There is now only one branch of the international Old Gaffers Association in all Ireland. But though it draws in its membership from every county, it continues to be known as the DBOGA, for it seems that the Dublin Bay title is branding to die for. Yet despite this place-specific naming, the President is Adrian Spence, who lives in County Down and sails his clipper-bowed ketch El Paradiso out of Ringhaddy on Strangford Lough. And the former Honorary Secretary is Darryl Hughes, who is based in Crosshaven on Cork Harbour, the home port for his classic 1937 Tyrrell gaff ketch Maybird.

As for Sean Walsh, previously Dun Laoghaire-based and formerly President of the entire international Old Gaffers Association, his Heard 28 gaff-rigged cutter Tir na nOg is now Kinsale-based, as is he. So with a spread like this, we shouldn’t be surprised that the annual Springtime Assembly is a moveable feast, with Kenmare getting the treatment in 2022, while Belfast was the place to be in 2023.

LOCAL KNOWLEDGE

But for 2024’s DBOGA Kinsale Gathering this past weekend with locals Sean Walsh and Eugene Tubridy providing the essential local knowledge for Darryl Hughes, perhaps it was a good thing that they had got themselves well south, down to the Irish Riviera where there was some chance of manageable weather in this harsh Spring. For Kinsale proved a real winner, as it brought the opportunity to go sailing on the 56ft restored Conor O’Brien trading gaff ketch Ilen of 1926 vintage, thanks to the goodwill of skipper Aodh O’Duinn and James Lyons of Sailing Into Wellness, who now run the ship.

Ilen with her DBOGA crew grabs the sunshine to head seaward from Kinsale on Saturday. Photo: DBOGA

Fortunately, although the numbers made up in quality what they lacked in quantity - with 32 dedicated OGA members coming from near and far - it fitted well with the fact that Ilen is only licensed to carry 12 “passengers”. But as they had her for Friday March 22nd and Saturday March 23rd, they were able on the Friday to include a special group of five guests from Crosshaven RNLI, when steady conditions prevailed for good if cold sailing, while on Saturday reefing skills had to be demonstrated as they had “four seasons in a day”, with the occasional very heavy shower interspersed with strong March sunshine and decidedly brisk winds.

TAKING SAIL-SETTING SERIOUSLY

Thus the Saturday venture saw a wellnigh perfect reef put in the big mainsail. But although the crew on both days included a wide range of gaff rig experience, the standing lug which Conor O Brien designed all those years ago for the mizzen is a strange creature for many. Yet when set right, it looks so good that you wonder why its isn’t more widely used, and Friday’s display with the Crosser RNLI input provided a sail with perfect luff tension, something somehow missed on the Saturday.

Set properly, the correctly-trimmed standing lug mizzen on Ilen is a joy to behold, as seen here last Friday…….…..but though Saturday’s stronger breeze provided the opportunity to put a perfect reef in the mainsail, the set of the mizzen is definitely Work in Progress. Photo: DBOGA

Ashore meanwhile, the Trident Hotel with its alongside berthing and the always hospitable in-house Wharf Tavern provided the ideal Forward Command HQ, from which those not sailing at the time could be dispatched on guided expeditions touring Old Kinsale or undertaking usefully hunger and thirst-inducing walks to Charlesfort and then the Bulman Inn at Summercove.

THE NAVY WAS KINSALE-BASED WHEN WATER CLUB WAS FOUNDED IN CORK HARBOUR

One of the mistakes outsiders make in trying to downgrade the significance of the 1720 origins of the Water Club of the Harbour of Cork is through disrespecting it by saying it was no more than the locals allowing their recreation afloat to be style-dictated by the presence of the Naval Base on Haulbowline Island in Cork Harbour.

The “miniature” port of Kinsale was the preferred naval base during the 1700s until the increasing size of warships necessitated a move to Cork Harbour between 1806 and 1820.

But a proper guided tour of Kinsale will make it clear that until 1806, Kinsale was the full-on main Royal Navy port on the south coast of Ireland.It was only in 1806 that larger ships required the naval move to a base on Haulbowline to begin. And as the change wasn’t completed until 1820, the Water Club and its descendant organisations had been in existence for one hundred years before there was any regular naval influence by proximity on the organization that became the Royal Cork Yacht Club in 1825.

The final departure of the warships from Kinsale in 1820 left behind an picturesque old navy town which slumbered until the beginning of its revival as a fashionable sailing resort in the mid-1900s

KINSALE: THE PERFECT LITTLE 1700s NAVAL TOWN

Meanwhile, Kinsale was left to slumber, a wellnigh perfect little naval town of the 1700s. And as so much of it remains with useful modern additions, it provided exactly the right atmosphere for the dedicated DBOGA group to include RNLI fund-raising projects throughout their weekend, such that as events drew to a close, President Adrian “Stu” Spence was able to present local RNLI officer Kevin Gould with a cheque for €600.

Done and dusted. Kevin Gould (left) of Kinsale RNLI receives the DBOGA cheque from President Adrian “Stu” Spence of Ringhaddy in Stramgford Lough. Photo: DBOGA

Such a totally complete specialist weekend leaves its own problem for the future – where can the DBOGA go in 2025? Well, with Aongus O Cualain and his team from Connemara coming to Dublin early last summer and winning the DBOGA’s race for the Asgard Trophy with his restored gleotoig Blat na hOige, it must be time for the Association to face up to a proper gathering in a place where the gaff rig is still regarded as the only real rig. Connemara and the Aran Islands surely beckon for 2025.

The Call from the West – Connemara’s impressive Blat na hOige winning the DBOGA Asgard Trophy in Dublin Bay last summer. Photo: Afloat.ie/David O’Brien

Sail training enthusiasts and maritime history buffs are in for a treat in Dublin this March. Hugh Byrne, a renowned sailor and expert, will deliver an illustrated lecture on "the Sail Training Vessel Brian Boru" at Poolbeg Yacht and Boat Club, Ringsend on the River Liffey. The Dublin Bay Old Gaffers talk is scheduled for Thursday, March 21st at 8.00 pm and will be in aid of the RNLI.

'Brian Boru' is a 40-ton gaff-rigged sailing ketch that was built in Scotland in 1961. Originally built of Larch and oak as a fishing boat, the vessel has since been lovingly converted into a sail training vessel and can accommodate up to ten trainees and three crew members. The vessel has undertaken many cruises, some of a week's duration and has sailed around Ireland. Onboard instruction is given in maritime skills, knowledge, and safety, in addition to sailing instruction.

Mostly catering to young people, Brian Boru has filled a void left by the departure of the Asgard II. At the lecture, Hugh and friends will be telling us about the history of the vessel, many of her voyages, and the activities carried out aboard, sailing out of Cork and Dublin.

All are welcome to attend the lecture, and a contribution to the RNLI will be appreciated at the door. You are advised to come early to be sure of a seat. Don't miss out on this unique opportunity to learn about the fascinating history of this beautiful vessel and hear about her exciting voyages.

Hugh Byrne, a renowned sailor and expert, will deliver an illustrated lecture on "the Sail Training Vessel Brian Boru" at Poolbeg Yacht and Boat Club Ringsend. The talk is scheduled for Thursday, March 21st at 8.00 pm and will be in aid of the RNLI.

The indefatigable maritime polymath Cormac Lowth is among the first back into presentation mode in 2024, with the fascinating and often heart-warming story of Dublin Bay's lifeboats told - and very well illustrated - in his renowned inimitable style.

The venue is Poolbeg Y&BC, the date is Thursday, January 18th at 8.00 pm, the hosts are the Dublin Bay Old Gaffers Association, all are welcome, and the voluntary proceeds go (of course) to the RNLI.

Maritime Historian and diver Dr Eddie Bourke will be discussing shipwrecks around the coast of Ireland in the first of the Dublin Bay Old Gaffers 2023 winter lecture series this month.

The Liffeyside illustrated talk in aid of the RNLI will be held at Poolbeg Yacht and Boat Club on Thursday, October 19th at 8.00 p.m.

Bourke's published works include 'Shipwrecks of the Irish Coast' in three volumes and 'Bound for Australia', the story of the wreck of the Iron Clipper ship at Lambay Island.

The lecture will include a great many rare and interesting photographs and charts.

All are welcome. A donation can be made to the RNLI.

The Dublin Bay Old Gaffers Association Diamond Anniversary sail down the River Liffey and out into Dublin Bay was completed in fine style on Saturday lunchtime (May 27th), thanks to some gentle easterly winds and warm sunshine.

The 60th anniversary weekend at Poolbeg Yacht and Boat Club in Dublin Port brought together an eclectic mix of gaff riggers from across the Irish Sea, from vintage dinghies to Cornish Crabbers to a 52-foot Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter, a Manx half-decker a 1936 gaff ketch and a Galway Hooker from Connemara.

(From left) Sean Walsh's Tir na Nog of Howth (and Kinsale), a Francois Vivier designed Stir Ven 19 called Wren (centre) and 52-foot Letty, a Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter sailing together on Dublin Bay in celebration of the Old Gaffers Diamond Jubilee Photo: Afloat

As previously reported by our WM Nixon, the diamond jubilee gathering for the Old Gaffers was fully booked for some time. It features a more compact programme without the usual Leinster Trophy, which will get its own standalone in August. Afloat.ie has more on this story HERE.

Master Frank rounds DBSC Seapoint buoy during the Old Gaffers Diamond Juiblee celebrations on Dublin Bay and the River Liffey. Although not built as a Morecambe Bay Prawner, the Manx half decker Master Frank has many attributes from the traditional Nobby design. This classic boat is very special and a good friend of the Nobbies. With a 38ft overall length, 24ft 6in on the deck and a draft of 5ft 3in she is based at Ramsey (IOM). Master Frank fished for many years in the Irish Sea from Whitehaven as 64WA before returning to the island and being registered as RY95 (Ramsey) Photo: Afloat

After breakfast (8.45am) on Sunday morning, 28 May, there will be a currach demonstration and lifejacket testing with the RNLI (10am-12pm). Skippers will get a briefing at noon or the parade of sail, which heads upriver along the Liffey from 1.30 pm via three lifted bridges.

The closing ceremony back at the club (with bar food available) is scheduled for 6pm.

Read also: Port of Dublin Sees Traditional Sail and Modern Sea Transport In Harmony

 (Above and below) The 52-foot Letty on Dublin Bay at the Old Gaffers Diamond Jubilee celebrations. Letty was built as a Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter. The builder was E Rowles of Pill, Bristol and she was built in 1905. She is of timber carvel construction, with larch on oak frames. The vessel was recorded as being transferred from Grimsby to Dublin in 1934 and being converted to a fishing vessel named ROAMING. She was found in Arklow in the mid-1970s and has since been fully restored and is on the UK's National Historic Ships register Photo: Afloat

The Klevia has been restored and is traditionally rigged as a gaff ketch. She hails Ffrom Anglesey in North Wales, and was built in Esbjerg, Denmark, in 1936 for fishing the North Sea  Photo: Afloat

(Above and below) There were a variety of smaller tan-sailed gaffers including Drascombes and Cornish Crabbers participating in Saturday's light air racing from the River Liffey out into Dublin Bay for the Old Gaffers Associations Diamond Jubilee celebrations at Poolbeg Yacht and Boat Club Photo: Afloat 

A Francois Vivier designed Stir Ven 19 called Wren sailed by Graham Files from Wexford Photo: Afloat

(Above and below) The Galway Hooker Bláth na hÓige—was built on Leitir Mealláin (Lettermullan island) off the Connemara coast in the nineteenth-century 

The Dublin Bay Old Gaffers Association have updated the programme of events for their 60th anniversary weekend at Poolbeg Yacht and Boat Club in Dublin Port later this month.

Booking in commences Friday 26 May at 4pm ahead of the opening ceremony at 7pm, followed by an evening of dinner (from 7.30pm) and entertainment (from 8.30pm).

There’s a relatively leisurely start to Saturday 27 May with a half-hour for breakfast at 8.45am before the skippers’ briefing for racing on the bay at 10am. First gun will be at noon for the afternoon of racing, with the prize-giving at 6pm. Dinner is at 7pm followed by music from 8.30pm.

After breakfast (8.45am) on Sunday morning 28 May, there will be a currach demonstration as well as lifejacket testing with the RNLI (10am-12pm). Skippers will get a briefing at noon or the parade of sail, which heads upriver along the Liffey from 1.30pm via three lifted bridges. The closing ceremony back at the club (with bar food available) is scheduled for 6pm.

As previously reported by our own WM Nixon, the diamond jubilee gathering for the Old Gaffers has been fully booked for some time and features a more compact programme without the usual Leinster Trophy, which will get its own standalone in August. Afloat.ie has more on this story HERE.

Ten years ago, when the Old Gaffers Association’s Dublin visit was a highlight of their Golden Jubilee Cruise-in-Company, it was a very crowded and festive series of events based around Poolbeg Yacht & Boat Club in late May 2013 that included the inaugural staging of the race for the DBOGA’s Leinster Trophy. Pernickety observers may have taken sardonic pleasure in pointing out that the Leinster was won by a Bermuda-rigged boat. But as the victor was the 101-year-old Ringsend-built Ainmara owned by Dickie Gomes from Strangford Lough, it was a very popular result.

Racing hard for the inaugural staging of the DBOGA Leinster Trophy in Dublin Bay with (from left) Raven from the Netherlands, the 101 year old Ainmara from Strangford Lough which went on to win, and Cinne Mara, the Dutch-owned steel version of a Galway Hooker. Photo: Dave Owens

OLD GAFFERS DIAMOND JUBILEE AT POOLBEG IN DUBLIN PORT

This year, it’s the Old Gaffers Diamond Jubilee, and they’re returning to Poolbeg again, this time from 26th to 29th May, with the official section compressed into Saturday, 27th and Sunday, 28th May. The available places have already been fully-booked for some time, so the club is at capacity, and the only problem is going to be dealing with more casual visitors or those who operate on the system of “But surely you knew we were coming? We were here before”.

With the more compact 2023 programme, the Leinster Trophy is not featuring - it will be staged as a separate event in August. But the large and very varied fleet will have enough in their hands, as the OGA Cruises are rolling events in which boats come and go at various stages, and only part of the fleet will be going the whole way through the Caledonian Canal and back to the “Grand Concluding Meet” in the River Orwell in Suffolk on the 4th to 6th August.

Old Gaffers fleet in Poolbeg for their Golden Jubilee in 2013, with two of the Howth 17s coming in from their race from Howth. Photo: W M Nixon

One interesting aspect of it all is that the 2013 presence of sundry traditional gaff-rigged craft on Ireland’s East Coast has largely relocated westward. Practically all the Galway Hookers of every size, which used to be a familiar sight in Dublin Bay, are now to be found in Galway City or Kinvara or in the sacred territory of Connemara itself, as the very handy motorway to Galway makes for an enormous difference in going west.

THE SOUTHWEST CALLS

The southwest calls too - former OGA International President Sean Walsh of Dun Laoghaire is now based with his Heard 28 Tir na nOg in Kinsale, while one-time DBOGA mover and shaker Darryl Hughes has become very much Crosshaven-based with his classic 43ft 1937 Tyrrell ketch Maybird.

Sean Walsh’s Heard 28 Tir na nOg – seen here racing in the 2013 Leinster Trophy – has been re-located from Dublin Bay to Kinsale. Photo: Dave Owens 

Thus around or about Dublin Bay, while there may be nearly a hundred boats which definitely qualify as gaffers, they don’t really come under the general Old Gaffer heading. For they’re the One-Designs of the Dun Laoghaire Water Wags, the Howth 17s, and the Dublin Bay 21s, and they live for racing, whereas the raison d’etre of a true Old Gaffer is simply to exist in historically authentic seagoing order.

There’s potential for a culture clash in this if they all try to get together in one place for one event. But another feature of the programme in 2023 is that there’s so much going on that highly individualistic boat types – and the even more highly individualistic people who sail them – can find an event which best suits them.

BALTIMORE WOODEN BOAT FESTIVAL

Thus while Dublin is buzzing on May 27th & 28th, so too is Baltimore in West Cork, with the Baltimore Wooden Boat Festival centred around the same weekend, and starting to get underway on the Thursday with additional cultural events. However, the highlight is expected to come on the Saturday, when world-girdler Conor O Brien’s restored 56ft ketch Ilen and the new re-build of his circumnavigating 42ft Saoirse – both products of Liam Hegarty’s famous boatyard on the River Ilen at Oldcourt – are expected to sail together officially for the first time. That is definitely a complete once-off which no-one who is interested in Conor O’Brien or West Cork or traditional vessels will want to miss.

The new-built Saoirse sails for the first time in Baltimore. Photo: Kevin O’Farrell

Baltimore is certainly flexing its muscles as a magic setting for traditional and classic sail, as the Howth 17s – celebrating their 125th Anniversary in 2023 – will be having a Regatta Week based on Baltimore from June 24th until July 1st, but meanwhile, their 125th season gets underway on Tuesday, May 4th with the 125th Special Race.

The restored Ilen off Steamboat Quay in Limerick. She will sail for the first time in company with her “smaller sister” Saoirse at Baltimore during the Wooden Boat Festival from May 27th-29th. Photo courtesy Ilen Project

HOWTH 17s’ 125TH IS VERY PRECISE

Why be so specific about a date? Well, back in 1898 when the first five newly-built boats famously sailed from boatbuilder John Hilditch at Carickfergus in Belfast Lough over the 90 open sea miles home to Howth in mid-April, it took a while to get themselves together and think seriously about a programme, so it was May 4th 1898 before the Howth 17s had their first proper race.

The Howth 17s may revel in their home waters, but they’re going to Baltimore for one of the big 125th parties. Photo: W M Nixon

The precision in dates is important. For although the similarly-sized and also 1898-built Royal Yorkshire One-Designs may have modernized themselves out of all recognition, whereas the Howth 17s are still as originally designed by Howth’s founding Commodore W H Boyd, the Yorkshire ODs didn’t have their first race until June 6th 1898, and that gap of one month and two days is all-important in assigning the ultimate seniority.

Thirty-three days in 125 years, and it matters enormously – now there’s dedication for you.

The Dublin Bay Old Gaffers Association will host an illustrated lecture next week by Joe Ryan reflecting on the coastguard in Ireland over the last 200 years.

Joe spent 12 years at sea as a radio officer responsible for the safety of lives at sea. He spent 15 years as a computer engineer and software advisor, and 20 years as a search and rescue co-ordinator with the Irish Coast Guard before his retirement in 2014.

He has been a supporter of the Maritime Institute and their lectures since 1995, and he gave their keynote lecture in 2014 on the coastguard from 1822 to 2014, “Hands Around the Country”, which later became a PDF booklet, as previously reported on Afloat.ie.

Joe says this upcoming lecture is not a rehash of his previous address, and will instead reflect on key moments of the Irish Coast Guard and its predecessor bodies over the last two centuries.

The lecture takes place this Thursday 23 February at 8pm at the Poolbeg Yacht and Boat Club. All are welcome and donations for Howth RNLI may be made at the door. Early attendance is recommended to be sure of a seat.

The talk will also be streaming live on Zoom for those who cannot attend in person (details on request from [email protected]).

Cruising Club of America Blue Water Medallist Paddy Barry and Dublin Bay Old Gaffers Association President Adrian Spence have taken on the Arctic cruising challenge in a variety of craft over the years.

But in 2022, they combined forces to sail Adrian's more modern 47th ketch to high latitudes, and found that modern life can provide some extra frustrations.

All will be told at Poolbeg Yacht & Boat Club in the Port of Dublin this Thursday (January 26th).

The Dublin Bay Old Gaffers Association is now the central organisation for the OGA in Ireland, following the absorption of the Northern Ireland branch, which supplied the re-elected President, Adrian "Stu" Spence.

His home port is in Ringhaddy Sound in Strangford Lough, but on Saturday, he brought together an Annual General Meeting in Dublin Port which reflected the all-Ireland nature of the DBOGA despite its apparently location-specific title, and the election of a large committee further reflected the gathering's countrywide interests.

Honorary Secretary Darryl Hughes of Crosshaven stood down after several years of sterling service, which included steering the Association through the Pandemic in a busy style with a comprehensive series of Zoom sessions involving a wide range of maritime topics, while combining a successful ongoing fund-raising drive for the Howth lifeboat

Darryl is succeeded by Peter Tobin as Secretary, while Dave Neilly takes over from Jimmy Murphy as Treasurer as the DBOGA heads into a busy 2023, which will include the extensive celebrations of the now-international Old Gaffers Association's 60th Anniversary.

The 2023 DBOGA Officers & Committee are: 

Adrian Spence - President
Peter Tobin - Secretary
Dave Neilly - Treasurer

Committee:

Dennis Aylmer (Dun Laoghaire)
John Elston
Joe Foley
John Ferguson
Negley Groom (Poolbeg)
Darryl Hughes (Crosshaven)
Gerry Keane
Paul Keogh (Clondalkin)
David Lewis
Cormac Lowth
Ed Maggs (Kerry)
Jimmy Murphy
Paul Rowe
Mark Sweetnam
Chris Trevithick
Seán Walsh (Kinsale)
Johnny Wedick
Michael Weed (Donegal)

A recording of the AGM is below