#TrySailing - No boat is required nor previous sailing experience necessary for teenagers who want to try sailing with the National Yacht Club this summer.

Two introductory courses will run from 6-16 June and 10-21 July in Dun Laoghaire specifically for teenagers who would like to try sailing but don’t want to learn among a group of much younger children.

Interested teens will be sailing with other beginner sailors of a similar age in groups of three to four using club boats, making for a great introduction to the sport in a fun and social environment.

More details are available on the NYC website HERE.

#NYC - The National Yacht Club’s youth sailing section marks its golden jubilee with a weekend of celebration on Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 May.

Festivities kick off on the Saturday evening with a reunion dinner (€35pp) for those who were members of the Junior Section in its first five years between 1967 and 1972.

If you were a member of the Junior Section during these years, please send your contact details to [email protected] – the club would love you to attend the festivities, which promise to be a happy trip down memory lane.

On Sunday there will be a family fun day with a number of sailing races held in front of the clubhouse, featuring past and present junior parents, members, and organisers.

As well as sailing, there will be a BBQ and plenty of fun activities ashore – a day for all NYC members and families to enjoy.

Registration for the Sunday fun racing is available on the NYC website HERE.

#NYC - The National Yacht Club hosts an evening for new and prospective members tonight (Friday 28 April) from 7pm to 9pm at the Dun Laoghaire clubhouse’s main dining room.

The evening promises an opportunity to learn about the club’s activities headed into the summer sailing season and year round.

Upcoming opportunities include adult sailing courses that begin in mid May, for those either looking to try sailing for the first time or build on their skills.

New members families and friends are also welcome to attend and explore the many club activities both on and off the water.

Places have been going fast but there may be some openings remaining - contact [email protected] for details.

The National Yacht Club looks set to gain Royal Ocean Racing Club recognition for its mini–offshore Dun Laoghaire Dingle race as David O'Brien reports in the Irish Times Sailing Column this morning. 

The Dun Laoghaire Dingle application is well timed because RORC Commodore Michael Boyd says the London–based club is keen to encourage RORC racing across the UK, not just Channel races.

The June 14th race – first hosted by the NYC and County Kerry’s Dingle Sailing Club in 1993 – is working closely with Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC) and the Irish Sea Offshore Racing Association (ISORA) to develop the “mini-offshore” into an international race.

Incoming race chairman Adam Winkelmann is adding extra spice by adding a new title sponsor and recruiting a French Mini–Transat fleet.

RORC will assess this Volvo-sponsored edition of the race with a view to adding the race to its points series in 2019.

Read the full story in the Irish Times here and more on this year's D2D race here

Dun Laoghaire's National Yacht Club gathered on Saturday to salute top club achievements from 2016. Ten annual awards for outstanding sailing were presented ranging from cruising endeavours to Olympic campaigns. There is no surprise that club member Annalise Murphy topped the awards with her Olympic Silver Medal being the defining moment of the Irish sailing year.

In cruising, The Township Cup went to Jim Gorman for his cruise to Norway. Marcus Higgins was awarded The Muglins Cup for his adventurous cruise on his Vega 27 thorugh the Canal du Midi to Sardinia.

In the offshore racing category, Brian and John Hall  were awarded the Boyne Regatta Cup for their victory in the Scottish Series.

In one design racing, The O'Leary Cup went to Mick Leahy and John Power for their performance in the Beneteau 31.7 Levante in both DBSC and regattas in 2016.

View a slide show of the 2016 recipients by Joe Fallon below:

Yesterday's Laser Leinster Championships at the National Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire has started a two week period of Laser dinghy racing action on Dublin Bay in advance of next week's KBC Laser Radial World Championships.

Yesterday's prizegiving saluted winners in Standard, Radial and 4.7 divisions.

For a report and results click here. 

Following the very positive feedback on its club paddle-boards last season, the National Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire is carry-on diversifying its water sports activities and has taken delivery of nine RTM Ocean Duo sea-kayaks, thanks to the support of the Sport Capital Grant 2015 programme.
The RTM Ocean Duos are open but stable kayaks and can easily take two adults or even three people “on deck” with a child in the middle or three teenagers.
The sea-kayaks will join the NYC's existing and expanding fleet of Club sailing boats.

A much loved club launch belonging to the National Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire has been wrecked in southerly gales on Dublin Bay. It follows the reported theft of the launch at the weekend that subsequently became the subject of a search and rescue operation when the vessel became entangled in lobster pots in nearby Scotsman's Bay.  

The 20–foot boat that ferried club members to and from yacht moorings was wrecked at the back of the pier before the club could retrieve it.

Read our earlier story on the NYC launch rescue here

Moorings in front of the National Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire will be removed next season because of repair works being carried out on the East Pier's Number One berth. 

According to an Afloat.ie source, Dun Laoghaire Harbour Company has told the club that a barge will 'operate from the south end of No. 2 berth (Carlisle Pier) and the East Pier and its track being through the existing moorings'.

The NYC has several mooring trots in this location and is used for a dozen or so small boats, RIBs and Ruffian 23 keelboats.

It is understood the moorings will be removed from June 2016 until sometime in 2017.

#lift–in – A Time-lapse video by Declan Tonge of the morning's lift-in at the National Yacht Club (NYC) Dun Laoghaire last weekend, squashing 3.5 hours into just under 3 mins.

A mobile crane comes to the club at the start of the sailing season, and lifts all the boats off their cradles & trailers back into the sea so they can go back onto their harbour moorings for sailing over the Summer months.

The clip was shot between 07:10 - 10:45 on Saturday morning and made up of 4292 individual photos taken at 3-4 sec intervals.