In electricity-generating circles, wave power may be seen as a potential though often challenging way of generating energy. But in Howth, energy and Wave power seem to have got together to have everything in mutually beneficial co-ordination for the biennial Wave Regatta, starting this Friday (May 24th) and concluding Sunday.
The latest high-powered entries to push the total towards the hundred mark are both from the Royal Irish YC’s own private power-house in the form of the Goodbody family’s silver-bedecked J/109 White Mischief, and the Burke syndicate’s First 40 Prima Forte, a breeze-loving boat.
She’s silver-bedecked. The Goodbody family’s J/109 White Mischief (Royal Irish YC) will be lining up for serious competition at Howth this Friday. Photo: Afloat.ie
But as to whether or not Prima Forte will get her favoured conditions remains to be seen. For although the forecasts suggest the racing will begin with ridge-induced northerlies and conclude with a brisk southerly, the fact is that most forecasts for Howth have been off-target or just plain wrong for at least six weeks now, however accurate (or not) they may have been for other places. Folk on the peninsula have expecting the right type of rain to help new lawns along, but a good rainfall of any kind has yet to occur, whatever might be happening in nearby Ireland or across channel in Wales.
WEATHER PREDICTIONS FOR HOWTH HAVE TO BE UNPREDICTABLE
So whether a really good weather pattern will develop remains to be seen, for as far as the Howth Peninsula is concerned, any recent predictions pointed to it ultimately being unpredictable.
Meanwhile, another theme which has recently been rising on the agenda is local pride. And we mean really local, not regional. Thus our recent piece about the remarkable performances that have been put in by North Fingal cruiser-racers such as Storm and King One from Rogerstown, Rush and Skerries, with an intriguing direct but almost-hidden link to West Cork, havr drawn a blast from on high, and we really mean on high.
For it seems that the skipper we think of as the Admiral of the Royal Hills of the Naul Yacht Squadron thinks his local place should get a fair shout, as he can see all from his resident Naul eyrie, and it helps in crew-recruiting to encourage ultra-local pride. And after all, when he and his team came down from the Fingal Alps aka the Naul Hills last year, they won the ICRA Nationals at Howth, and they’ll be back again on Friday with the J/109 Outrajeous.
Kilian’s of The Naul might be a potential HQ for the Royal Hills of The Naul Yacht Squadron
RURAL ENTHUSIASM CAN BE CHANNELED
This idea of very rural communities having some sailing focus seems odd until we consider the Chipping Norton Yacht Club. It’s in the heart of the Cotswolds in the midst of England and more than a hundred miles from the nearest sea. Yet as each weekend approaches, sea sailing enthusiasts stream southwards from CN, mostly with the RORC programme in mind, and return exhausted but happily salt-stained and wind-battered late on Sunday night.
Yet by Tuesday they’ve started to think slightly enviously of their coast-dwelling fellow sailors gathering in their clubs to talk endlessly about sailing. So the Chipping Norton Yacht Club came into being to inflict a sailing-clothing-wearing boat-talking group on the local pub every Tuesday evening
Maybe it’s time to start thinking of getting a sailing photo or two hung on the walls of Killian’s in The Naul. For now, the good news is that Wave 2024 from Friday onwards is starting to look very interesting indeed. Watch this space.
