We've had so many significant Centenaries in 2025, ranging from the homecoming from Cape Horn of global circumnavigator Conor O'Brien with Saoirse, to a hundred years of the Fastnet Race and the RORC and many others historic milestones. Yet in this glittering array of high profile celebrations, there's another continuing Centenary that captures the essence of all that is best in Irish sailing, in that it has just quietly kept going along, with the boat and her sailing a normal part of family life.
For the Delany family have now been involved with the Dublin Bay Water Wag Class for a hundred years. In fact, even more importantly, there has been a Delany sailing with one boat of the class, the 1906 Dun Laoghaire-built Pansy, since 1925. And it says everything about our attitude to the sport that, when a modest One Design class gets going and becomes an integral part of community life, we see no reason not to keep it going if the sport is good.
Vincent Delany with Class Captain Tim Pearson at the Centenary Celebration.
TWO ATTEMPTS
Admittedly the Dublin Bay Water Wags needed two attempts to reach some sort of permanence. The first version of the class came in 1887, when Dublin lawyer Ben Middleton persuaded others to join him in buying lug-rigged canoe-sterned dinghies, standard built by McAllister of Dumbarton in Scotland with some design input from the great G L Watson. The most lasting effect of this inaugural class was that Middleton codified the rules for a proper OD class, the first time this had been done anywhere.
ERSKINE CHILDERS
The little boat was versatile and popular. Erskine Childers bought one in 1894 to take up to Lough Dan in the Wicklow mountains to provide convenient sailing when he was staying in the hills with his Barton cousins. But as the racing intensified on Dublin Bay, the demand grew for a larger transom-sterned sloop-rigged version, and in 1900 local boat-builder James Doyle, in what was then Kingstown, was asked to produce a design. This means that the Water Wags as we now know them were designed by his talented daughter Maimie Doyle.
The original Water Wags of 1897 had design input from G L Watson
WOMAN DESIGNER, WOMEN SAILORS, WOMEN WINNERS
Reflecting on this at a time when we're immersed in the Women on Water and Women at the Helm movements, it does no harm to point out that we've looked before at the remarkable participation of women sailors in the Water Wags from the very beginning. And on top of that, the regular Wednesday Water Wag race this week was won by Cathy MacAleavey.
So in looking at the introduction of the new Water Wag from 1900 onwards, we can only assume it was the men of the class who ordered some of the new dinghies from Paddy McKeown of Belfast, rather than from Doyle. McKeown was a brilliant boat-builder, but for an avowedly One Design class he was a bit of a loose cannon, as he felt it was his duty to improve on the original design, however strictly One Design it was supposed to be.
BELFAST'S BACK-STREET BOATBUILDER
We can see this in the 18ft LOA Belfast Lough Waverley Keelboat ODs he built immediately after the Water Wags, as no two are exactly the same, and some are very different indeed. But before pointing the finger at McKeown the "Back-street Boatbuilder of Belfast", we should remember that when the Fife-designed Dublin Bay 25ft ODs (it's waterline length) were being built by various boatbuilders in Ringsend and Dun Laoghaire in 1898-99, one experienced observer sardonically reckoned the class could be more accurately described as the Dublin Bay 26ft OD class.
Dun Laoghaire Regatta 1903 – the Viceroy's DB25 Fodhla and the new Water Wags share a crowded finish area
However, with the Water Wags, by the time that Pansy - the boat that is somehow now number 3 - made her appearance in 1906, the boatbuilder was John Gray of Dun Laoghaire, and the close linking of the harbour and the boats and the racing provided a powerful dynamic interaction.
SHANNON LAKES
They were soon spreading their wings with expeditions to the regattas on the Shannon lakes. It was an entertainingly time-consuming business, but in those days the Dublin professional classes took seriously long summer holidays. As they also went west for the fishing as soon as the mayfly were up – something that would be announced annually in The Irish Times - the habit of having framed photos of the senior partners displayed in the office ensured that they would be recognised by junior staff when they did happen to put their heads around the door.
A glass plate image of Pansy on an early visit to Lough Boderg and the North Shannon YC Regatta Week
THE DELANY STORY
Be that as it may, sailing historian Vincent Delany, current skipper of Pansy, gives us the inside story:
Pansy was built in Kingstown by John Gray of Crofton Avenue in 1906 for a railway engineer, Joshua Harrison Hargrave. He raced her until the outbreak of war in 1914. After the war, he became ill, so Pansy was laid up in Gray's yard. In 1923 she was purchased by J.B. Stephens for his son Jack.
The Water Wags travelled to the River Shannon and many occasions to attend regattas there from 1903. In 1925, the Water Wags, including Jack Stephens and Pansy travelled to the North Shannon Yacht Club, by means of the Royal Canal. They were towed by Clontarf Yacht & Boat Club motorboats.
WEEK-LONG NORTH SHANNON REGATTA
Jack Stephens was racing Pansy at the week-long North Shannon Yacht Club Regatta when his crew received a telegram asking him to return to Dublin as quickly as possible. Thus, with no crew, what was Jack to do? He asked Vincent S. Delany, Hon. Treasurer of the host club "If there was somebody available to crew in Pansy?"
Vincent S. Delany suggested his 14 year old son, Alfred, who was a schoolboy at Clongowes Wood College. Alfred had been on flag raising duties for that day, but was now promoted to crewing a Water Wag. He had learned to sail from a young age, for despite the family living in Longford Town, they moved out to their river yacht 'La Vague II' which was moored at Tarmonbarry for the summer months. There, the Delanys employed a boatman, Mickey 'The Pirate' Donellan, who taught young Delany to sail in dinghies and keelboats.
Dr Alf Delany (1911-2006)
OPEN INVITATION
Pansy did very well at the North Shannon Yacht Club regatta in 1925 with Alf crewing, so Jack Stephens left an open invitation for Alf to sail with him any time Pansy was down on the Shannon or he was up in Dun Laoghaire. Pansy came back to the Shannon in 1926, and Alf and Jack competed again at the Lough Ree Yacht Club regatta at Hillquarter, near Athlone.
Gliding along in Dun Laoghaire, Jack Stephens with Pansy in 1930.
In 1927 Jack and Pansy returned to the Shannon for sailing with Alf. En route from the North Shannon regatta to Lough Ree Regatta, they passed through Lanesborough, where a regatta was scheduled. Alf won a small cup, his first. We don't know if this was a helm or a crew cup, but it is still with the class, and is currently awarded to the crew of the top Water Wag in the season's racing.
SAILING WITH TRINITY COLLEGE
In 1928 Alf Delany relocated from Longford to Dublin to undertake a medical training at Trinity College. He took up the 1925 offer to sail in Dublin Bay, and crewed in Pansy with Dr. Jack Stephens throughout the 1929 season. They sailed in 19 Water Wag club races, and finished second overall behind Coquette sailed by George Jones.
Whenever Jack was unable to sail, he permitted Alf to steer Pansy. Alf won the Water Wag race in Pansy in Royal Irish Yacht Club Regatta in 1932, and a photograph appeared in the Irish Times on the following day. In 1935 and 1936 Jack and Alf and Pansy achieved their goal of winning the Jubilee Cup for the best Water Wag overall in the seasons racing.
Pansy raced in both Dublin Bay Sailing Club and the Water Wag Club until 1938, by which time Jack Stephens had qualified as a doctor, and obtained a job in England. Jack offered Pansy to Alf for the sum of £37.10s, but since Alf was a junior Doctor working at the St. James's Gate Brewery, he could not afford to buy the boat outright. He brought in a 50% partner, Joe Spiro, the CEO of IMCO cleaners and dyers. Joe was of Russian origin, and later owned the DBSC 21 footer Inisfallen.
The Delany brothers finding their feet in Dun Laoghaire in the 1940s, with the moored Dublin Bay 21s still under their original gaff rig, while the black-hulled boat beyond flying a Commodore's burgee is J B Stephens' Punctilio, the last Dublin Bay 25 to be Dun Laoghaire-based.
Alf raced Pansy throughout the 1940s, often with his younger brother V.T.H.'Pompey' Delany who was a law student in Trinity College. Joe Spiro meanwhile enjoyed the discipline of managing the outlay on the boat and ensuring that Alf paid 50% of the expenses, which were rigorously accounted for.
SEVERAL CREW
Over the 1940s, Alf had several crews including Frank Martin, 'Pompey' Delany, Tom Jackson, Nigel Kinnear, and his wife Patricia, and his brother-in-law Richard Armin. Alf maintained a written diary of his races, and in this way learned from his mistakes or his scccesses, as in 1948 when – crewed by James Nesbitt - he won the Royal Irish YC regatta.
Alf Delany's record of how success was achieved in the 1948 Royal Irish YC regatta
With Joe Spiro moving up to buy the DB21 Inisfallen, Alf was able to become complete owner of Pansy. In 1948, four Water Wags attended the IDRA week in Lough Ree Yacht Club near Athlone. The Water Wags (which didn't own trailers) were towed to Dublin by a DBSC 24 footer, and then transported on the deck of a Waller & Co. barge from Grand Canal Dock to Athlone, where they were offloaded and towed to the Lough Ree Yacht Club. With 'Pompey' crewing, Pansy won the IDRA Water Wag race series, and then the following year (1949) was the first season Alf won the premier trophy of the Water Wag Club, the Jubilee Cup.
FIREFLY RACING
In the 1950's Alf spent more time sailing Firefly dinghies, but still sailed Pansy on Wednesdays, mostly with Pat Delany crewing. In 1958 Pansy was given her first set of Terylene sails which were no longer subject to mildew like the cotton sails used previously.
Pansy in the lead as Terylene sails begin to take over
DOMINANT BOAT
From 1969, Pansy was the dominant Water Wag, winning the Jubilee Cup every year from 1969 till 1977. It was at that time when the move from keeping Water Wags on moorings to keeping them ashore in the yacht clubs took place. Pansy had previously been based at the National Yacht Club due to Alf's friendship with NYC Commodore Lord Granard, but moved to the Royal St George YC when they improved their launching facilities.
"LEAKING A LOT"
In the early 1980s Pansy was leaking a lot, and needed work. After discussions with 'Skee' Gray, it was agreed to put a new centreboard in Pansy over the winter of 1980-81. Due to pressure of work Gray did not complete the work until the autumn of 1981, so for one season Alf and Pansy did not sail together. Fortunately R.K.C. 'Dicky' Pilkington, who had commissioned the new Sara from Skee Gray in 1970, agreed to lend Sara to Alf for Water Wag races. Alf proceeded to win the Jubilee Cup in Sara that year.
Patricia & Alf at the 1984 DBSC Centenary Regatta
In 1977 an expedition trip to Lough Derg was organised for the Water Wags, so Alf brought Pansy on her first trip to that lake. Following the success of that event, the Water Wags held an event in Terryglass, Co. Tipperary on Lough Derg from 1978-82, often with the next generation of Delanys taking part, though in the mid-1980's Patricia Delany became ill, and Anna Leech crewed for a few years.
WEEK OF CENTENARY CELEBRATIONS
1987 was the year of the Centenary of the Water Wag class, with a week of celebrations taking place in Dun Laoghaire. This included RTE coming to Dun Laoghaire and making a film featuring Alf (then aged 77 and Pansy aged 81) which is now available on YouTube.
That same year the Water Wags including Pansy made their first trip to Lough Erne Yacht Club and this was subject of a BBC film made on the occasion.
Pat & Alf with the 1986 trophies
CENTENARY TRANSFUSION
The Water Wag centenary brought new blood into the class as Vincent Delany joined Alf as the regular crew from 1988. This was the year of the first trip to Lough Boderg since the expeditions of the 1920s. But increasingly it was the time when significant numbers began to be away away from Dublin at the weekends, which meant that the numbers of Water Wags competing in DBSC Saturday races was in decline, and a decision was made to focus attention on Wednesday racing.
The Water Wags, with fleet numbers strengthened by new boats, racing on Lough Ree. The registered fleet has now passed the 50 mark.
In 1996 during a Water Wag race, Alf went to put his foot under the toestrap. Unfortunately, he missed the and fell overboard. He was quickly recovered by his crew, Vincent. But he was shocked by the incident and despite not incurring any injuries, he made a decision to retire from racing at the end of that season. From 1997 Noelle Breen, first cousin of Vincent Delany took over the crewing position.
BOAT CENTENARY
In 2006 the centenary of Pansy was celebrated by all the Wags in the Royal St. George YC. Then, in 2017, when she took part in the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta that celebrated the Bicentenary of Dun Laoghaire Harbour, it became clear that it was time for Pansy's hull to be stiffened, so she was sent to master-boatbuilder Dougal MacMahon at Belmont Mills in County Offaly for a renovation. She was given a new mast, gunwales and topstrakes, some new planking and 50% of the ribs were replaced.
Vincent Delany in Pansy (No 3) in the thick of it. The port-tack Swift (38, Guy Kilroy) made it across. Photo: W M Nixon
She returned to Dun Laoghaire in 2019 with greater vigour than ever before, with a suit of new sails from Philip Watson. Despite the arrival of many new-built boats in the fleet, Pansy managed occasional wins, and still does. As for personnel, in 2019, Noelle Breen's health was declining, and Emma Webb became the regular crew for Vincent Delany. Today in 2025 and a hundred years after Alf Delany first sailed in Pansy, the average turnout of Water Wags is about 26 boats every Wednesday, the healthy growth in the class reflecting well on the foundations laid in the 1970s and 1980s by Alf Delany and others."
SHANNON ONE DESIGNS, OLYMPIC SAILING
In writing of his remarkable father's long involvement with the Water Wags, Vincent Delany covers only one aspect of Alf Delany's sailing, which also involved Olympic sailing for Ireland in the two-man Swallow in 1948, and the single-handed Finn in 1952.
Additionally, he was long a powerful force in the Shannon One Designs, leading them in the celebration of their Golden Jubilee in 1972, while before that he was on the first list of members of the Inland Waterways Association of Ireland on its foundation in 1954.
Eric Tabarly and Alf Delany racing together in 1988.
In his quiet way, he was a celebrity in Irish sailing, and when the Round Europe Race arrived into Dun Laoghaire in 1988, it seemed only natural that the legendary international skippers should have a race in the Water Wags, and in that it seemed entirely right and proper that Eric Tabarly should race with Alf Delany.
He was a by-word for reliability, so much so that Jack Stephens used to enjoy a Saturday morning freshener or two in the Bodega in Dublin before arriving at the last minute in Dun Laoghaire, knowing that Alf would have Pansy rigged and ready for the afternoon's race.
Keep the weight forward. Vincent Delany racing Pansy to success, August 2025.
Yet though he wasn't at all a pub man, there was one occasion that speaks eloquently of his long involvement with sailing. When Reggie & Hjordis Goodbody were opening the first Interspray booth in Ireland at Shannon Yacht Fitters in Portumna, I was invited to give Alf a lift down from his Clontarf home so that, as someone who was the very personification of Irish boats and sailing, he could perform the opening ceremony, which he did with modest grace and style.
REMEMBERING 1934
Coming back, we were giving a lift to Dublin airport to the two International Paints technical advisers who had come over to ensure everything was as it should be, and as we made good time, they requested a quick look at one of the famous Dublin pubs.
The legendary Ryan's of Parkgate Street was en route, so we popped in there and Alf went absolutely silent and stood stock still. When we asked was there a problem, his answer said everything: "I haven't been in here since 1934. There were some sailing medics up in St James's, and when we heard Sopwith was two up in the America's Cup, we came down here for just the one to celebrate. You'll know what happened with Sopwith after that."
Almost made it – Endeavour, America's Cup Challenger in 1934.
In keeping with this sense of history as it interacts with the present, in 1987 Alf produced a Centenary History of the class, and then with the new wave bringing remarkable added vitality to Water Wag racing, Vincent Delany expanded this in 2012 as a fully illustrated book. The Delany family put even more into sailing than they take out of it.
