Laser sailors from across five decades will celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Howth Yacht Club Laser Frostbites at a dinner to be held in the club on Saturday, 1st March, 2025. At the time of writing there are at least six of the "originals" from the first series held in 1974 attending, including "founding father" John Gore Grimes, whose enthusiasm for Arctic cruising made the winter racing of Lasers seem normal.
All who sailed or were involved in the running of the event over the past fifty years are welcome. Organisers are urging people to book as soon as they can as places will be limited. Please do not be concerned if you have not been in touch or in the Club for some time; the idea is to get people together to celebrate and reminisce. People will be allocated to tables, and there will be at least one table per decade.
HALF A CENTURY OF TWEAKS AND DEVELOPMENT
Over half-a-century has seen tweaks and developments to the event, to the Club and to the Laser itself. In 1974, the first boats arrived -- in a range of different colours, rather than the current almost exclusive white / off white boats. Who can remember Dermot Skehan's black and white hull in the eighties? Really cool!
Innovations such as weight divisions were introduced to encourage participation of all. This was prior to the updated control line systems introduced to make it easier. Gone are the days of having to jump on the boom to get your kicker on hard enough. Of course, we have seen the brilliant introduction of different rig sizes to make the Laser more accessible to all. Howth was ahead of the curve on this front, with Philip Watson and Kieran Jameson of Watson & Jameson Sails making a cut down sail for smaller sailors. If memory serves, though, this was a difficult sail to master as the sail-area was taken out of the leech. Philip also used to occasionally take out a larger sail.
Philip Watson leads an in-harbour race against a background of classic fishing boats. Photo: W M Nixon
In the olden days, much of the undeveloped harbour dried, but on windy days it provided sheltered sailing for three hours around high water. This gybe mark is almost exactly under the contemporary snooker room of the "new" Howth Yacht Club, which opened in 1987. Photo: W M Nixon
The series has gone from sailing in the harbour to launching off Claremont beach and pier starts off the old clubhouse (now Aqua Restaurant) to a two-race committee boat start. In the old days, long-term Race Officer Brendan Cassidy would blow the start gun regardless of the weather (almost!) Amazing memories of reaching starts in an Easterly swell with forty to fifty boats all trying to make their gybe at the South Rowan cardinal mark. Not for the faint hearted but great fun.
Algy Pearson (left) and Brendan Cassidy prepare to start the first race from the balcony of the old West Per club, which is now Aqua Restaurant. Photo: W M Nixon
BIGGEST CLUB LASER FLEET IN EUROPE
At one point, the Howth Frostbites had the biggest club Laser fleet in Europe with over ninety entries. The series was split with a pre Christmas series for the Courtney Cup and a Spring Series for the Rowan Trophy. Two other key events are the New Year's Day race and the now legendary Round Ireland's Eye Race to conclude the season where sailors can go either way around the island. At one point there was a hugely well attended Howth v Dun Laoghaire held between Christmas and New Year.
A significant turnout for the seasons's concluding Round the Island Race, when you could leave Ireland's Eye to port or starboard. Photo: W M Nixon
The series has always been competitive, and this ramped up when the Laser became an Olympic Class. Key to its success has always been great racing, an excellent sailing area, and competition for all ages and skill levels. This, combined with top class race management which is the envy of many other clubs. However, the real key to success has been the comradery, slagging, and the friendships forged, as evidenced by the list of sailors past and present who will be there on the night. To all guests on the night: please allow for tall tales, and the odd exaggeration of wind strengths, wave sizes, boat speeds etc, as we reminisce on a wonderful fifty years and an amazing group of sailors, organisers, and -- most importantly -- friends.
Also, if you have any photos or anything of interest, please send on to me, as we will have a photo slide show and a display of relevant paraphernalia including the perpetual trophies. Please send photos to [email protected] or WhatsApp them to me. Please share with anybody you know that has been involved with the Frostbites over the fifty years. We look forward to seeing you!
You can book and get more information here
Report by Daragh Sheridan
Robert Michael, later Commodore HYC, racing with the first Laser Winter fleet.
