The recent spell of hyper-sunny weather was a reminder of the time we stumbled upon the “lost” Dublin Bay 24 Zephyra while searching for shade to walk our little dog around the back of a castle in Mayo. The elegant counter of a classic yacht was glimpsed above an overgrown wall around a small yard. And there - under an assortment of covers and in danger of becoming completely overgrown – was a classic beauty that could only be Zephyra.

For we knew that while almost all the Dublin Bays 24s - built to an Alfred Mylne design of 1938 and first raced as a class at Dun Laoghaire in 1947 - had been gathered for an ambitious restoration project, Zephyra had last been seen some years earlier headed west by road, her strong-minded owner having fallen out with Dublin Bay sailing in general, and the DB24 Class in particular.

The “lost” Zephyra as found in Mayo nearly twenty years ago. Photo: W M Nixon

So here she was, at last, hidden away on that day of unimaginably bright sunshine in Connacht. And here she stayed - but now closely if secretly monitored - until the Grim Reaper changed the dynamics of the situation, such that overnight - or so it seemed – Zephyra was back in Dublin with a minimum of fuss and fanfare.

But with the economic crash of 2009, ambitious plans for the re-birth of the DB24s as a smart restored class went by the board. However, in the long run, there’s very little about boats that doesn’t go completely to waste, and so long as you still have the original external ballast keel of lead or cast iron, what looks to a casual observer like the building of a new boat can be classified as a re-build or even – if some of the original timber remains – as a restoration.

Dublin Bay Water Wags in tight racing. With more than fifty boats registered as valid for racing, the use of the design as a boat-building training project is given extra purpose. Photo: W M Nixon

Either way, it’s grist to the mill of boat-building schools, and this is where the Dublin Bay One Designs hit the spot. As the birthplace of One Design Racing ever since the advent of the first Water Wags in 1887, it has brand recognition to die for. As a remarkably settled, long-established and cohesive sailing community, it has the continuity for the class rules, designs and specifications to be properly codified, and faithfully recorded and maintained such that – when a new build is being contemplated – the boat is validly re-created.

Thus, in historic international One-Design terms, appending that “Dublin Bay” tag is gold standard. You become acutely aware of this when some purchaser overseas of what is reputedly “a Dublin Bay OD” has to be told - as gently as possible - that she isn’t.

THE DUBLIN BAY PREMIUM

All this means that in today’s boat-building schools, where many courses are based on the process of un-building an old boat and then re-creating her anew on the original ballast keel, Dublin Bay ODs are at a premium, as they provide a comprehensive range of boat within a manageable size range.

Gold Standard. Steve Morris of Kilrush with the “impossibly beautiful” hull of the restored Dublin Bay 21 Geraldine. Photo: Mark Sweetnam

Another aspect is that in the smaller sizes, such as the Water Wags, the boats can be usefully built completely from new in order to join the Bay’s most active class, and they’ve been built in Europe by schools as far away as Bilbao. And from across the bay and beyond the Howth peninsula, the Howth 17s have provided the demand both for re-builds and new builds in schools in France as the class in its 125th Anniversary year is racing more keenly than ever.

But move up the size scale a little more, and thanks to Hal Sisk and Fionan de Barrra, the re-birth of the Dublin Bay 21 class has provided education in a different direction, with Steve Morris of Kilrush using these beautiful craft to teach a new generation of boat-builders how multi-skin epoxy construction looks even better in a classic hull.

As a very actively-raced class celebrating its 125th Anniversary in 2023, the Howth 17s have added attraction as a boat-build learning project. Photo: W M Nixon

Beyond that, however, the Dublin Bay 24 is getting into a size scale where manageability is more problematic, and so far, only David Espey’s Periwinkle has returned from France in fully restored form.

Yet there’s no getting away from the fact that a re-born Dublin Bay 24 provides perfect subject matter for a boat-building school. This is classic construction with the Alfred Mylne imprimatur. The hull is sufficiently large for several people to work at it at the same time without getting in each other’s way, yet it necessarily involves much useful and highly-educational team effort.

Zephyra in The Apprenticeshop. With suitable premises like this, the Dublin Bay 24 is of manageable size while being large enough to facilitate real teamwork

Zephyra’s planking progresses in Maine. It’s remarkable to think that this elegant and fine-lined hull design, just 24ft on the waterline, was overall winner of a RORC Race in 1963

Kevin Carney’s Apprenticeshop boat-building school at Rockland in Maine is where Zephyra has been in the key role. Although the pupils of all ages sign on for a two year course, they reckon that the fully-utilised re-building of a Dublin Bay 24 takes a little longer than that.

Either way, it means that people in distant places have now joined the many in Ireland who reckon that the Dublin Bay 24 was one of Alfred Mylne’s most beautiful creations. Yet in studying this elegant and fine-lined thoroughbred, it takes an effort to remember that it was a sister ship, the DB24 Fenestra, which in 1963 provided Alfred Mylne with his only overall win in a RORC event, the storm-tossed Irish Sea Race. The Dublin Bay 24 is a classic in every way.

Getting near the end of the line. Dublin Bay 24s in their Golden Jubilee Race in 1997. Within five years, they were thought of as sufficiently “worn out” for regular racing to cease. Photo: W M Nixon

Dublin Bay Sailing Club Race Officer Tadgh Donnelly set a three-round windward/leeward course for the first of two DBSC Water Wag races on Wednesday evening, June 7th.

After two general recalls, he got the 24-boat fleet away under a black flag.

The wind in Dun Laoghaire harbour was ENE 10-12kts.

Results race 1:
1. No. 52 Puffin, Seán & Heather Craig
2. No. 41 Mollie, Claudine & Annalise Murphy
3. No. 15 Moosmie, John O’Driscoll & Sarah Dwyer

The Race Officer set a second race of two rounds.

Results of race 2:
1. No. 41 Mollie, Claudine & Annalise Murphy
2. No. 45 Mariposa, Cathy MacAleavey & Con Murphy
3. No. 42 Tortoise, William & Laura Prentice

Dublin Bay Sailing Club Race Officer Tadgh Donnelly set a triangular course of two rounds for the first of two DBSC Water Wag races on (Wednesday evening, May 31st) in order to maximise the use of the western half of Dun Laoghaire Harbour, keeping clear of the comings and goings of cruise ship tenders.

25 boats competed in a 6-8 knot NNE breeze.

After race one finished the Race Officer was advised by the cruise ship tender operations manager that the course could be extended so he repositioned the weather mark for a longer upwind leg and started race two with two rounds in a 5-6 knot breeze.

Guy Kilroy in No. 38 Swift was the winner of the second DBSC race for the Water Wags at Dun Laoghaire Harbour

The results were:

Race One:
1. No. 15 Moosmie, John O’Driscoll
2. No. 38 Swift, Guy Kilroy
3. No. 45 Mariposa, Annalise Murphy

Race two:
1. No. 38 Swift, Guy Kilroy
2. No. 36 Little Tern, Tim Pearson
3. No. 46 Mademoiselle, Adam Winkelmann

Dublin Bay Sailing Club Race Officer Tadgh Donnelly set a windward/leeward course of three rounds for the DBSC Water Wag race on (Wednesday evening, May 24th) at Dun Laoghaire Harbour.

20 boats competed in an 8-10kt NNW breeze but only after a delay of approximately 15 minutes due to cruise ship tender operations in the harbour.

Six boats were over the line at the start, with all bar one of them failing to return.

The results were:

1. No. 15 Moosmie, John O’Driscoll
2. No. 52 Puffin, Seán Craig
3. No. 47 Peggy, David Corcoran

Dublin Bay Sailing Club Race Officer Tadgh Donnelly set a windward/leeward course of four rounds for the DBSC Water Wag handicap race on Wednesday evening at Dun Laoghaire Harbour.

18 boats competed over eight staggered starts in a light SSE breeze before it shifted to a WSW direction after the first round.

The results were:

1. No. 14 Phillis, Fraser Mitchell
2. No. 52 Puffin, Seán Craig
3. No. 21 Jacqueline, Hugh Delap

DBSC Race Officer Tadgh Donnelly postponed Wednesday evening’s Water Wag dinghy race at Dun Laoghaire for 40 minutes due to cruise ship tender activity in the harbour.

Donnelly set a three-round windward/leeward course in a stiff westerly breeze with squalls of up to 25 knots.

22 Wags started all with reefed mains. 20 boats finished in testing conditions while two retired.

A Cruise liner tender (right) and some of the Water Wag fleet at Dun Laoghaire Harbour Photo: Ann Kirwan

Royal Irish's Guy & Jackie Kilroy in the Water Wag No. 38 Swift won from Royal St George's Seán and Heather Craig in No. 52 Puffin.

Royal Irish's Guy & Jackie Kilroy in the Water Wag No. 38 Swift

Royal St George's Seán and Heather Craig in Water Wag No. 52, Puffin

Results:

1. No. 38 Swift, Guy & Jackie Kilroy
2. No. 52 Puffin, Seán and Heather Craig
3. No. 6 Mary Kate, Ian McGowan and crew

DBSC Race Officer Tadgh Donnelly postponed Wednesday's (May 3) evening Water Wag dinghy race start hoping for the breeze to fill in at Dun Laoghaire harbour on Dublin Bay.

After a delay of 30 minutes, he got the 23-boat fleet away on a two-round windward/leeward race in a light, mainly southeasterly breeze.

The National Yacht Club's Cathy MacAleavey and Con Murphy sailing Mariposa (Number 45) were the race winners

DBSC Water Wag dinghy race (Wednesday, May 3) Results:

1. No. 45 Mariposa Cathy MacAleavey & Con Murphy
2. No. 42 Tortoise William & Laura Prentice
3. No. 38 Swift Guy & Jackie Kilroy

Full results below

Sean and Heather Craig's new Water Wag dinghy Puffin debuted with a second place in the first Wag race of the DBSC 2023 at Dun Laoghaire harbour on Wednesday evening.

Held in a cool southeasterly light to moderate breeze, Race Officer Tadgh Donnelly got the 20-boat fleet off on time for one windward/leeward race of four rounds.

The top 3 finishers in the 19-boat turnout were:

1. No. 38 Swift, Guy and Jackie Kilroy
2. No. 52 Puffin, Sean and Heather Craig
3. No. 42 Tortoise, William Prentice and Laura Prentice

Classic clinker-built wooden dinghies can mean a lot of maintenance work as they mature. Betty Armstrong's recent stories on Afloat.ie of restoration projects on some of the almost-forgotten 14ft Ballyholme Insects in the North, will have been an evocative reminder for many of the grim end-of-season discovery that it's going to be a busy winter if you're in the vintage clinker club, and wish to continue sailing a boat whose interior seems to be a complex mosaic of deterioration-attracting timber rectangles set under many ribs, all of which appear keen to join the rot rotation.

Thus it's little wonder that the advent of edge-glued rib-free clinker construction - as seen in the Rankin dinghies from Cobh - was regarded as a glimpse of the promised land. But barely had they started to make an impact before glassfibre appeared to take centre stage. Yet now classic fully-ribbed clinker-built dinghies - some of remarkable vintage - are on tops for a certain discerning cohort of sailors. And if you're vulgar enough to demand why they take an interest in such an arcane and not exactly inexpensive branch of sailing, the answer might well be the equally blunt: "Because I can".

Masterpiece in the making - an early stage in the creation of the two latest Dublin Bay Water Wags by Rui Ferreira in Ballydehob. Photo: Rui Ferreira

The hull shell is finished and awaiting the installation of ribs - many ribs....Photo: Rui Ferreira 

The rib-installation programme is well advanced, with painstaking attention to detail and a continuous policy of cleanliness. Photo: Rui Ferreira

SOOTHING ATMOSPHERE OF CLASSIC BOAT-BUILDING

But that said, there's something extraordinarily satisfying about witnessing a master craftsman restoring or new-building a clinker boat - particularly if you've ever tried doing it yourself, to learn from frustration just how difficult can be this skill which they seem to make almost easy. And the very aroma of a good wood workshop is reassuring in itself too, as it's bred into us. For once upon a time a very long time ago, an affinity for wood and working with it was an essential survival mechanism. If your remote potential ancestor took against wood for some weird personal reason, then there's no way they were going to thrive sufficiently to actually become your ancestor.

Rib programme is now complete, and the centreboard case has been installed, but there's still much work to be done. Photo: Rui Ferreira 

So today, when everyone needs something soothing to fortify them for the challenges of Cheltenham, the pace of Patricks Day, and the exquisite agony of anticipating the England rugby match followed by Mother's Day, we publish a calming image from Athlone, where Dougal McMahon is putting new ribs into the Alan & DJ Algeo's Shannon One Design wth a clean style that puts to shame anyone who has tried to short-cut by doubling-up on fractured timbers.

We also have images from Rui Ferreira in Ballydehob, where he has two new Water Wags for Dublin Bay under construction to such a standard that, really, they should be consigned straight to an up-market artworks auction. And finally, from Dun Laoghaire we have a photo of the multi-boat sailor Sean Craig's recently-acquired Water Wag, Brittany-built in 2022 by Skol Ar Mor's latest offshoot, a maritime and boat-building school in St Nazaire.

A good idea of the amount of work in fully finishing a Water Wag can be gleaned from this glimpse of Sean Craig's new Brittany-built boat. Photo: Sean Craig

Although women sailors have played an active role in the Dublin Bay Water Wags OD Dinghy Class since their foundation in 1887 as revealed in Afloat.ie recently until Gail Varian (RStGYC) was elected President at last night's AGM in the RIYC, the class has never been led by a woman President.

Perhaps they thought that the fact that the second version of the boats - introduced in 1900 - had been created by yacht designer Maimie Doyle covered options not available to other classes. But anyway, as of last night, they're now up to speed on all contemporary trends, and longtime Water Wag sailor Gail Varian brings a special enthusiasm to the role, as her interests in classic dinghies are such that she's also into the revival of the 1912-designed International 12s.