#sailforjack – 22 year old Pharmacy student Jack Kavanagh's life changed completely two years ago when he had an accident which resulted in him being paralysed from the armpits down. Orla Callender supported by Rosemary Dawson organised a pursuit sailing race, hosted by the Royal St. George Yacht Club, on 29th August to raise funds to support the specialised supports and treatments which Jack requires.

On the evening of the race there was quite a lot of weather. At 16.00hrs. it was sunny with a breeze of about 12 knots gusting to 21 knots. By 17.30hrs there was steady drizzle, with only 100m. visibility, and average wind speed of 25 knots with gusts of 27knots. 'Terriblee' the committee boat was stationed by Vincent Delany, officer-of-the-day, off the harbour mouth. First competitor on the course was Margaret Hannan's Squib, 'Free Trader'. She was quickly followed by the Sailing-in-Dublin's 'Vago' who found the conditions challenging. A decision was made immediately to abandon the dinghy element of the race. The dinghies sailed back to the safety of the harbour and 'blemmed' around at high speed. The Glens all decided that the conditions were not appropriate to an enjoyable race, and returned to their moorings. However the race started soon after 18.30hrs. with Squib 'Sidewinder' with special athlete Tomas on board as lead boat. They were followed by a variety of day boats and cruisers. One hour later, having navigated the mist to Middle, New Ross, and East Marks, three boats approached the finish line together. The rain was clearing and a rainbow appeared to the east. The leaders were 'Sidewinder', Rupert Bowen, Rupert Westrup and Tomas, Squib 'Perfection' with Jill Fleming, Conor O'Leary and special athlete Declan, 'Wow' George Sisk's 42 footer which charged through the fleet with fabulous efficiency. 'Sidewinder' finished at 19.28.12hrs followed by 'Wow' at 19.28.30, only 18 seconds later. What a close finish for two boats so different in style!
At the prize giving, Vice-Commodore Justin Mc.Kenna presented many valuable prizes which had been provided by generous sponsors:
1st. Boat- 'Sidewinder' Rupert Bowen, Rupert Westrup and Tomas- A tidal Clock.
1st Special athlete- Tomas in 'Sidewinder'- Theatre tickets for the Pavilion Theatre.
1st. Cruiser- 'Wow' George Sisk and crew- Golfing voucher.
2nd. Cruiser- 'September Song' – Stephanie Burke and family who managed to sail the entire course without putting up their Sigma 33 mainsail.- Voucher for David Lloyd gym.
3rd. Cruiser- 'Sarnia' – A voucher for the Royal Marine Hotel.
4th. Cruiser- 'Bendemeer' Gerry Kinsella and crew- Voucher for The Butler's Pantry.
2nd. Day boat- RIYC 1720- Voucher for Fingal Sailing School.
Special award for bravery despite sailing the wrong course- 'Perfection' Jill Fleming with Conor O'Leary and Declan Johnston- A holistic wellness voucher.
2nd. Special athlete- Declan Johnston- Theatre tickets for the Pavilion Theatre.
Special award for surviving such tough conditions- 'Free Trader' Margaret Hannan and Ray Greene- A hairdresser voucher.

#420sailing – After nine great races on Dublin Bay, Royal Cork Yacht Club's Peter McCann and Arran Walsh claimed the 420 Nationals trophy last weekend writes Clodagh Lyttle. The teenagers sailed to victory in style, winning four races over the three day event hosted by the Royal St. George Yacht Club. 15 boats competed and seven of these were girls pairings. The fleet, aged between 14 and 18 enjoyed the courses set by PRO Richard Kissane. Full results downloadable below as a jpg file.
This result means that there are two homes in Crosshaven who have two National Champions in the family. Last week James McCann, Peter's brother won the Optimist Trophy and earlier this year Nick Walsh, Arran's dad won the Laser Masters Trophy.
McCann and Walsh managed to defeat the ISAF pair Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove who were 20th in the World Championships in Germany. Similarly Cliodhna Ni Shuillebhain and Jill McGinley won the Ladies Title overcoming Lizzie McDowell and Cara McDowell who came 16th in the ISAFs. The standard of sailing in the Irish 420 fleet is extremely high, as another pair Harry Whitaker and Grattan Roberts also had a great result when they came 20th at the Junior Europeans .
After the prizegiving, 420 coach Ross Killian, Arran Walsh and Bill Staunton took the ice bucket challenge, much to everyone's enjoyment. The 420 sailors prepared two huge wheelbarrows of iced water and poured it on their coach.
The next 420 event is the Leinsters in Wexford Harbour on 13th and 14th September.

#SailForJack - This Friday 29 August the Royal St George Yacht Club will host a special 'Sail for Jack' charity pursuit race in aid of local man Jack Kavanagh, who was paralysed in a freak accident on the water.

The now 21-year-old was an avid sailor, windsurfer, rugby player, lifeguard and pharmacy student at Trinity College when, while holidaying with friends in Portugal, his life changed utterly after diving into a wave and breaking his neck.

Jack is now paralysed from the neck down, with limited arm movement, and will need 24-hour care for the rest of his life. However, his remarkable attitude and progress is defying his doctors, and he believes one day there will be a cure for his condition.

Incredibly, Jack has also managed to go back to Trinity to finish his pharmacy degree, albeit over an extended period. But it’s not easy – he needs special assistance around the clock and a full-time carer.

He needs to travel to Cambridge every week for special bionic suit physiotherapy help him stand upright for a few minutes (you may have seen him on RTÉ News in recent weeks).

Significant funds are needed to maintain Jack’s 24-hour care and treatment to enhance his mobility. And that's where the Sail for Jack race comes in.

For just €5 per crew member (register online at www.rsgyc.ie) you can take part in the Sail for Jack charity pursuit from 6.30pm this Friday at the Royal St George in Dun Laoghaire Harbour, close to the harbour mouth.

The race will be followed by a BBQ with a DJ and prize giveaways at the clubhouse at 8pm so bring along your friends and family even if you aren’t sailing.

If you are not free to sail but would like to make a donation, you can contribute at www.mycharity.ie/events/sailforjack

#optiEuros2014 – Royal Cork's James McCann & Dublin Girls Clare Gorman, Alix Buckley & Gemma McDowell have made the gold fleet cut after a full opening series of the Optimist dinghy Europeans was completed off Dun Laoghaire this afternoon.

The big Irish success today  is that James McCann from Royal Cork Yacht Club bounced back magnificently after yesterday's disappointment to make the gold fleet cut tomorrow. With 11th and 5th in today's races, together with discarding his 28th place, the Munster youth sits on a total of 41 points and placed 13th.

James was the only Irish boy to qualify for the Gold fleet but four of his teammates qualified for the Silver: Jamie McMahon, Loghlen Rickard and Peter Fagan all from Dublin as well as Harry Bell from Co. Down.

In the overall standings French sailor Enzo Balanger from Guadeloupe tops the leader board with results of 1, 1, 3, 3, 1 totalling 9 points. Fourteen points behind at this early stage is Pablo Lujan of C.N. Javea, Spain while Swedish lake sailor Kasper Nordenram of Rörviks Sailing Club lies third.

The Irish girls fared much better in making the cut for the Gold fleet. Clare Gorman from Dun Laoghaire gained eight places today to rank 24th. Also qualifying are two fellow Dubliners; Alix Buckley of Skerries and Gemma McDowell of Malahide.

After another first place today Iset Segura from the Catalan club of Arenys de Mar remains at the head of the fleet followed by Ebru Bolat of Romania and Brazilian Olivia Belda.

#rsgyc – Today's Frank Keane BMW Royal St. George Regatta will enjoy their biggest entry on record in the 176–year history of the event, according to the Dun Laoghaire club. Almost 180 competitors have registered already and more entries are expected today.

This is some achievement with many more possible entries committed to the Round Ireland Race and /or Cork Week. Nevertheless this number of entries shows there is a commitment to Club Regattas in Dublin Bay and the tradition of sailing in the Dun Laoghaire Club Regatta is alive and well, says RSt\GYC, the country's biggest yacht club with 1,200 members.

Event Chairman, Martin Byrne reported that the perceived 'congestion' of events has not effected the traditional & historic events like the Dublin Bay Club Regattas where Club sailors and boat owners just want to participate and enjoy the occasion. "Our Regatta Day represents everything that we are as a Club - sailing first then family & community next", Byrne said.

#rsgyc – As part of this weekend's Frank Keane BMW Royal St. George Yacht Club regatta, the club is staging a White Sails & Non-Spinnaker team challenge event. 

The reasons behind the initiative is to encourage a sociable, time friendly, event with a mixture of competitive and fun sailing. As previously reported by Afloat.ie The emphasis, say organisers, is as much on the activities ashore as well as those on the water.

Dun Laoghaire could be described as the home of White sails racing in Ireland. Trevor Wood a member of the RSGYC and, then Beneteau Oceanis 411 owner, had in 2002, come up with the concept of regular fleet racing in Dublin Bay within the DBSC series. The idea was not just to provide racing for boats that could be more properly described as cruising or family boats than racers, but to enjoy meeting and eating in the Clubs afterwards.
The Dublin Bay White sails fleet rapidly grew into one of the strongest classes in the Bay with consistent Thursday evening turnouts of over twenty boats, though with numbers dropping off a little as thoughts turn to cruising. The White Sails fleet also makes up about a quarter of the DBSC Turkey Shoot and Spring Chicken fleets.
For Regattas and other open events the White sail Class races as a separate division within the Non-Spinnaker fleet, thus giving the, essentially cruising boats a chance to collect some silverware.
Over the years the Class has run a number of non-racing events, trips to Greystones etc. and this year approached the RSGYC to put into place a new event running over three days of very varied racing and socialising linked in with the Club Regatta. This event would be more than one for local boats but an opportunity to sail and enjoy the company of Non-Spinnaker sailors from elsewhere as well.
The Royal St. George YC took on the event with enthusiasm. It fits well within the active programme there of broadening sailing opportunities in Dun Laoghaire and has proposed running the Challenge alongside future Club regattas.
In order to make the challenge more fun and "different" it will be based on a club team basis with the best scores of the top three boats representing each Club counting towards the prize. Over the years inter-Club rivalry is expected to become more intense and with it, a strong growth of White sail and non-Spinnaker racing.
More details on the event from Howard Knott on +353 86 810 3025.

Reggie Lee, one of the most enthusiastic and active members of the Dublin Bay sailing scene and a longtime member of the Royal St George YC, has passed away to the regret of his many friends and shipmates. Our thoughts are with his family, many of whom shared his enthusiasm for boats. An engaging and entertaining character, Reggie was a welcome crewmember on a wide variety of boats in a remarkable sailing career which spanned more than six decades, and his sailing was enthusiastically pursued both inshore and offshore.

The first of many significant achievements came in 1955 when he crewed with Dr Rory O'Hanlon on a round Ireland voyage with Ancora, a "slightly converted" Six Metre. By 1961, he'd become a member of the Irish Cruising Club, and he continued to crew offshore on O'Hanlon boats, logging a Transatlantic voyage in the 12-tonner Tjaldur. He also was a crew member with Patrick Jameson, and in his latter years he sailed frequently aboard the Sigma 38 Changeling which Patrick & Kieran Jameson, father and son, campaigned together.

Reggie Lee's later years were much enhanced by his pride in the sailing achievements of his son Adrian, who has campaigned the Cookson 50 Lee Overlay Partners with outstanding international success, winning overall in the inaugural RORC Caribbean 600 Race in 2009, and most recently last November, winning overall and taking line honours in the Dubai-Muscat Race.

Funeral arrangements are here

#optimisteuros2014 – Ireland is a fortnight away from its staging of one of the largest sailing events of the season when the Optimist dinghy European Championships kick off at the Royal St. George Yacht Club on Dublin Bay from 13 to 20 July. 

The club have a new website up and running for the event here

250 sailors from 44 nations make it the second highest entry on record for the world's most popular junior sailing class, with over 150,000 boats registered.

Thirty-two European countries have entered teams of up to seven sailors each and they are joined by teams of up to four sailors each from twelve non-European countries.

The great majority of the sailors will be aged 13-15. They have been selected from trials and sometimes pre-trials involving several thousand sailors. Unlike at other Optimist events the girls – just over 100 of them - race separately from the boys and this gives great emphasis to their event. Indeed all six of the female European Olympic dinghy medalists in London 2012 had participated in Optimist European Championships.

Male graduates of the event include triple Olympic medalist Iain Percy (GBR).

The event was last held in Ireland in 1993 at Newtownabbey. Only 27 countries (21 European) participated then, mostly because few East Europeans were able to travel but also due to the growth of Optimist sailing in countries such as Singapore, India, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand in the last twenty years. Indeed Singapore, where sailing is a major school sport, may well challenge for the open prizes. First-time entrants are Iceland and Antigua.

Individual prospects are hard to identify with many of last year's sailors now over age, but Mara Turín of Slovenia won both the 2012 and 2013 championships and could become the first girl ever to win three times. 2013 boys champion Tytus Butowski of Poland will also be trying to retain his title.

One of the key factors in the choice of Dun Laoghaire was the ability to house all participants in two hotels close to the venue, creating an Olympic village type environment ashore perfect for making the friendships so valuable in this lifetime sport.

#rsgyc – Entries close next Thursday (July 3rd) for Dun Laoghaire's Royal St. George Yacht Club regatta sponsored by Frank Keane BMW. The country's biggest yacht club will stage racing for all local classes plus visitors from Howth YC and across the Bay area for the annual event on July 5th.  

Flying fifteens, Squibs and dinghy classes will have two races back to back as will other one design classes such as the SB20, Dragons and Ruffians. Cruisers and keelboats will have a fixed mark course.

Howth visitors, the Howth 17s and Puppeteer classes, will race from a Howth line to a RStGYC committee vessel. 

Online entry is mandatory here.

#dragon – Race officer was Barry O'Neill, who ran six great races in perfect Dragon conditions - 12-15 knots, and calm sea with all but short waves. With windward leeward courses around 1 hour, three races were sailed on Saturday and three on Sunday, completing the six races series one day earlier than planned. Results are downloadable below as an excel file.

Andrew Craig (RStGYC) in Chimaera was overall winner of the event. He went into the last race as leader, and needed at least a 6h place in the final race to retain his position. However, the final race proved very tricky, with very fickle winds, and during past of the race he found himself in unfamiliar territory, way down the fleet. In the end, Andrew Craig retained his first overall, on the same amount of net points as Cameron Good from (KYC) in Little Fella, but with two bullets in his series.

The fleet was joined by James Peters, Dave Cummings and Richard Robinson in Yeah Baby from the Abersoch Dragon Fleet.

The East Coasts were managed by Ronan Adams (RStGYC), sail manager, and crew.

This was the first graded Dragon regatta of the reason. The Dragon Nationals will be held in Kinsale 26-29 June, with several international Dragon teams on the list of competitors, and the Dragon South Coasts in Glandore 29-31 August. The final main Dragon regatta of the season is the Jack Craig Memorial Bell at the LDYC Freshwater Regatta in Lough Derg 17-19 October.

Dragon East Coasts (full results downloadable below as Excel)

I. Chimaera. Andrew Craig, Brian Mathews and Mark Petitt
2. Little Fella. Cameron Good, Simon Furney and Henry Kingston
3. Phantom. Neil Hegarty, Peter Bowring and Nevin Powell
4. Jaguar. Martin Byrne, Adam Winkleman, Maurice O'Connell
5. Zu. Tim Pearson, Conor Grimley, and Matt Minch