Howth Yacht Club will be testing sailing options this weekend within parameters outlined by Commodore Ian Byrne in a missive direct to members and on the club website, issued late Thursday night.
After more than two months of total Covid-19 lockdown, local Irish sailing may be in some relatively uncharted waters in getting afloat again. But with many members living within 5 kilometres of the Howth clubhouse/marina complex, and with a significant element of family and household crews, some sailing should be possible within the Government protocols. That said, with some decidedly rugged weather in circulation, other factors may delay this pioneering step planned for Saturday, May 23rd, but better weather is expected on Sunday and Monday.
Commodore Byrne told members that the marks are laid, safety RIBs, launches and Committee boats are serviced and ready to go. The restaurant will re-open on June 29th and the hospitality team have a great plan in place to use the huge space available to serve great food and drink safely and in the familiar comfortable club surroundings.
He informed the membership that the Sailing Committee are busy planning new ways to create fun outings for single, two-handed and family sailing. This will be piloted with the smaller numbers over the next week or two. After June 8th, when the travel limit increases to 20km radius, more distant members will have access to the club and their boats and can join in.
He said there has been lots of activity on the marina after weeks in lockdown with cranes working hard and wheelbarrows busy bringing back sails and cushions to prepare the boats for a shorter, but no less fun, season. He is delighted to be in a position to announce that, while the club follow the Government & Irish Sailing’s directives, members can go sailing……
Full Directives are as follows:
- Every member must swipe in and out individually so that they are recorded for contact tracing purposes. Be firm but polite if asked to allow someone to tailgate or have a gate held. Our legal responsibilities on contact tracing are important socially and quite onerous.
- For the moment you can take fellow members and members of your ‘household’ sailing. If members of your ‘household’ who are not HYC members are sailing with you then you must send an email to [email protected] the previous day confirming the ‘household’ members name, mobile phone number and email address. Household groups do not have to distance and are not number constrained. A maximum of 4 people are permitted in a mixed or member groups, assuming 2m social distancing can be maintained.
- Our contact tracing process is naturally centred around members. To facilitate regular sailors and visitors who are not members the General Committee has introduced an easy fast track (target 48 hr turnaround) and convenient monthly DD membership for Asgard (€26), Country €22) and Associate (€18.75). Email [email protected].
Howth YC Commodore Ian Byrne racing his Jeanneau Sunfast 32 Sunburn
