Displaying items by tag: Howth
Howth Lifeboat Crew Aid Fishing Vessel
#RESCUE – Lifeboat crew with Howth RNLI spent over ten hours on Saturday (4 February 2012) assisting a 17 metre fishing tralwer, with seven crew onboard, 36 miles north east of Howth, which was rapidly taking on water.
Howth RNLI were requested to launch their all weather lifeboat to the fishing vessel at 1.08 pm on Saturday afternoon and it would be nearly ten and a half hours later when they returned to the harbour with the casualty vessel under tow.
The Irish Coast Helicopter were also on scene to help the stricken vessel and a winchman delivered a salvage pump onboard to help the crew try and staunch the water. With the lifeboat on scene the Coast Guard helcopter returned to base and the lifeboat crew worked quickly to establish a tow in difficult conditions. Weather was force six with a strong southerly wind.
Keeping the casualty vessel under tow in bad conditions proved challenging and the rope parted a couple of times. Sixteen miles north east of Howth the fishing crew reported that the water coming into the vessel was increasing and the tow was stopped. A lifeboat crewmember was transferred onto the fishing trawler and a new salvage pump was put onboard. The source of the leak was identified and action taken to stem the flow of water. The lifeboat once again undertook the tow and eventually arrived into Howth harbour at 10.25pm. All crew onboard the fishing vessel were unhurt.
Commenting on the callout Howth RNLI crewmember Dave Howard said, " This was a long callout for our all weather lifeboat crew. Condtions were not great offshore and going from the lifeboat onto the casualty vessel in a two to three metre swell was very challenging. However when a fishing vessel reports taking on water, it is vital to make sure that the crew are safe and that the tow does not part. We are relieved that all crew got home safe."
Howth Laser Frostbite Inter-Club Laser Masters Challenge
#LASER – All Master Laser sailors are invited to compete in the second running of the Laser Inter-club Masters' Challenge being held by Howth Yacht Club on Saturday 10th March as the finale to the Laser Frostbite Series.
All Masters Laser sailors are invited to enter teams (3 minimum) to compete for the trophy. The event consists of 3 races (two windward-leewards, each approx 40 mins. duration, and the Round the Island Race), with the first race starting at 10:55. The best three Masters sailors from each club will count for the trophy.
The famous Howth Laser Lunch and prize-giving will follow straight after racing. The Ireland V Scotland game will be shown on big screens after the lunch in the club bar.
More details from Howth Yacht Club.
BMW Cruiser Nationals the highlight of Howth's 2012 sailing season
Following its support of the highly successful J/24 Europeans last year, BMW Ireland is continuing its association with Howth Yacht Club by sponsoring the ICRA National Championships in May, making it the outstanding event in the Club's 2012 calendar of 26 national, regional and local regattas.
The BMW Cruiser Nationals, as the event will be known, will be one of the biggest keelboat racing regatta in Ireland this year. It is expected to attract over 100 entries across Classes 0, 1, 2, 3 and White Sail Division for a 7-race series over three days (Friday 25-Sunday 27 May), with over 700 sailors competing.
A number of Irish Sea offshore races are being planned as 'feeder races' from other sailing centres in Ireland and the UK to further enhance the fleet numbers. It will be the third time Howth has hosted the event, having handled the inaugural ICRA Nationals in 2004 and again in 2008.
Commenting on the sponsorship announcement, Championship Chairman Chris Howard said: "We are naturally delighted that a company of the stature of BMW has seen fit to come on board with Howth Yacht Club again to support this highly prestigious championship and we look forward to welcoming some of Ireland's top sailing talent next May."
John Ives, Managing Director of BMW Ireland, commented: "Our experiences in the sailing world have always been positive and our association with the J/24 Europeans was very worthwhile so we are pleased to maintain our relationship with Howth Yacht Club who we know will provide an event of the highest calibre – afloat and ashore – that reflects well on our brand."
In addition to the BMW Cruiser Nationals, HYC’s calendar of events during 2012 will also include:
- Fingal International Family Cruising Festival – July 7th–15th
- The annual Lambay Races – June
- Spring Warmers series - April
- J/24 Eastern Championships – May
- Corby Cup - May
- Puppeteer National Championships – August
- Fireball National Championships – June
- Laser Leinster Championships - June
- Match Racing Nationals – July
- Dinghy Regatta - July
- Topper Leinster Championships – March
- 420/470 Nationals – August
- Feva/RS200 & 400 Nationals – August
- Howth 17s’ Nationals – August
- Shipman Nationals – August
- Etchells Nationals – September
- Autumn League – September-October
The schedule effectively means Howth YC is hosting an event almost every weekend from April to October.
Howth Yacht Club to Stage 26 Sailing Events in 2012
#HOWTH – Howth Yacht Club will stage 26 national, regional and local sailing championships and regattas in 2012 and Commodore Roger Cagney launches them all at the north Dublin clubhouse this Wednesday evening. The 2012 programme kicks off in late May with the ICRA Cruiser Racer National Championships, one of the biggest events on the Irish sailing calendar.
Cull heads Howth Laser Frostbite into second series
#LASER – In one of the most competitive Howth Yacht Club Laser Frostbites in many years, Ronan Cull ended the first series as clear winner, discarding a second place in the 11-race programme. Conditions were very consistent throughout the series, with winds mostly in the 10-14kt range, the exception being a late November weekend which gave the fleet fast sailing in winds of over 20kts.
The minor places were all up for grabs on the final day with Evan Dolan (NYC) starting the day in a comfortable second but David Quinn, Colm Cunningham and Ronan Kenneally (RCYC) all within a couple of points of third. In the end, Dolan scored a second and fourth to consolidate his second place overall. Cunningham had an uncharacteristic seventh place in the first race to effectively put him out of contention for third leaving it up to Quinn and Kenneally to fight it out for the last podium spot in the final race.
With two points between them, Kenneally had to put two boats between himself and Quinn, which was the case on the final run after a capsize by Conor Greagsby. However, Greagsby recovered well to pass Kenneally again before the final mark and with only one place separating them, this allowed David Quinn to take third overall, with Kenneally in fourth and Cunningham in fifth.
In the Radial Fleet, it was a Malahide clean-sweep with Alex Shackleton winning, Sean Anglim second and Ciaran Costello third. The final two races were a fitting close finish to a great series with boats travelling from Dun Laoghaire, Skerries, Wexford, Cork and Malahide to compete.
HYC’s Frostbite organisers are expecting Series 2 to be even more competitive than the first, with more races and possibly some windier conditions than in November and December. Ronan Cull will be hot favourite to win both series, a feat that hasn’t been achieved since the 2001/2002 season when Colm Cunningham won both trophies. 18 races are scheduled and entry is now open (www.hyc.ie) for anyone who didn’t race in Series 1.
The HYC Frostbite series will finish with the traditional ‘Round the Island’ race, this year on Saturday 10th March. The final day will again feature the Inter-Club Masters’ Challenge which was such a success last year. This is a team event with the top three over-35 sailors from any club in the country counting towards the overall trophy. Racing will include two normal course races and the Round the Island Race with no discard.
Last year, the event was won by the host club but hot competition is expected in 2012 from the Ballyholme and Dun Laoghaire Masters’ fleets. As always, the infamous ‘Laser Lunch’ takes place after racing on the final day in the club restaurant along with the overall prize-giving.
J24 World Champs for Howth in 2013
#J24–Howth Yacht Club will stage the J24 World Championships from 22nd to 30th August 2013. This follows the successful staging of the class European championships at the club in September. Irish boats will be required to qualify for the event.
Howth Plans Big Event for 2012 ICRA Nationals
ICRA – the 2011 Club of the Year – laid out its stall until 2014 at the eighth annual conference in Dun Laoghaire at the weekend and the momentum is already building at Howth Yacht Club (HYC) who stage the 2012 National Championships at the beginning of next season.
The country's biggest yacht club has a potential sponsor in the wings and Saturday's conference also heard from the Club's Norbert Reilly that HYC is adding feeder events around the two day championships from May 25/27 to double the attraction of the North Dublin venue.
The Corby Cup will be sailed the weekend prior to the Nationals (19-20 May) and the Irish sea offshore body, ISORA, will stage a feeder race from Conwy in Wales to Howth. Both initiatives will encourage UK boats to travel to Dublin for the ICRA series.
Typically the ICRA event attracts over 100 boats in four different classes.
In spite of a dip in the size of the Cruiser fleet in Howth in recent years local boats are still taking some of the big prizes nationally with Reilly's Crazy Horse the 2011 Volvo Dun Laoghaire and DBSC Cruiser Challenge winner and Pat Kelly's J109 Storm picking up the weekend conference's top 'Boat of the Year' prize.
Ashore there are plans to make the event family oriented and a 'ladies lunch' is also planned.
The weekend's ICRA conference decided to do away with the crew limit rule for the seven race series in Howth as the association focuses on getting more crews out on the water to enjoy cruiser racing.
The ICRA Nationals goes West for a return visit to Tralee Bay Sailing Club in June 2013 and in 2014 the National Championships will be staged by the Royal Irish Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire.
In the normal cycle of things 'the ICRAs' should be heading to the south coast again in 2015 but so far, the conference heard, the association is open to offers.
The 2012 ICRA Notice of Race for the Howth Championships will be available on Afloat.ie shortly
Howth Autumn League Race Three Results
Welsh Kayaker Sets New Irish Sea Crossing Record
According to Canoe & Kayak, last Saturday 2 October Anglesey man John Willacy crossed from Soldier's Point in Holyhead to Howth in Dublin - a distance of 55.8 nautical miles - in 11 hours 19 minutes and 59 seconds.
It's not the first open sea kayaking record set by Willacy, who last year broke the record for circumnavigation of the Isle of Man in 12 hours 38 minutes.
Lack of Wind Forces Cancellation of Howth Autumn League
This morning's second race of the WD 40 sponsored Howth Yacht Club Autumn League was cancelled due to lack of wind.