#RS SAILING - Howth Yacht Club hosted 54 boats in three classes for the RS400, RS200 and RS Feva National Championships over the weekend (click HERE for photos).

The Irish version of the 'RS Games' proved a big hit with all competitors. The race management team, headed by PRO David Lovegrove, did a fantastic job to get 10 races in for all three classes in spite of some shifty conditions.

This was all the more impressive as each course change required the moving of up to 10 marks. No mean feat, but the Howth Yacht Club team took it in their stride.

In the RS400 class, bothers Emmet and James Ryan from the Royal St George Yacht Club took the top spot. They didn’t make things easy by using up a discard on the first race of the event and only snatched the win on the last run of the last race having rounded the final weather mark in fourth place.

Greystones class stalwarts Simon Herriott and Tom Moran took second place, while in third place, and the top youth RS400 team, was a very impressive display by Andy Verso and Oisin Baugh, also from Greystones.

In the RS200 class it was another family affair and another Royal St George win with father-and-son pair Sean and Stephen Craig taking first place. It was extremely tight at the top of the 200 fleet with only three points separating the top four boats in the end.

Teams from Greystones filled the next two podium places with Frank and Kevin O’Rourke taking second and last year’s champions Roy Van Maanen and Glen Reid taking third place.

In the Feva class, GB sailors filled the top three slots with Elliott Wells and Jake Todd taking the title on count back from fellow Hayling Island sailors Tom Darling and Will Dolin. Chay and Stirling Taylor took third place.

In the battle for local/Irish bragging rights, Eoin Lyden and Brian Stokes from Cork got one over the Dublin rivals to claim top Irish Feva spot.

Full results can be found at the Howth Yacht Club website at www.hyc.ie, while photos of the event are available HERE.

#420 – The Aqua Restaurant-sponsored 420 National Championships sailed at Howth Yacht Club over the August Bank Holiday Weekend were won in impressive style by the young Royal Cork YC pairing of Patrick Crosbie and Grattan Roberts who took the gun in five of the 9 races and never placed lower than 3rd.

Four races on day one were sailed in fresh but steady winds and two firsts, a second and a third put the Cork crew in a commanding position ahead of the eventual runners-up, Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove of the host club who had two firsts and a second but also had a DSQ.

In lighter, shifting winds on the second day, the Howth crew won the first race of the day but then had a second DSQ while their Cork rivals scored two bullets to stretch their advantage. Two races on the final day saw the honours even between the two front-runners but after discards, Crosbie & Grattan had five points to spare over Dickson & Waddilove.

PRO for the 3-day event was Richard Kissane, assisted by National Race Officers Derek Bothwell and Neil Murphy, with support from Emmet Dalton manning the on-the-water Jury Boat.

The Championship attracted 16 entries from six different clubs and the silver fleet was won by Hugh McGuire and Harry Johnson of the Royal Irish YC. Other prize-winners were:

Tara Flood & Chloe Crosbie (HYC/RCYC) – 1st Ladies Overall

Laragh Lee & Sarah Hyland (RStGYC) – 1st Ladies in Silver Fleet

Philip McDowell & Cian Buckley (MYC) – Youngest Helm & Crew (13+14)

Medb Glackin & Saoirse Kelly (HYC) – Best local boat outside the top 3

Aisling McGowan & Aoife Linnane (CY&BC) - Most sociable boat

Robert Dickson & Sean Waddilove (HYC/SSC), Adam Hyland & Bill Staunton (RStGYC/SSC) and Cian Walsh & Fiachra McHugh (GBSC) are travelling to the Junior Europeans in Lake Garda this week.

Meanwhile, at the 420 world championships with lights winds forcing no racing on Saturday, it looked as though it might be a repeat situation on Sunday's final day at the 2012 420 World Championship. After a tense wait ashore filled with uncertainty as to whether the forecast breeze would fill in, it did and just in time for the 1700 hours cut off by when the Race Committee had to get a race started. Another day of unpredictable wind, which eventually turned good and delivered a solid breeze to complete race 10 for all fleets.

Stunning race 10 action delivered the titles to Alex Kavas/George Kavas in the 420 World Championship and Singapore's Rachel Lee/Cecilia Low were victorious in the 420 Ladies Championship.

The 2012 420 Junior World Championship titles were awarded to Kimberly Lim/Savannah Siew (SIN) in the 420 Ladies fleet and Alex Kavas/George Kavas in the 420 Open fleet, as the highest placed teams with both the helm and crew aged 18 or under.

Twenty eight nations and 179 teams competed at the 2012 420 World Championships. 'Challenging' was the general consensus of sailing on the shifty and unpredictable Lake Neusiedl, which threw everything from 5-22 knots at teams. Outside of the leading pack of boats in each fleet, it was a real snakes and ladders scoreboard with teams trading positions as they posted vastly differing scores from one race to the next.

In a performance which can only be described as exceptional, brothers Alex and George Kavas from Greece outclassed the fleet to claim Gold, marking their third successive podium finish at 420 Championships.

During the first five races of the qualification series, the leaderboard was close as David and Alex Charles (ESP) and the Greek brothers matched each other's overall points in their respective fleets. But when the two sets of brothers came head to head in the final series, the situation unfolded differently. Speed was the name of the game for the Greeks, and they had the edge whatever the conditions. Described by their coach as sailing 'like computers' after two race wins on the first day of the Championship, the pair continued with the same approach, scoring a total of 7 wins from the ten race series.

"It was our last regatta in the 420 and we are really pleased," said older brother George. The brothers also secured the 420 Junior World Championship title.

Alex and George won the 2011 420 European Championships and claimed bronze at the 2011 420 Junior European Championships, so it is fitting they retire from the 420 Class with the ultimate gold medal honour. Next up for the brothers is the 470 Junior European Championship in Italy, where they will face many other former 420 stars.

On their goals at the 470 Junior Europeans, George continued, "I don't know. There will be strong winds and it will be tough!"

The turning point for the Charles brothers' assault on the World Championship title came after equipment failure forced them out of race 9, and added unwanted points to their scoreline.

"We are really happy with this result, third is a good place," said Alex Charles.

Astonishing that last year the brothers didn't event qualify for the 420 Worlds and this year have won gold at the ISAF Youth Worlds and bronze at the 420 Worlds; podium finishes to cap a great year of racing so far. We can expect to see more from them at the 420 Junior Europeans later this week.

A steady scoreline for France's Guillaume Pirouelle/Valentin Sipan delivered them the silver medal, to match the silver they secured at the 2012 ISAF Youth Worlds, and silver at the 2011 420 Junior European Championship.

Pirouelle was relatively relaxed going into the final day of racing, commenting, "It depended whether there were three races or one, but with just one race, we were confident as we didn't have a bad race, so could have a discard."

Sipan added, "I feel very happy and it is recompense for all our hard work."

The Spanish and French will re-meet at the 2012 420 Junior Europeans in Italy, where racing is likely to be in stronger wind conditions than Austria. Sipan continued, "Yes, we like it when it is windy and we have trained on Lake Garda. We will do our best."

Lighter of the cauldron at the 2012 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony, Callum Airlie (GBR), got his focus into racing after the heady heights of the Opening Ceremony and finished 31st in the silver fleet, with crew Joseph Butterworth.

Winners of the silver fleet were Taylor Burn/Oscar Rorvik (NZL) and Hugo Sloper/James Dodd (GBR) won the bronze fleet.

420 World Championship - Top 10 Overall

1. KAVAS Alex/KAVAS George (GRE) - 18 pts

2. PIROUELLE Guillaume/SIPAN Valentin (FRA) - 29 pts

3. CHARLES David/CHARLES Alex (ESP) - 36 pts

4. MAS Santi/MAS David (ESP) - 50 pts

5. FRANKLIN Josh /GOUGH Alexander (AUS) - 67 pts

6. DERBYSHIRE Harry/LOVESEY Tom (GBR) - 69 pts

7. MPAKATSIAS Fratzekos/TIMOGIANNAKIS Evangelos (GRE) - 72 pts

8. DIBB Craig/COX Charlie (GBR) - 73 pts

9. ZENETZIDAKIS Michail/VASILIS Kontakis (GRE) – 82 pts

10. PINHO Goncalo/HIPOLITO Miguel (POR) – 83 pts

420 Ladies

An overwhelming delivery from Singapore's 420 Ladies team, with three of the four teams competing at the Worlds finishing in the top four and Rachel Lee/Cecilia Low stepping up to collect the ultimate prize of World Championship gold.

"We had to finish in front of Chile by two positions. It was nerve racking waiting ashore. We really hoped there would be wind and a race, but just didn't know," explained Lee. Lee/Low finished 17th at the 2011 420 World Championship.

Out on the water the team supported each other, as Low explained, "We tried to calm ourselves down by talking to each other. The wind was light at the start, and we were a bit worried as we are on the heavy side, but it turned out OK. It feels really, really great."

Modest about the achievements of the Singapore 420 Ladies team, they seemed surprised to have collectively delivered such an impressive outcome. "We didn't dream this would happen. It was really unexpected. The level here is very, very high and the fleet is very competitive. It has been difficult to stay on top," said Lee.

By the time racing got underway, it was certain there would only be one race contested, so Lim/Low knew they had to finish ahead of the Chilean pair and with two boats between them, to secure the gold medal. A great start saw Lee/Low lead to the first mark first, with the Chileans in third. After the reaching leg, the Chileans started catching up on Lee/Low, and then gybed off away from the fleet. Strategically the Singaporeans chose to cover the Chileans, so followed them and went on to secure victory.

It was a tough final day for Chile's Nadja Horwitz/Sofia Middleton, who had been leading the World Championship from the outset, but after the nailbiting final race had to settle for the silver medal. Understandably emotional about the outcome, Horwitz was equally graceful to the Singapore team's skills on the race track, saying, "They raced really, really well. They didn't give us a chance and sailed better than us, so they deserved the gold. It was so hard waiting for so many hours, and we didn't know if we were going to race or not. You had to prepare yourself mentally and we didn't know what was going to happen."

Sixteen year old Horwitz finished fourth at the recent ISAF Youth Worlds with another crew and feels the two World Championships are quite different. "There are so many teams here, and teams that you don't see at the ISAF Youths and everyone is so well prepared. With so many teams competing, when you have a bad race you rack up the points and it is hard to get back up high again."

Looking ahead to developing their performance, Horwitz concluded, "We have to prepare more in our heads for the big decisions on the last day of racing. The pressure adds a lot, like having the yellow dot on your sail."

With the exception of wins by a Chilean team at past Lightning World Championships, the silver medal by Nadja Horwitz/Sofia Middleton is the best ever result for Chilean sailors at a World Championship in any class, and will certainly act as a motivator. Worth taking note that only last year, the team of Benjamin Grez/Diego Gonzalez finished third at the 420 World Championships in Argentina, and this year qualified to the Olympics in the 470 men event.

Horwitz has several more years ahead of her at the ISAF Youth Worlds and in the 420 fleet. For her next Championship however, Horwitz is making a step up to the 470. Unable to compete in the 420 Junior European fleet as Middleton is older than the age limit, the pair will be trying their luck in the 470 fleet at the 2012 470 Junior European Championships where racing gets underway on Lake Garda on 11 August.

A win in race 10 provided the bronze medal to Griselda Khng/Shu Xian Lee (SIN), "I am really happy with the results. We did better than expected as we are a new partnership," said Khng. "We understand each other and have both sailed with lots of different partners so have experience of what works well and have similar ideas and thoughts," added Lee.

Tsuf Zamet/Stav Brokman of Israel won the 420 Ladies silver fleet.

420 Ladies World Championship - Top 10 Overall

1. LEE Rachel/LOW Cecilia (SIN) - 28 pts

2. HORWITZ Nadja/MIDDLETON Sofia (CHI) - 29 pts

3. KHNG Griselda/SHU Xian Lee (SIN) – 54 pts

4. LIM Kimberly/SIEW Savannah (SIN) - 55 pts

5. PETERNOSTER Ilaria/DI SALLE Bernedetta (GBR) – 57 pts

6. LAVERY Jessica/MOTHERSELE Georgina (GBR - 63 pts

7. OMARI Carlotta/CIRILLO Francesca Russo (ITA) - 69 pts

8. MIQUEL Aura/CANO Marina (ESP) – 70 pts

9. PORET Jennifer/CHEVET Louise (FRA) - 74 pts

10. ROSSI Camille/VILETTE Aurelie (FRA) - 83 pts

The 420 Junior World Championship titles were awarded to the top placed teams where both helm and crew are aged 18 or under. Kimberly Lim/Savannah Siew (SIN) won the 420 Ladies Junior World Championship title and Alex Kavas/George Kavas (GRE) won the 420 Open Junior World Championship title.

The Huck Scott Memorial Trophy was awarded to Eduard Fiala/Jan Fiala (CZE) as the youngest team competing in the Championship.

The William Sanchez Trophies were awarded to Wade Waddell/Henry Fernberger (USA) in the 420 Open and Kimberly Lim/Savannah Siew (SIN) in the 420 Ladies as the highest placed team, with both crew members aged 16 or under.

Spain won the Francis Mouvet Trophy as top nation, narrowly clinching it ahead of Singapore.

The 2012 420 World and Ladies World Championships were hosted by the Austrian Sailing Federation in conjunction with the Austrian 420 Class Association and the International 420 Class Association.

The 2012 420 Junior European Championships is taking place from 9-17 August in Riva, Italy. More at: www.420sailing.org/junioreuropeans

 

#hyc –Two J109s were top of class one in yesterday's annual Lambay race from Howth Yacht Club. Pat Kelly's J109 Storm was the IRC class one winner,  second in class one was the Mills 30 Raptor and third was ISORA and Dublin Bay performer Joker skippered by John Maybury,

The smiles on the faces of those who completed the 2012 ITC Lambay Race said it all. Fresh westerlies (backing to south-westerly later), flat seas, close racing in most classes, with sunshine as the crews returned to the marina and you have most of the ingredients for a great regatta. The fact that most completed the course in less than 3 hours - one of the fastest Lambay Races in years - was an added bonus.

This year's Lambay Race - the 116th time it has been staged - was generously sponsored by Independent Trustee Company, one of Ireland's largest providers of self-administered pension structures.

From the Offshore Course flagship, Class 1 got proceedings going and after just two and half hours of racing, HYC's Storm (Pat Kelly) held off the challenge of two RIYC visitors to win on IRC from Raptor and Joker 2. Raptor took the ECHO honours from Howard McMullen's Another Adventure.

Dermot Skehan's Toughnut won Class 2 on the double, winning IRC from Ian Byrne's Sunburn and ECHO from Paddy Kyne's Maximus.

Class 3 saw Vincent Gaffney's new Alliance II perform particularly well on close reaches and enjoying the last leg to the finish to stretch out a lead and beat Brian McDowell's J/24 Scandal from Malahide who in turn beat another J/24 Jibberish (O'Kelly et al) by 4 seconds on the line. Hellyhunter (Lional McMurtry, HYC) headed the biggest fleet of the day on ECHO, ahead of RIYC visitor Saki.

In the First 31.7, Bluefin Two (Bernie Bryson & Mia Delaney) from NYC won both Scratch & ECHO and also were awarded the Lambay Lady.

Robert & Rose Michael's Mystique of Malahide topped the White Sails A division on IRC ahead of Bite the Bullet and Changeling, while Rebellion (Hughes & others) and Cogar (K&C Halpin) won oin ECHO and HPH respectively.

In the White Sails B fleet, Terry Giles' Xebec led the fleet home and won on IRC by a comfortable margin, while runner-up Sandpiper of Howth (Andy Knowles) won on ECHO and also finished second on HPH behind Cu na Mara (Clifford Brown of HYC).

The Shipman and Ruffian fleets both came from outside Howth - all bar two were from Dun Laoghaire - and it was Henry Robinson's Whiterock which headed the Shipman class while the Ruffians were led home by Ruffles (M.Cutliffe of DMYC).

The Squibs was a match race between Kerfuffle (Craif/Ruane) and Fantome (R.MacDonnell), with the former winning by 2.5 minutes, while the Etchells it was virtually the same, with Fetching (Quinn/O'Flaherty) having about 30 seconds to spare over Glance (O'Reilly/Dix).

The Puppeteers had a new name on the trophy this year with Colin and Kathy Kavanagh in Blue Velvet putting their gear damage problems of last season behind them to beat the pre-race favourite Harlequin (Clarke/Egan) by a minute, with Neil Murphy's Yellow Peril in 3rd. On handicap, the honours went to Shiggy (G.Kennedy) ahead of Gannet (T.Chillingworth).

A small Seventeens' fleet was headed up by Rita (Curley/Lynch) with Ian Malcolm's Aura 2nd and Peter Courtney's Oona 3rd while on handicap, it was Pauline (O'Doherty/Ryan) which took the honours.

Full results below.

HOWTH YACHT CLUB. LAMBAY REGATTA (RACE) 09/06/2012 Class 1 IRC: 1, Storm P Kelly HYC; 2, Raptor Bradley/Others RIYC; 3, Joker 2 J Maybury RIYC; Class 1 ECHO: 1, Raptor Bradley/Others RIYC; 2, Another Adventure H McMullen HYC; 3, Axiom M O'Neill RIYC; Class 2 IRC: 1, Toughnut D Skehan HYC; 2, Sunburn I Byrne HYC; 3, King One D Cullen HYC; Class 2 ECHO: 1, Toughnut D Skehan HYC; 2, Maximus P Kyne HYC; 3, Makutu Doyle/Others HYC; Class 3 IRC: 1, Alliance 11 V Gaffney HYC; 2, Scandal McDowell Family MYC; 3, Jibberish O'Kelly/Others HYC; Class 3 ECHO: 1, Hellyhunter L McMurtry HYC; 2, Saki Ryan/McCormack RIYC; 3, Sunchaser M Marr HYC; First 31.7 SCRATCH: 1, Bluefin Two M & B Bryson NYC; 2, Magic O'Sullivan/Espey RIYC; 3, C'est la Vie Flannelly/Others HYC; First 31.7 ECHO: 1, Bluefin Two M & B Bryson NYC; 2, Magic O'Sullivan/Espey RIYC; 3, C'est la Vie Flannelly/Others HYC; Puppeteer SCRATCH: 1, Blue Velvet C & K Kavanagh HYC; 2, Harlequin Clarke/Egan HYC; 3, Yellow Peril N Murphy HYC; Puppeteer HPH: 1, Schiggy G Kennedy HYC; 2, Gannet T Chillingworth HYC; 3, Arcturus C McAuliffe HYC; Squib SCRATCH: 1, Kerfuffle Craig/Ruane HYC; 2, Fantome R MacDonell HYC; Squib HPH: 1, Kerfuffle Craig/Ruane HYC; 2, Fantome R MacDonell HYC; 17 Footer SCRATCH: 1, Rita Curley/Lynch HYC; 2, Aura I Malcolm HYC; 3, Oona P Courtney HYC; 17 Footer HPH: 1, Pauline O'Doherty/Ryan HYC; 2, Rita Curley/Lynch HYC; 3, Aura I Malcolm HYC; Etchells SCRATCH: 1, Fetching Quinn/O'Flaherty HYC; 2, Glance O'Reilly/Dix HYC; Shipman SCRATCH: 1, Whiterock H Robinson RIYC; 2, Jo Slim J Clarke RStGYC; 3, Just Good Friends M Carroll DMYC; Ruffian 23 SCRATCH: 1, Ruffles M Cutliffe DMYC; 2, Paramour R Sastre NYC; 3, Crescendo L Balfe NYC; White Sail A IRC: 1, Mystique of Malahide R & R Michael HYC; 2, Bite the Bullet C Bermingham HYC; 3, Changeling K Jameson HYC; White Sail A ECHO: 1, Rebellion Hughes/Others HYC; 2, Cogar K & C Halpin HYC; 3, White Lotus P Tully DLM; White Sail B IRC: 1, Xebec T Giles HYC; 2, Sandpiper of Howth A Knowles HYC; 3, Brazen Hussy Barry/Stirling HYC; White Sail B HPH: 1, Cu na Mara C Brown HS&BC; 2, Sandpiper of Howth A Knowles HYC; 3, Xebec T Giles HYC; White Sail B ECHO: 1, Sandpiper of Howth A Knowles HYC; 2, Xebec T Giles HYC; 3, Brazen Hussy Barry/Stirling HYC; White Sail A HPH: 1, Cogar K & C Halpin HYC; 2, Bite the Bullet C Bermingham HYC; 3, On the Rox C & J Boyle HYC

#HYC – When you've been staging a successful sailing race annually since 1899 or thereabouts, it's something which has will have acquired its own momentum with a significant amount of baggage in the nostalgia stakes. And its enduring popularity inevitably means that anyone minded to donate a trophy to the hosting club will want to get aboard the high-flying bandwagon of the big one.

Today's annual ITC Lambay Race at Howth looks to have everything going for it, not least an improvement in the ghastly weather which has dominated this past week. The race's prestige is such that it seems to have accumulated more silverware through its various divisions and classes than any other single race on the east coast – and perhaps the entire country, for that matter.

Taking in courses round the handsome Lambay and its quirky little sister island of Ireland's Eye, the Lambay Race is a celebration of the coast of Fingal which - during the ICRA National Championship a fortnight ago - showed how it can provide good sailing breezes when Dublin Bay is serving up windless frustration.

For this classic, they seem to have found a trophy for just about everything except being dog last, and even that must be only a matter of time. The supreme award is the Lambay Lady (think Little Mermaid of Copenhagen), and it goes to whichever winning boat in any of the myriad classes has the greatest margin ahead of the runner-up.

You might reasonably think this inevitably means whoever wins it sails in the most uneven and uncompetitive class of all, but somehow this never seems to happen, as it all often comes down to split seconds. And as they try to run the prize giving a short time after the very last boat has finished, the calculators are over-heated to come up with a result.

Last year, Dun Laoghaire's Ken Lawless and his team with their very competently up-graded vintage Quarter Tonner Supernova were initially declared the winners. The Lawless crew were well on their way back across Dublin Bay with their boat groaning under a load of silverware when some enthusiast in HYC ran a computer check on all the results and came up with the news that the host club's David Clark with his Puppeteer 22 Harlequin should have been awarded the Lambay Lady.

Dave Clark being the man whose day job is keeping the vintage dishwashers of Howth in working order through these stringent times, this just had to be put right, and Howth YC handled it with some style. They have experience of being on the receiving end of this kind of error. Five years ago, when local boats were scoring big internationally, Howth's Roy Dickson with the Corby 36 Rosie was announced as the initial overall winner of the British IRC Championship in the Solent, a big deal by any standards. The trophy had been back in Howth for 24 hours, and well celebrated, when Royal Ocean Racing Club CEO Eddie Warden-Owen made a sheepish phone call asking for their cup back – Rosie had actually been beaten for first overall by a fraction of a point.

So HYC's Brian Turvey handled the Supernova imbroglio with exemplary diplomacy, offering Ken Lawless dinner for two in Howth YC with all the trimmings if he could just see his way to bringing the Lambay Lady over with him, though of course keeping all the other cups. Today, we'll expect a double run on the results before making the final award. But even then, if you do win the Lambay Lady but subsequently have to give it back again, don't mess about - hold out for free dinner for all the crew.

W M Nixon's sailing column is in the Irish Independent on Saturdays

#ICRA2012 – Three Cork IRC victories, two titles retained and local success on ECHO and in the BMW Corinthian Cup were the outstanding features of the overall results of the BMW Cruiser Nationals run by Howth Yacht Club for the Irish Cruiser Racing Association, with the 7-race series finishing on Sunday in glorious sunshine but in tricky northerly breezes.

The event brought together 123 boats in one of the biggest fleets of the Irish sailing season with 80% of the fleet visitors to Howth. This year the event got a Government approval when Marine Minister Simon Coveney TD lent his support to the Cruiser National Championships when it opened last Friday.

Anitx and the view the other Class Zero competitors got. The Royal Cork Yacht retained her Irish IRC title

Royal Cork boats Antix and Tiger retained their Division 0 and 3 Irish titles respectively but in totally different ways. Anthony O'Leary's Antix was pushed so hard all the way by Richard Fildes' Impetuous that the Welsh Corby 37's double win on the last day set up the intriguing scenario of a tie after discards. With four wins to Fildes' three, O'Leary made it by the tightest of margins.

Welsh yacht Impetuous hoists on the tail of Jump Juice

Neil Kenefick's Tiger from Royal Cork sailing to success in Howth

The opposite was the case in Division 3 where the Keneficks' dominance on Tiger was underlined by two more wins on the third day to seal an emphatic victory by the biggest margin (9 points) of any fleet. The pre-event favourites saw off the early challenge of Tim Goodbody's White Mischief, although the Royal Irish boat had the consolation of winning the ECHO award from another RIYC boat Quest.

Dun Laoghaire's Sigma 33 White Mischief skippered by Tim Goodbody held an early lead in class three IRC and won overall on ECHO

In Division 0, Crazy Horse from Howth (Chambers/Reilly) took the ECHO honours, with four race wins enough to beat the National's Vincent Farrell in Tsunami by two points. Only two points separating the top three showed how competitive Division 1 was on IRC with another Royal Cork entry Jelly Baby (Nagle & O'Malley) emerging on top, with a final race win the difference in edging out Xtravagance (Colin Byrne) from RIYC while more success went to the Dun Laoghaire club with Rockabill V's (Paul O'Higgins) narrow on ECHO.

Colin Byrne's Xtravangance from Dublin Bay was at the top in Class One but was edged out by Cork yacht Jelly Baby (Ian Nagle and Paul O'Malley) below.

After the first day, it was pretty straightforward for Checkmate XV, Nigel Biggs' entry from the Royal St. George, and three more race wins was enough to finish with a 7.5 points gap over second-placed Dux (Anthony Gore-Grimes of HYC). The performance was also sufficient to take the ECHO plaudits too, although the margin over Howth's Dave Cullen in King One was a little closer.

The only perfect scoreline in the Championships came in Division 4 where Team Toy Yot from Howth had a clean sweep on IRC while consistency earned Malahide visitor Goyave (Camier/Fitzpatrick) second overall, with the latter reversing the order on ECHO by virtue of one more race win.

Howth boats were very much to the fore in the non-spinnaker classes competing for the BMW Corinthian Cup, winning the A and B fleets on both handicap systems. On the Rox (C&J Boyle) wrapped up the A division with two wins to finish six points ahead of Bite the Bullet (Colm Bermingham) while they had five points to spare over Colm Buckley's Blue Eyes on ECHO.

Howth boat On the Rox won the Corinthian A fleet divison. More photos in the gallery below.

In the B fleet, Harry Byrne's Alphida (with Paddy Cronin on helm) stayed in the top four throughout and also recorded three wins to beat off the challenge of Joe Carton's Voyager on both handicaps. A second and a bullet on the last day brought Richard McAllister's Force Five into the top three frame on ECHO at the end.

At the prize-giving ceremony, Barry Rose, Commodore of the Irish Cruiser Racing Association complimented Howth YC on its handling of this major national event for a third time, and paid particular thanks to the organising committee, the three race officers and their teams of helpers and RIB drivers.

BMW Cruiser Nationals & Corinthian Cup 2012, Howth Yacht Club, Winners and (provisional) results after Day 3:

Division 0 IRC:

ANTIX, Anthony O'Leary

Division 0 ECHO:

CRAZY HORSE, Chambers/Reilly

Division 1 IRC:

.JELLY BABY, Ian Nagle & Paul O'Malley

Division 1 ECHO:

ROCKABILL V, Paul O'Higgins

Division 2 IRC:

CHECKMATE XV, Nigel Biggs

Division 2 ECHO:

CHECKMATE XV, Nigel Biggs

Division 3 IRC:

TIGER, Keneficks

Division 3 ECHO:

WHITE MISCHIEF, Timothy Goodbody

Division 4 IRC:

TOY YOT,

Division 4 ECHO:

GOYAVE, Camier/Fitzpatrick

Non-Spinnaker A IRC:

ON-THE-ROX (C & J Boyle)

Non-Spinnaker A ECHO:

ON-THE-ROX, C & J Boyle

Non-Spinnaker B IRC:

ALPHIDA OF HOWTH, Harry Byrne

Non-Spinnaker B ECHO:

ALPHIDA OF HOWTH, Harry Byrne

BMW Cruiser Nationals & Corinthian Cup 2012, Howth Yacht Club, Provisional results after Day 3:

Division 0 IRC: 1.ANTIX, Anthony O'Leary 2.IMPETUOUS, Richard Fildes 3.JUMP JUICE, Denise Phelan. Division 0 ECHO: 1.CRAZY HORSE, Chambers/Reilly 2.TSUNAMI, Vincent Farrell 3.LOOSE CHANGE, Mitton/Redden. Division 1 IRC: 1.JELLY BABY, Ian Nagle & Paul O'Malley 2.XTRAVAGANCE, Colin Byrne 3.ROCKABILL V, Paul O'Higgins. Division 1 ECHO: 1.ROCKABILL V, Paul O'Higgins 2.JELLY BABY, Ian Nagle & Paul O'Malley 3.XTRAVAGANCE, Colin Byrne. Division 2 IRC: 1.CHECKMATE XV, Nigel Biggs 2.DUX, Anthony Gore-Grimes 3.KING ONE, Dave Cullen. Division 2 ECHO: 1.CHECKMATE XV, Nigel Biggs 2.KING ONE, Dave Cullen 3.DUX, Anthony Gore-Grimes. Division 3 IRC: 1.TIGER, Kenefick's 2.WHITE MISCHIEF, Timothy Goodbody 3.HARD ON PORT, Flor O Driscoll. Division 3 ECHO: 1.WHITE MISCHIEF, Timothy Goodbody 2.QUEST, J Skernilt 3.HARD ON PORT, Flor O Driscoll. Division 4 IRC: 1.TOY YOT, Team Toy Yot 2.GOYAVE, Camier/Fitzpatrick 3.ASTERIX, Counihan/Bowhell/Meredith. Division 4 ECHO: 1.GOYAVE, Camier/Fitzpatrick 2.TOY YOT, Team Toy Yot 3.ASTERIX, Counihan/Bowhell/Meredith. Non-Spinnaker A IRC: 1.ON-THE-ROX, C & J Boyle 2.BITE THE BULLET, Colm Bermingham 3.CHANGELING, Kieran Jameson. Non-Spinnaker A ECHO: 1.ON-THE-ROX, C & J Boyle 2.BLUE EYES, Colm Buckley 3.PRETTY POLLY, Chris Horrigan. Non-Spinnaker B IRC: 1.ALPHIDA OF HOWTH, Harry Byrne 2.VOYAGER, Joe Carton 3.DEMELZA, W. Laudan / S. Ennis. Non-Spinnaker B ECHO: 1.ALPHIDA OF HOWTH, Harry Byrne 2.VOYAGER, Joe Carton 3.FORCE FIVE, R&J McAllister.

#ICRA – The second day of action in the BMW Cruiser Nationals at Howth saw a repeat of the welcome sunshine but, in stark contrast to Friday, there was no shortage of wind, with strong easterlies and a big sea providing plenty of frenetic activity afloat on all three courses.

It was the turn of Divisions 2, 3 and 4 to compete on the windward-leeward courses set off Malahide and three back-to-back races tested the three fleets to the limit. In the most outstanding performance of the day, Nigel Biggs Checkmate XV from the Royal St.George dominated proceedings in Division 2, leading throughout on the water to record three bullets and open up a 5-point lead over nearest challenger, Anthony Gore-Grimes’ Dux of the home club, after five races. It was so impressive that they also lead on ECHO.

Two wins and a third was enough to see defending Division 3 champion Tiger (Keneficks, RCYC) jump ahead of Tim Goodbody’s White Mischief in the overall standings (although the latter heads the ECHO results to date) while winning the fifth race helped Flor O’Driscoll’s J/24 Hard on Port to close the gap and secure a comfortable 3^rd on IRC (and 2^nd on ECHO) overall.

In the small Division 4 fleet, it’s all one-way traffic for Team Toy Yot (HYC) which has notched four straight wins to lead second-placed Goyave (Camier/Fitzpatrick, Malahide YC) by a comfortable 7.5 points, although the margin is a little smaller on ECHO.

Over on the round-the-cans course, the bigger boats were also given three races. Notably, Anthony O’Leary’s Antix did not have everything its own way in Division 0, playing second fiddle to Welsh visitor Richard Fildes’ Impetuous on the day. The Corby 37 from South Caernarvonshire scored 1-1-2 while the Cork boat registered 2-3-1, a combination that sees the two boats tied on 8 points overall and everything to play for on Sunday.

It is very tight at the top of Division 1, with one point separating the top four boats and it was a good day for the Royal Irish YC contingent, filling three of those places overall after four races. Paul O’Higgins’ Rockabill V shares the lead with Jelly Baby (Nagle & O’Malley) although it was their clubmate Colin Byrne’s Xtravagance which made the biggest impression. A second followed by two wins brings them into serious contention, lying third equal with Pat Kelly’s Storm II, both one point adrift, so the title will be decided between the four on Sunday. Howard McMullen’s new acquisition Another Adventure heads the ECHO standings.

The two non-spinnaker classes both got two more races in and both continue to be dominated by Howth entries. In the A fleet, two top-three finishes by On-the-Rox (C&J Boyle) and Changeling (Kieran Jameson) sees them share the overall lead, with Changeling also heading the ECHO table. In the B fleet, Harry Byrne’s Alphida maintains the overall lead (on both handicaps) but a second and first by Joe Carton’s Voyager narrows the IRC gap to just two points.  

Overall situation after today's racing: BMW Cruiser Nationals & Corinthian Cup 2012, Howth Yacht Club, Provisional  results after Day2:Division 0 IRC: 1.ANTIX, Anthony O'Leary  2.IMPETUOUS, Richard Fildes 3.JUMP JUICE, Denise Phelan.Division 0 ECHO: 1.LOOSE CHANGE,  Mitton/Redden 2.LYNX CLIPPER, Martin Breen 3.TSUNAMI, Vincent Farrell.Division 1 IRC: 1.ROCKABILL V, Paul  O'Higgins 2.JELLY BABY, Ian Nagle & Paul O'Malley 3.XTRAVAGANCE, Colin  Byrne.Division 1 ECHO: 1.ANOTHER  ADVENTURE, Howard McMullen 2.JELLY BABY, Ian Nagle & Paul O'Malley  3.XTRAVAGANCE, Colin Byrne.Division 2  IRC: 1.CHECKMATE XV, Nigel Biggs 2.DUX, Anthony Gore-Grimes 3.KING ONE, Dave  Cullen.Division 2 ECHO: 1.CHECKMATE  XV, Nigel Biggs 2.KING ONE, Dave Cullen 3.DUX, Anthony Gore-Grimes.Division 3 IRC: 1.TIGER, Kenefick's 2.WHITE  MISCHIEF, Timothy Goodbody 3.HARD ON PORT, Flor O Driscoll.Division 3 ECHO: 1.WHITE MISCHIEF, Timothy  Goodbody 2.HARD ON PORT, Flor O Driscoll 3.SUPERNOVA,  Lawless/McCormack/Shannon.Division 4  IRC: 1.TOY YOT, Team Toy Yot 2.GOYAVE, Camier/Fitzpatrick 3.JULIA, Eddie  Kay.Division 4 ECHO: 1.TOY YOT, Team  Toy Yot 2.GOYAVE, Camier/Fitzpatrick 3.ASTERIX,  Counihan/Bowhell/Meredith.Non-Spinnaker A IRC: 1.ON-THE-ROX, C & J Boyle 2.CHANGELING,  Kieran Jameson 3.BITE THE BULLET, Colm Bermingham.Non-Spinnaker A ECHO: 1.CHANGELING, Kieran  Jameson 2.PRETTY POLLY, Chris Horrigan 3.LULA BELLE, Liam Coyne.Non-Spinnaker B IRC: 1.ALPHIDA OF HOWTH,  Harry Byrne 2.VOYAGER, Joe Carton 3.DEMELZA, W. Laudan / S. Ennis.Non-Spinnaker B ECHO: 1.ALPHIDA OF HOWTH,  Harry Byrne 2.VOYAGER, Joe Carton 3.SANDPIPER OF HOWTH, Andrew Knowles.

#SAILING – With the Olympic torch burning its way through Ireland in ten days' time and the countdown to London 2012 well under way, the Irish squad for the sailing events in Weymouth has little enough time to adjust to its greatly increased size, with two new crews coming on board through last ditch qualifications.

The lonely selection voyage of Laser sailor James Espey of Ballyholme has finally reached a successful conclusion, and so too has the 470 campaign of Ger Owens of Dun Laoghaire and Scott Flanigan of Malahide. Malahide has always punched above its weight in the Olympic sailing stakes, and Flanigan carries the MYC flag along with Star class sailor David Burrows, while Ballyholme is also well in, as James Espey joins clubmates Ryan Seaton and Matt McGovern, who are already on board as Ireland's 49er crew.

For the latest additions, the turnaround from battling for selection to training for representation means that, as ISA Team Manager James O'Callaghan has put it, "there's work to be done between now and Weymouth". But in fact O'Callaghan's remark was primarily prompted by the somewhat erratic showing by the already-qualified Annalise Murphy in the recent Women's Laser Radial Worlds in Germany.

The weather was the most erratic feature of all, yet when the breeze was good Murphy was on top form, taking two wins and two seconds in the 133-boat fleet. But she also had a major upset with a collision, and the final day saw her logging a 33rd and 55th to drop nine places to 25th in fleet, not the sort of placing she's been used to in recent years.

But with a smaller fleet and (so they tell us) steadier breezes anticipated at Weymouth, she's on track for a good showing, as too are the Star class duo of Peter O'Leary and David Burrows, who ended as fourth overall in the recent worlds, very much in the frame.

There'll be a special link to sailing when the Olympic torch arrives at Olympic Council of Ireland HQ in Howth on June 6th, as Howth House, the OCI base, is the former home of the Boyd family of sailing folk, where Herbert Boyd designed the still-extant Howth Seventeen class.

The youthful Boyd utilised the spacious floor of the drawing room (where else?) to finalise the lines of his boat designs, and it was there in 1897 that he created the Howth Seventeen One Designs, which still look today exactly as he envisaged them 115 years ago.

Only a year earlier, the revival of the Olympics in their modern form had been achieved by Pierre de Coubertin. It's doubtful if Boyd ever had Olympic ambitions for his rugged little boats. But they are truly Olympian in their dogged persistence allied to timeless style with 115 years of solid sport, so there's no better place for the Olympic torch in Ireland.

But that's in ten days' time. Right now Howth is jumping with the 127-strong fleet battling it out in the three-day BMW Cruiser-Racer Nationals, and skippers of the calibre of current Sailor of the Year George Kenefick of Crosshaven at the helm of his Quarter Tonner "Tiger of Currabinny" (now there's a name to conjure with) are revelling in glorious early-summer weather.

Out in the Atlantic, however, the chances of mid-ocean calms are slowing arrival time hopes for the Volvo fleet (back on full strength) racing from Miami to Lisbon, with Franck Cammas and Damian Foxall and team on Groupama losing their early lead to Iker Martinez on Telefonica. The Atlantic weather is all over the place, and nerves will be well frayed before they get to Portugal.

W M Nixon's sailing column is in the Irish Independent on Saturdays

#ICRA2012 – Howth may have basked in glorious sunshine for the best part of the BMW ICRA Cruiser Nationals’ first day but lack of wind created enormous frustration among the record 123-boat entry as the Race Officers were obliged to delay racing until such time as completing even one race was a possibility. Full results below.

On the windward-leeward course, Division 0 did manage two races, with the honours in the first going to the defending champion Antix (Anthony O’Leary) of RCYC ahead of Richard Fildes’ Impetuous from South Caernarvonshire YC, winner of last week’s Corby Cup. The positions were reversed in the second race, so the two share the overall lead by four points over the next challenger going into the second day.

J109s filled three of the top four places in the only race sailed by Division 1, with Jelly Baby (Nagle & O’Malley) from the Royal Irish YC heading last year’s ICRA winner Storm (Pat Kelly) from Rush.

Divisions 2 and 3 had a two-hour wait to get going but it was worth it in the end, with a fresh north-easterly making for some frantic action. It also provided a rare enough occurrence when Dux (Anthony Gore-Grimes) from Howth and Royal St. George YC visitor Nigel Biggs’ Checkmate XV recorded exactly the same corrected time and so share the lead in Division 2 after day one.

In Division 3, White Mischief, Tim Goodbody’s Sigma 33 from the Royal Irish YC lived up to pre-race speculation by leading the fleet home, ahead of 2011 champion Tiger (Keneficks) from Royal Cork and winning on handicap too, while Howth’s Vincent Gaffney will be satisfied with 3^rd spot in his new boat Alliance II. First of the seven J/24s participating was Stouche (Darrer & Murphy).

The smallest fleet in the championships is Division 4 with just six boats and its one race ended in a Howth one-two, with Toy Yot (Team Toy Yot) heading Eddie Kay’s Contessa 26 Julia, with Dun Laoghaire visitor Asterix (Counihan et al) in third.

The Non-Spinnaker Classes were also afflicted by lack of wind but when they did get away, it was a Welsh visitor, John Collins’ Jet Stream from Pwllheli which took A Fleet honours from three local boats led by Colm Bermingham’s Bite the Bullet. In Fleet B, the smallest boat in the white sails divisions, the Club Shamrock Demelza (Laudan/Ennis) showed size isn’t everything, taking first place from Harry Byrne’s Alphida.

BMW Cruiser Nationals & Corinthian Cup 2012, Howth Yacht Club, Provisional results after Day  1:  Division 0 IRC: 1.ANTIX, Anthony O'Leary 2.IMPETUOUS, Richard Fildes 3.ELF TOO, Christine Murray.  Division 0 ECHO: 1.ANTIX, Anthony O'Leary 2.IMPETUOUS, Richard Fildes 3.LYNX CLIPPER, Martin Breen.  Division 1 IRC: 1.JELLY BABY, Ian Nagle & Paul O'Malley 2.STORM II, Pat Kelly 3.ROCKABILL V, Paul O'Higgins.  Division 1 ECHO: 1.JELLY BABY, Ian Nagle & Paul O'Malley 2.ROCKABILL V, Paul O'Higgins 3.STORM II, Pat Kelly.  Division 2 IRC: 1.CHECKMATE XV, Nigel Biggs 2.DUX, Anthony Gore-Grimes 3.SLACK ALICE, S Statham & T OLeary.  Division 2 ECHO: 1.CHECKMATE XV, Nigel Biggs 2.DUX, Anthony Gore-Grimes 3.SLACK ALICE, S Statham & T OLeary.  Division 3 IRC: 1.WHITE MISCHIEF, Timothy Goodbody 2.TIGER, Kenefick's 3.ALLIANCE II, Vincent Gaffney.  Division 3 ECHO: 1.WHITE MISCHIEF, Timothy Goodbody 2.TIGER, Kenefick's 3.SUPERNOVA, Lawless/McCormack/Shannon.  Division 4 IRC: 1.TOY YOT, Team Toy Yot 2.JULIA, Eddie Kay 3.ASTERIX, Counihan/Bowhell/Meredith.  Division 4 ECHO: 1.TOY YOT, Team Toy Yot 2.JULIA, Eddie Kay 3.ASTERIX, Counihan/Bowhell/Meredith.  Non-Spinnaker A IRC: 1.ON-THE-ROX, C & J Boyle 2.JET STREAM, John Collins 3.BITE THE BULLET, Colm Bermingham.  Non-Spinnaker A ECHO: 1.ON-THE-ROX, C & J Boyle 2.CHANGELING, Kieran Jameson 3.BITE THE BULLET, Colm Bermingham.  Non-Spinnaker B IRC: 1.ALPHIDA OF HOWTH, Harry Byrne 2.VOYAGER, Joe Carton 3.DEMELZA, W. Laudan / S. Ennis.  Non-Spinnaker B ECHO: 1.Lolly Folly, Colman and Lesley Phelan 2.ALPHIDA OF HOWTH, Harry Byrne 3.VOYAGER, Joe Carton.

#ICRA – A record entry of 123 boats racing in 7 sailing divisions will compete for honours at this weekend's BMW Cruiser Nationals being hosted by Howth Yacht Club on behalf of the Irish Cruiser Racing Association (ICRA).

Seven races over three days – a mixture of round-the-cans and windward-leewards - will be provided on three separate courses, with Class 0 and 1 together, Class 2, 3 and 4 on another, and two divisions of non-spinnaker cruisers racing for the Corinthian Cup.

Last year's championship winners in the first four divisions will all be in Howth to defend their titles. Anthony O'Leary's Antix from Cork will again be among the favourites in Class 0 although he can expect strong challenges from Jump Juice (Denise Phelan) and George Sisk's WOW, while Richard Fildes Impetuous from Wales had a useful warm-up on the race track in winning last weekend's Corby Cup.

Pat Kelly's Storm (HYC & Rush) won Class 1 in Cork last year and there are six other J109s in the line-up to keep them on their toes. Six of the 21 entries are from outside Dublin.

In Class 2, Brian Goggin's Corby 25 Allure from Kinsale was the winner a year ago and will be expected to be a front-runner in the biggest fleet (31 boats) in the Championships, the majority of which are visitors. Of the local entries, Dave Cullen's King One, Ian Byrne's Sunburn and Anthony Gore-Grimes Dux are contenders.

The modified quarter-tonner Tiger (Neil Kenefick) from Cork is undoubtedly the boat to beat in Class 3, having been the outstanding boat in this division over the past couple of years. Half a dozen J24s will have to be at their very best to compete against this very fast, well sailed boat, while in Class 4, Goyave (Camier/Fitzpatrick) from Malahide and Basil MacMahon's Holly of the host club will be fancied.

The Corinthian Cup entries have been split into two divisions, with local boats Changeling (Kieran Jameson) and Bite the Bullet (Colm Bermingham) among those fancied in division 5 and Harry Byrne's Alphida and Demelza (Laudan & Ennis) serious contenders in division 6.

#HOWTH YACHT CLUB – In light winds the Squib one design class was won last night by Chatterbox (J Kay). Second was Too Dee (D Sheahan) and third Kerfuffle (Craig/Ruane). On scratch handicap in the Puppeteer class Harlequin (Clarke/Egan) were winners but there was a tie for second between Gold Dust (Walls/Browne) and Eclipse (A & R Hegarty). Full results below: TUESDAY SERIES 1 (RACE) 22/05/2012 Puppeteer SCRATCH: 1, Harlequin Clarke/Egan; 2=, Gold Dust Walls/Browne; 2=, Eclipse A & R Hegarty; Puppeteer HPH: 1, Arcturus C McAuliffe; 2, Schiggy G Kennedy; 3, Mr Punch NiBhraonain/Wilson; Squib SCRATCH: 1, Chatterbox J Kay; 2, Too Dee D Sheahan; 3, Kerfuffle Craig/Ruane; Squib HPH: 1, Chatterbox J Kay; 2, Kerfuffle Craig/Ruane; 3, Too Dee D Sheahan; Etchells SCRATCH: 1, Jabberwocky S Knowles; 2, Fetching Quinn/O'Flaherty; 3, Kootamundra D O'Grady