Howth Yacht Club, the largest yacht club in Ireland, had plenty of reason to celebrate its achievers at a presentation in HYC on Saturday, January 5th.
Commodore Kevin Monks was on hand to present the winners with their trophies, and Rear Commodore Gary Cullen was MC for the event. A welcome tradition is that each nominee present on the evening receives a gift as a token of their nomination.
Ciara McMahon, a calm and reliable HYC sailing instructor who leads by example
The awards commenced with Sailing Instructor of the Year, which awards outstanding services to HYC members during the course of the year. For 2025, the award went to Ciara McMahon. Ciara is described as a calm and reliable instructor who leads by example. She consistently raised the standard of instruction and was known as a “no-drama” presence on the team. Ciara nurtured the sailors’ enthusiasm for the sport and was exceptionally skilled at demonstrating rudderless sailing. She is a current member of the HYC K25 squad.
The 2025 winner of the The GM Trophy was Christine Mahoney (right)
The GM Trophy is awarded to a HYC Junior person who best represents and enhances the spirit of junior sailing. Each year, there are many fantastic nominations for this category, and the 2025 winner was Christine Mahoney. She worked incredibly hard the entire season, from travelling across to Dun Laoghaire by herself for IODAI coaching to going up and down the country every chance she got to do more sailing. She showed great determination throughout the year but also encouraged and brought along many of her friends with her. She was one of the driving forces on the ground for the revival of the Thursday Night Racing and often helped the younger sailors with their rigging and launching.
Brian Turvey (right) accepts the Seaward Bell Trophy for Sienna Wright
The next award is the coveted Seaward Bell Trophy, donated by the Darmody family, which is awarded to a HYC junior sailor who has excelled in Open Events at home or abroad. This was a tight tussle between Kate Spain, Oppie sailor, and Sienna Wright, ILCA 6 sailor. This year’s trophy was won by Sienna Wright, who won silver at the ILCA 6 Youth Europeans in Vilamoura, Portugal, was the winner of the Irish ILCA 6 National Championships and Top Female and Top Youth at that event. She is only the 3rd ever female to win outright the Irish ILCA 6 National Championships and was an Irish Sailing Champion nominee. Sienna is active on the world sailing stage and has hopes for a possible future Olympic campaign. To show her ability to sail on any type of boat, she also competed along with her dad, Darren Wright, at the NYYC Invitational event in September in Newport.
Harry Gallagher, well-known race officer who has played a major role in Race Management in HYC for many years
The trophy for the Volunteer of the Year is an interesting category as HYC has over 150 regular volunteers and all those on the General Committee are excluded. GC and sailing committee members volunteer so extensively throughout the year that each deserves to win a trophy. But this trophy is for those outside the committee structure and the 2025 winner was Harry Gallagher, well-known race officer who played a major role in Race Management in HYC for many years. In particular his organisation of the HYC Autumn League and Dinghy Frostbites rotas in addition to his regular RO duties is greatly acknowledged. Harry shows no signs of slowing down and is a greatly respected volunteer in HYC.
Rebecca McQuarrie truly embraces the essence of HYC
Each year HYC recognises a Recent New Member who embraces the spirit of all that HYC has to offer. So many clubs experience new member dropout after just one season and Howth works hard to introduce new members to various sailing opportunities, training courses and a wide range of non-sailing opportunities. Some new members embrace all that is on offer and become keen lifelong sailors if the support is there. This year's winner, Rebecca McQuarrie, truly embraces the essence of HYC in that she is involved across the racing and cruising communities. She participated in a much-improved pathway to sailing aided by the HYC Sailing Development team and the HYC Cruising Group. She is already competitive on the water, participating in all the racing events co-ordinated by HYC. She is also now an eager and enthusiastic boat part-owner of Jokers Wild, learning about boat operation and maintenance, water safety and investing in the boat in a meaningful way. She gives her time generously and better still with a big smile and a great sense of humour. She truly has embraced every opportunity that HYC has given her.
Popular 1720 National Champions Ross and Aoife McDonald
The Silver Fox Trophy, donated by the Kelly family, is awarded to a HYC person who has excelled in Racing / Cruising or Organising. This is a broad category but such is the extent of amazing excellence in this busy club that it is dominated by national champions such as Stephen Mullaney in the Sigma 33, Ryan Cairns in IDRA class, John Beckett and Andy George in Splashdance who have won so many trophies this year they need an article of their own. The winner for 2025 is the popular 1720 National Champions Ross and Aoife McDonald, also winners of the Royal Yacht Squadron Invitational held in Cowes each year and 3rd place in the 1720 European Championships.
Neil Murphy. Neil, past Commodore, past President of Irish Sailing, past Sailing Committee Chairperson and past long-standing GC member, has dedicated decades of volunteer service to HYC and Irish Sailing
The Cliona Murphy Memorial Trophy is awarded annually to an adult HYC member who represents and enhances the spirit of HYC sailing. Cliona passed away suddenly in her 20s but had enjoyed many years sailing in HYC and had been a part of the infamous Tropicana Round Ireland all-ladies team. In 2025 the trophy was awarded to Neil Murphy. Neil, past Commodore, past President of Irish Sailing, past Sailing Committee Chairperson and past long-standing GC member, has dedicated decades of volunteer service to HYC and Irish Sailing. His continued support as part of the Race Officer, Results, and Protest Committees highlights his unwavering commitment to this club and its sailing community.
Eve McMahon's father, Jim, accepts her HYC International Trophy
The International Trophy, donated by the late Pat & Oliva Murphy, is awarded to a HYC sailor who excelled internationally (e.g. Olympic / Worlds / Europeans). Many sailors fall into this category, but for the third year in a row, Eve McMahon was voted the winner. Eve, along with other Olympic sailors, left for their next training camp earlier in the day but she prepared a video for the members. In 2025, Eve won a bronze medal at the World Championships in China in May, bringing her to No. 1 in the world rankings for the ILCA 6 class. Recent notable results included a silver medal at the Sailing Grand Slam Final in the Netherlands and a gold at the Olympic Sailing Week, Gran Canaria regatta. She was also the winner of the Rising Star Award at the 2025 Team Ireland Olympic Sport Awards.
Tactician Ross McDonald accepts the HYC Boat of the Year Trophy for John & Susi Murphy’s Outrageous as the Boat of the Year for the third year in a row
The final trophy of the night went to HYC Boat of the Year. The standard of sailing is so high in Howth that over 12 boats could have been a winner for this category. The awards team narrowed the choice down to Outrageous, Checkmate XX, Mojo, Big Picture, HYC NYYC Invitational Squad, and over 400 members voted for John & Susi Murphy’s Outrageous as the Boat of the Year for the third year in a row. Outrageous has won so many events in 2025, including in their class, the Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race, Sovereign’s Cup and Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta.
Photos by Karolina Kernan
