Displaying items by tag: Mermaid Nationals

11th August 2014

Rush Mermaid Championships Hit By Strong Winds

#mermaid – Strong winds gusting to 35–knots forced the cancellation of the first race of the Mermaid Sailing Association National Championships 2014 at Rush Sailing Club yesterday.
The annual event for the three man dinghy class, which typically starts with the Rockabill Trophy as a first race prize was scrubbed as strong winds hit the north Dublin venue. Racing continues this morning (more strong winds are forecast) and runs until 15th August.

Published in Mermaid

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Carthy Wins Opening Race of Mermaid Week

After a two hour postponement the slack winds filled in for a Race Officer Liam Dinneen allowing him to run today's first race of Mermaid week in near perfect conditions with NW 9 knots and sunshine. There are thirty three boats racing, from clubs in the Dublin area, Wexford and of course Foynes. The oldest boat sailing this week is No. 11 Oonagh built in 1937 whilst the newest boat is No. 188 Innocence built in 1997.

All age groups are sailing from pre-teen to some in their eighties. There are five pairs for brothers helming ten competing boats - Enda and Anthony Weldon from Rush, James and Vincent McCormack from Foynes, James's sons Darragh and Mark McCormack, Jim and Anthony Carthy from Rush and veterans Shay and Martin O'Toole from Skerries. There are also many husband/wife crews.

Frankie Browne of Skerries in Cara II (No. 135) got a great start and built on his lead during the first beat and again on the first run. He lead for the first eight legs, but on the ninth and last leg he failed to cover effectively and was beaten by Jim Carthy in No. 123 Vee (Rush) in 1st and Jim Dempsey in No. 183 Wannago (Skerries).

The 2009 Champion, Paddy Dillon (131 Wild Wind, Rush) was a solid fourth, with Anthony Carthy (188 Innocence, Rush) in fifth. Derek Joyce (187 Zuleika, Wexford) who had been in the top three also lost out on the last beat and came in sixth.

The winner of the "Daphne" fleet (equivalent of Silver Fleet) was Alan Berg of Rush, sailing No 93 Swallow. The winner of the "Designer" fleet was Mark Boylan in No. 177 This Is It, sailing a boat his father Joe built and sailed for many years. Best local boat was Vincent McCormack in No 119 Three Chevrons.

Racing today starts at 10:30 with live updates on the Mermaid Week website http://www.dublinbaymermaid.org/foynes2010/index_files/Commentary.htm.

Published in Shannon Estuary

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Foynes to Stage Mermaid Championships

Foynes Yacht Club has been chosen to host the Mermaid National Championships. The competition, last hosted in Foynes in 2004, will see almost forty sailing boats of a classic 1950’s design, racing daily for seven days on the estuary waters close to the picturesque and historic port village. The competition brings with it a festival atmosphere, as over a hundred sailors with their families and friends settle in for a week packed with competitive and social activities by day and by night.

A special feature of this year’s competition will be the Family Fun Day which will be held on the Bank Holiday Monday (2nd Aug) and will seek to raise much needed funds for the RNLI. With championship racing finishing early on that day, the club will be thrown open to the public for them to enjoy some fun and frolics both on and off the water. Among other events, a sponsored Mud Splat Obstacle Course Race will make for entertaining viewing and a display from the Coastguard Helicopter is expected.

The club is very pleased to announce that Shannon Foynes Port Company (SFPC) will act as ‘Anchor’ Sponsor for the event. Joint planning activities are well underway to ensure that all activities are run in a safe, efficient and entertaining fashion. The committee and members will now be canvassing financial support from the business community in the Limerick area in an effort to defray the considerable expense to the club of running such a prestigious festival event. In return, sponsors who chose to associate their business with this National Championship will be assured of high exposure of their company name and products, achieved through a range of promotional ideas.

Regular Updates are available on www.foynesyachtclub.com

Published in Racing

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Mermaid Nationals

Ireland & La Solitaire du Figaro

The Solitaire du Figaro, was originally called the course de l’Aurore until 1980, was created in 1970 by Jean-Louis Guillemard and Jean-Michel Barrault.

Half a decade later, the race has created some of France's top offshore sailors, and it celebrated its 50th anniversary with a new boat equipped with foils and almost 50 skippers Including novices, aficionados and six former winners.

The solo multi-stage offshore sailing race is one of the most cherished races in French sailing and one that has had Irish interest stretching back over 20 years due to the number of Irish stopovers, usually the only foreign leg of the French race.

What Irish ports have hosted The Solitaire du Figaro?

The race has previously called to Ireland to the following ports; Dingle, Kinsale, Crosshaven, Howth and Dun Laoghaire.

What Irish sailors have raced The Solitaire du Figaro?

So far there have been seven Irish skippers to participate in La Solitaire du Figaro.

In 1997, County Kerry's Damian Foxall first tackled the Figaro from Ireland. His win in the Rookie division in DHL gave him the budget to compete again the following year with Barlo Plastics where he won the final leg of the race from Gijon to Concarneau. That same year a second Irish sailor Marcus Hutchinson sailing Bergamotte completed the course in 26th place and third Rookie.

In 2000, Hutchinson of Howth Yacht Club completed the course again with IMPACT, again finishing in the twenties.

In 2006, Paul O’Riain became the third Irish skipper to complete the course.

In 2013, Royal Cork's David Kenefick raised the bar by becoming a top rookie sailor in the race.

In 2018, for the first time, Ireland had two Irish boats in the offshore race thanks to Tom Dolan and Joan Mulloy who joined the rookie ranks and kept the Irish tricolour flying high in France. Mulloy became the first Irish female to take on the race.

Tom Dolan in Smurfit Kappa competed for his third year in 2020 after a 25th place finish in 2019. Dolan sailed a remarkably consistent series in 2020 and took fifth overall, the best finish by a non-French skipper since 1997 when Switzerland’s Dominique Wavre finished runner up. Dolan wins the VIVI Trophy.

Dolan finished 10th on the first stage, 11th on the second and seventh into Saint Nazaire at the end of the third stage. Stage four was abandoned due to lack of wind.

Also in 2020, Dun Laoghaire’s Kenneth Rumball became the eleventh Irish sailor to sail the Figaro.

At A Glance – Figaro Race

It starts in June or July from a French port.
The race is split into four stages varying from year to year, from the length of the French coast and making up a total of around 1,500 to 2,000 nautical miles (1,700 to 2,300 mi; 2,800 to 3,700 km) on average.
Over the years the race has lasted between 10 and 13 days at sea.
The competitor is alone in the boat, participation is mixed.
Since 1990, all boats are of one design.