Howth Yacht Club is stressing its two day coaching on the eve of the Irish Cruiser Racing Association (ICRA) National Championships, is not just for club members. In association with UK McWilliam Sailmakers and ICRA, the north Dublin club is running two days of coaching for yachts and their crews on May 20 and 21.

Skippers and crews eager to improve their skills – and tune–up – for the season ahead are invited to partake in what will be 'two brilliant days of sailing'.

The racing season is just around the corner with the ICRA Nationals taking place in early June at Royal Cork Yacht Club.

Des McWilliam and Graham Curran of UK Sailmakers will be doing on the water coaching at HYC on both days followed by video debriefs. 

'This is NOT exclusively for customers of UK Sailmakers, you are invited to train no matter who supplies your sail wardrobe', HYC's Ross McDonald told Afloat.ie

Entries are strictly limited to 10 per day for a 5:1 coaching ratio.

Here are some great instructional videos to watch in the meantime from UK Sailmakers: Instructional videos

The entry fee options are HYC Member (€95.00) and Non Member (€125.00). You can enter your boat online here. 

With a month to go to the ICRA National Championships at Royal Cork Yacht Club, the Cruiser Racer body has published a 56–boat entry list to date that reveals a large entry from the host Cork Harbour Club. Royal Cork yachts represent 30% of entries received to date. Dublin Boats represent another 30% but there is likely to be some disappointment that no entries have so far been received from either the Royal St. George YC or National Yacht Clubs. To date, Howth Yacht Club is sending eight boats while the Royal Irish Yacht Club is sending similar.

18 yacht clubs are represented at the 2017 championships.

Neighbouring Kinsale Yacht Club has five entries listed. A single Scottish entry from the Clyde has been received as has a single Welsh entry from Swansea Yacht Club.

Seven boats in the fleet are J24 one designs that will also race for southern class honours, a new departure for the ICRA championships.

ICRA believes only 60% of the entries have been recevied at this stage so with five days before the early bird entry expires, ICRA Commodore Simon McGibney is urging skippers to avail of the discounted rate.

Read the provisional ICRA entry list below: 

Greystones Sailing Club and Lough Derg Yacht Club member Pamela Lee racing on TP52 'Conviction' as Bow at Antigua Race Week wrapped up class RSA3 in impressive style.

When we last reported, Conviction led with four wins from five races and she continued on that consistent tack taking seven wins from eight races overall.

It wasn't the only Irish success in Antiqua either. A Howth Yacht Club crew led by Ian McCormack on USA entry Porthmeor, Neil Styler's Oyster 49 were second in RSA nine.

The Grand Awards Ceremony for Antigua Sailing Week was held in Nelson's Dockyard and the UNESCO World Heritage Site was a fitting venue for the 50th edition of this historic occasion. Thousands of sailors attended the ceremony and whilst all of the respective class winners had been posted, there were special awards that were still to be announced, including the biggest prize in Caribbean sailing, the Lord Nelson Trophy.

The Portmeor Oyster 49 crew including Howth sailors. Photo: Ian McCormack/Facebook

Asot A Michael, MP, Minister of Tourism, Economic Development, Investment & Energy of Antigua and Barbuda, gave a heart-warming welcome speech to the crowd, which highlighted how important Antigua Sailing Week is to the twin island nation. Guest of Honour, His Excellency Sir Rodney Williams, Governor General of Antigua & Barbuda presented the main prizes.

The stage was glittering with dozens of trophies, many of which have been sought after for decades of Caribbean racing. Winners took to the stage to receive their appreciation from the crowd, and finally there was just one trophy left. You could feel the tension as MC Tommy Paterson announced the winner of The Lord Nelson Trophy as Sergio Sagramoso's Puerto Rican Melges 32, Lazy Dog.

Sergio Sagramoso and his team took to the stage to tumultuous applause and then crowded around the historic Lord Nelson Trophy after the prize giving, scanning the list of names etched upon it over the years. The last Puerto Rican boat to win the trophy was Tom Hill's Titan XII in 2005.

"It is really amazing," smiled Sergio who had been racing in the highly competitive CSA 4. "I am so proud.
The Lazy Dog team will always remember this moment; this is why we do it. This was the toughest regatta I have ever been to with eight races and a very high level of competition.

Ross Applebey's Oyster 48, Scarlet Oyster had been in impressive form all week, however the British charter boat was once again just short of winning the Lord Nelson Trophy. Ross and his crew didn't leave empty handed though, as the team left the stage with a huge haul of silverware for their efforts including: The Governor General's Cup for first overall in CSA 5, Best British Race Charter Yacht, Royal Southern Yacht Club Shield Trophy for the Inter-Yacht Club Challenge and the Peter Deeth Trophy for 2nd overall in CSA 1-6.

Sir Peter Harrison's Super Maxi Sojana racing in CSA 1 was close to winning the Lord Nelson Trophy for the second time and the crew where in good spirits as they took to the stage to receive multiple awards. They broke into song, singing 'Happy Birthday' to both the regatta and Sir Peter who celebrated his 80th birthday during the week. Sojana's trophy haul included: the Curtain Bluff Trophy for the overall win in CSA 1, The Corum Cup for winning overall in CSA 1-6, and the Fletcher Trophy for Best British Yacht.

Fritz Bus's St. Maarten Melges 24, Team Island Water World had an epic battle in CSA 6 with Antigua National Sailing Academy's Cork 1720, Spirit, skippered by Jules Mitchell. Team Island Water World won the class and Best Caribbean Boat in Start Boat A. Spirit was the Best Antiguan Boat in Start Boat A. After a keenly contested duel it was great to see the two teams sharing a photograph at the Awards Ceremony.

The K3 Foundation, racing Kialoa III and Clint Brooks' Bajan TP52 Conviction had a fantastic regatta; both yachts scoring seven bullets to win their respective classes, CSA 2 and CSA 3.

Winning the Big Banana Trophy for Best Caribbean Yacht and the Grant Thornton Trophy for Best Boat Overall in CSA 7-9 was Cary Byerley and Sir Robbie Ferron's Micron 99 Lord Jim from St. Maarten. The team had to overcome a 1.5 point deficit in the last race to their long term rivals, Sir Bobby Velasquez and his St. Maarten team racing L'Esperance. They went on to achieve victory by just two seconds!

"Two seconds and half a point; shockingly dramatic," commented Sir Robbie Ferron. "I could never believe it would be that close. In all my years, I have never won a regatta like that and I doubt if anyone else has. For the last three years, I have been racing against Bobbie in many regattas and we have always just missed out. I have great respect for him so we have a great ambience. Reflecting on how Antigua Sailing Week had evolved, this regatta has done the right things for the competitors and it is getting the appropriate response. Sailors are enjoying the experience and that is why it has such a great turnout and I believe that the momentum will continue beyond the 50th regatta, continued Ferron."

Antiguan, Sir Hugh Bailey won the Lord Nelson Trophy last year and was second in CSA 3 this year with a new acquisition, his Farr 45 Rebel-B. Sir Hugh has been involved in all 50 editions of Antigua Sailing Week.

"Back when it all started, if you told me that 50 years on we would have thousands of people racing in Antigua from all over the world, I would have said that was far from our thinking. I am happy to see the growth and I feel privileged because I am the only captain from the early days still alive and on the race course. This year I really enjoyed my new boat Rebel-B; we have a lot to learn, and I am sure we will get the boat even faster."

Winning the Dream Yacht Charter Trophy and one week Bareboat charter from Antigua was Mike Cannon & Neil Harvey's KHS&S Contractors from Florida, USA. "The team has won multiple times all over the Caribbean, but this was its first trip as a team to Antigua Sailing Week.

"I cannot believe how good this experience has been," commented Mike Cannon. "The crew and the people in Antigua have been just fabulous - unreal. I am not sure why it has taken us so long to come here. I have been to a lot of regattas in my life and this is one of the best places I have ever been and you can be sure we will be coming back!"

Steve Carson's Dehler 33, High Tide won CSA 8 after seven years of trying.

The 51st edition of Antigua Sailing Week will take place from April 28th to May 4th, 2018.

For the second Saturday running, the picturesque island of Ireland’s Eye has enabled Howth Yacht Club to have a Saturday sailing programme despite strong onshore winds which saw cancellations elsewhere writes W M Nixon.

Last weekend, a rising sou’easter threatened to create mayhem in the Selection Trials for the university crew to represent Ireland in the Student Yachting Worlds at Marseilles in the Autumn. But although the programme was slightly curtailed, a clear winner had emerged in the shape of UCD captained by Will Byrne.

Yesterday, the morning’s strong to gale force nor’easterly led to the cancellation of racing in Dublin Bay. But with a pier start at Howth and the shelter of the Sound inside Ireland’s Eye to enable everyone to settle down before facing a full-blooded windward slug to the north of the island in a now easing wind, the venerable Howth Seventeens were able to complete their first Saturday race of the season.

They made a real job of it, with the open sea beat done twice before they returned down to the Sound to the finish. The Massey Syndicate’s Deilginis (built 1907), helmed by Luke Massey, found her groove to do something of a horizon job on the rest of the fleet. Ian Malcolm’s Aura (built 1898) was second, while one of the “new” boats, the 1988-built Isobel (Conor & Brian Turvey) was third.

The Howth 17 Deilginis narrowly leading Aura at the Glandore Classic Boat Regatta 2003. In yesterday’s first Saturday race of 2017, the order was the same, but the gap was greater. Photo: W M Nixon

As for how Ireland’s Eye got its name, it really couldn’t be simpler. The first written records refer to it as Inish Nessan, as Nessan was the local saint and you can still see the remains of her miniature abbey on the island. Then it became Inish Eria, as another woman had taken over, one Eria. When the Vikings arrived, Eria’s Island became Eria’s Oy. That in time became Eria’s Eye. The in a slip of the pen by a 16th Century map maker, it became Erin’s Eye. The subsequent tendency to obliterate anything that even hinted at Gaelic origins saw it become Ireland’s Eye. And so it remains, something which so improves sailing out of Howth that, as mentioned last week, if it didn’t exist we’d have to invent it.

Drone’e eye view from above Ireland’s Eye southward towards Howth Harbour, showing that even in fresh onshore breezes the island still provides enough shelter to get a race under way from a pier start. Photo Tomas Ryan

University College Dublin, led by Will Byrne, won through in an increasingly challenging national selection trials at Howth YC yesterday to take the honour of representing Ireland in the 37th Annual Student Yachting Worlds, which this year will be staged in the Mediterranean in the Autumn at Marseilles, and raced in J/80s.

Howth’s ready-to-go flotilla of club-owned J/80s thereby provided double value, and they provided much whoop-inducing sailing as the south’easterly built steadily during the day. This deteriorating weather was to mean that the usual club Saturday afternoon racing at both Howth and Dun Laoghaire was cancelled. But by that stage, thanks to a tight programme set in train by Race Officer Scorie Walls with the briefing in HYC at 0830 and the first gun at 1000hrs, the Intervarsity programme was already well on its way.

Although today (Sunday) had been pencilled in as a fallback day, the mood of the fleet was very strongly in favour of having it all done and dusted by the time the forecast even stronger winds were expected to arrive late on Saturday afternoon, and Scorie and her team were able to oblige.

By using Howth’s clear water race area between the protecting island of Ireland’s Eye and Portmarnock, the racing could continue as the wind shunted upwards towards the 27 knots-plus level, prompting the Race Team to quip that if Ireland’s Eye didn’t exist, then they’d have had to invent it.

Nevertheless even this shelter could only do so much in the very dense and increasingly fast moving air, and with some damage being sustained, the final had to be based on two races sailed between Cork IT Sailing, Trinity CD Sailing, NUI Galway, and UCD.

UCD were on a roll as they’d notched three wins and a second in the four qualifying races, and they maintained this pace into the two final contests, with Trinity as runners-up and NUI Galway placing third overall. Now Marseilles calls, and UCD have an entire summer for further training in J/80s racing. But meanwhile, extraneous matters like exams have to be dealt with....

The Annual Student Yachting Worlds, sailed in performance keelboats each Autumn in France, has seen Irish overall success in times past, a noted international varsity star being Nicholas “Nin” O’Leary during his college days in Cork writes WM Nixon

But as it is raced in keelboats – in November 2016 at La Rochelle they sailed the Grand Surprise 31 – the selection trials in Ireland are staged as a separate event from the Irish Intervarsity Nationals, which are raced in dinghies (usually Fireflies), with 2017’s already staged in mid-March in Clifden in Connemara, and Trinity College Dublin, captain by Richard Roberts from Cork, winning overall.

However, with keelboat skills required for the Student Yachting Worlds, their 2017 selection will emerge from a series to be sailed this weekend in the Howth YC’s Club Flotilla of J/80s.

The format of the SYW is based on each nation being represented by its top-performing college, rather than by a national squad selected from the best-of-the-best in each crew, so the Selection Trials are one hotly contested inter-varsity event.

Last year in France at La Rochelle, there was unprecedented Trantlantic domination, with the Canadian team winning overall from the USA’s California Maritime Academy by one point. Southampton University (England) was best of the Europeans, with Ireland represented by Cork Institute of Technology taking fourth after a series in which at one stage they’d been very well in the frame.

Cork Institute of Technology take this World Series very seriously indeed, so they’ve two teams entered for this weekend’s selectors, CIT 1 captained by Jay Stacy, and CIT 2 headed by Ewan O’Keeffe. The “local varsity”, Dublin City University from just up the road, is also in the mix, skippered by Colm Roche.

The eight contenders are completed by University of Limerick (captain Chris McDaid), Queens University Belfast (Jocelyn Hill), University College Dublin 1 (William Byrne), NUI Galway (Sean Mahon) and Trinity College Dublin 1 (Rory McStay)

Six relatively light wind races completed at Howth Yacht Club gave Charles Dwyer and his crew Nin O'Leary and Richie the overall win of the inaugural six–boat National 18s Eastern Championships in Dwyer's new boat.

A tie break behind them saw Tommy Dwyer, Peter O'Donovan and Charlie Moloney take second with Colin Chapman, Morgan O'Sullivan and Ronan Walsh taking third.

The National 18s continue racing in Cork Harbour with Wednesday leagues already in operation and Saturday racing beginning at the start of May.

Sixteen SB20s battled it out off Ireland’s Eye last weekend in a hotly contested Eastern Championships. With 0-6 knots winds forecast for the weekend, PRO Paddy Judge and his Howth YC team did an excellent job getting six fair, high quality races completed over the two days.

Race 1 on Saturday saw the fleet head off from a in a patchy 6 knot easterly breeze. The holes were treacherous and highly localised and if you were unfortunate enough to find one, you could easily lose several boat lengths on a competitor mere boat lengths away from you. The boats that tacked off early and headed towards the island on the right hand side of the course fared best with Sacre Bleu (Colin Galavan, Chris Arrowsmith and Dave Cahill) rounding just ahead of Ridgefence (Peter Kennedy, James Espey and Steve Kane) and Sin Bin (Michael O’Connor, Owen Laverty and Ed Cooke) in a close third. Finding clear air and picking the right shifts and puffs downwind were of paramount importance and Ridgefence and Sacre Bleu called it to perfection extending their lead over the fleet down the run. Also making a charge to the front were the teams aboard Sharkbait (Darren Martin, Simon Murray, Roger Pannell) and Alert Packaging (Justin Burke, Henrik Olerund and Gareth Nolan). At the finish, Ridgefence had managed to overtake Sacre Bleu with Sharkbait completing the podium places.

With a dying wind forecast, PRO Paddy Judge very wisely chose to keep things moving along swiftly and once all the fleet had finished, the marks were re-laid and the fleet were quickly back into a starting sequence for Race 2. Defending champion Lia (Dave Barry, Phil Lawton and Kevin Johnson) stole the biased pin end and tore away from the line like a scalded cat. However, with the wind forecast to veer all day and the right side of the course being favoured up to that point, there were soon anxious glances over their shoulders looking for an opportunity to get back across to the right and consolidate their lead on the fleet. By the time that they did manage to get across, things had evened out somewhat and there was the usual melee at the windward mark with no quarter asked or given. Again, the ability to find clear air and pick the right shifts and laylines downwind resulted in large gains and Alert Packaging picked their way down the run beautifully to lead at the leeward mark from an overlapped Sin Bin and Ridgefence. The three lead boats battled it out over the next lap and at the finish it was Sin Bin in first from Ridgefence in second and Alert Packaging in third.

After a short break, the race team decided to get Race 3 off and running. Sacre Bleu showed a return to form and stormed into a healthy lead that they would not relinquish. Alert Packaging were relishing the light air conditions and added a solid second place to their already impressive 4, 3 scoreline from races one and two. Meanwhile, Bango (James Gorman, Isaac Mccarthy Fisher and Gleb Romantchik) with a new crew on board for the first event of the season seemed to have got the hang of things sailing together and sailed exquisitely to grab a very creditable third place, showing their nerve to keep the chasing pack at bay up the last short beat to finish.

At the end of day 1, the boats returned to shore mentally exhausted for the second half of the Munster match, pints and chats in the bar of the always hospitable Howth Yacht Club. It was very tight at the top of the scoreboard with Sacre Bleu (2,5,1) on 8 points leading from Alert Packaging in second (4,3,2) on 9 points. Ridgefence (1,2,8) and Sin Bin (6,1,4) were a further two points back on 11 points, with Sharkbait (3,4,6) on 13 points in fifth with a 7 point cushion on defending champion Lia (5,6,9) on 20 points in sixth. With more breeze forecast on Sunday and a discard to kick in after race 4, it was all still to play for on day 2.

Day 2 dawned without a zephyr showing on the water. With the forecast being for the wind to veer and build, the race committee signalled a brief postponement on shore and patiently waited for the wind to fill in. The wind (what little of it there was) shifted around from the north west to the east and began to build as promised so the race committee dropped the AP and made their way out to the race course in a 5 knot easterly. The course for Race 4 was set and the fleet were in sequence until a large right hand shift 1 minute before the start meant that the race committee abandoned the start sequence and again signalled a short postponement to allow them time to reset the marks and provide an even course. Once the course was re-laid, the fleet got away and again it was Colin Galavan and his crew on Sacre Bleu that showed a clean pair of heels to the fleet, taking their second gun of the weekend. This time, it was Darren Martin et al on Sharkbait doing the chasing on behalf of the pack with Michael O’Connor et al on Sin Bin taking third. Peter Kennedy and the team on Ridgefence were most unfortunate to be involved in a collision at the first top mark which threw them somewhat and they could only manage ninth in race 4. After the discard was applied, the team on Sacre Bleu were on an impressive 4 points overall (counting a 1,1,2) and had extended their lead to four points over Sin Bin and five points over Alert Packaging and Sharkbait.

As always in SB20 racing, you can’t count your chickens and Race 5 threw in a curve ball to make for a spectacular interesting finale. Race 5 got off at the second time of asking under U-flag and saw Timber (Marty Cuppage, David Bailey and Chris Chapman) boss the pin end of the line before making their way out to the better breeze on the left side of the course followed closely by Sin Bin on their hip. Series leader Sacre Bleu were for the first time a little line shy and were forced to tack onto port shortly after the start and head out to the less favoured right hand side of the course. At the weather mark, Timber led from Sin Bin with Sharkbait in a close third. One by one, the boats gradually peeled off onto port gybe to get out of the adverse current on the right hand side of the run. At the leeward mark, the three lead boats converged with Timber and Sharkbait coming in on starboard gybe and Sin Bin coming in on port gybe. All three of the lead boats rounded together with Timber on the inside, Sin Bin on the outside and Sharkbait the filling in the sandwich. The three lead boats battled hard around the next lap and in the end it was Sin Bin that took the gun from Sharkbait with Timber just pipped for third place by a charging Ridgefence. Another notable result was the newly formed team on Binn Eadair (Cillian Dickson, Diana Kissane, Sam O’Byrne and Gordon Stirling) bagging a fifth place in Race 5. They certainly didn’t take long to get the hang of things!

So, after five races and going into the sixth and final race, Sacre Bleu and Sin Bin were tied on 9 points with Sharkbait in third on 11 points and Ridgefence by no means out of it on 14 points. Any of these four boats had a realistic shot at the title and it was all to play for. By now, the breeze had increased to an oscillating 10 knot breeze from the south east. Again, there was a pin end bias on the line and with a favourable tide (going upwind) and more breeze on the left side of the course, competition for a place on the front row was vicious. Timber once again took the pin with Ridgefence drag racing with them up the beat, with Ridgefence leading Timber around the top mark. Race six also saw a welcome return to form of 2016 Western Champions Venuesworld.com (Ger Dempsey, Chris Nolan, Rory Groves and Graham Barker) and recent Spring Warmer victors Two Men and their Monkey (Daragh Sheridan, Shane Murphy and John Phelan), both boats picking their way skilfully up the beat to be in contention at the weather mark.

As Ridgefence extended their lead all the way to the finish for their second win of the regatta, followed by Two Men and their Monkey in second and Venuesworld.com in third, there was nothing more that Ridgefence could do other than see how the other three contenders behind them fared and see how the final points tallied up. Astern, the other three contenders for the title were in a tightly knit bunch. Going up the first half of the final beat, as the boats crossed tacks there was no more than three boat lengths separating Sacre Bleu, Sin Bin and Sharkbait, with Sharkbait leading the bunch and Sacre Bleu battling at the back of the trio. On the second half of the beat, both Sacre Bleu and Sharkbait tacked towards the right hand side of the course while Sin Bin split looking for pressure on the left hand side of the course. The pressure stayed steadier on the left and Sin Bin rounded the last weather mark in 5th one place and a few boat lengths ahead of Sharkbait with Sacrebleu a few places further back. Unfortunately for Sacre Bleu, they couldn’t make up the ground on the run and their race was effectively run. It was down to Sharkbait and Sin Bin to fight it out around the last few hundred metres. By the leeward mark, both boats had caught up with Timber (who were previously in fourth) so there was still hope for Sharkbait of putting Timber between them and Sin Bin in an effort to clinch the series. In the end, Sin Bin just held on to take fourth from Sharkbait in fifth, with Sacre Bleu finishing race 6 in eighth.

Overall, Sin Bin won the Eastern Championships with 13 points from Ridgefence in second on 15 points. Sacre Bleu took third place on countback from Sharkbait, both on 16 points. The winner of the Silver fleet was Timber. Next up is the Northern Championships in the Royal Ulster Yacht Club, Bangor on 27th/28th May.

SB20 Eastern Championship 2017

Howth Yacht Club

Provisional Results as of 15:05 on April 23, 2017

Sailed: 6, Discards: 1, To count: 5, Rating system: TCF, Entries: 16, Scoring system: Appendix A

Racing at least once a year round the beautiful and unspoilt island of Lambay seven miles north of Howth has been part of the Howth Yacht Club DNA for so long that nobody is 100% certain when this intriguing sporting challenge was first introduced writes W M Nixon.

We know for sure that a cup for the race was first put up in 1899 in the early days of Howth SC, which had been founded in 1895. But it seems the earliest record of results of a race taking place date from 1904. However, there could well have been earlier stagings of it, but as Howth’s sailing functioned in a very laid back and often un-reported style as a contrast to the formality of Dublin Bay’s newspaper-highlighted grand manner of yachting, it’s possible a Lambay Race happened pre-1904.

Howth 17s Aura and Pauline off the north coast of Lambay. The Howth 17s date from 1898, and have sailed in every Lambay Race. Photo John Deane

Whatever, we know for sure that by 1921 it was a cherished part of the annual calendar, as noted by noted cruiser-racer enthusiast Pat Walsh, who wrote enthusiastically for a sailing journal about the race and his participation in it, with a second place gained in that year’s race.

The Lambay Race has definitely been scheduled every year since, and numbers have waxed and waned and waxed again. For 2017, this classic event is receiving a major boost with sponsorship from the Michael J Wright Hospitality Group, which owns and operates renowned establishments which make Howth such a magnet for discerning visitors.

HYC Commodore Joe McPeake (left) with Michael Wright of Wright Hospitality Group, whose newly-opened Thai restaurant, Diep in Howth, will be providing a €50 euro voucher for every boat entering the Lambay Races 2017

With a return to what used to be a weekend-long event, this year's HYC annual summertime keelboat regatta has been re-formatted to celebrate the traditional weekend that was the Lambay Races & Howth Regatta. The return to a historical format on the June bank holiday weekend (3rd to 5th June 2017) includes racing around Ireland's Eye on Friday night followed by the traditional Lambay Races on Saturday and a cruise-in-company/family day on Sunday.

While the emphasis is on fun sailing, Howth’s on-water racing administration is of international standard. So those who go to the Lambay Weekend for the hottest competition will be well catered for, but so too will other sailors intent mainly on pleasure afloat. As for pleasure ashore, with the Wright Group feeding in its welcome presence (which now includes the new Thai restaurant, Diep, in the group’s flagship pub Findlater’s) the après sailing buzz will be world class.

Afloat, competing classes will be divided into three fleets each with their own race management team. The large offshore fleet will comprise of five 'cruiser classes' along with the Shipman Class, while the inshore fleet includes One-Design fleets such as J80s, Ruffians, E-Boats, Puppeteers and the Squibs. Consolidating the theme of returning to the historical 'weekend' regatta, Howth's indigenous class, the Howth Seventeens will join the 'Classic Classes', starting and finishing off the East Pier. This will be the third year that visiting classic boats will join the event.
The short race on the Friday evening will conclude with a prize-giving in the clubhouse along with a reception for those visitors sailing from further afield and planning to race (or cruise) the following day and on Sunday.

The Lambay Races on Saturday provide a unique opportunity and challenge for racing teams to compete in what might at first glance appear to be a relatively straightforward windward-leeward race, but encompassing a variety of extras including coastal navigation, tidal considerations, shoreline rock-hopping and sailing in a variety of weather conditions on the different points of the course.

The Lambay Race caters for all sorts. This is the former World Half Ton Champion King One and the traditional Galway Hooker Naomh Cronan rounding Lambay in a patch of mist which had cleared to strong sunshine by race’s end. Photo W M Nixon

Speaking at the launch of the sponsorship announcement, HYC Commodore Joe McPeake said: 'The club is delighted to have the partnership with Michael and his team, and there is no doubt that the involvement of the Michael J Wright Hospitality Group will add a significant extra dimension to this ever-popular regatta.'

The club is encouraging everyone to get afloat that weekend - racing or not, there will be something for members and visitors of all ages to enjoy. A massive entertainment and hospitality programme is being assembled and it will include an event reception on Friday evening, live bands after racing on Saturday with themed bars and 'Diep' catering providing a lively party through to prizegiving and after the Lambay Dinner, more live music and dance into the small hours.

Sunday's cruise around Ireland's Eye and a family day ashore will no doubt be aided by the 'lay-day' that the Bank Holiday Monday will provide. And every boat that enters the Regatta also gets a €50 voucher for the newly-opened Diep restaurant, which makes the Lambay Weekend 2017 unique. Enter online here

“Lambay weather” as everyone remembers it. Photo HYC

Cork Harbour's Dave Barry will defend his SB20 Eastern title this weekend at the Eastern Championships at Howth Yacht Club. 

As Afloat.ie previously reported, the National 18s, the RS400 and RS200 fleets will share the limelight off Ireland's Eye. The SB20s and N18s will race on one course and the RS400 and RS200s on another. 

Back from the Vendee Globe, solo skipper Enda O'Coineen is set to rejoin the sportsboat fleet for the first championships of 2017 as is the National Yacht Club's Roger Bannon, who has taken on the role of class measurer. 

The 2017 season is an important build–up for the class as the SB20 Europeans will be staged by the Royal Irish Yacht Club in 2018.