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Royal Irish Yacht Club's Ruby Blue remains at the top of the unofficial Irish Squib Ladder following the windy Lough Derg Freshwater Regatta, with Kinsale Yacht Club's Crackers making the biggest move among the leading boats.

RIYC's Aidan O'Connell and Justine Davenport have retained the lead of the unofficial Irish Squib Ladder in Ruby Blue following the Lough Derg Freshwater Regatta on 10–11 October, which attracted 32 entries.

The latest ranking, compiled by Vincent Delany, sees Ruby Blue (No. 35) remain first overall on 23 points despite finishing eighth at Lough Derg as Ruby Blue had already established a lead in the unofficial rankings through consistent results across the season.

Crackers Makes Biggest Move at the Top

Kinsale Yacht Club's father-and-son combination of Sean and Paul Murphy have climbed from eighth to second overall in Crackers (No. 25), following a fourth-place finish in the strong winds at Lough Derg.

Crackers now has 38 points, 15 behind the leaders, and heads a closely contested group of boats immediately below Ruby Blue.

Vincent Delany and Joe O'Byrne's Femme Fatale (No. 24), representing Lough Derg and the Royal St George Yacht Club, slips from second to joint third on 44 points.

Sharing that position is Kinsale Yacht Club's Atomic (No. 137), sailed by Ian Travers and Keith O'Riordan, which won the Lough Derg regatta.

Atomic has now won the Irish National Championship, Southern Championship and Lough Derg Freshwater Regatta in 2026, but its absence from some other events has limited its position in the cumulative ladder.

Granat and Tears in Heaven Climb

There are further significant changes immediately outside the leading four.

Royal Irish Yacht Club's Dave Stuart and M.J. Geraghty have moved Granat (No. 871) from 14th to fifth overall on 58 points.

Howth Yacht Club's Tom McMahon has also made a substantial advance in Tears in Heaven (No. 869), climbing from 19th to seventh on 65 points.

McMahon finished second at Lough Derg and was leading the final race after a successful port-tack start when a broken mainsail halyard ended his challenge.

Killyleagh Yacht Club's Volante occupies sixth place, with clubmate Firecracker eighth, Lough Derg's Chili ninth and Howth's Kaizen completing the top ten.

Ranking Reflects Championship Participation

The latest ladder also illustrates the influence of championship attendance on the unofficial rankings.

Delany acknowledges that the scoring methodology places boats such as Durt, Quickstep III, Kerfuffle and Aficianado at a disadvantage because they did not compete at Lough Derg.

The ladder is calculated by boat rather than owner and is intended to reflect results across the regional championship programme rather than the outcome of any single event.

A total of 53 Squibs competed in Irish regional championships during 2026, underlining the level of participation across the class.

Unofficial Irish Squib Ladder – 12 October 2026

The full October 12 Irish Squib Ladder is available in the accompanying Excel spreadsheet.