The Royal St. George Yacht Club of Dun Laoghaire Harbour has earned itself the name of Ireland’s foiling hub. In recent years, they have become the leaders in driving modern foiling in Ireland, mainly in the ever-growing Waszp class.

Wanting to accelerate the participation and level in foiling classes in Ireland, the RSGYC has set out to create an all-new Youth Foiling programme led by foiling champion Charlie Cullen.

The programme aims to create a world-class team to ultimately challenge for the Youth America's Cup in Barcelona 2024. This will be the first time an Irish Team will have been involved in the America's Cup in its 170-year history.

“This is an exciting concept that will be the very first of its kind in Ireland. I’m looking forward to leading this team to become Ireland's first-ever Youth America’s Cup challenger”, Charlie told Afloat.

The Youth Programme plans to be the breeding place for the next generation of world-class professional Irish sailors, with the aim of creating a cohesive team, that will challenge and race against the likes of the New York Yacht Club and the Royal Yacht Squadron on the biggest sailing stage.

Royal St George foiling champion Charlie Cullen

All U25, the team will be represented by the top youth talent that Ireland has to offer. The team also aims to be fully gender equal with a 50/50 split of male and female sailors.

There will be seven invited teams as well as the six represented Cup teams participating in the Youth Americas Cup. All teams will race in the new AC40 foiling monohull inspired by the AC75’s.

“We are very excited to support this initiative. Being an all-Ireland programme we want the best sailors from around the country, to get involved”, Ronan Adams of the RStGYC told Afloat.

If you are interested in getting involved and born after the 12th October 1998, email your sailing CV and a motivation letter to [email protected], applications close on 16th January 2023.

Day two of the Mapfre Euromed International Championships in Malta yielded mixed results for the Irish competitors.

Little wind meant only one race for the Laser group and none for Optimists.

Daniel O’Connor is Ireland’s best-placed boy in the ILCA 6 fleet of 19 in fifth overall. The Royal St George Sailor earned second place behind Ukrainian sailor Dmytro Karabadzhak. The strong Maltese fleet hold the top three positions before the first discard kicks in. With a maximum of 12 races to be sailed, the organisers will hope for stronger winds today.

In the ILCA 4 fleet, Lucy Ives, sailing under the Carlingford Sailing Club burgee, stays 9th after four races sailed. Howth’s Charlie Keating is in 11th.

The Royal St George pair of Jessica Riordan and Emily Conan are in 14th and 17th, respectively. 

In the 138-boat Optimist Fleet, Carolina Carra of the Royal St George Yacht Club is lying in 64th place after four races sailed. Jude Hynes-Knight is 65th.

Full results here:

ILCA 6

ILCA 4

Optimist

The Dun Laoghaire Laser Masters fleet gathered over the weekend for a glitzy award ceremony to celebrate what they’re calling an “epic” season for the class. Hosted by the Royal St. George Yacht Club, the fleet’s end-of-season event recognised the achievements of adult Laser sailors from across the Dun Laoghaire clubs.

Adult Laser sailing has been on the rise in recent times, especially since the Pandemic when at one point, it was one of the few boats that could be sailed under government regulations. In order to encourage continued adult participation through 2022, local fleet organisers laid on a range of additional racing formats to supplement the regular winter and summer sailing offered by the DMYC and DBSC clubs, respectively.

In addition to the ever-popular DBSC summer schedule, sailors were treated to four one-day sprint regattas sponsored by Grant Thornton, an eight-week Friday night series sponsored by MGM Boats plus three ILCA Ireland national and regional events. The National Yacht Club hosted the ILCA Ireland Masters National Championships in May, while the Royal St. George Yacht Club hosted the ILCA Ireland Leinsters in July and the ILCA Ireland End of Season regatta in October.

Last weekend’s award ceremony recognised the achievements of local Laser sailors across Dun Laoghaire events, plus at national and international events. A roll of honour highlighted the top achievers, including stalwarts such as Royal St. George member Sean Craig. Sean was the leading adult sailor nationally in 2022 taking more masters titles than any other sailor, having won masters titles at the ILCA Ireland Munsters, Masters Championship, Connachts, Ulsters, Leinsters and End of Season events, in the ILCA 6. Sean also took Bronze at the Eurilca European Masters Championship held in L’Escala, Spain.

Other notable achievements across the season included George member Judy O’Beirne, who took the Female Masters title at the ILCA Ireland Munsters and Masters Championship. Judy was also the leading lady locally this year winning the DMYC Frostbites and DBSC series in the female category. It was announced on the night that Judy will be taking over as local class captain in 2023. Hot on Judy’s heels for silverware in the Female category was Shirley Gilmore (winner of ILCA Ireland Ulsters and Leinsters) and Ali Robinson (winner of ILCA Ireland End of Season regatta).

In the ILCA 7, Dan O’Connell led the way with the most national and regional events. Dan won the ILCA Ireland National Championships in Tralee Bay Sailing Club in August. Other silverware on his sideboard this year include the ILCA Ireland Leinsters and End of Season events. Locally, Gavan Murphy scooped up most of the prizes having won the DMYC Frostbites, the DBSC series, the MGM Boats Friday Night R&R series, in addition to being the leading master at the ILCA Ireland Ulsters.

A special mention on the night went to the “Ones to Watch for 2023”, including Michael Norman (winner of the DBSC series and the MGM Boats Friday Night R&R) and Conor Clancy (winner of the DMYC frostbite series); both in the ILCA 6 category. Rachel Crowley, who recently graduated from the local “Kindergarten” for adult beginner sailors, won the MGM Boats Friday Night R&R series and many are expecting more silverware for her in 2023.

Speaking at the awards ceremony, outgoing class captain of the fleet locally, Brendan Hughes, said “We’ve had an epic season in 2022 with really great racing provided to us through the DBSC summer series, the DMYC frostbite series and the range of events hosted by the George and National Yacht clubs this year. In addition, we had the four local club regattas, so really there was an unparalleled opportunity to race in Dun Laoghaire this summer. A massive thanks goes out to everyone who made this possible.”

The local sailing community also demonstrated the true spirit of camaraderie this summer with the fundraising activities that took place for a Royal St. George Yacht Club member, Kevin Doyle, who was sadly injured while competing in a Laser earlier in the season. It was revealed at the award ceremony by Royal St. George Commodore Richard O’Connor that a total of €25,000 was raised through the combined efforts of the club and ILCA Ireland.

The Royal St George Yacht Club is currently looking to recruit a number of committed sailing instructors for 2023.

The Dun Laoghaire waterfront club requires active sailors/instructors “with a positive attitude, complete professionalism and a passion for sailing and fun”.

Instructors will be responsible for the improvement of the club’s junior and youth sailors, a role that is held in the highest regard by the club.

Both dinghy and advanced instructors must have one or more years’ instruction experience for the position they are applying for.

Online application forms for dinghy instructor and assistant dinghy instructor are now available. Note that you will need copies of your relevant certificates.

The club is also seeking keelboat instructors for weekday evenings and weekends from April, sailing coaches for weekends and holidays, coaches for team racing and skiffs (including 29ers) and coaches for week-long class-specific clinics.

For more information, contact the club’s sailing administrator Karin Ryan at 01 280 1180 or [email protected]

Interviews will be scheduled for early in the year. The club advises prospective candidates to apply as early as possible to avoid disappointment.

Arguably the highlight of the Royal St George Yacht Club’s junior calendar comes this weekend with the annual dinner for the Dun Laoghaire waterfront club’s junior and youth sailors from 7pm this Saturday 22 October.

As the club says, it’s a chance to get dressed up — ‘smart’ dress is a must — and enjoy a meal and a night of fun, including the awards ceremony and prize-giving for the 2022 season.

Meanwhile, as their charges celebrate in the main dining room, up to 40 parents can be accommodated in the bar to eat and socialise together.

Places are €20 per person and can be booked online HERE.

Martin Byrne’s Jaguar Sailing Team dropped to tenth overall after the final day of Dragon class racing at the Régates Royales, in Cannes on Friday.

Byrne’s Jaguar Sailing Team from the Royal St. George, Dun Laoghaire and Daniel Murphy’s Fortitude from Kinsale were fighting it out at the front of the fleet for most of the week, with Byrne crewed by Adam Winkelmann and John Simms as high as fourth overall before the penultimate day.

Murphy finished 13th overall from 32-starters.

An early morning start on Wednesday was delayed for the Dragon fleet at Régates Royales, in Cannes as the anticipated Mistral gale took its time to materialise.

Eventually, the fleet got away in a stiff 25-knot breeze that took its toll as many boats retired on the first leg with gear failure. Two of the casualties were Irish Dragons, Tarasque and Sir Ossis.

But Martin Byrne’s Jaguar Sailing Team from the Royal St. George, Dun Laoghaire and Daniel Murphy’s Fortitude from Kinsale were fighting it out at the front of the fleet, eventually finishing fifth and 11th, respectively. The fleet was sent ashore after just one race.

Jaguar Sailing Team moved up to fourth overall and first Corinthian. Fortitude are now 13th overall.

Byrne told Afloat that he was disappointed with the decision not to hold the planned second race - “this was an important day for us as we anticipated a strong performance in the heavier breezes. We were hoping for two low-scoring results that might bring us into the top three overall. Our speed and boat handling were good, but we got caught out twice on the downwind legs where covering competitors cost us places”.

Racing continues on Thursday and Friday when more moderate breezes are expected to return.

Dragon racing commenced on the Bay of Cannes on Monday at the Régates Royales in a very shifty 10/12 knot easterly breeze with glorious sunshine all day.

The 10-country international fleet of 33 Dragons were grateful for some efficient race management aided by the use of GPS-controlled marks.

Martin Byrne’s Jaguar Sailing Team were in front of the fleet all day but were disappointed by the 10th place in race 1. But they made up for that with a convincing win in race 2, where they went from 6th to 1st on the first downwind leg and lead the fleet to the finish.

The Royal St George crew lie 4th overall with points at the top very close.

The two top French teams of Gerry Trentesaux, 3rd at the recent Gold Cup, and current French National Champion Jean Breger are 1st and 2nd overall after today's racing.

Switzerland’s Dirk Oldenburg is 3rd overall. Byrne leads the Corinthian, non-professional, Division.

Daniel Murphy’s Fortitude with new Irish Dragon Champion, Cameron Good helming, is 12th overall with an 11th and 10th scored.

Joey Bergin’s Sir Ossis with Declan Gordon helming are 23rd overall with a 27th & 20th today.

Racing continues until Friday with light winds expected, which might shake things up.

In the post-covid era, it would appear that boat owners and their crews may have become bored with only triangular or windward-leeward courses. This year the Royal St. George Yacht Club’s End of Season match, over a more complex hexagonal course, starting with a reach, and finishing on a broad reach, was supported by over 50 entries and some 200 sailors.

The format consisted of a staggered start, with yachts and dinghies starting at one-minute intervals (based on their ECHO or PY handicaps denoting their potential speed) from six o’clock until after six thirty. In an innovation for this year, the fastest yacht, Jonathan Nicholson’s Puma 42, El Pocko, started as first and was required to sail two laps of the 3.56 nautical miles course.

Alain Deladienne and his crew of pirates in the Shipman 'Poppy' Photo: peter Richardson

All the other competitors sailed one lap around the Dublin Bay S.C. marks at Boyd, Middle, Seapoint, Merrion, West Pier and back to the committee boat. This course offered close reaches, runs, broad reaches and a beat which tested the abilities of every type of boat competing in winds of 10 to 12 knots. The ultimate winner of the Shindilla Cup was John Clarke’s Shipman 28 Jo-Slim.

Rupert Bowen and Rupert Westrup's Squib 'Sidewinder' Photo: Peter Richardson

The concours d’elegance award went to Chris Craig’s 1930-built Solent 18, Annette. All eyes were on ‘The black boat’, better known as Brendan Foley’s Allig8r, to see if she would perform as well as she did in the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta of 2019. She didn’t disappoint; with her enormous masthead spinnaker, she covered the entire course in 37 minutes 16 seconds.

A huge social event and prize giving was held in the clubhouse afterwards.

In 1931, there was no national structure to organise sailing in Ireland, so the County Dublin 12 Foot International Dinghy Association was formed to co-ordinate sailing activities in Malahide, Howth, Sutton, Clontarf, Seapoint and Dun Laoghaire under the Presidency of P.T. Walsh, and H. McCracken as Honorary Secretary and Treasurer. History tells us that that modest organisation evolved into the Irish Dinghy Racing Association in 1945, and is now known as Irish Sailing.

The first County Dublin 12 Foot International Dinghy Association championship in Dun Laoghaire was won by R.St.G. Mooney from Howth in Altair.

The following year, 1932, the championship was held in Dun Laoghaire, and in 1933 it was held in Howth.

In recent years the 12-Foot Dinghy Class have held an annual National Championship in Dun Laoghaire, but in 2022 the National Championship was relocated in Lough Ree Yacht Club, as part of Clinkerfest, so their event in Dun Laoghaire, hosted by the Royal St. George Yacht Club, on 28th August, was the 4th. County Dublin 12 Foot Championships.

Four races were held inside the harbour in light winds from the north–east.

In race one against a foul tide, Margaret Delany in Cora opted to start at the pin end and despite George Miller in Pixie pointing higher, Cora reached the first mark at the head of the fleet and maintained her lead to the leeward mark where the race was shortened to a single lap.

In race two the wind dropped to about four knots, but with the fleet staying close together the race was allowed to run over two laps. At the first leeward mark the order was: Cora, Pixie and Gail Varian and Gavin Johnson’s Dublin Bay rigged Albany in third place. Albany overhauled Pixie on the second beat to finish second.

It was time for a lunch break, so the fleet went ashore for a hearty lunch and social get- together in the Royal St. George Y.C.

In the afternoon the wind increased to about 8 knots, and the tide had turned, so the race was increased to three laps. Andrew and Francis Johnson in Scythian got the best start, but unfortunately, some Sailing School boats were towed crossed the fleet obstructing all but Pixie. At the second leeward mark the order was Cora, Scythian, Pixie and Albany. On the third beat a port and starboard incident left Pixie looking embarrassed, so she immediately retired.

The final race was also of three laps, Pixie made up for her earlier infringement, and led the fleet from the windward mark. Cora swapped places with her on the off-wind legs, but at the finish the order was Pixie, Cora, Albany Scythian.

Margaret Delany being presented with a history of the 12 foot class 'Twaalfvoetsjol 100 jaar klase 1914-2014'

At the prizegiving, the class President Vincent Delany complimented the competitors, and observed that on the day of ‘Women at the Helm’, that it was appropriate that the leading International 12 Foot Dinghy was steered by a Margaret Delany, and the leading Dublin Bay 12 Foot Dinghy was steered by Gail Varian. He advised that we expect to have at least eight 12 Foot Dinghies for next year’s championship.