The long hot summer may have given sailors an exceptional level of experience in racing in easterly breezes, but in Howth the westerlies of autumn have come in bang on cue for the first three Saturdays of the 2026 Autumn League. It’s a series which has the luxury of debating whether it started in 1979 or 1982, but either way it has been a pillar of the peninsula sailing scene for at least 44 years.
The Puppeteer 22s are providing the biggest single class turnout, and Nimmon (second right) is current leader. Photo: HYC
The 2026 iteration has been dealing with westerlies of varied power but seldom light, and sunshine or showers – sometimes with all four variants in the same day. In terms of class turnouts, as has been observed here before on Afloat.ie during 2026, the Puppeteer 22s are on a roll, and 15 boats trotting up to the start line every Saturday means that, in just this one class, around 70 people are getting excellent sport.
BEAUTIFULLY PREPARED
That said, Nigel Biggs’ beautifully prepared Nimon continues to set the pace at the front of the fleet, with Alan Pearson & Alan Blay’s Trick or Treat currently tying with David Clarke’s Harlequin for second, while Puppeteer No 1, Paul & Laura McMahon’s Shiggi Shiggi, holds third.
Howth 17 history in a nutshell with (left to right) Anna (built 2026, Oona (built 1909) and Aura (built 1898). Photo: Charlotte Delamer
The venerable Howth 17s have been mustering an average turnout of eleven, with the Massey, Toomey & Kenny mafia on Deilginis in front, while there’s currently a tie for second between Marc FitzGibbon & Donal Gallagher’s Orla and Conor & Brian Turvey’s Isobel. The range of the class is indicated by the fact that their build dates are Deilginis 1907 (Portrush), Orla 2019 (Brittany), and Isobel 1988 (Howth).
MULTIPLE CLASS DIVISIONS
There’s a substantial combined fleet of cruiser-racers in action each weekend, but as they’re in five classes which are further subdivided between IRC and HPH, the numbers don’t make the impact they might, with Class 4 HPH N-S the biggest at 12 boats, while Class 3 HPH has nine.
Starting from the top, Mike & Richie Evans’ J/112E The Big Picture is dominating Class 1 IRC, with Stephen Quinn’s J/97 Lambay Rules second overall and Simon Knowles’ J/109 Indian third, while Class 2 IRC sees the Gore-Grimes family’s X-302 Dux leading overall from Anton Koshunov’s classic Quarter Tonner Symmetry, with Ian Martin & Stephen Mullaney’s New Insider third.
Former Sigma 33 campaigners Stephen Mullaney and Ian Martin old third in Class 2 with New Insider. Photo: HYC
In Class 3, Vincent Gaffney’s Laser 28 Alliance II is in the unusual position of being overall leader in both IRC and HPH, with the HPH division seeing Lee Douglas & Aidan Keane second in Shenanigans and Pat & Aidan Higginbotham third in Lazy Bones.
ORC RACING
The two non-spinnaker classes see Dermot Skehan’s vintage Humphreys-designed Toughnut of the host club leading Class 4 IRC from David Greene’s White Pearl from Malahide, with the positions precisely reversed under HPH.
As for Class 5 (Non-Spin), they seem to have become a breakout class as they’re racing ORC and HPH, but either way Jason Murray & Eamonn Burke’s Sigma 33 Leeuwin is leading overall, with Kevin O’Byrne’s Mary Ellen second on ORC while Lindy Dunne’s Timballoo from Malahide is second on HPH.
Last rose of summer? Ian Malcolm’s Howth 17 Aura in one of the better phases of last Saturday’s rolling weather pattern. Photo: Charlotte Delamer
The organisation of this year’s HYC Autumn League is as neat as you please, with exactly half the races in September and the other half in October. In this meteorologically unique year of big-change new weather records, it will be fascinating to compare the conditions prevailing as the series concludes in mid-October with the way they were when everyone sallied forth full of the joys of an Indian summer in mid-September.
Full Results here
