Harlequin wins a dramatic Puppeteer 22 title on countback as Howth Yacht Club concludes six weekends of Autumn League racing, with close contests across the cruiser and one-design fleets.
The Howth Autumn League started in the midst of a period of “Indian Summer” weather on Saturday 12th September (though opening day itself was brisk enough), and concluded on Saturday October 17th with a clear but decidedly crisp and undoubtedly Autumnal day.
With six full weekends, some classes on the offshore course for cruiser-racers managed to get in two races on some busy Saturdays, with IRC 1, 2 & 3 finishing their series with 9 races sailed, as too did the hyper-keen Puppeteer 22 One-Designs, while the feeling of others that one heartrate-stimulating start per day was quite enough to be going on with were respected by the powers-that-be.
PUPPETEERS ARE THE STARS
If we’d to choose a “Class of the Series”, it would be won in style by those selfsame Puppeteers, as they were hitting turnouts of 15 boats in a highly competitive frame of mind. Last year’s fear that Nigel Biggs’ super-optimised uber-successful Nimon – dry-sailed in her first season under the new management - was going to knock the spirit out of the class was proven gloriously wrong, as the longtime Puppeteer fans on Harlequin (David Clarke) and Trick or Treat (Alan Pearson & Alan Blay) worked their way through the six weekends to a neck-and-neck situation at the top of the leaderboard, which Harlequin then clinched by winning the last race to tie with ToT on 17pts and win overall on countback, while Nimon came in on third at 20pts.
Nimon (right) may have started the series as defending champion in the Puppeteer 22s, but Harlequin (left) took the title in a very close-fought series. Photo: HYC
IRC CLASSES
Class 1 IRC was enlivened by Johnny Treanor’s ValenTina coming over from Dun Laoghaire to race the two final weekends, which gave her a scoreline of 6,2,2,3. But Mike and Richie Evans’ J/112e The Big Picture was so completely in the groove by this stage that her final scoreline was a fusillade of bullets, the only slip-up being on October 3rd when the Kavanaghs with the J/97 Jeneral Lee took the win and the Big Picture found her discard with a second.
Light and dark – Simon Knowles’ J/109 Indian took third in Class 1. Photo: HYC
Stephen Quinn’s J/97 Lambay Rules had a gallant series to be second overall, and rightly won on HPH, while Simon Knowles’ J/109 Indian was third OA, and second in HPH.
CLASS 2
Despite a 5th in the ninth and final race, the Gore-Grimes family’s X322 Dux could look back on a scoreline that included four wins. Yet it says something about the keen racing in this class that Ian Martin and Stephen Mullaney aboard their vintage J/92 Insider Again may only have recorded one win, but were so consistently on the podium that they corrected into second overall on 18 pts to the 17 of Dux, while third went to the re-born Quarter Tonner Symmetry (Anton Korshunov). HPH gave the same final outcomes.
CLASS 3
Class 3 may have mustered nine boats in all, balanced between Howth and Malahide, but IRC is not their thing with just three boats being so rated. However, Vincent Gaffney’s collector’s item Laser 28 Alliance II was going like a train under any system, winning IRC from Kevin Darmody’s Gecko, and taking HPH from the Higginbothams of Malahide with Lazy Bones.
CLASS 4 (Non-spinnaker)
Veteran skipper Dermot Skehan with his appropriately-named Castro 34 Tough Nut continued his winning ways right to the end in a five race series, winning last Saturday to give him 1,2,2,1 to set the Tough Nuts up with 6 points to the 10 of Malahide’s David Green with White Pearl, with Howth’s Colm Bermingham third in the Elan Bite the Bullet.
In HPH, Malahide made a killing with White Pearl winning overall from Howth’s Kieran Jameson with the Sigma 38 Changeling, with Malahide’s Russell Camier with Alchemy on third OA.
CLASS 5 (NON-SPIN)
Class 5 go their own way with an ORC division, and it produced an intriguing final scoreline. For although Jason Murray and Eamonn Burke with the Sigma 33 Leeuwin won it on five points, there were then four boats on 23 total points. But the usual consultation of the entrails of a chicken (free range of course) concluded that Steffi Ennis & Windsor Lauden with the Club Shamrock Demelza were second, Kevin O’Byrne with Mary Ellen was third, and Round Ireland Race organiser Kyran O’Grady of Wicklow with the 1971-vintage Swan 37 Bandernsnatch was fourth.
HOWTH 17s
Howth 17s in fighting form – this group includes boats ranging from brand new to 128 years old. Photo: HYC
After a busy season in which the highlights had included providing the biggest One Design turnouts in both the RIYC Classics Regatta at Dun Laoghaire, and the 151st Anniversary At Home at Clontarf in the tidal inner reaches of Dublin Bay, the 1898-vintage Howth 17s may have had 12 boats entered for the Autumn League.
Racing over for the day, the series and the season – Howth YC’s main 2026 programme ended on a high note. Photo: HYC
But just nine – including Gerry Comerford’s superb own-built 2026 debutant Anna – made a regular series out of their four races. Being campaigned by the full personnel resources of the Massey, Toomey & Kenny syndicate, the 1907-built Deilginis was still campaigning on a full tank, and showed it by discarding a first at the end, second slot going to the 1988-built Isobel (Conor & Brian Turvey) while the 2019 Brittany-built Orla (Marc Fitzgibbon & Donal Gallagher) was third OA.
However, under HPH there was encouragement for the future with the junior Cian & Archie team on Silver Moon (built 1898) winning from Isobel and Orla.
“Puppeteer Central” – after one of their most successful seasons, the Puppeteer 22s nest in their own part of Howth Marina. Photo: HYC
SQUIBS
As some of the Howth Squibs used up late-season energy to get themselves to the Autumn Freshwater Regatta at Dromineer on Lough Derg, gaps appeared in the Squibs turnout, but either way Crackertoo (Jeff Kay & Stephen Kay) had it largely by being Permanently In A Podium Position, though Caroline O’Kelly and Suzanne Barry in Fantome ran them close with a 1,2,1,2, third place going to Ger Loughran and Ross Hattaway in Hallowe’en.
Results here: https://hyc.ie/results
Trophies ready to roll – the Howth Autumn League has accumulated an eclectic range of prizes for a remarkably varied fleet of boats.
NEXT YEAR?
Although Howth Yacht Club’s non-stop sailing year continues with the up-coming Brass Moneys series for cruiser-racers and the Frostbites for dinghies (notably the new Melges 15 class), the season is over for the majority of Peninsula sailors, and all sorts of rumours persist in circulating about precisely when much of the harbour will need to be cleared next year for the long overdue dredging to proceed.
ADDITIONAL ISLAND CLUBHOUSE
Thus although it was initially assumed that a conspicuous pipe-laying platform has been planted to the northwest of Ireland’s Eye in order to avail of free berthing until its next job comes up, an inspired notion has been doing the rounds that this is going to become Howth Yacht Club Race HQ for a period next year, and possibly even an offshore clubhouse. It would thereby provide a Dining Destination with a Difference, while also meeting every option for laying on windward starts, which in turn would enable the various club committee boats and club launches to be taken away and fitted with more socially-acceptable electric motors.
Gerry Comerford’s new own-built Howth 17 Anna enjoying the final day of the 2026 Autumn League, while beyond is the recently-arrived platform which is rumoured to be lined up as HYC’s new multi-start-line Race HQ, and possibly a Dining Destination with a Difference. Photo: Judith Malcolm
