Simon Revill is something of a Force of Nature in the racing of the historic IDRA 14 class. But then, that’s what you’d probably expect from someone who is a potent mixture of Irish and Yorkshire ancestry. While he has been closely linked with Sutton Dinghy Club in times past, these days he nominates Howth YC as his home club. But in typically Revill style, his current IDRA 14 racing base is Clontarf Yacht & Boat Club, sailing centre for his 2023 crew Orla Doogue.
The plot thickens somewhat when we remember his boat is called Dubious. Admittedly dodgy names are nothing new in IDRA 14 folklore - leading class founder Douglas Heard, way back in 1946, called his boat Error, and she was still racing this past weekend at Lough Ree, sailed by Sutton’s Jim Lambkin & Wendy Rudd. That said, there’s nothing Dubious about the contemporary Dubious performance – she has won the IDRA 14 Nationals eight times in all, and with victory at Lough Ree last weekend, it became five in a row.
Gentler sunlit going on a downwind leg with Chance (163, Philip Hackett & Daniel Kinlay, Clontarf) closely leading from Sapphire (138, Lorcan O’Sullivan & Sinead Mangan, Dun Laoghaire MYC). Photo: Rachel Doogue
With top Lough Ree sailor and administrator Alan Algeo as Race Officer, assisted by the IDRA Class Conscience and Keeper of the Records Ian Sargent, everything was in place for a cracking contest, as LRYC’s hospitality at Ballyglass in the southeast corner of the great lake is deservedly legendary, particularly when it’s with a classic class of character whose direct involvement with the club goes way back to the hugely convivial Dinghy Week of 1947.
All that was needed for the Championship of Dreams in 2023 was a bit of co-operation from the weather, and as last weekend’s meteorology threw just about everything at some time or another at Lough Ree, there were times when conditions were indeed perfect, and at other times you just got on with it.
Lough Ree showing a slightly less benevolent weather face as the IDRA 14s get cleanly away, with Dart (161, Pierre Long & Paul Long, Clontarf Y&BC) making the kind of start we all dream about. Photo: Rachel Doogue
The defending champion started as he meant to go on, with a win for Dubious from Alan Carr of Sutton in Starfish in a race which enabled the fleet to be divided into Gold and Silver divisions. Charles Sargent and Ed Fleming made the cut into the Silver, but stayed at the top of that division thereafter, while in the Golds, Dubious was to record a second to Alan Carr in Race 2. This was to become the Revill/Doogue discard, as they’d straight firsts thereafter, second overall going to Alan Carr and Callum Delahunty, while Catherine Martin and Brian Murphy of Dun Laoghaire Motor YC took third on 2,3,3,2,(7) racing Dianc.
Job done. Dubious making her way back to the extensive LRYC facilities complex after winning her eighth IDRA 14 National Championship, and fifth in a row. Photo: Rachel Doogue
Charles Sargent and Ed Fleming racing Smurfette had a clear win by 7 points in the Silvers, with Hannah Potter & Orlaith Connolly of Clontarf taking second ahead of clubmates Donal Heney and Aibigail O’Brien racing the newest IDRA 14, Wicked Sadie (#166). She was built by community effort in Clontarf Y&BC before the Pandemic back in the dear dead days beyond recall, but the word is she definitely won’t be the last, there’s lots of life in this special class.
Orla Doogue (Clontarf Y & BC) and Simon Revill (Howth YC) in Lough Ree YC with some of their trophies after Dubious had won her eighth (and fifth in a row) IDRA 14 National Championship. Photo: Rachel Doogue
IDRA 14’ National Championships 2023
