Puppeteer Scratch

1 Yellow Peril Murphy/Costello
2 Ibis S Sheridan
3 No Strings T Harvey

Puppeteer Handicap
1 Yellow Peril Murphy/Costello
2 Ibis S Sheridan
3 Geppetto O'Reilly/McDyer

Squib scratch
1 Too Dee D Sheahan
2 Kerfuffle J Craig & H Ruane
3 Chatterbox J Kay

Squib Handicap
1 Too Dee D Sheahan
2 Puffin Emer Harte
3 Kerfuffle J Craig & H Ruane

Seventeen Scratch
1 Aura I Malcolm
2 Deilginis Deilginis Group
3 Oona P Courtney

Seventeen Handicap
1 Aura I Malcolm
2 Deilginis Deilginis Group
3 Echo B & H Lynch

#sb20 – 24 entries made the start line this morning for day 1 of the SB20 Eastern Championships at Howth Yacht Club.  With a cold North Easterly promising to die off by mid-afternoon,  PRO Harry Gallagher and his team got the show on the road right on time and sent the fleet away cleanly.  Defending his title Ben Duncan on Sharkbait set to it right away with a race 1 win but not before a bit of upwind duelling with Cork sailor Mel Collins each trying to throw the other to the wrong side of the race course.  Duncan was able to break tacks and came out on top leaving the Collins family with a 2nd in race 1.

With an ever decreasing wind and a strong south going tide, Race 2 got underway with a 50/50 split in the fleet upwind on each side of the course.  With the wind planning to clock right, strangely it was the left handers who made it to the top first.  Scott MacKeown with Nicholas O'Leary on board showing a clean pair of heels but chased closely by Royal Irish YC man John O'Driscoll on Boomchickawahwah.  It was a bottom end split at the final rounding that decided race 2 with McKeown opting for right and O'Driscoll opting for left.  It was O'Driscoll who got the bullet but only by a nose.

Race 3 went to a black flag after two general recalls in ever decreasing wind which had now gone to full easterly and further dying.  A large bunch-up at the first weather mark allowed Ger Dempsey and Chris Nolan on Venuesworld.com slip in before the gaggle and pull some distance on the fleet.  Venuesworld.com were never really threatened after that and went on to score their first Championship race win.

Variety was the order of the day with Sharkbait, BoomChickawahwah and Venuesworld.com each getting home first.   However it was a lesson in pure consistency that has Darren martin onboard "The Sloth" with a 5.0 5.0 and 2.0 to score 12 points overall behind Duncan's 8 point first place overnight.

Mel Collins, Kieran Dorgan and Gareth Flannigan (filling in for Peter Kennedy) each have some work to do tomorrow.

In the Bronze fleet, local class captain Gillian Guinness who scored a 4th in race 1 is 4 points ahead of HYC sailor Paul McMahon with James Gorman in 3rd.

#matchracing – Graham Barker and his Whitefire team, skippered by Ryan Scott, have challenged for the match racing national championship. The sail off against Peter Baily and the St George Gladiators will take place on the 14th April, hosted by Howth Yacht Club. Eight head to head races will take place off Ireland's Eye with the winner becoming the new national champion.

The Whitefire challenge is the first under the new format that allows anyone to challenge the current national champion, provided they can find two boats to use. In this case the Sailfleet J80s will be used but the only stipulation is that the boats chosen require 2 or more people to sail. Everything else related to running the event has been standardised to make challenging as easy, and fair, as possible and support is available from Match Racing Ireland to organise a challenge.

#hyc – The Beshoff Motors/Bloody Stream jointly-sponsored Autumn League finished in pleasant conditions for the hundreds of sailors contesting the final race in the six-race series.

The finishing order in Class 1 on both handicaps produced the exact same results in the overall standings, with Pat Kelly's Storm heading the pack ahead of Ross McDonald's Equinox on IRC and Flashback (Hogg/Breen) taking the ECHO honours from Storm.

Third place on IRC behind race winner King One (Dave Cullen) and second-placed Sunburn (ian Byrne) was enough to see Anthony Gore-Grimes' Dux head Class 2 overall ahead of Cullen and crew while on ECHO, Malahide visitor Bushwakka (O'Shea/O'Brien) maintained their consistency, winning the last race by a large margin to take the spoils ahead of Maximus (Paddy Kyne).

Starlet and Holly dominated Class 3 on both handicaps on the last day but it wasn't enough to stop Vincent Gaffney's Alliance II from winning overall on IRC, although Starlet had the consolation of winning overall on ECHO from two Malahide boats Tobago and Goyave.

In the White Sails Class 4, Colm Bermingham's Bite the Bullet beat Tiger (Hughes/Harris) in the sixth race and that gave them a one point advantage in the overall IRC standings. Another second on ECHO (behind White Lotus) though was all Tiger needed to win overall on ECHO.

The McAllister's Force Five had a good day winning the last race impressively on both handicaps but it was Harry Byrne's Alphida which headed the rankings on IRC from Demelza (Ennis/Lauden), while on ECHO it was Andy Knowles' Sandpiper on top overall by five points from Jokers Wild (Gordon Knaggs).

Michael Evans took the honours in the Etchells overall in Valkyrie, with three points to spare over Simon Knowles' Jabberwocky who took line honours in the last race. In the J/24s, Mossy Shanahan and his crew on Crazy Horse went into the last race in the overall lead and winning the final race from Scandal (Davidson/McDowell) confirmed his supremacy over Flor O'Driscoll's Hard on Port.

No Strings (Terry Harvey), Eclipse (A&R Hegarty) and Yellow Peril (Murphy/Costello) filled the first three places on both scratch and handicap in the Puppeteers but only Yellow Peril featured in the overall rankings on scratch, just a point adrift of series winner Harlequin (Clarke/Egan). On handicap, it was Mayfly (Guinan/Browne) who took the overall honours by four points from Odyssey (Byrne/Stanley).

The Squibs on the final day was a match race berween winner Too Dee (Dave Sheahan) and Shadowfax (Phil Merry) but that didn' prevent Fantome (R.MacDonnell) from winning the series by three points from Sheahan.

In the Howth 17s, Ian Malcolm enjoyed winning the last race from Pauline (O'Doherty/Ryan) but it was the latter which enjoyed the overall success, winning by the narrowest of margins from the Turvey's Isobel and Peter Courtney's Oona. On handicap, Eileen (Finucane/O'Byrne) headed the fleet overall from Sheila (M.Flaherty)

#hyc – Pat Kelly's J109 'Storm' continues to dominate Class 1 after Howth Yacht Club's penultimate race of the Autumn league on Sunday.  A cold drizzly morning greeted the 700 sailors for the Beshoff Motors/ Bloody Stream jointly sponsored series but crucially there was wind too for the event that this year has seen a mix of weather conditions over the first 5 weeks. This week was the turn of the rain and cold to test competitors, although it improved gradually as the start sequences began and the wind stayed reasonably steady, fluctuating between  260 and 270 degrees for the day at about 10 knots.

On the Offshore course, Kelly and team on 'Storm' recorded their fifth consecutive win to put them in an unassailable lead in Class 1 IRC, while 'Flashback' will be fighting to stay ahead next week on ECHO.

Anthony Gore Grimes and crew on 'Dux' can also afford to take a leisurely attitude next week (although it is very unlikely), as they are clear leaders at the top of Class 2 in IRC. However, 'Maximus' and 'Bushwakka' will have no such luxury in the ECHO division - as they share the lead going into the final day.

Vince Gaffney in 'Alliance II' might also consider a rest next week as he and his team will take the honours in Class 3 IRC. The ECHO prize will be a closer fought affair for 'Starlet', 'Tobago' and 'Goyave'.

In Non Spinnaker Class 4, 'Tiger', 'Bite the Bullet' and 'Orna' will battle for top spot in IRC next week and 'Tiger' and 'White Lotus' should be the contenders for the ECHO prize.

Harry Byrne's 'Alphida' will have a  real battle next week with 'Demelza' for the Class 5 IRC trophy, but there is little that they will be able to do to stop 'Sandpiper of Howth' taking the ECHO honours.

Meanwhile, the inshore fleet will see similar battles in the 17's between Isobel and Oona to secure a win on scratch and the Turvey's will also be chasing Eileen for the ECHO prize.

J24, Crazy horse will be chased by Flor O'Driscolls Hard on Port for the overall prize in their class. The Puppeteers are comfortably led by Harlequin (Clarke & Egan) on scratch, but the ECHO prize will be fought out between the two joint leaders Mayfly and Odyssey.

The Squibs are being led in both scratch and ECHO by Fantome and after another win this week, Mike Evans leads the Etchells in Valkyrie.

Hopefully the elements will be kind to us again next Saturday and all classes will get a race, which will mean that all races bar one inshore fleet cancellation last week will have been run, bucking the trend for the last few years.

For the final race, our co sponsor, The Bloody Stream is putting up a prize for each class which will be presented at the final prize giving next Saturday afternoon. There is still limited availability in the dining room, there is a special €25 menu being offered for that evening.

#hyc – Another afternoon of fresh winds provided 118 boats with testing racing conditions for Howth Yacht Club's second weekend of Autumn League racing. A consistent south-easterly wind afforded the race management teams the opportunity of setting long race courses for all 10 classes. Scroll down for more photos by Gareth Craig.

On the 'inshore course', the Etchells were first away and Mike Evans's 'Valkyrie' wasted no time by taking first place and leading the fleet overall after the two races of this series. After a hard-fought race, Mossy Shanahan and his crew on "Crazy Horse' finished ahead of the J24 'Hard on Port' (Flor O'Driscoll) to trail them by one point on overall standings.

Following a disappointing result in their first week on the Puppeteer 'Harlequin', Dave Clarke and Liam Egan took line honours this week but have some work to do to catch 'Gold Dust' and 'Yellow Peril' at the top of the leaderboard. 'Mayfly' leads the Handicap scoreboard by 3 points.

By keeping within one and a half minutes of race winner 'Kerfuffle', Ronan McDonnell in his Squib "Fantome' remains on top in that class in both scratch and handicap.

Peter Courtney's 'Oona' led the Howth Seventeen class all the way around the course, but Brian and Conor Turvey's 'Isobel' still leads the class after last week's win, albeit on equal points with 'Pauline'. The 'two Kevins' (O'Byrne and Finucane) in 'Eileen' took handicap honours this week.

Pat Kelly's 'Storm' was a decisive victor in both IRC and ECHO divisions of Class 1 on the offshore course and Ross McDonald's 'Equinox' will be pushing 'Crazy Horse' all the way for the next place.

While 'Maximus' with Paddy Kyne and crew continue to dominate Class 2 with victories again in both IRC and ECHO divisions, Vince Gaffney's 'Alliance II' looks like the boat that all Class 3 IRC competitors will be seeking to beat - 'Starlet and 'Goyave' share top spot on ECHO.

In White Sails Class 4, 'Tiger' and 'Orna' will continue to share the spoils - 'Orna' won the IRC race and 'Tiger' took the prize for ECHO. In Class 5, Harry Byrne's 'Alphida' won the IRC race while Andy Knowles's 'Sandpiper' was uncatchable in the ECHO division race, winning by a margin of over 4 minutes.

In a division that will demand consistent results throughout the series, team prize leaders 'Orna', 'Valkyrie' and 'King One' lead by 36 points.

HOWTH YACHT CLUB. TUESDAY SERIES 3 (RACE) 17/07/2012 Puppeteer SCRATCH: 1, Eclipse A & R Hegarty; 2, Blue Velvet C & K Kavanagh; 3, Harlequin Clarke/Egan; Puppeteer HPH: 1, Eclipse A & R Hegarty; 2, Ghosty Ned D Harkin; 3, Blue Velvet C & K Kavanagh; Squib SCRATCH: 1, Fantome R McDonell; 2, Shadowfax P Merry; 3, Black Amour S O'Reilly; Squib HPH: 1, Fantome R McDonell; 2, Shadowfax P Merry; 3, Black Amour S O'Reilly; Etchells SCRATCH: 1, Northside Dragon J Bourke; 2, Jabberwocky S Knowles TUE + SAT SERIES 3 (RACE) 17/07/2012 17 Footer SCRATCH: 1, Deilginis Deilginis Group; 2, Isobel B & C Turvey; 3, Anita Cassidy/Faherty; 17 Footer HCAP: 1, Deilginis Deilginis Group; 2, Isobel B & C Turvey; 3, Anita Cassidy/Faherty

HOWTH YACHT CLUB. TUE + SAT SERIES 2 (RACE) 03/07/2012 17 Footer SCRATCH: 1, Oona P Courtney; 2, Rita Curley/Lynch; 3, Isobel B & C Turvey; 17 Footer HCAP: 1, Oona P Courtney; 2, Rosemary Curley/Jones; 3, Anita Cassidy/Faherty

TUESDAY SERIES 2 (RACE) 03/07/2012 Puppeteer SCRATCH: 1, Trick or Treat A Pearson; 2, Yellow Peril N Murphy; 3, Gold Dust Walls/Browne; Etchells SCRATCH: 1, Valkyrie M Evans; 2, Jabberwocky S Knowles; Puppeteer HPH: 1, Mayfly Browne/Guinan; 2, Gannet T Chillingworth; 3, Trick or Treat A Pearson

#hyc – HOWTH YACHT CLUB. TUE + SAT SERIES 2 (RACE) 19/06/2012 17 Footer SCRATCH: 1, Isobel B & C Turvey; 2, Oona P Courtney; 3, Rita Curley/Lynch; 17 Footer HCAP: 1, Isobel B & C Turvey; 2, Rosemary Curley/Jones; 3, Anita Cassidy/Faherty TUESDAY SERIES 2 (RACE) 19/06/2012 Puppeteer SCRATCH: 1, Blue Velvet C & K Kavanagh; 2, Gold Dust Walls/Browne; 3, Eclipse A & R Hegarty; Squib SCRATCH: 1, Kerfuffle Craig/Ruane; 2, Fantome R McDonell; 3, Shadowfax P Merry; Etchells SCRATCH: 1, Northside Dragon J Bourke; 2, Kootamundra D O'Grady; 3, Fetching Quinn/O'Flaherty; Puppeteer HPH: 1, Schiggy G Kennedy; 2, Mr Punch NiBhraonain/Wilson; 3, Blue Velvet C & K Kavanagh; Squib HPH: 1, Kerfuffle Craig/Ruane; 2, Fantome R McDonell; 3, Shadowfax P Merry

#lasersailing – Consistency was certainly the key to success in the Laser Leinster Championships at Howth over the weekend, with the winners in the Standard, Radial and 4.7 rigs showing impressive form in varying wind conditions to take the titles to the north, east and south coasts respectively.

With the exception of an OCS in the second race, East Antrim's Chris Penney rattled off a series of four second places and one bullet to win the 22-boat Standard Rig division by a clear four points from the early pace-setter, Alan Ruigrok from Rush, who was comfortably ahead of third-placed Ronan Cull of Howth.

The Radial rigs only got five races sailed, and despite a hat-trick of race wins on the first day, Ballyholme's Christopher Eames had a poorer second day, allowing the more consistent Finn Lynch of the National Yacht Club to head the 36-boat fleet and win overall. His worst result was a fourth so he won by a clear six points after discards.

The most outstanding performance of the weekend was by Mark Hassett of Baltimore SC who notched up four race wins and discarded a DNC to top the 20-boat division. At any other time, Conor O'Beirne (Royal St.George YC) might have won the event with a string of top three finishes but had to settle for the runner-up spot on this occasion.