Menu

Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Displaying items by tag: Regattas

#Regatta - The recently established Foyle Sailability will host its first regatta for people with disabilities in Derry this Thursday and Friday 16-17 May, as the Derry Journal reports.

Volunteers from Lough Foyle Yacht Club, Lough Swilly Yacht Club and Moville Boat Club will be on hand, joined by volunteers from Belfast Lough Sailability for the two-day event which marks the first time that a fleet of accessible dinghies has cruised together on the River Foyle.

People with disabilities across the northwest are invited to try out sailing for themselves by contacting Foyle Sailability at 71 266 593 or [email protected].

The regatta will meet at the Foyle Pontoon at Riverfront Walkway off Baronet Street from 11am to 3pm each day of the event.

Published in Sailing Events

#CoastalRowing - The East Coast Rowing Council has announced its list of coastal rowing regatta fixtures in Dublin, Wicklow and Wexford for the 2013 season.

Commencing with the Greystones Regatta on 26 May, the schedule also includes events in Arklow (2 June) and Dalkey (9 June), the Stella Maria Regatta in Ringsend on 16 June and the Bray Regatta on 30 June.

July will see two events, the St Patrick's Regatta in Dublin's Docklands on 14 July and St Michael's Regatta off Monkstown and Dun Laoghaire on 28 July, while the Wicklow Regatta will mark the end of 2013's summer events on 5 August.

Locations of the various regattas and suggested viewing points are available HERE.

Published in Coastal Rowing

This Sunday, July 11 at Foynes Yacht Club the annual regatta will take place. It is expected that all craft and members will be sailing for what promises to be an eventual day. Class 1, 2, White Sails, Mermaids and the Topaz fleets will be competeing for the trophies in their respective classes, proceedings will begin at 2.30pm.

Foynes YC had the biggest number of entries with six boats, who did extremely well in the West of Ireland Offshore Racing Championships, which were hosted by the Royal Western Yacht Club, Kilrush from Wednesday of last week to Saturday. 

Unfortunately, no racing on Friday took place due to the extreme wind conditions, but Officer of the Day, Alan Crosbie, and his team did excellent work in getting six races completed for each of the four classes.

Strong winds prevailed for all the races so reduced sail area and lively conditions afloat made for exciting sailing.

On Saturday last, race starts and management for thre last two races was conducted from the Naval vessel, LE Aoife making a visit to Kilrush for a Sea festival weekend hosted by Kilrush Chamber of Commerce.

The six entrants from Foynes Yacht Club had their most successful west coast championships for years with Dis-a-ray sailing in Class 2 owned by Ray McGibney from Tarbert declared the overall champion when all the results had been tallied.

As well as Dis-a-ray picking up the WIORA cup silverware. Dexterity also won the X332 Raymarine Cup for being the best placed X-yachts boat at the championships. 

Overall class results and finishing positions for all six Foynes boats who completed as follows: Class 1 IRC, 4th Dexterity, Team Foynes. Class 1 Echo, 2nd Dexterity, Team Foynes.

Class 2 IRC, 1st Dis-a-ray, Ray McGibney. Class 2, IRC, 5th, Golden Kopper, John and Edward Conway. Class 2, Echo, 4th Dis-a-ray, Ray McGibney. Class 2, Echo, 6th Golden Kopper, John and Edward Conway.

Class 3, IRC, 2nd Battle, Donal McCormack and John-Paul Buckley. Class 3, Echo 1st Battle, Donal McCormack and John-Paul Buckley.

White Sails: 3rd Jasmine II, John Finnegan. 5th Tangalooma, Des Carswell.

Incidentally, Foynes Yacht Club will be hosting WIORA in July 2012.

Mermaid racing took place last Wednesday evening, where marks were laid in the harbour area. Geoff McDonnell, the seafaring expert came in first with Kilmoon, followed by Mermaid class captain, Conor Roche on Sea Fox, and third was the intrepid sailor, Michael Burke on Seagoon. 

Padraic Kelly, sailing 'Mweeloon' set off for France last Saturday morning from the pontoons with his crew of his wife, Annemarie, Brian O'Donnell and John Considine. We wish Padraic and company fair sailing! 

Sailing continues every Wednesday for all classes with first gun at 19.25hrs. 

Published in Racing

Howth 17 information

The oldest one-design keelboat racing class in the world is still competing today to its original 1897 design exclusively at Howth Yacht club.

Howth 17 FAQs

The Howth 17 is a type of keelboat. It is a 3-man single-design keelboat designed to race in the waters off Howth and Dublin Bay.

The Howth Seventeen is just 22ft 6ins in hull length.

The Howth 17 class is raced and maintained by the Association members preserving the unique heritage of the boats. Association Members maintain the vibrancy of the Class by racing and cruising together as a class and also encourage new participants to the Class in order to maintain succession. This philosophy is taken account of and explained when the boats are sold.

The boat is the oldest one-design keelboat racing class in the world and it is still racing today to its original design exclusively at Howth Yacht club. It has important historical and heritage value keep alive by a vibrant class of members who race and cruise the boats.

Although 21 boats are in existence, a full fleet rarely sails buy turnouts for the annual championships are regularly in the high teens.

The plans of the Howth 17 were originally drawn by Walter Herbert Boyd in 1897 for Howth Sailing Club. The boat was launched in Ireland in 1898.

They were originally built by John Hilditch at Carrickfergus, County Down. Initially, five boats were constructed by him and sailed the 90-mile passage to Howth in the spring of 1898. The latest Number 21 was built in France in 2017.

The Howth 17s were designed to combat local conditions in Howth that many of the keel-less boats of that era such as the 'Half-Rater' would have found difficult.

The original fleet of five, Rita, Leila, Silver Moon, Aura and Hera, was increased in 1900 with the addition of Pauline, Zaida and Anita. By 1913 the class had increased to fourteen boats. The extra nine were commissioned by Dublin Bay Sailing Club for racing from Kingstown (Dún Laoghaire) - Echo, Sylvia, Mimosa, Deilginis, Rosemary, Gladys, Bobolink, Eileen and Nautilus. Gradually the boats found their way to Howth from various places, including the Solent and by the latter part of the 20th century they were all based there. The class, however, was reduced to 15 due to mishaps and storm damage for a few short years but in May 1988 Isobel and Erica were launched at Howth Yacht Club, the boats having been built in a shed at Howth Castle - the first of the class actually built in Howth.

The basic wooden Howth 17 specification was for a stem and keel of oak and elm, deadwood and frames of oak, planking of yellow pine above the waterline and red pine below, a shelf of pitch pine and a topstrake of teak, larch deck-beams and yellow pine planking and Baltic spruce spars with a keel of lead. Other than the inclusion of teak, the boats were designed to be built of materials which at that time were readily available. However today yellow pine and pitch pine are scarce, their properties of endurance and longevity much appreciated and very much in evidence on the original five boats.

 

It is always a busy 60-race season of regular midweek evening and Saturday afternoon contests plus regattas and the Howth Autumn League.

In 2017, a new Howth 17 Orla, No 21, was built for Ian Malcolm. The construction of Orla began in September 2016 at Skol ar Mor, the boat-building school run by American Mike Newmeyer and his dedicated team of instructor-craftsmen at Mesquer in southern Brittany. In 2018, Storm Emma wrought extensive destruction through the seven Howth Seventeens stored in their much-damaged shed on Howth’s East Pier at the beginning of March 2018, it was feared that several of the boats – which since 1898 have been the very heart of Howth sailing – would be written off. But in the end only one – David O’Connell’s Anita built in 1900 by James Clancy of Dun Laoghaire – was assessed as needing a complete re-build. Anita was rebuilt by Paul Robert and his team at Les Ateliers de l’Enfer in Douarnenez in Brittany in 2019 and Brought home to Howth.

The Howth 17 has a gaff rig.

The total sail area is 305 sq ft (28.3 m2).

©Afloat 2020