in taking an overview of the fleet for the ICRA Nationals 2016, we might find that some of the smart money is on Rob McConnell’s A 35 Fool’s Gold from Dunmore East, and Conor Phelan’s Ker 36.7 Jump Juice from Crosshaven.

Both crews have a fine record of success, and both are renowned for their enthusiasm and sportsmanship. And in the case of Jump Juice, she has already won her class in this year’s RORC Easter Challenge. Not bad going for a boat which has always seemed as new as tomorrow, yet this year she’ll be ten years old. 

But that’s only at the very sharp end of the fleet. The Secret Ingredient of the Irish Cruiser-Racing Association is the Progressive ECHO handicap system, which re-rates each boat after every race. Everyone is in there with a chance. Inevitably, this approach was dismissed by purists as “encouraging mediocrity” when it was first introduced. But it has in fact encouraged new levels of enthusiasm, which in time lead on to markedly improved performance. “Tomorrow is another day” could well be the motto for Progressive ECHO, and we’ll see how well it works as the ICRA Show swings into action at Howth next Friday.

The great Jump Juice as she was at her debut ten years ago. She is still very much a contender

Read also: ICRA Publish National Championship Divisions for Howth Yacht Club Event

ICRA has published provisional class divisions for next week's 73–boat national championship fleet at Howth Yacht Club. The divisions are as expected but this year's class two has been forced to combine boats that in previous championships sailed in classes two and three but due to numbers in 2016 are sailing as one class next week. See full table below with divisions, IRC TCC and ECHO handicaps.

The cruiser–racer national championships is to be staged at the north Dublin venue for a record fifth time. The three day event, from next Friday, will decide eight national titles and Corinthian Cups across a combined fleet Read more about the championships here.

Sail Number	Boat Name	Model	Owner	Club	IRC TCC	ECHO	DIV
IRL4208	WOW	Farr 42	George Sisk	Royal Irish Yacht Club	1.123	1.125	0
IRL4076	Meridian	Salona 45	Tom Roche	Kinsale Yacht Club	1.112	1.115	0
IRL2007	Jump Juice	Ker 36.7	Conor Phelan	Royal Cork Yacht Club	1.109	1.105	0
GBR8038	ROXSTAR	XP38i	FINDLAY & ANDERSON	Clyde crusing club	#N/A	#N/A	0
IRL1507	Aquelina	J/122	Sheila Tyrrell James Tyrrell	Arklow Sailing Club	#N/A	#N/A	0
GBR4041	LICKS	First 40	Jay Colville	East Down Yacht Club	#N/A	#N/A	0
IRL10800	Rockabill VI	JPK 10.80 2.15 fin6	Paul O'Higgins	Royal Irish Yacht Club	1.046	1.045	1
IRL13500	D-TOX	X 35	McSwiney, McStay, Sherry & O'Rafferty	Royal Irish Yacht Club	1.044	1.045	1
GBR7377	Impostor	Corby 33	Richard Fildes	SCYC	1.035	#N/A	1
IRL7778	Gringo	Archambault A 35	Tony Fox	National Yacht Club	1.024	1.025	1
IRL3061	Fools Gold	Archambault A 35	Robert Mc Connell	WHSC	1.022	1.025	1
IRL9898	Indecision	J/109	declan hayes & patrick halpenny	Royal Irish Yacht Club	1.021	1.015	1
FRA37296	TRIPLE ELF	First 35	CHRISTINE AND ROBIN MURRAY	FAIRLIE YC /CLYDE CRUISING CLUB	1.020	#N/A	1
IRL1383	Ruth	J/109	Shanahan Family	National Yacht Club	1.015	1.015	1
IRL1141	storm	J/109	pat kelly	rsc/hyc	1.014	1.015	1
IRL1206	Joker 2	J/109	John Maybury	Royal Irish Yacht Club	1.014	1.015	1
IRL5109	Jalapeno	J/109	Barrington/Despard/O'Sullivan	National Yacht Club	1.014	1.015	1
IRL811	RAPTOR	Mills 30 CR	DENIS HEWITT & ORS.	Royal Irish Yacht Club	1.013	1.020	1
GBR2342	White Mischief	J/109	Timothy and Richard Goodbody	Royal Irish Yacht Club	#N/A	#N/A	1
GBR7709R	Justjay	J/109	Nigel Ingram	Holyhead	1.012	#N/A	0
IRL29213	Something Else	J/109	Brian & John Hall	National Yacht Club	1.011	1.015	1
GBR8933R	Bon Exemple	XP 33 1.90	Colin Byrne	Royal Irish Yacht Club	1.009	1.015	1
IRL3470	Flashback	First 34.7	Breen/Hogg	Howth Yacht Club	0.987	1.000	1
IR7991	Jigamaree	J/109	Ronan Harris	Royal Irish Yacht Club	#N/A	#N/A	1
IRL3670	Altair	First 36.7	Losty/Dorgan	Cove Sailing Club	#N/A	#N/A	1
IRL1332	Equinox	X 332	Ross McDonald	Howth Yacht Club	0.980	0.980	2
IRL9970	Lambay Rules	J/97	Stephen Quinn	Howth Yacht Club	0.971	0.980	2
IRL8094	king one	First Evolution 30	David Kelly	rsc/hyc	0.958	0.955	2
IRL2706	Kodachi	Corby 27	Rick de Neve	Howth Yacht Club	0.955	0.955	2
IRL1343	Arcturus	Sun Odyssey 37	Peter & Declan McCabe	Howth Yacht Club	#N/A	0.945	2
IRL5522	the Big Picture	MG HS30	michael & Richard Evans	Howth Yacht Club	0.945	0.945	2
IRL2016	Checkmate XV	MG HS30	David Cullen	Howth Yacht Club	0.944	0.945	2
IRL1484	Harmony	#N/A	John Swan	Howth Yacht Club	#N/A	#N/A	2
IRL2552	Fusion	Corby 25	Colwell & Cobbe	Howth Yacht Club	0.934	0.935	2
IRL988	Dux	X 302	Anthony Gore-Grimes	Howth Yacht Club	0.927	0.930	2
IRL3022	XEBEC	X 302	Bourke,McGirr,Ball	Howth Yacht Club	0.927	0.930	2
IRL7495	Maximus	X 302	Paddy Kyne	Howth Yacht Club	0.924	0.930	2
IRL1103	Viking	X 302	K.Darmody & M.Patterson	Howth Yacht Club	0.923	0.930	2
IRL8223	Kamikaze	#N/A	Peter Nash	Royal St. George Yacht Club	#N/A	#N/A	2
IRL4571	Flyover	Sigma 33ood	David Marchant	Waterford Harbour Sailing Club	0.913	0.910	3
IRL508	Quest	Humphreys 1/4 Ton	Barry Cunningham & Jonathan Skerritt	Royal Irish Yacht Club	0.906	0.905	3
IRL6559	White Hunter	Formula 28 MOD	Joss Walsh	Howth Yacht Club	0.906	0.905	3
IRL6136	Starlet	Formula 28	Wormald / Walsh	Howth Yacht Club	0.905	0.905	3
FRA9186	Cartoon	Quarter Ton Fauroux	Ken Lawless & Sybil McCormack	Royal Irish Yacht Club	0.895	0.900	3
IRL9538	Running Wild - Seachange Now	Impala 28ood	Brendan Foley	Royal St. George Yacht Club	0.889	0.890	3
IRL3060	Jumpin' Jive	J/24	Mark Usher	Greystones Sailing Club	0.887	0.885	3
IRL4794	Hard on Port	J/24	Flor O'Driscoll	Howth Yacht Club	0.887	0.885	3
IRL4115	K25 HYC Johnny Bravo	J/24	White Ciaran	Howth Yacht Club	0.887	0.885	3
IRL4384	Gala Racing	J/24	Simon McGibney	Foynes Yacht Club	0.884	0.885	3
GBR9612	Bambi	Impala 28 I/B 1.78	Richard Harding	National Yacht Club	#N/A	0.885	3
I8709	Cri Cri	#N/A	Paul Colton	Royal Irish Yacht Club	#N/A	#N/A	3
IRL8245N	Asterix	#N/A	Boushell, Counihan, Meredith	Dun Laoghaire Marina	#N/A	#N/A	3?
IRL6556	Challenger	Europe Challenger	Paul Rossiter	Howth Yacht Club	#N/A	0.845	4
IRL35	ELEINT	Trapper 300	Michal Matulka	Dunlaoghaire Motor YC	#N/A	0.830	4
E127	OctopussE	E Boat	PATRICK O NEILL	Howth Yacht Club	0.824	0.825	4
IR3052	Tobago	#N/A	Ray, Costello, McShera, Quigley	Malahide Yacht Club	#N/A	#N/A	?
WHITESAIL
GBR1345	Samatom	XC45	Robert Rendell	Howth Yacht Club	#N/A	#N/A	5
IRL3335	Bite the Bullet	#N/A	Colm Bermingham	Howth Yacht Club	#N/A	#N/A	5
GB58571	Spellbound	#N/A	H. & G. Burrows, L. Skeffington	Howth Yacht Club	#N/A	#N/A	5
WHITESAIL 1
IRL6001	REBELLION	Nicholson 58	Hughes, Hanlon & O'Mahony	Howth Yacht Club	1.051	1.055	5
IRL4007	Tsunami	First 40.7 Distinction 2.40	Vincent Farrell	National Yacht Club	1.042	1.055	5
IRL4073	Splashdance	Dufour 40	Howard McMullan	Howth Yacht Club	1.011	1.030	5
IRL1166	edenpark	Sun Odyssey 36i	liam farmer	Royal Irish Yacht Club	0.976	0.985	5
IRL1357	Humdinger	Sunfast 37	Michael Mc Cabe	Carlingford	0.971	0.980	5
GBR3550	Lolly Folly	Hanse 350	Colm	Howth Yacht Club	#N/A	0.965	5
IRL1333	White Lotus	Elan 333	PaulTully	Dunlaoghaire Motor YC	0.956	0.965	5
IRL3339	Indulgence	Elan 333	David Sargent	Howth Yacht Club	0.952	0.965	5
IRL2706	Kodachi	Corby 27	De neve	Howth Yacht Club	0.937	0.955	5
WHITESAIL 2
IRL2070	Out & About	First 38	Terry Mc Coy	Howth Yacht Club	0.929	0.950	6
IRL5643	Calypso	Oceanis 361	Howard Knott	Royal St. George Yacht Club	0.927	0.930	6
IRL1502	Vespucci	Dehler 31	Sean + Kristina O'Regan	Royal Irish Yacht Club	#N/A	0.890	6
GBR4183	Poppy	#N/A	John Roberts	Whitehaven sailing association	0.902	#N/A	6
IRL100	Demelza	Club Shamrock	Windsor & Steffi	Howth Yacht Club	0.876	0.875	6

Howth Yacht Club and ICRA have revealed the trophies for next week's cruiser–racer national championships to be staged at the north Dublin venue for a record fifth time. The three day event, from next Friday, will decide eight national titles and Corinthian Cups across a combined fleet of 80–plus boats. ISA medals will be awarded in each class. Read more about the championships here

#LambayRace - Howth Yacht Club’s annual Lambay Race, which goes back at least as far as 1904 and maybe even further, is set to make the best of the current spell of summer weather this Saturday 4 June, writes WM Nixon.

A comprehensive programme with sponsorship from Davy Group will see upwards of a hundred keelboats of all shapes and sizes being catered for in a variety of courses all of which take in the historic island.

Despite being within a dozen miles of Dublin city centre, Lambay continues to have one of the most perfectly unspoilt coastlines anywhere in Ireland.

For the classic Howth 17s of 1898 vintage, the traditional course will be provided, starting from a shore line at the end of the East Pier, and sailing through the sound inside Ireland’s Eye before going on north to round Lambay. A similar start and course will also be provided for other classics and old gaffers.

For more modern boats, racing will be provided in Howth’s unrivalled main sailing area between Ireland’s Eye and Lambay, but although proper windward starts and several angles of sailing will be provided on multiple legs, here too the fleet will at some stage round Lambay.

The race schedule – which sees the first pier starts at 11.30am, and the Committee Boat starts north of Ireland’s Eye from 12 noon onwards – will be shaped to have the fleet finished well within time to enjoy a very full hospitality programme including barbecues, live music and entertainment far into the night.

And at some stage the famous Lambay Lady trophy will be awarded to the winning boat which has the largest margin between her time and that of the second boat in her class.

After three days of champagne sailing at Howth Yacht Club it was consistency in the largest fleet of the regatta that crowned Clive O'Shea and Tom Durcan's "T-Bone" as the 2016 Sportsboat Cup Overall Champion! The Crosshaven team topped the twelve boat 1720 fleet with two race wins and never posting anything worse than a fourth. Download the overall results below.

The crew had built up a healthy overnight lead coming into the final day of racing, knowing that a good first race would have their class win wrapped up. Maybe it was nerves or more likely some rum still coarsing through their veins but they stuttered on the start line, got squeezed out at the pin and had to do turns for hitting the pin mark. Being last off the line was good news for their competitors but they got on with their race didn't panic chipped away at the fleet and ground themselves back to a fourth place which all but sealed it. While they were still catchable in the final race they were back to regular form, coming out on top in a three way match race at the start it was clear everyone else was fighting for the scraps.

T-Bone winning helmsman Alex 'Bundy' Barry was full of praise for the weekend: "HYC delivered a great event as always, the racing and social scene were excellent and the sunshine topped it off. It was encouraging to see so many young people on the water and in the bar." The team happily took away the Romaine Cagney Bowl, a crystal decanter and a technical Gill jacket on top of their class winners prizes.

The SB20 class was hotly contested with just one point separating the top four boats!!! After nine races and the full shedule completed Shane Murphy's "Two Men and Their Monkey" pipped Chris Arrowsmith's "MSS" with their four race wins trumping MSS' single race win.

The weekend brought out a bigger fleet of SB20s for their Easterns with seventeen boats competing. Dave Barry was absolutely delighted to take the title on board "Lia". Dave had started sailing SB3's back in 2008 in Howth and made reference to an unfortunate incident involving Burrow Beach in his acceptance speech. Needless to say he's much happier with his performances now.

It was Conor Murphy's UCD sailing team "The Implication" who won the J80 class. With all the boats identically set up this fleet was always going to be decided by tactics and boat handling. This crew had clearly got their roles well defined as some of their cornering wouldn't look out of place in an instructional video. After a strong first day their lead was well challenged by Daragh McDonagh's "The Podger" who took four race wins. Ewan McMahon's crew was also in the mix taking two race wins over the weekend.

The small Half Tonner fleet had incredibly close racing. With all three boats routinely running into the last mark of the course all abreast. Most races were only decided by a matter of seconds. Mike and Richie Evans' "The Big Picture" and David Kelly's "King One" shared all the race wins and it was "The Big Picture" who eked out a two point victory.

Many thanks to event chairman Ross McDonald and his team including race management and the event partners Kevin Flanigan Estates and Dalcassian Wines and Spirits and their Goslings Rum and Ginger. We're looking forward to doing it all again in 2018!

Next month's ICRA Nationals at Howth Yacht Club is aiming to attract both spinnaker and white sail sailors and HYC have gone to some lengths to promote its commercial free waters in this latest youtube video. 

The ICRA Nationals are returning to Howth Yacht Club for a record fifth time. 

The organising committee are finalising an exciting and varied racing programme over the 3 days, along with an excellent social programme of shore side activities. With three weeks to go to first gun, it will be a very special event both on and off the water.

For the Corinthian Cups two classes, Race Officer Harry Gallagher and his team have been working on a number of courses, specifically designed for non-spinnaker racing: “In recognition of the fact that many non-spinnaker teams and their classes have asked that we avoid direct downwind racing, we will have a choice of two courses for Friday and Saturday (two races each day). One will be a traditional “Olympic Type” course - Triangle/Sausage/Triangle and the other will be a “Figure 4” course. Diagrams will be provided in the Sailing Instructions. These courses will be laid in positions that will not conflict with the other two courses. On Sunday, a “Passage Type” course is planned the details of which will be provided on the day”.

In the 'spinnaker classes', the three-day championships will comprise of eight fleets with racing taking place over three race areas, guaranteeing keen racing for all participants. Early indications are that there will be very competitive racing for national titles across the various fleets with the addition of a number of new boats planning to participate.

Back on shore there will be a lively social programme including a Caribbean night on Friday and a Regatta Dinner on Saturday followed with famous local band Loose Change playing until late.

The event is sponsored by McPeake Auctioneers, and in association with Dubarry, WD40 and Dublin, a Breath of Fresh Air.

A Howth Yacht Club J24 team won last weekend's Northern championships at Sligo YC with a race to spare. The K25 team beat JP McCaldin's Jamais Encore from Lough Erne Yacht Club for the top slot in a 19–boat fleet. Flor O'Driscoll's HArd on Port from the Royal St. George YC was third. Results are downloadable below. 

Currently, the winning K25 team are in Poole in Dorset, a major J24 centre and are aiming to defend their ICRA title on home waters next month.