Howth is a foreign country. They do things differently there. Last week's turbulent weather looked set to disrupt some of the final (and of course extra-important) Tuesday (Aug. 20th) and Wednesday (Aug. 21st) evening races of the 2024 programme. So the Powers-That-Be–In-HYC simply declared that Thursday (Aug. 22nd) would become the new Tuesday, while Friday (Aug 23rd) was to be the new Wednesday, and they successfully raced each evening accordingly, using the fixtures moved on from two days earlier.
Title defenders – in hot racing, Trick or Treat (Alan Pearson & Alan Blay) came in at sixth overall. Photo: Afloat.ie
SHORTENING JANUARY?
It went so well in providing good sport that the members are wondering if, in the coming winter, the same sort of lateral thinking might be applied in the broader interest to the fact that January always seems so unreasonably long. Gives bits of it to May and June, they say. Others meanwhile are wondering if they've gained - or irretrievably lost - two days out of their lives. But there's no sign of anything like the introduction of the Gregorian Calendar in 1752, when there was rioting because the people felt that 12 to 14 days were being stolen for ever from their lives.
Ian Dickson gets WeyHey on her way to third overall and first on HPH Photo: Afloat.ie 
Somebody said something…..Ian Dickson at the head of The WeyHey table at the 40th Anniversary Lunch. Photo: Ros Byrne
FLAT EARTH SOCIETY
The old calendar reality lives on in the pre-1752 song about the Battle of the Boyne, whose opening line states clearly "July the First near Oldbridge Town", whereas today the battle is commemorated on July 12th. But meanwhile, in Howth not only are they cavalier about making various days be whatever they want them to be, but one of their most successful classes seems to be a sub-group of the Flat Earth Society.
Founding owners Damien Jennings, Tim Chillingworth and David Lovegrove were in at the "start of the start" in Howth in 1982, which was then followed by full racing class recognition in 1984. Photo: Ros Byrne
"The beginning of the beginning". Designer/builder Chris Boyd sailing Puppeteer 22 #1 (now Shiggi-Shiggi) on Strangford Lough in 1978. Photo: W M Nixon
THE NARROW LIMITS OF THE "PUPPIVERSE"
The world of the thriving Howth Puppeteer 22s – the Puppiverse as we might say - ends at the Nose of Howth (the northeast corner of Howth Head) to the south, and about a mile beyond Lambay to the north, with the eastern limit well within territorial limits. As for the western limit, that just about includes Baldoyle Creek, but probably excludes Malahide as you might get malaria there (they did once upon a time), and if not then the natives "would ate you".
The future looks good. HYC Commodore Neil Murphy (left) with Youth Prize winner Jack MacMahon (Pinocchio) and Class Captain Alan Blay. Photo: Roz Byrne
Within these apparently narrow limits, the Puppeteer 22s have their own complete world. At other times and in other boats and places, some of them may have raced to Olympic level, others have been national and international champions, several have offshore raced in the ISORA programme, and some have done the Round Ireland or the Fastnet or both, while others have been on ICC award-winning cruises.
ECO-FRIENDLY SAILING FULFILLMENT
Yet in these simple little Chris Boyd-designed sloops, they now find much of their sailing fulfillment. And as most of them live within cycling distance of Howth Harbour, racing them is possibly the most eco-friendly sailing sport you can hope to have, even if they're obliged to have a small outboard to get them back into Puppeteer Town on the inner south side of Howth marina. And of course, in time, all those outboards will be electric.
The Commodore with champions Laura and Paul MacMahon with their crew and Class Captain Alan Blay. Photo: Roz Byrne
So much are they in a world of their own that Howth's Puppeteer 22 class think they were born fully-formed forty years ago in 1984, for that's when they had their first HYC-recognised Class Racing start. And as - in all - some 54 Puppeteer 22s were built by Chris and Sarah Boyd at Killyleagh on the west shore of Strangford Lough, the Howth crowd are determined that this "40th Year" will be marked by having forty boats on the peninsula by year's end. And they're equally confident that they'll have 50 in their local class by 2034, for what they think of as the Golden Jubilee.
THE REAL STORY
The real story is that the truth is otherwise. The Boyds launched the first Puppeteer 22 into Strangford Lough in mid-season 1978, and by the Autumn, I had written a favourable (and well-earned) review for Afloat magazine. By the early 1980s the potential market in the north was becoming pretty well saturated, so in 1982 Chris Boyd wrote to David Lovegrove, the then Honorary Sailing Secretary at Howth YC, to ask if he might stage a Puppeteer 22 presentation in the newly-opened Howth Marina.
The immaculate Blue Velvet (Gerard Kennedy) does justice to a superb day of racing. Photo: Afloat.ie
The members were advised by club notices. But in HYC, if you wish to get the members' attention, you have to send a liveried footman individually to each member, with an embossed stiffy on a silver tray. Even then, that's no guarantee of attention. Thus as the presentation was on a Saturday with its usual lawn-mowing, sports days, golf and the neighbourhood gymkhana taking up any spare time left around club racing, interest seemed to be zilch.
EMBARASSMENT
David Lovegrove was embarassed to hear nobody had gone near the Puppeteer, but as he knew some who were thinking of moving up to a little boat with a lid provided it came with an easily handled fractional rig, he begged Chris to stay on for an extra morning, and by lunch time the seeds of Howth's Puppeteer 22 class had been sown, with himself a first buyer.
Keeping it in the family. Sarah Robertson (nee Lovegrove) racing Snow Goose which her father David brought to Howth in basic form for home finishing in 1982. Photo: Afloat.ie
THRIVING
It has now gone on from being a shrub to a truly thriving tree. They seem to thrive by knowing their limits. For sure they'll race hard, but with a crew of five the work-load is well spread. And as they firmly believe that perfection is the enemy of the good, they'll live with the fact that barely half their fleet will commit to a two day National Championship in August.
A business-like racing breeze. Yellow Peril (Neil Murphy and Con Costello) being chased by Paul & Laura Murphy's Shiggi-Shiggi. Photo: Afloat.ie
Then too, when the weekend arrives with a good businesslike southwest to west wind on Saturday with a chance of sunshine, but then deteriorating to much less friendly conditions on Sunday, they'll let Race Officer Harry Gallagher know that they'll be more than happy with four good races on Saturday, and then a sanctioned lie-in on Sunday morning before an afternoon-long prize-giving lunch in the clubhouse hosted by Class Captain Alan Blay.
USER-FRIENDLY FORMAT
The Sutton Cross Pharmacy-sponsored 40th Puppeteer 22 Nationals was on a very user-friendly format, and the photos say it all. It came down to a ding-ding between the No 1 boat, that same prototype which I sailed back in 1978 and is now Paul & Laura MacMahon's Ziggi-Ziggi (don't ask), and HYC Commodore Neil Murphy's Yellow Peril, which he has campaigned for yonks with his boat-partner and brother-in-law Con Costello, with Ziggi Ziggi winning out in the end. They were well clear ahead on points (though not time) of defending champion Trick or Treat (Alan Pearson & Alan Blay), which finished back in sixth overall - possibly they'd been a mite distracted by their co-organising of the 40th Anniversary Prize-Giving Lunch.
Getting down to it – Odyssey (Ros & Philip Byrne) tunes in for windward work. Photo: Afloat.ie
HANDICAP WINNER
In third place overall was Ian Dickson with WeyHey, revelling in the soothing balm of Puppeteer racing at Howth after the harsh experience of sharing his son Rob's frustration of slipping to fourth on the last day of the Sailing Olympics at Marseille. And as a "Welcome Home" bonus, the HPH handicap system gave WeyHey the win, with Jack MacMahon's Pinocchio second and Michael McCann's Flycatcher third.
LITTLE BIT OF HEAVEN
Out of a long and hard day's racing on Saturday snatched from 2024's weather, and a leisurely lunch on Sunday, they created the perfect sailing weekend for the weather pattern that was in it, all for what is now a totally local One-Design class. For sailing and racing purists, it may fall short of being perfect. But it is good. It is very good. It seems that if you don't expect the earth, and don't aim for the stars, then you might just get your own little bit of heaven
Everything happening at once as Gerry Kennnedy's Blue Velvet comes to the mark. Photo: Afloat.ie
