Menu

Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

A Sigma 33 One Design keelboat racing on Dublin Bay Photo: AfloatA Sigma 33 One Design keelboat racing on Dublin Bay Photo: Afloat

Displaying items by tag: Howth

24th May 2011

Oona's Race in Howth

Howth Yacht Club TUE + SAT SERIES 1 (RACE) 24/05/2011 17 Footer SCRATCH: 1, Oona P Courtney; 2, Aura I Malcolm; 3, Rita Curley/Lynch; 17 Footer HCAP: 1, Oona P Courtney; 2, Aura I Malcolm; 3, Leila R CooperTUESDAY SERIES 1 (RACE) 24/05/2011 Puppeteer SCRATCH: 1, Trick or Treat A Pearson; 2, Yellow Peril N Murphy; 3, Gold Dust Walls/Browne; Puppeteer HPH: 1, Geppetto O'Reilly/McDyer; 2, Trick or Treat A Pearson; 3, Haemoglobin Mullen/O'Dea; Squib SCRATCH: 1, Whipper Snapper M Cantwell; 2, Puffin E Harte; Squib HPH: 1, Puffin E Harte; 2, Whipper Snapper M Cantwell; Etchells SCRATCH: 1, Northside Dragon J Bourke; 2, Fetching Quinn/O'Flaherty; 3, Jabberwocky S Knowles; SB3 SCRATCH: 1, Dinghy Supplies S Murphy; 2, Sin a Bhuifl Guinness/Costigan
Published in Howth YC

The RS Feva Leinster Championships taking place at Howth Yacht Club were postponed today following gusts of over 40-knots in the race area. Today's sailing schedule was initially postponed before the championship was scrubbed at lunch time. The hope is to rerun the event later in the Summer.

Two races were completed on Saturday in 12 knots of wind in Howth sound.

Louise Flynn Byrne and David Johnston started where they left off at the Mitsubishi Youth Nationals earlier this month and lead the 15 boat fleet ahead of Conor Totterdell and Stephen Craig of the RStGYC.

An error in rounding the windward mark ensured that Conor and Stephen won the first race, HYC's Claude Mollard and Jennie Harris were second and HYC's Nickie Delamer and Conor Howard came third.

With gusts of over 24 knots the race offer took the decision to shorten the course and allowed the sailors to return ashore. Race 2 was won by Louise and David, with Claude and Jenny in 2nd place and Conor Totterdell and Stephen Craig in 3rd.

Published in RS Sailing
Howth Yacht Club Tuseday and Saturday series 1 17/05/2011 17 Footer SCRATCH: 1, Aura I Malcolm; 2, Leila R Cooper; 3, Isobel B & C Turvey; 17 Footer HCAP: 1, Leila R Cooper; 2, Isobel B & C Turvey; 3, Aura I Malcolm TUESDAY SERIES 1 (RACE) 17/05/2011 Puppeteer SCRATCH: 1, Trick or Treat A Pearson; 2, Harlequin Clarke/Egan; 3, Mojo Stanley/Callen; Puppeteer HPH: 1, Haemoglobin Mullen/O'Dea; 2, Arcturus McAuliffe/McDermott; 3, No Strings T Harvey; Squib SCRATCH: 1, Shadowfax P Merry; 2, Whipper Snapper M Cantwell; 3, Puffin E Harte; Squib HPH: 1, Shadowfax P Merry; 2, Puffin E Harte; 3, Whipper Snapper M Cantwell; Etchells SCRATCH: 1, Fetching Quinn/O'Flaherty; 2, Jabberwocky S Knowles; 3, Northside Dragon J Bourke; SB3 SCRATCH: 1, Investwise G May; 2, Dinghy Supplies S Murphy
Published in Howth 17
Tagged under

Elaine 'Shooter' Alexander's epic challenge to become the first woman from Northern Ireland to circumnavigate Ireland by kayak is approaching Dublin's coastline.

The challenge will involve a solo voyage of 1000 miles battling tides, headlands, cliffs, not to mention unpredictable weather.

Elaine is just one week into her challenge having taken on a constant barrage of strong head winds en route to Dublin. She is currently just north of Drogheda and weather pending hopes to be in North Dublin (Skerries, Howth) tomorrow, passing Dublin Bay Friday, and South Dublin (Bray and Greystones) Saturday.

She is camping on route and would really appreciate somewhere to shower, store her boat etc close to the sea. You can see exactly where she is by scrolling down this post.

 

Published in Canoeing

Royal Cork Yacht Club sailors have lifted two national titles at the 2011 Mitsubishi National Youth Sailing Championships this afternoon in a series cut short today by gale force winds on Dublin Bay. SCROLL DOWN FOR THIS AFTERNOON'S PRIZEGIVING PHOTOS.

Local knowledge offered no advantage as Dun Laoghaire co-hosts the Royal St. George YC, the National Yacht Club and the Royal Irish YC won none of the five national titles inspite of strong turnouts fielded by each of the waterfront clubs.

With winds gusting up to 25-30 knots and easterly winds causing a big swell, sailing for the final day of the ISA Mitsubishi National Championships was cancelled leaving the 300 sailors ashore. However all classes had completed sufficient races to complete the series.

The event was an important test event for Dun Laoghaire organisers of the Youth Worlds which will be held in the same venue from 12 -21 July 2012.

In a show of strength from the regions the three other titles went to other east coast clubs at Howth, Ballyholme and Courtown.

Immediately after the prizegiving, (photos below) Olympic Team Manager James O'Callaghan named the Irish team for the 2011 ISAF Youth World Championships in Croatia in July based on the weekend results. Listen to the podcast with the team manager, talking about the stand out performances of the weekend,  the current strength of youth sailing in Ireland and the prospect of a top finish in Croatia.

Royal Cork YC achieved two national titles with Laser 4.7 event favourite Seafra Guilfoyle winning the title having previously dominated the Optimist fleet in previous years.

Brother and sister team Patrick & Chloe Crosbie also from Royal Cork won the 420 National title and Patrick was awarded the Training Grant for the most promising sailor at the event.

This event was the national trials for the Optimist class which was won by Tralee Bay sailor Sophie Browne who will travel to New Zealand in December to compete in the Optimist World Championships.

Irish optimist sailors are performing well internationally at the moment finishing fourth and fifth at the Braassemermeer Easter regatta. Other events during 2011 where there will be Irish representation include the European Championships in Portugal and the National Championships in Germany and the UK.

Top three results below. Click the links for full results class by class.

Laser Radial - full results here
National Champion: Philip Doran (Courtown Sailing Club)
2nd  Robbie Gilmore (Strangford Lough YC)
3rd Eoin Keller (Lough Derg YC)
1st Girl Sophie Murphy Quoile Yacht Club

Laser 4.7 - full results here
National Champion: Seafra Guilfoyle (Royal Cork YC)
2nd Darragh O'Sullivan (Kinsale YC)
3rd Finn Lynch (NYC/Blessington SC)
1st Girl: Sian Kneafsey (National YC)

420 - full results here
National Champions:  Patrick Crosbie & Chloe Crosbie (Royal Cork YC)
2nd Aodh Kennedy & Daniel Browne (Kinsale YC & Tralee Bay SC)
3rd Emma Geary & Niamh Connolly (Royal Cork YC & Baltimore SC)

Feva - full results here

National Champions: D Johnston & L Flynn Byrne (Howth YC)

2nd C Totterdell & S Craig (National YC/Royal St. George YC)

3rd  C Mollard & J Harris (Howth YC)

Topper - full results here
National Champion:  T Brow (Ballyholme YC)
2nd Laura Gilmore (Strangford Lough YC)
3rd  Andrew Penney (East Antrim BC)

Optimist (Championship fleet)
1st Ben Walsh (Skerries SC)
2nd Ross Quirke (National YC)
3rd Colin O'Sullivan (Malahide YC)

Optimist National Trials
Sophie Browne (Tralee Bay SC) won the trials and took the option of travelling to New Zealand in December 2011 to represent Ireland at the Optimist World Championships.

The following sailors were selected by the trial process to represent Ireland at the European Championship which will be held in Portugal in July 2011: Sean Donnelly, HYC, Peter McCann RCYC, Harry Whitaker RCYC, Eoin Lyden RCYC, Jil McGinley RCYC  Cliodhna Ni Shuilleabhain KYC and Megan Parker SSC

The team selected to travel to the German National Championships include Robert Dickson HYC , Daire Cournane KYC, Sean Waddilove Skerries SC,  Richard Hogan HYC, Adam Hyland RSGYC, Ronan Cournane KYC, Sean Gambier Ross KYC and Fergus Flood HYC, Aoife Hopkins and Alacoque Daly Tralee Bay SC.

In addition 10 sailors were chosen for the Irish under 12 squad who will compete in the Optimist UK National Championships.

All our youth sailing news aggregated here

Prizegiving photos by Gareth Craig below. For daily on the water action: Day one photos here. Day two photos here. Day three photos here.

Published in Youth Sailing
Maybe it's the fine weather? Maybe it's Enda Kenny or the IMF? Perhaps it's the sheer good value in boat deals and people determined to get on with life? Whatever it is, the Irish Marine trade is starting to see a turn in its fortunes this Spring after a torrid three years where boat sales plunged by 80%.

Any upturn couldn't come quick enough though. The Irish Marine Federation (IMF) is counting the cost of recession that has reduced its membership by up to two thirds as marine firms closed their doors.

"For the first time in three years I'm seeing fresh enquires and importantly new blood coming into Irish boating, said Bernard Gallagher of BJ Marine in Malahide, north Dublin.

boatforsalesign

Boat dealers are offering substantial discounts

The new confidence in Irish boat buyers is primarily being seen in the sailing boat market.

One of the most accurate barometers of marine leisure activity, some dealers are reporting a return business levels not seen for three or four years.

"We've just sold a lovely 38-footer in to Howth and we've more sales in the pipeline said" Gallagher.

Other dealers confirm the same saying there is definitely a positive mood among buyers to go the extra step in the sales process.

It's quite a turnaround because up until very recently, dealers admit there was 'no boat buying mood at all'.

Ironically though after such poor sales at home there's now a real shortage of boats for sale here because over the past few years a lot of Irish boat stock was sold abroad.

"We badly need boats for our brokerage listings", says Gallagher who also operates branches in Belfast and Malta.

Many say sales will never get back to the dizzy heights of 2006 but for now good product ranges at the right place plus a splash of Easter sunshine is helping to move things at least a step in the right direction.

Irish dealers have been resourceful in finding markets abroad and an example of this is Dun Laoghaire dealer MGM boats who has just returned from the Portuguese boat show where there was positive vibes in Villamoura despite the recent bailout there too!

mgmboatstandphoto

The MGM Boats Stand at the recent Villamoura Show

Published in Marine Trade
Although the sailing numbers entered to date are smaller than usual for the SB3 fleet, what it lacks in quantity it will more than up for in quality when racing starts off Howth next Saturday (April 30th).

Unless last year's champion Gareth Flanigan and his crew can beg, steal or borrow a boat, they won't be able to defend their title and a new winner will be crowned on May 1st. The recent Spring Warmer Series saw some boats post inconsistent results while two teams in particular stepped up from last year to place themselves in the running.

Eoin Quinlan's decision to team up with Mike Evans and Peter Frane with 'Shockwave' looked like a smart one, with consistent results putting them on top of that series, and giving them the confidence to make the top 3 or 4 places at the Easterns.

John O'Driscoll of the Royal St.George is another skipper in flying form and will be hopeful of a good overall result next weekend. HYC's own 'Sharkbait' (Ben Duncan/Brian Moran/Rick Morris) can never be under-estimated and will be tipped to be among the prime contenders.

A feature of the event is the entry of several women helms, the most notable being Olympic hopeful Annalise Murphy of the National YC with her mother (and former Olympian) Cathy MacAleavey crewing.

Published in SB20

On Sunday night, Howth Inshore Lifeboat assisted two people aground in a five metre speedboat North of Malahide estuary in Co. Dublin. Scroll down for the three minute RNLI video of the rescue.

In a joint operation in March, Howth Coast Guard and Howth lifeboat rescued a teenage girl who collapsed on Howth Head. The teenager had walked down a 100 foot steep cliff path to Jameson Beach on Howth Head with her friends when she collapsed. Gardai arrived on the scene and requested Coast Guard assistance to extract the casualty. Video and RNLI Video here.


Published in RNLI Lifeboats
The best days for property may well be behind us but as always waterfront homes still seem capable of commanding good prices. Here's two examples from either end of the the country. The first is a holiday home named 'Dun Leary' but located in Baltimore, West Cork.

This semi detached holiday home is situated on an elevated site with uninterrupted harbour views just a five minute scenic walk to the village.

Baltimore is a renowned sailing centre with its three sailing schools and two diving centres. Regular ferry trips will take you to the nearby islands of Cape Clear and Sherkin with its lovely sandy beaches.

Vaulted ceilings to dining area, Oak timber beams, open fireplace, teak stairs, paved patio areas are some of the attractive features of this property.

The asking price is €465,000. All the details plus lovely photos here.

The second property to catch our eye while wandering round Howth head in the past fortnight is a detached dormer bungalow, with spectacular uninterrupted sea-views over Dublin Bay. The property is tucked away in a secluded and very private location beside Howth Summit for €650,000. Great views here.

Published in Waterfront Property

One of Ireland's oldest sailing institutions, the Royal Alfred Yacht ClubYacht Club, will hold its 153rd AGM on Dun Laoghaire's waterfront at the Royal St. George Yacht Club on Friday 15th April 2011 at 700pm.

For generations the RAYC has been an umbrella organisation, linking yacht racers from the rival harbours of Dun Laoghaire and Howth. It provides an attractive programme of regattas, complementing more local and national events.

The agenda for the meeting is:

1. Apologies
2. In memory of past members
3. Minutes of previous AGM
4. Report from the Commodore
5. Election of Flag Officers
6. Election of Committee Members
7. Finance Report
8. Election of Honorary Auditor
9. Any other business

Published in Royal Alfred YC
Page 26 of 29

How to sail, sailing clubs and sailing boats plus news on the wide range of sailing events on Irish waters forms the backbone of Afloat's sailing coverage.

We aim to encompass the widest range of activities undertaken on Irish lakes, rivers and coastal waters. This page describes those sailing activites in more detail and provides links and breakdowns of what you can expect from our sailing pages. We aim to bring jargon free reports separated in to popular categories to promote the sport of sailing in Ireland.

The packed 2013 sailing season sees the usual regular summer leagues and there are regular weekly race reports from Dublin Bay Sailing Club, Howth and Cork Harbour on Afloat.ie. This season and last also featured an array of top class events coming to these shores. Each year there is ICRA's Cruiser Nationals starts and every other year the Round Ireland Yacht Race starts and ends in Wicklow and all this action before July. Crosshaven's Cork Week kicks off on in early July every other year. in 2012 Ireland hosted some big international events too,  the ISAF Youth Worlds in Dun Laoghaire and in August the Tall Ships Race sailed into Dublin on its final leg. In that year the Dragon Gold Cup set sail in Kinsale in too.

2013 is also packed with Kinsale hosting the IFDS diabled world sailing championships in Kinsale and the same port is also hosting the Sovereign's Cup. The action moves to the east coast in July with the staging of the country's biggest regatta, the Volvo Dun Laoghaire regatta from July 11.

Our coverage though is not restricted to the Republic of Ireland but encompasses Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the Irish Sea area too. In this section you'll find information on the Irish Sailing Association and Irish sailors. There's sailing reports on regattas, racing, training, cruising, dinghies and keelboat classes, windsurfers, disabled sailing, sailing cruisers, Olympic sailing and Tall Ships sections plus youth sailing, match racing and team racing coverage too.

Sailing Club News

There is a network of over 70 sailing clubs in Ireland and we invite all clubs to submit details of their activities for inclusion in our daily website updates. There are dedicated sections given over to the big Irish clubs such as  the waterfront clubs in Dun Laoghaire; Dublin Bay Sailing Club, the Royal Saint George Yacht Club,  the Royal Irish Yacht Club and the National Yacht Club. In Munster we regularly feature the work of Kinsale Yacht Club and Royal Cork Yacht Club in Crosshaven.  Abroad Irish sailors compete in Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) racing in the UK and this club is covered too. Click here for Afloat's full list of sailing club information. We are keen to increase our coverage on the network of clubs from around the coast so if you would like to send us news and views of a local interest please let us have it by sending an email to [email protected]

Sailing Boats and Classes

Over 20 active dinghy and one design classes race in Irish waters and fleet sizes range from just a dozen or so right up to over 100 boats in the case of some of the biggest classes such as the Laser or Optimist dinghies for national and regional championships. Afloat has dedicated pages for each class: Dragons, Etchells, Fireball, Flying Fifteen, GP14, J24's, J80's, Laser, Sigma 33, RS Sailing, Star, Squibs, TopperMirror, Mermaids, National 18, Optimist, Puppeteers, SB3's, and Wayfarers. For more resources on Irish classes go to our dedicated sailing classes page.

The big boat scene represents up to 60% of the sail boat racing in these waters and Afloat carries updates from the Irish Cruiser Racer Association (ICRA), the body responsible for administering cruiser racing in Ireland and the popular annual ICRA National Championships. In 2010 an Irish team won the RORC Commodore's Cup putting Irish cruiser racing at an all time high. Popular cruiser fleets in Ireland are raced right around the coast but naturally the biggest fleets are in the biggest sailing centres in Cork Harbour and Dublin Bay. Cruisers race from a modest 20 feet or so right up to 50'. Racing is typically divided in to Cruisers Zero, Cruisers One, Cruisers Two, Cruisers Three and Cruisers Four. A current trend over the past few seasons has been the introduction of a White Sail division that is attracting big fleets.

Traditionally sailing in northern Europe and Ireland used to occur only in some months but now thanks to the advent of a network of marinas around the coast (and some would say milder winters) there are a number of popular winter leagues running right over the Christmas and winter periods.

Sailing Events

Punching well above its weight Irish sailing has staged some of the world's top events including the Volvo Ocean Race Galway Stopover, Tall Ships visits as well as dozens of class world and European Championships including the Laser Worlds, the Fireball Worlds in both Dun Laoghaire and Sligo.

Some of these events are no longer pure sailing regattas and have become major public maritime festivals some are the biggest of all public staged events. In the past few seasons Ireland has hosted events such as La Solitaire du Figaro and the ISAF Dublin Bay 2012 Youth Worlds.

There is a lively domestic racing scene for both inshore and offshore sailing. A national sailing calendar of summer fixtures is published annually and it includes old favorites such as Sovereign's Cup, Calves Week, Dun Laoghaire to Dingle, All Ireland Sailing Championships as well as new events with international appeal such as the Round Britain and Ireland Race and the Clipper Round the World Race, both of which have visited Ireland.

The bulk of the work on running events though is carried out by the network of sailing clubs around the coast and this is mostly a voluntary effort by people committed to the sport of sailing. For example Wicklow Sailing Club's Round Ireland yacht race run in association with the Royal Ocean Racing Club has been operating for over 30 years. Similarly the international Cork Week regatta has attracted over 500 boats in past editions and has also been running for over 30 years.  In recent years Dublin Bay has revived its own regatta called Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta and can claim to be the country's biggest event with over 550 boats entered in 2009.

On the international stage Afloat carries news of Irish and UK interest on Olympics 2012, Sydney to Hobart, Volvo Ocean Race, Cowes Week and the Fastnet Race.

We're always aiming to build on our sailing content. We're keen to build on areas such as online guides on learning to sail in Irish sailing schools, navigation and sailing holidays. If you have ideas for our pages we'd love to hear from you. Please email us at [email protected]