It’s not the first time that the organisers of the National Championships of Champions have found themselves playing footsie with volatile Autumn weather.

Ten days ago, the National Junior Championship at Schull was cancelled due to southerly gales. And last year, the GP 14s’ representative Ger Owens found himself and his crew Mel Morris, retaining the trophy in an extremely intense one-day programme at Sutton Dinghy Club, as it was abundantly clear that any attempt at a second day of racing would be blown clean away.

Thus, meteorological fingers are crossed for this coming weekend (7th – 8th October), when the famously hospitable Foynes Yacht Club on the Shannon Estuary are staging the event in 17ft Mermaids. The Mermaids first appeared in 1932, and have been a significant presence in Irish sailing since 1936, so it isn’t the first time they’ve been used as the championship boat. For we happen to know for certain that in the 1965 Championship at Skerries in Mermaids, the winner was one James Nixon of Dublin University SC, and doubtless other sailing clans can make similar claims.

An immaculately-prepared Mermaid from the Foynes fleet racing in the Shannon Estuary. Photo: Tony Quinlivan

But few of them can claim that their man or woman was going at it to make it three in a row, so it will be very interesting indeed to see how Owens shapes up out of his current comfort zone of the GP 14s. Experience suggests that he is multi-talented in the helming front. Meanwhile, those who are concerned about delays while the weather makes its mind up can be consoled by the fact that the sailors can otherwise occupy themselves with the flight simulator at the Foynes Flying Boat Museum near the club. Your correspondent once had a go at it, and managed to crash the Boeing 314 Clipper before he’d got beyond the simulated Loop Head.

Entry List 2023:

ILCA 7              Finn Lynch               National YC                               Paris Olympic qualification place for Ireland

 All Ireland Sailing - 2023 Entry List

The Race Officer In The Armchair is as big a pain as the Hurler On The Ditch, particularly when either is operating in hindsight. And they're only slightly less of a pest when they're throwing in their tuppence-worth of advice beforehand, for heaven knows that those all-too-often unsung heroes of the sailing scene, the conscientious Race Officers, have their own network of top-level information to draw on when it's clear a difficult event is coming down the line.

Yet, in some ways it's reassuring to know that throughout Ireland, the Race Officers In The Armchair (let's call them ROITA) will be looking at what is going to be a volatile weekend weatherwise. "Volatile" is getting over-used these days, and it will soon go the way of "iconic", but we'll plough on with it for now, as the ROITA are going to be running the rule over the main events planned in this coming weekend of meteorological volatility. They will already know that Saturday is going
to be good - almost a ridge day in fact - such that in some places, there's even a chance that a lack of wind will briefly be a problem. But Sunday is going to be a complete stinker.

There'll almost certainly be southerly gales countrywide. So whatever you may think about the accuracy or otherwise of weather forecasts, you'd be flying in the face of reason to assert that any plans for racing anticipated on Sunday should be kept firmly in place regardless.

Because Sunday is going to be the kind of day which makes you realise why most of the yacht clubs in Ireland - and virtually all the major ones - face north. For if you're going to operate the clubhouse on a year-round basis with a winter sailing programme supported by an active in-house series of social events, you don't want your members and guests being blown away before they can get near the clubhouse or their boats.

Normally this fact of north-facing club life is barely noticed, but this weekend sees the two-day staging of the new-look Champions' Cup, otherwise the 75th Anniversary of the Helmsman's Championship. And it's being staged at the south-facing Sutton Dinghy Club in GP 14s. Sutton Dinghy Club is the very essence of the summer place. It may face across to Dublin city, yet in good weather with the fascinating abundance and variety of the Bull Island Nature reserve just across the way on the other side of Sutton Creek, the sense of being completely away from it all and at one with nature, of being young again with an exciting world right there to be explored in your little sailing dinghy, is what makes Suttonians - young and old - go misty-eyed.

GP 14s racing in a brisk southerly at Sutton. Photo: Andy Johnston

But an Autumn southerly gale at Sutton, made even more pressurised by the season's high-density air, is something else altogether, particularly with the tidal launching area. So presumably, they're already making plans in anticipation of it being a one day event which, come to think of it, was the form that the Championship took 75 years ago. High Water is 11.26 on Saturday, so dawn patrol racing could be possible to get a good chunk of the programme out of the way early, and
then all home, done and dusted and the 75th Anniversary Champion announced by evening time Saturday.

This meeting of the ROITA Association is now closed.

The Helmsman’s Championship? Crazy name. Surely it should at least have been The Helmsmen’s Championship? Yet in its quirkiness, it achieved brand recognition to die for. Everyone knew what it meant, so much so it could even be shortened to “The Helmsman’s”. And for decades it has provided a lengthening list of winning names which now, after 75 years, resonate down the ages with an accessibility that brings the story of sailing in Ireland to life in a specially personal way.

But in a world of increasingly equal opportunities, the uniquely successful title had drawn everyone further into a brand cul de sac. “Helmsman’s Championship” even seemed misogynistic. Yet, although in more recent times there have been attempts to give it new names, most of them failed to ring the popular bell when set against the original’s clarity, and much of the sailing community continued to think of it “The Helmsman’s” because of its simple memorability and very human history, but now it is re-launched as the Champions’ Cup.

Douglas Heard, the first President of the 1946-founded Irish Dinghy Racing Association and an inspiring leader and servant of sailing in Ireland, presented a large silver salver to be raced for by all the emerging class champions on the final day of the newly-introduced Dinghy Week in 1947. But despite the impressive size of the classic Irish Silver trophy – some experts would tell us it’s actually a tray – there was initially a fairly light-hearted approach to the whole novel idea of what seems to have been known as The Helmsman’s Championship from the start, with people skilled in different boat types being strait-jacketed into what was, for many, instant competition in a strange class at the top level.

Douglas Heard, First President of the Irish Dinghy Racing Association, with yacht and boat designer Uffa Fox at the Royal St George YC in Dun Laoghaire in 1950, when the Fox-designed Flying 30 Huff of Arklow was under construction with Jack Tyrell in Arklow 

LIGHT-HEARTED EARLY APPROACH

This light-hearted early approach was just as well for, first time out - racing in the rapidly-expanding new IDRA 14 Class - the winner was Douglas Heard himself. Although he was obliged to race other IDRA 14s, he’d earlier in the week clearly won the IDRA 14 class racing his own Jem Kearney-built Error (No 1), which happily is still with us, now owned by Jim Lambkin of Sutton DC.

Thus at the very first staging, the problem of what kind of boat it should be staged in had been indicated as an annual challenge if the idea was to be tried again. That it should be was in little doubt. But the image of the Helmsman’s Championship as being “harmless fun” quickly evaporated. Even in the late 1940s, the number of classes racing in Ireland was enough to produce an overpowering load of results statistics for any easy press coverage of the sport. Thus the straightforward and concise results of the new title made for a welcome change. This new Helmsman’s Championship had become a very desirable and straightforward title to achieve, so more serious attention was being paid in 1948, when the winner was John Weaving of Sutton Dinghy Club, who’d cut his sailing teeth in the International 12ft class at his little creekside home club, and then went on to IDRA 14 racing.

A lifetime of service and achievement for sailing and boating in Ireland – Douglas Heard relaxing on a Shannon Cruise in 1977. In 1954, he was a founder member of the Inland Waterways Association of Ireland. Photo: W M Nixon

With his win, the mythology of the Helmsman’s Championship began to grow, as it created a list of winners who seemed to encompass the entire human condition. For although Douglas Heard was a pillar of society who ran shipping lines and invariably headed the significant organisations in business and recreation with which he was involved, John Weaving was the seemingly sedate manager of the Bank of Ireland branch in Sutton Cross who suddenly threw up his secure job and acquired a far-from-new service barge on the Shannon, aboard which he lived – always with two dogs for company - and worked out his time at various small but much-needed waterfront engineering projects along the length of the great river and its lakes, in the days long before Waterways Ireland existed.

Then in 1949 the winner was Richard Uren, a leading figure in West Kirby SC on the Wirral towards Liverpool where – like Dun Laoghaire – they were big into Fireflies which regularly guested in Ireland. Consequently, designer Uffa Fox was a popular speaker at WKSC’s boisterous annual dinner, and to say that the creator of the Firefly and many other innovative boats made hay with the fact that their Commodore carried a multiple-entendre name is something of an understatement.

The salver/tray returned to Ireland in 1950, when Ted Crosbie of Cork was the winner. At 92, he is still happily with us, and was at the 505 Worlds in Crohsshaven during this past summer. For although he is now best known for his recent long years of success in cruiser-racing, after being a leading IDRA 14 racer at the time he won the Helmsman’s in 1950, he later joined the incredible travelling circus which was the International 505 Class in Ireland in its glory days in the late 1950s and through the ’60s. 

Ted Crosbie of the Royal Cork YC, now 92, is the most senior holder of the Helmsman’s Championship title, having won it in 1950. Photo: Robert Bateman

This list of past winners – and the Juniors, whose championship (in a week’s time) is now an annual event in the versatile setup at Schull, having been first raced in 1972 – has people who will be familiar to many. Yet it provides an enhanced service the further back we go, with names which would now be otherwise lost in the mists of time.

Who, for instance – apart from a small group of senior inland waterways enthusiasts – will know who John Weaving was? Or indeed twice-winner Richard Uren of West Kirby, come to that? Yet thanks to the Helmsman’s Championship we recall that once upon a time there was a Bank Manager at Sutton Cross who looked out of his window and dreamed of the peace and potential of the mighty Shannon, and he upped sticks and headed west in a way we’d more readily recognise in 2022 than they did in 1950.

IRISH SENIOR & JUNIOR CHAMPIONS, 1947-2021

Year	Senior Winner	Junior Winner	Junior First Girl
2021	Ger Owens	Rocco Wright	---
2020	no event	no event	---
2019	Michael O'Connor	Chris Bateman	no longer presented
2018	Peter Kennedy	Atlee Kohl	Alana Coakley
2017	Fionn Lyden	Micheal O’Suilleabhain	Leah Rickard
2016	Alex Barry	Johnny Durcan	Kate Lyttle
2015	Anthony O'Leary	Peter McCann	Clare Gorman
2014	Anthony O'Leary	Harry Durcan	Gemma McDowell
2013	Ben Duncan	Séafra Guilfoyle	Megan Parker
2012	Peter O'Leary	Fionn Lyden	Aisling Keller
2011	George Kenefick
2010	Nicholas O'Leary	Philip Doran	Sophie Murphy
2009	Nicholas O'Leary	Matthew O'Dowd	Diana Kissane
2008	Nicholas O'Leary	Philip Doran	Tiffany Brien
2007	Stefan Hyde	Chris Penney	Annalise Murphy
2006	Peter O'Leary	George Kenefick	Rachel Guy
2005	David Crosbie	Fionn Jenkinson	Lisa Tate
2004	Tom Fitzpatrick	Katie Tingle
2003	Neil Hegarty	Erica Tate & Lorraine Stallard
2002	Conor Walsh	Robert Collins & Kenny Keogh
2001	Feargal Kinsella	Peter Bayly & Niall Cowman
2000	Gerald Owens	Peter O'Leary
1999	Mark Mansfield	Nicholas O'Leary
1998	Tom Fitzpatrick	Gerald Owens
1997	Tom Fitzpatrick	Neil Spain
1996	Laura Dillon	Gerald Owens
1995	Ruan O'Tiarnaigh	Laura Dillon
1994	Tom Fitzpatrick	Evan Dolan
1993	Sean Craig	Evan Dolan
1992	John Ross Murphy	Tom Fitzpatrick
1991	Mark Lyttle	Tom Fitzpatrick
1990	Mark Mansfield	Robert Eason
1989	Marshall King	Conal Casey
1988	John Murtagh	J McWilliam
1987	Mark Lyttle	Dan O'Grady
1986	Mark Lyttle	T McWilliam
1985	Paul Rowan	Nicky Timon
1984	Paul Rowan	Niall Alexander
1983	Brian Craig	Niall Alexander
1982	David Cummins	Michael Stavely
1981	David Cummins	Mark Lyttle
1980	T W Whisker	Justin Maguire
1979	Chris Arrowsmith	Justin Maguire
1978	Wiclif McCready	John Gilmore
1977	Wiclif McCready	Mark O'Hare
1976	Adrian Bell	Bryan Maguire
1975	David Gay	Joseph English
1974	Peter Duffy	Alan McFarlane
1973	Owen Delany	David McFarlane
1972	Harold Cudmore	Robert Bleakney
1971	Adrian Bell
1970	Robert Dix
1969	Maurice R Butler
1968	Vincent Delany
1967	T C M Morris
1966	John F Russell
1965	James Nixon
1964	J K O'Reilly
1963	Owen Delany
1962	G M Sargent
1961	M C Walsh
1960	J Clayton Love Jnr
1959	J O McCleary
1958	J K O'Reilly
1957	J Somers Payne
1956	J Somers Payne
1955	J Clayton Love Jnr
1954	Neville D Maguire
1953	Johnny Hooper
1952	Neville D Maguire
1951	Richard Uren
1950	Ted Crosbie
1949	Richard Uren
1948	John Weaving
1947	R Douglas Heard

 

ROYAL St GEORGE YACHT CLUB STAKES IT CLAIM

Yet despite those retrievals from fading memories, the impression generally is what a successful sport for life sailing is - and what an actively long-lived group its participants show themselves to be. Certainly, winning this Championship of Champions is a matter of pride to the new holder’s club, as was demonstrated back in 2013 when the RStGYC in Dun Laoghaire was holding its 175th Anniversary post-recession “cheer everyone up” celebration of the club’s national and international success since its foundation in 1838, and significant among the tangible memories of a marathon night was a photo of all the club’s winners of the Helmsman’s Championship

Members of the Royal St George Yacht Club who had won the Helmsmans Championship by 2013: Back Row (l to r): Robin Hennessey, Vincent Delaney, Johnny Ross-Murphy, Brian Craig, Peter Bayly; Front Row (l to r): Neil Hegarty, Sean Craig, Tom FitzPatrick, Adrian Bell, Stephan Hyde, Gerald 'Gerbil' Owens, Chris Arrowsmith, Matthew O'Dowd, and Commodore Liam O'Rourke. Photo: Gareth Craig

It may be noticed that some of these names were winners – in some cases well back in time – while sailing for other clubs, but the George would probably blithely reply that this indicated they were clearly suitable for future membership of heir club, and in any case not only was Douglas Heard a leading member and Commodore of the RSTGYC, but since then the club has come up again, and in looking at this year’s provisional list of invitees below, we see that defending champion Ger Owens (RStGYC) first notched a Supreme Champion win way back in 2000.

In 2021 he achieved special distinction by winning in the unfamiliar setting of a National 18 Ultima at Crosshaven. But in next month’s championship, he’ll be at home in GP 14s at Sutton, crewed by Melanie Morris of Newtownards SC whose dad, the Father of the GP 14s Curly Morris of Larne, won the Helmsmans way back in 1967 sailing for East Antrim Boat Club.

The Patriarch keeps the title – Anthony O’Leary (Royal Cork YC) successfully defending the title racing J/80s at the National YC in 2015. Photo: Afloat.ie/David O’Brien

In more modern times, despite the recent Owens win at RCYC, the 21st Century has seen Crosshaven’s O’Leary family in the ascendant with some tremendous racing – mostly in J/80s - for the top title between father Anthony and sons Peter and Nin and more recently Rob – their combined total of wins is seven, with Nin taking three on the trot in 2008, ’09, & ’10.

It has to be said that the J/80 proved a reasonable compromise boat in which to stage the championship, but boat availability is always a problem, and the thriving GP14 Association, with its strong links to Sutton and Andy Johnston and his team makes it a more straightforward project as we continue to emerge from the national shutdown effects, even if the use of a dinghy - albeit a supposedly multi-use one – may preclude some keelboat sailors.

The new setup is aimed at increasing female participation. So far, the only female winner has been Laura Dillon (Howth YC) in 1996. 

CHAMPIONS’ CUP 2022 INVITEES

The preliminary list of invitees will probably see changes as the date approaches, but it gives an interesting insight into the state of play in Irish sailing as the 2022 season draws to a close:

HELM	CREW	CLASS	CLUB
Ger Owens	Melanie Morris	GP14	Royal St. George Yacht Club
Ian Travers	Keith O’ Riordan	Squib	Kinsale Yacht Club
Michael O'Connor	Michelle Rowley	SB20	Royal St. George Yacht Club
Daragh Sheridan	Dan Gill	RS Aero	Howth Yacht Club
Peter Kennedy	Juliette Kennedy	Flying Fifteen	Strangford Lough Yacht Club
Aoife Hopkins	Aisling Keller	ILCA 6	Howth Yacht Club
David Dickson	Anna Leech	Shannon One Design	Lough Ree Yacht Club
John O'Driscoll	Diana Kissane	Water Wags	Royal St. George Yacht Club
Barry McCartin	Conor Kinsella	Fireball	Cushendall SBC
Robert Espey	Richard McCullough	RS400	Ballyholme Yacht Club
Jocelyn Hill	Jenny Lewis	RS200	County Antrim Yacht Club
Tadhg Ó Loingsigh	Brian Fox	J24	Tralee Bay Sailing Club
Shane MacCarthy	Josh Porter	GP14	Greystones Sailing Club
Cameron Good	Henry Kingston	Dragon	Kinsale Yacht Club
Jane Kearney	Ross Kearney	GP14	Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club
Niamh Henry	Dan Little	Team Racing	Royal St. George Yacht Club

 

Doubtless, there are those who feel they should see someone out of their particular class up there in lights, so feel free to use Afloat.ie as a forum. (email us here)

However, as to the business of it now being called the Champions’ Cup when the time-honoured trophy is clearly either a silver salver or tray, well – so be it. Champions’ Cup is a snappy alliterative gender-free re-branding, whereas re-naming it the Superstars Salver or some such over-contrived new title wouldn’t really cut the mustard.

And when we revealed the re-titling some weeks ago and wondered if the salver would be melted down to make a new cup, a sardonic commentator posted the thought that the salver looks to have been so vigorously polished over its 75 years that the new title would more realistically be the called Champions’ Egg Cup.

A well-worn prize…..2018 winner at Lough Ree YC Peter Kennedy (Strangford Lough YC) with the original trophy, while his shipmate Stephen Kane has the newer Crew’s Salver. Peter Kennedy is nominated for the Champions’ Cup 2022 with his daughter Juliette as National Flying Fifteen champions – his parents (and her grandparents) Terence and Bridget Kennedy (SLYC) were Flying Fifteen racers of world standard.

So let it be the Champions’ Cup. They’ll probably have enough trouble from the last voices of the woke generation for using an elitist word like “Champion”. As for the last rites for Douglas Heard’s Salver, we are reminded of the story of when the Commissioners of Irish Lights were making their annual visit to Rathlin Island to inspect the three very special light-houses there.

The job done, they were leaving the harbour in their launch when Commissioner Patrick Jameson (a keen sailing man) felt he should engage in conversation with one of the notably taciturn islanders watching from the quayside.

“What’s that new building going up on the other side of the harbour?” he asked.

“It’s the new pub”

“Oh really. How interesting. What happened to the old pub?”

“It got wore out”

It has had three or four titles in its 74 years of existence. But until now, the Irish Championship of Champions, or whatever it's called, has been raced for the same original and increasingly battered Silver Salver, as presented by Douglas Heard in 1947. A rose is still a rose by any other name, for sure. But whatever the event title - of which the most senior holders still with us are Teddy Crosbie (1950), Johnny Hooper (1953), and Clayton Love Jnr (1955) - the trophy until now has remained unmistakably the same salver.

Yet for the 75th Anniversary series this Autumn, the word on the waterfront is that the series is going to be re-named the 'Champions' Cup'. It's certainly a reasonably catchy bit of alliterations. But even the dumbest fence in stolen silverware would baulk at trying to convince anyone that this time-honoured salver is a silver cup. So maybe they're going to melt it down and give it new life as a bright new silver cup?

Certainly, it's an awkward enough bit of kit, and getting it all the way home on the post-championship Sunday night in the old days in the ancient MG TD made for a cramped journey. But that's hardly the case these days with everyone driving SUVs.

Thus the question stands: Is our much-loved if awkward silver salver going to be melted down for conversion into a more convenient cup in order to fit the new event title? We think we should be told.

2004 Athens 470 Olympic partnership Ger Owens and Ross Killian teamed up again to win the 2021 All Ireland Sailing Championships in convincing style at Royal Cork Yacht Club this afternoon. 

After three wins put Owens, representing the GP14 class, firmly into Sunday's final, the dinghy champion then scored another unassailable 3, 3, 1, 1 into today's breezy final raced inside Cork Harbour.

Owens of the Royal St. George Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire Harbour previously won the silver salver trophy 21 years ago, as WM Nixon reports here.

Squib representative Ross Kearney was runner up

Squib representative Ross Kearney finished second overall, a point behind with Owens clubmate Laser Radial sailor Sean Craig taking third place in the eight boat final raced in National 18 Ultras.

As per the forecast, Sunday's final certainly lived up to its heavy air billing, putting a premium on a 90kg wireman.

There was at least one capsize among the borrowed fleet of N18s in the strong winds.

There was also a disappointing retiral from ICRA 2 rep Nigel Biggs.  "We just found our 148kg insufficient to race the boat competitively in 20 knots in the first race today", Biggs told Afloat.

Biggs concluded that there was not much point in thrashing a borrowed boat just to get around the course, so he took the difficult decision not to participate in the remainder of the day.

"Pretty gutted as we were quick yesterday, but at least we live to fight another day", he said.

Sean Craig representing the Radial class was third overall Photo: Bob Bateman.

All Ireland Sailing Championships 2021 Overall 

All Ireland Sailing Championships 2021 Overall 

 All Ireland Sailing Finals Photo Gallery By Bob Bateman

Six sailors from a fleet of sixteen have secured their places in tomorrow's All Ireland Sailing Championships at Royal Cork Yacht Club and there have been some surprises on those filling the repechage ranks now looking for two remaining places in Sunday's finals. 

Ger Owens of the GP14s took three wins from three races to secure his place. Hammy Baker of the Flying Fifteens, equally consistent with three seconds, and Ross Kearney of the Squibs both go through with Owens to the final from the second eight boat flight. 

Ewen Barry of the host class, Nigel Biggs of ICRA Class Two and Sean Craig of the Radials qualified from the first flight.

There were ideal racing conditions inside Cork Harbour that prevailed for the annual competition being sailed in National 18 Ultras. 

Finalist Sean Craig of the Laser Radials sailing with Tadhg Donnelly Photo: Bob Bateman

The regatta consisted of two qualifying flights, a repêchage and a Final. The top 3 from each flight will qualify for the Final. Those placed from 4 to 7 in a flight will be invited to compete in a 2-race repêchage series to determine who fills the last two places in the Final.

Those fighting for a place in the final tomorrow include a local favourite Robert O'Leary of the 1720 class, sailing with brother Peter, and the defending champion Michael O'Connor of the SB20 class.

All Ireland Sailing Championships 2021 - Day One Results

Flight One - All Ireland Sailing Championships 2021

Flight Two - All Ireland Sailing Championships 2021

See Bob Bateman's All Ireland Sailing Photo Gallery below

We've been waiting a year to use this header photo which – owing to a certain confusion in the filing of thousands of photographic negs and images – has had to be scanned from the November 1970 issue of Irish Yachting & Motorboating, the direct predecessor of Afloat Magazine and Afloat.ie.

But while there's still a certain contemporary feel to the energising group photo of half a century and more ago, the cover of that evidently ancient periodical does indeed speak of a distant past, of a summer's evening at Skerries when the Herons were still in the ascendant as the favoured junior class, and life moved at a more sensible pace in the quaint delusion that we were moving into an even more relaxed era to be known as The Leisure Age.

In a sense we have. Except that it turns out that 21st Century Leisure is extremely hard work, lived at such a ferocious pace that we very quickly forget the details of what we've just done as we shape ourselves for the next exhausting bit of relaxing sport. And thus something like a straightforward record and overview of what actually happened rapidly fades from the collective memory on the mistaken assumption that someone must be keeping an enduring tab on it all, a clear case of everyone's business being no one's business.

The way we were, more than half a century ago on a summer's evening in Skerries

Thus you'd be surprised by how often organisers have to refer to the inscriptions on a silver trophy to verify the names of who previously won it, and when. In such circumstances, having one core event which provides a simple recorded backbone of the progress of our sport has obvious appeal, even if sailing is a non-mechanical vehicle sport involving boats of many different types, and the inherent contradictions of expecting sailors to give of their best in boats they don't usually sail would be utterly blatant, were it not for the fact that in a surprising number of years, the eventual winner is not the representative of the class in which the Championship of the Champions is being sailed.

The Champion of our Sailing Champions, sailing's All-Ireland? Our sailing community first ran with the idea 74 years ago. And while other countries have since come up with their own versions with varying levels of success which have sometimes reduced annually until fading away, we've simply kept the Helmsman's Championship – as it was called at its inauguration in 1947 – on the road in one form or another. And now with, a Junior Championship traditionally held a week in advance, it's as much an established a part of our lives as……well, as Christmas.

Clayton Love Jnr of Cork, Helmsman's Champion in 1955 and 1960. He was instrumental in transforming the Irish Dinghy Racing Association into the Irish Yachting Association, and in 1966-67 he brought about the unification of the Royal Munster YC and the Royal Cork YC in time for the Royal Cork's Quarter Millennium Celebrations in 1969-1970.

But while Christmas has gone through many mutations to reach its current over-the-top version, the All-Ireland Helmsman's Championship - in both its Senior and Junior versions – is a very focused affair of intense interest among those who have qualified to take part and those who organise it, yet it has never become the spectator-attracting spectacle some might expect.

Admittedly, were the resources available to cover it with the sort of technological wizardry that the likes of Stan Honey and others have developed for the international mega-events, there'd be greater interest at the time. But that wouldn't result in spectators being out on the water as September turns into October and suddenly there's a real nip in the air, for all you'd need is access to a functioning screen and somewhere warm to sit.

Ted Crosbie of Cork was Helmsmans Champion in 1950. Photo: Robert Bateman   

Either way, it is very important to the Irish sailing community to know that each year, the All-Ireland Sailing Championship takes place. So much so that coming into last year, in pre-pandemic times, it had been assumed for years by everyone - in a bit of remarkable subconscious groupthink- that it would be the concluding event of the Tricentenary Celebrations of the Royal Cork at Crosshaven, just as fifty years earlier it had concluded the Quarter Millennial celebrations.

Boats of all the leading classes have been used, and in 1982 Dave Cummins of Sutton, crewed by Gordon Maguire and Mossie Shanahan, was winner in the Shannon One Designs racing at Dromineer. Photo: W M Nixon

This weekend, one pandemic-induced year's hiatus further down the line, we pick up the pieces in order to keep the golden thread intact while being acutely aware that after an exceptionally clement September, the first weekend of October is indicating wind patterns which may be volatile and then some. We can only hope, and meanwhile Afloat.ie has been looking at the runners and riders here

To date, there has only been one female winner, and this was Laura Dillon of Howth in 1996.  

But in this year of all years, it behoves us to remember those who have gone before, right back to 1947 when Douglas Heard, founding president of the shape-shifting Irish Dinghy Racing Association in 1946, presented the nascent association with a large silver salver for a Champion of Champions in 1947, and to his embarrassment was the first winner, racing in the new IDRA 14s.

Since then, other names have come to the fore at various stages of their successful sailing careers, other boat types have been used, and many different locations have hosted an event which arguably works because the Irish sailing community is notably cohesive, and it - and the island around which it sails - appear to be of precisely the size which best accommodates a somewhat eccentric contest of this nature.

The winner in 2014 at Howth was Cork's Anthony O'Leary racing a J/80 and crewed by Dylan Gannon and Dan O'Grady. Photo: Johnny Wormald

In 2015 Anthony O'Leary retained the title, racing J/80s again, but this time in Dublin Bay at the National YC. Photo: Afloat.ie/David O'Brien

Inevitably you remember some wins better than others, and I thought 2014's last-ditch victory by Anthony O'Leary racing J/80s at Howth was something very special, for that was the year he carried the Commodore's Cup team to victory largely on his own shoulders, and it was remarkable that at season's end he still found something in reserve to win out in a contest of such a very different type.

Others will have their own favourite wins to contemplate in this long litany of outstanding sailors. It's a record of sailing achievement which reverberates down the ages. And when the winner holds the salver aloft, for a few seconds, the world really does stand still as we contemplate the wonder of Irish sailing.

All Ireland Sailing Winners 1947-2019

Year	Senior Winner	Junior Winner	Junior First Girl
2019 2018	Michael O’Connor Peter Kennedy	Chris Bateman Atlee Kohl	Alana Coakley
2017	Fionn Lyden	Micheal O’Suilleabhain	Leah Rickard
2016	Alex Barry	Johnny Durcan	Kate Lyttle
2015	Anthony O'Leary	Peter McCann	Clare Gorman
2014	Anthony O'Leary	Harry Durkan	Gemma McDowell
2013	Ben Duncan	Séafra Guilfoyle	Megan Parker
2012	Peter O'Leary	Fionn Lyden	Aisling Keller
2011	George Kenefick
2010	Nicholas O'Leary	Philip Doran	Sophie Murphy
2009	Nicholas O'Leary	Matthew O'Dowd	Diana Kissane
2008	Nicholas O'Leary	Philip Doran	Tiffany Brien
2007	Stefan Hyde	Chris Penney	Annalise Murphy
2006	Peter O'Leary	George Kenefick	Rachel Guy
2005	David Crosbie	Fionn Jenkinson	Lisa Tate
2004	Tom Fitzpatrick	Katie Tingle
2003	Neil Hegarty	Erica Tate & Lorraine Stallard
2002	Conor Walsh	Robert Collins & Kenny Keogh
2001	Feargal Kinsella	Peter Bayly & Niall Cowman
2000	Gerald Owens	Peter O'Leary
1999	Mark Mansfield	Nicholas O'Leary
1998	Tom Fitzpatrick	Gerald Owens
1997	Tom Fitzpatrick	Neil Spain
1996	Laura Dillon	Gerald Owens
1995	Ruan O'Tiarnaigh	Laura Dillon
1994	Tom Fitzpatrick	Evan Dolan
1993	Sean Craig	Evan Dolan
1992	John Ross Murphy	Tom Fitzpatrick
1991	Mark Lyttle	Tom Fitzpatrick
1990	Mark Mansfield	Robert Eason
1989	Marshall King	Conal Casey
1988	John Murtagh	J McWilliam
1987	Mark Lyttle	Dan O'Grady
1986	Mark Lyttle	T McWilliam
1985	Paul Rowan	Nicky Timon
1984	Paul Rowan	Niall Alexander
1983	Brian Craig	Niall Alexander
1982	David Cummins	Michael Stavely
1981	David Cummins	Mark Lyttle
1980	T W Whisker	Justin Maguire
1979	Chris Arrowsmith	Justin Maguire
1978	Wiclif McCready	John Gilmore
1977	Wiclif McCready	Mark O'Hare
1976	Adrian Bell	Bryan Maguire
1975	David Gay	Joseph English
1974	Peter Duffy	Alan McFarlane
1973	Owen Delany	David McFarlane
1972	Harold Cudmore	Robert Bleakney
1971	Adrian Bell
1970	Robert Dix
1969	Maurice R Butler
1968	Vincent Delany
1967	T C M Morris
1966	John F Russell
1965	James Nixon
1964	J K O'Reilly
1963	Owen Delany
1962	G M Sargent
1961	M C Walsh
1960	J Clayton Love Jnr
1959	J O McCleary
1958	J K O'Reilly
1957	J Somers Payne
1956	J Somers Payne
1955	J Clayton Love Jnr
1954	Neville D Maguire
1953	Johnny Hooper
1952	Neville D Maguire
1951	Richard Uren
1950	Ted Crosbie
1949	Richard Uren
1948	John Wearing
1947	R Douglas Heard

When time stands still – 2018 winner Peter Kennedy of Strangford Lough YC and his crewman Stephen Kane hold their trophies aloft after winning in SB20s at Lough Ree YC. Photo: ISA

50mph winds forecast for Saturday morning's first gun may yet cause problems for the 2021 All Ireland Sailing Championships at Royal Cork Yacht Club in Crosshaven this weekend. 

Sixteen invitees from the fleets of cruisers, one-design keelboats and IRC cruisers will race in National 18 dinghies for the annual celebration of the sport.

A complete list of invitees for the Cork Harbour competition is below. A class nominates competitors for their achievements subject to specific guidelines. Significantly the invitees are all male. 

A 2004 Athens Olympic partnership gets back together for the event as GP14 representative Ger Owens takes crew Ross Killian with him for his trapeze skills. Owens has made a clean sweep of the GP14 season.

Ger Owens

On form ICRA representative Nigel Biggs won the IRC 2 crown in August and the Flying Fifteen East Coasts in September, an indication that switching boats is no obstacle to the Howth sailor. 

Early weather forecasts indicate Saturday will be unsailable in Cork Harbour

This year, there's a strong representation from the Royal St George Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire with five members competing, including former winner Sean Craig who races this year with the NYC's Tadhg Donnelly. 

Wild card invitees include Laser sailor Tom Higgins sailing with his brother Jack. Robert O'Leary from the 1720 class will sail with his brother Peter, a partnership well forged in the Star keelboat.

National 18s racing in Cork Harbour

This year's National 18 champion Ewen Barry is also competing. 

European Champion Charlie Cullen – the youngest competitor at just 19 – is a first-time nomination for the foiling Waszp class; Philip Doran with brother Simon; 2019 All Ireland champion Michael O'Connor of the SB20 class will sail with his winning crew from previous years, Davy Taylor.

Charlie Cullen

Hammy Baker, President of the Irish Flying Fifteen class, and RYA Northern Ireland's Performance Director is competing. Fellow Northern Ireland ace JP McCaldin from Lough Erne is representing the J/24 keelboat class.

Hammy Baker

Strong westerlies are forecast from early on Saturday morning. While the harbour has plenty of sheltered race areas, the competition relies on the generosity of owners donating boats. Strong winds bring with it the risk of damage to the borrowed fleet, especially as the poor forecast exists for the whole weekend.

2021 All Ireland Sailing Invitees

Michael O'Connor	SB20/2019 Champ	Royal St. George Yacht Club	Davy Taylor
Nigel Biggs	ICRA 2	Howth Yacht Club	Daragh Sheridan
Ger Owens	GP14	Royal St. George Yacht Club	Ross Killian
Philip Doran	SB20	National Yacht Club	Simon Doran
Robert O'Leary	1720	Baltimore Sailing Club	Peter O'Leary
Marty O'Leary	RS400	Greystones Sailing Club	Kevin Johnson
JP Mccaldin	J24	Lough Erne Yacht Club	Carolyn Mccaldin
Ross Kearney	Squib	Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club	Geoff Edwards
Harman Murtagh	SOD	Lough Ree Yacht Club	Jonathan Horgan
Sean Craig	Laser radial	Royal St. George Yacht Club	Tadhg Donnelly
Alistair Kissane	Waterwag	Howth Yacht Club/National Yacht Club	Conor Kinsella
Charlie Cullen	Waszp	Royal St. George Yacht Club	Ben Hogan
Tom Higgins	Laser Standard	Royal St. George Yacht Club	Jack Higgins
Patrick Boardman	ICRA 1	Rush Sailing Club/Howth Yacht Club	David Kelly
Hammy Baker	Flying Fifteen	Strangford Lough YC / Quoile YC	Steven Kane
Ewen Barry	National 18	Royal Cork Yacht Club	Dion Barrett

Due to the ongoing COVID restrictions and the format of the event, Irish Sailing has cancelled its Senior All Ireland Sailing Championships.

Planning continues however for the Junior All Ireland Sailing Championships taking place on 26 & 27th September at Fastnet Marine and Outdoor Education Centre in Schull, subject to government restrictions.

The decision to cancel the Irish Sailing Senior All Irelands was taken with full consultation with all our stakeholders – the Royal Cork Yacht Club, National 18 committee, boat owners and volunteers and we would like to thank all those involved who have worked so hard to get to this stage.

Royal Cork's Chris and Olin Bateman winners of the 2019 Junior title in Schull. The event sails again next month at the same venue

The 2021 Irish Sailing Senior All Ireland Championship will take place at the Royal Cork YC in National 18s, 2 & 3 October.

Harry Hermon, CEO of Irish Sailing commented “we are really disappointed that we’ve had to cancel the Senior All Irelands – it’s very important to us - a veteran of the sailing calendar and one that always produces the highest calibre of racing. But as always the health and safety of sailors and volunteers is our number one priority, and in the light of the ongoing Covid-19 situation and the complexities arising from this including the multiple changeovers of boats and crew, it became clear the event could not take place. We’re delighted however that the Junior All Ireland Championships are still scheduled for the end of September, and we’re looking forward to a weekend of super racing from some of the best talents in youth sailing ”

Only in Ireland could it be like this. We hear that of many things in this curious island of ours. But the varying sailing, location and personal backgrounds of the sixteen helmspersons competing in this weekend’s All-Ireland Helmsmans Championship at the National Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire really does bring it all home. The Irish Sailing community is a very odd and idiosyncratic bunch - there’s no doubt about it – and their interests afloat and ashore are many, with the Select Sixteen reflecting this.

Plus that, we could comfortably devote an entire blog to the stories of the many different classes which have produced their representatives of national standard to compete for the big salver in Dun Laoghaire’s Flying Fifteen this morning, without devoting a single word to what those people are, and how they got to be top of their particular sailing pyramid.

They’ve drawn the short straw….crew Chris Doorly (left) and helm Dave Gorman are in the uniquely demanding position of current Irish Champions in the Flying Fifteen Class, the boat of choice for this weekend’s All-Irelands at the National Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire. Photo: Afloat

For sailing is first and foremost a vehicle sport, and it’s a distinctly oddball sailor who is not at least slightly fascinated by the boats he or she sails, and their potential for improvement. Yet while being something of an intelligent boat nerd undoubtedly helps, it’s the realisation that sheer sailing talent and having the right mind-set which gives that edge in the heat of competition, and it has been fascinating to see how top helms from other classes have been carefully picking crews to ensure that they’re better armed to take on the established skills of Flying Fifteen National Champions.

We ran the provisional list last week in giving a 72-year history of the event, but this morning’s up-to-date entry lineup shows some fine-tuning of personnel which adds an extra spice to the championship. 

Helm	Class	Club	Crew Name
Cathy MacAleavey	Water Wags	National Yacht Club	Con Murphy
Robert Espey	RS400	Ballyholme Yacht Club	Stephen Milne
David Gorman	Flying Fifteen	National Yacht Club	Chris Doorly
Sean Craig	Laser Radial	Royal St. George Yacht Club	Alan Greene
Peter Kennedy	2018 Champion (SB20)	Strangford Lough Yacht Club	Stephen Kane
Darren Wright	ICRA IRC 2	Howth Yacht Club	Matt Alvarado
Rory Fekkes	ICRA IRC 3	Carrickfergus Sailing Club	Paul Fekkes
Jonathan Horgan	Shannon One Design	Lough Derg Yacht Club	Carden Kent
John Sheehy	Team Racing	Royal St. George Yacht Club	Darragh O'Connor
Ronan Wallace	Laser Standard	Wexford Harbour Boat & Tennis Club	Brendan Wallace
Michael O'Connor	SB20	Royal St. George Yacht Club	Davy Taylor
Gordon Patterson	Squib	Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club	Ross Nolan
Paddy Dillon	Mermaids	Rush Sailing Club	Johnny Dillon
Shane MacCarthy	GP14	Greystones Sailing Club	Stephen Boyle
Colm O'Flaherty	J24	Sligo Yacht Club	Dave O'Connor
Wyatt Orsmond	Multihull IMA	Swords Sailing Club	Patrick Billington

Yet with the boats being raced without the use of spinnakers, an inherent advantage of Flying Fifteen experience is removed at a stroke. And in any case, as pointed out last week, in racing against defending Helmsmans Championship title-holder Peter Kennedy of Strangford Lough with regular crew Stephen Kane, Gorman is up against a top SB 20 sailor who has Flying Fifteen sailing skill in his genes, as Peter’s parents Terence and Bridget were Flying Fifteen British Champions in 1962 (when that was the class’s main title), and his home club of Strangford Lough YC is imbued with a history of Flying Fifteen success, the most memorable being Bill Carson who became a world champion.
It puts extra pressure on National F/F Champion Dave Gorman of the home club with regular crewman Chris Doorly, for in this 50th year of the Flying Fifteen class in Dun Laoghaire - with the F/F Worlds 2019 staged by the club in Dublin Bay in September - the spotlight is on the Gorman/Doorly combo three times over.

Olympian Peter Kennedy (right) after winning the SB 20 Nationals in Dun Laoghaire in June 2018 which provided his route into the 2018 All-Ireland at Lough Ree (in SB 20s) in October, which he duly won, and now like his parents he’s racing a Flying Fifteen to defend the title

As it happened, Bill was the agent for that curious baked-plastic wood substitute Tufnol. In order to demonstrate its versatility, he built a Flying Fifteen entirely in Tufnol, and sailed the boat (called Ffreek) so well that be won the 1958 trophy. The usual armchair pundits were somewhat sniffy about this promotion of Tufnol as being arguably a professional entry, but the years have passed, and now it’s only remembered that 61 years ago, Bill Carson of Whiterock won the big championship in the Flying Fifteens in a Tufnol boat, while the comparable successes of others have been long forgotten.

Past success is not something which is forgotten with the sole woman contender, Cathy MacAleavey, who is being crewed by her husband Con Murphy. This is a formidable combination, and as they had a period of “very enjoyable” racing with the Dun Laoghaire Flying Fifteen fleet, they bring a special element of boat knowledge to add to their other multiple experience which includes Olympic participation in 1988 by Cathy and a Round Ireland Record together with Steve Fossett on the 60ft trimaran Lakota in 1993 – a superb record which stood for years.

Another family-flavoured entry is drawn from the ICRA ranks with Rory Fekkes of Carrickfergus SC being crewed by his father Paul, who was GP 14 World Champion with Rory’s uncle Mark in 1991 when they sailed for East Antrim Boat Club in Larne.

The Fekkes originally were a Dutch family who provided the crew on one of those characterful little Dutch freight-carrying coasters which were a common sight on the coasts of Europe until containerisation changed the structure of shipping completely. But before that happened, the first Fekkes came into Larne on their little ship the Noah in the 1960s, and simply decided to stay.

Classic Dutch coaster of the 1940s to ’70s – the head of Fekkes family arrived into Larne aboard one called Noah in the 1960s, and decided to stay Photo: Afloat
Now, sixty years later and with a new generation moving centre stage, Paul and his young son Rory bought a bog-standard Beneteau First 8 in Greystones and souped her up to a very high level, even going so far as to paint her black so folk might think she’s carbon fibre throughout….

The Fekkes team on their way to success aboard F’n Gr8, with Rory (left) on helm and father Paul (centre) maintaining a tactical overview. Photo Afloat.ie/David O’Brien

Whatever the colour, the memorably-named F’n Gr8 was always at the sharpest part of the sharp end of IRC 3 in Scotland, Cork and Dublin Bay during the 2019 season, and while the move into Flying Fifteens will be depriving Rory Fekkes of the advantages in racing a boat of which he knows every cubic millimetre, a sage observer of the County Antrim sailing scene tells us that having Paul Fekkes as your crew is always good for an extra percentage of boat speed and an added injection of sound tactics, and the dynamics of the sailing relationship in the Fekkes son-and-father combo is a wonder to behold.

Also from Belfast Lough, this time from the south shore, are the Squib Class National Champion (and many other 2019 Squib championships) Gordon Patterson of RNIYC Cultra, who reached the top this past summer sailing the 50-year-old Fagan crewed by Ross Nolan, and they’ll be together again this weekend.

Gordon Patterson and Ross Nolan, overall Squib champions in the 50-year-old Fagan (RNIYC)

Cultra also saw success for Rob Espey and Stephen Milne of Ballyholme, who raced in the big-fleet RS 400 British & Irish Championships at RNIYC in August, and came second overall and Irish National Champions while they were at it. So after Chris and Olin Bateman won the Junior Championship last weekend in Schull with Chris being in it on the strength of his RS 200 National title, it will be interesting to see how the big brothers from the fast-moving RS 400 transfer to the more sedate yet tactics-and-technique-laden world of Flying Fifteen racing at national and senior level.

RS 400 in full flight on Belfast Lough, where Rob Espey of Balyholme won the Irish National title at Cultra

For make no mistake about it, the level is very high in this weekend series with the popular GP 14 class making a remarkable input, as there are two former GP 14 World Champions taking part. Paul Fekkes won it in 1991, while Shane MacCarthy of Greystones won it in 2016. McCarthy has added the 2019 Irish GP 14 title to his trophy list racing with Damian Bracken at Skerries, but for this weekend’s racing in Dublin Bay he has recruited Stephen Boyle, who formerly raced Flying Fifteens with success with Sean Craig.

Shane MacCarthy racing his Solo. In addition to successfully racing GP 14s, Shane McCarthy has also been on the podium in the big-fleet season-long multi-location Solo Series in England, placing third overall.

Shane MacCarthy has another sailing life entirely as a top helm in the attractive Solo single-hander – he has placed third overall in the well-supported season-long Solo series in England this year, and meanwhile Sean Craig – having been champion helm in 1993 at Larne in GP14s – is in the mix this weekend as the Laser Radial representative, and he has brought in F/F ace Alan Greene as crew to give a formidable boost to his chances.

Sean Craig of Dun Laoghaire with the Salver in 1993, when he won it racing in GP 14s at Larne. He’s back this year as Laser Radial champion

Also busy on the rockstar recruitment trail has been the IRC 4 and Irish Half-Ton Champion Darren Wright from Howth, who has professional form in this rockstar lineup business, as anyone who saw the nightly shows he laid on at the Howth Wave regatta event in 2018 will readily attest. For this weekend, he has hit the bullseye by hauling in Matt Alvarado – Bronze Medallist at the F/F Worlds last month – to operate the front end of the boat and help with calling the shots.

Helmsman Darren Wright of Howth (left) with the crew of Mata after winning the Irish Half-Ton Championship in Kinsale in June. For the Helmsman's Championship in Flying Fifteens, he has recruited Matt Alvarado (Bronze Medallist in F/F Worlds 2019) as crew
As defending champion Peter Kennedy emerged from the SB 20s last year, this growing class – with the effervescent John Malone from Lough Ree YC as new top honcho – should never be underestimated, particularly as their representative Michael O’Connor of Royal St George can include the SB20 World Corinthian Champion in his CV.

All these and most of the other contenders come from the familiar world of mono-hulls, but the Irish Multihull Association is making its pitch in the interesting person of Wyatt Orsmond, who is another life is Mr Eva Orsmond, consort of the TV personality. But despite living in Greystones, he does his main multi-hull racing to championship title level with Swords Sailing Club on the Broadmeadow Water in Fingal, and his crew this weekend in Dun Laoghaire will be Patrick Billington from Wicklow, which seems to suggest that multiple locations are an integral part of multihull racing.

Wyatt Orsmond, helm for the Irish Multihull Association
So in all it’s a lineup well reflective of modern Irish sailing life, and half a dozen helms and maybe more are certainly in there with a shout. As to the expected weather, what can we say in the aftermath of Storm Lorenzo?

When he was a Fisheries Inspector for the unofficial Provisional Government set up by Sinn Fein in Dublin’s Mansion House in 1919, global circumnavigator O’Brien patrolled the west coast of Connacht in his ketch Kelpie, and he was wont to observe of the utterly barren north end of the Mullet Peninsula in northwest Mayo that it was so devoid of any distinguishing features that it scarcely constituted a coastline at all, and left any observers in a very bewildered frame of mind.

So although Lorenzo was going fine until he got off that north end of Mullet, the very place seemed to cause him to collapse in on himself. Seldom can a post-tropical storm have evaporated so quickly. Maybe his strength was sucked away somehow by the nearby presence of the Corrib Gas Field.

Whatever, weather prediction is a doubly-cautious business at the moment, but with any luck the 2019 Irish Sailing All-Ireland Helmsman’s Championship at Dun Laoghaire will enjoy a southerly breeze today (Saturday), albeit with a spot of rain, and a clearer nor’westerly wind tomorrow which may fade as the day goes on, but we’ve no doubt the Dun Laoghaire machine will function efficiently to put through what promises to be a fascinating programme.