Kinsale And O'Sullivans Dominate Squib Nats At Howth

29th July 2024

Squibs racing at Howth, where the weekend's Nationals 2024 have provided the visitors with a happy hunting ground

With entries from all over Ireland and some from across the water, the Squib Nationals 2024 at Howth over the slightly extended weekend had an almost international flavour. Eleven clubs were vying for the best group performance out of seven races, but after the first day's sport it was clear that it would be between Kinsale and Cultra (aka the Royal North of Ireland YC on Belfast Lough) to fight it out for the top slot.

We've to go down to fifth overall before another club figures in the top listings, and that's the Royal Victoria YC in the Isle of Wight. It's the club that was founded in 1845 primarily to provide membership for Queen Victoria, who may have gone on to be Queen Empress, but the Royal Yacht Squadron in Cowes stayed determinedly Men Only.

Make of that what you will. But sailmaker Dick Batt of Emsworth on Chichester Harbour (crewed this time round by Andy Mollard) likes to list the RVYC as his club when on campaign tour, though his Squib apparently being almost permanently in Ireland, the term "On Tour" is liberally interpreted.

Other interpretations have to be negotiated on an individual basis. The winning crew were Kinsale's Micheal O Suilleabhain (who's on a real roll of success these days) crewed by Michael O'Sullivan. Quite. Their boat being called Mucky Duck, you could be forgiven thinking that they're being sponsored by an ultra-English pub in Essex.

SERIOUSLY IMPRESSIVE SCORELINE

Mucky or not, as the series progressed the O'Sullivans Of All The Spellings put in a seriously impressive scoreline, discarding a fifth in Race 4. John Driscoll of RNIYC was next best, crewed by The Brains of Howth, aka David Cagney. But as they were discarding an 8th while still having to carry two others, they were netted on 31pts to the OSuilleabhains' sparse 14, so the real race was for second, with KYC's Ian Travers and Keith O'Riordan being pipped for the Silver by just one point, while former champions Gordon Patterson and Ross Nolan (RNIYC) placed fourth.

The home fleet had their moments, with Rob Stanley and Fergus O'Kelly taking first in the second race. But as this top Howth pairing was to fetch up at 11th overall, the visitors showed they'd come to collect scalps rather than prisoners, while the hosts maintained a fixed grin as they pointed out how healthy the class is at national level.

Results below

Race Results

You may need to scroll vertically and horizontally within the box to view the full results

Published in Squib, Howth YC, Kinsale

Published in Squib

Tagged under

Squib

About The Author

WM Nixon

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William M Nixon has been writing about sailing in Ireland for many years in print and online, and his work has appeared internationally in magazines and books. His own experience ranges from club sailing to international offshore events, and he has cruised extensively under sail, often in his own boats which have ranged in size from an 11ft dinghy to a 35ft cruiser-racer. He has also been involved in the administration of several sailing organisations.

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