A new building has appeared overnight beside Howth Yacht Club during the Christmas period, and a row is simmering as to whether it has full planning permission. Sailors Declan MacManus and Robert Kerley, leaders of the construction team, anticipate receiving full retrospective planning permits. In fact, they hope that it will soon become a listed building, as it is a cool re-creation of the famous monastic beehive cells on Skellig Michael, and is also an important interpretation of the classic Inuit vernacular style traditional to Arctic regions.

With Ireland now expected to enter a new mini-Ice Age by 2035, they also anticipate that the Government's Emergency Response Committee will wish to retain them as consultants for future building projects. The new house is tastefully if sparsely furnished with IKEA's Fishbox Range, which is being introduced for 2011. It provides an unusual and comfortable venue to add to Howth's many bustling hospitality hotspots.

A representative of the local planning authority has reportedly said that they are putting the matter of planning permission on ice until after the holidays, and they expect that in due course the matter will simply melt away to provide an Irish solution to an Irish problem.

Howth YC is concerned about this new building which has suddenly appeared – without planning pemission - beside the clubhouse

Fully furnished, the new building is the centre for the training of a team of unique Mini Jack Russell Huskies

HOWTH YACHT CLUB. LASER FROSTBITE WINTER (O'ALL) 12/12/2010 LASER STANDARD: 1, Conor Greagsbey NYC (31.00); 2, Evan Dolan NYC (33.00); 3, Michael Evans HYC (45.00); LASER STANDARD APPRENTICE: 1, Conor Murphy HYC (12.00); 2, Brendan Costello MYC (16.00); 3, Conor Hopkins HYC (24.00); LASER STANDARD MASTER: 1, Evan Dolan NYC (24.00); 2, Conor Greagsbey NYC (25.00); 3, Daragh Kelleher SSC (33.00); LASER STANDARD GRAND MASTER: 1, Michael Evans HYC (16.00); 2, Robin Hegarty HYC (20.00); 3, Stephen Quinn HYC (25.00); LASER RADIAL: 1, Simon Revill HYC (18.00); 2, Ciaran Costello MYC (25.00); 3, Robert Ferris HYC (29.00)

A Northside versus Southside battle between two top chefs and a Guinness Book of Records attempt are the attractions at a Celebrity Chef Cook-Off Competition to be held in Howth Yacht Club on December 2^nd in aid of the ‘Suicide Or Survive’ (SOS) charity.

One of the best known chefs on the northside, Terry McCoy of the Red Bank Restaurant, Skerries, fame, (and a Howth Yacht Club member) goes head-to-head with Dermot Baker of the National Yacht Club, Dun Laoghaire, a noted gourmet chef who previously ran the successful Vino Bistro in Glasthule.

The two men will pit their culinary skills against one another to impress a panel of three independent judges, following which they will attempt to make it into the Guinness Book of Records by feathering, cooking and plating a pheasant in 180 seconds.

Tickets cost €25 and the entertaining night includes wine and nibbles and music from the band ‘Diablo’, with the proceeds going to the suicide prevention charity ‘Suicide Or Survive’. Tickets are available from Cathy Flynn Byrne (Northside) 087-279 0601 and Jack Shanahan (Southside) 086-262 9936.

Further information from Maureen Muir – 087-237 0879

 

HOWTH YACHT CLUB. BRASS MONKEYS WINTER (RACE) 21/11/2010 Class 2 HPH: 1, Joslim J Connolly; 2, C'est la Vie Flannelly/Others; 3, Maximus P Kyne; Class 3 HPH: 1, Pucaban G McGuire; 2, Schullduggery G Forde; 3, Tobago Hanna/Others; Class 1 Non Spinny HPH: 1, Brazen Hussy Barry/Stirling; 2, Mystique R & R Michael; 3, Tantrum Three O'Leary/Klimche; Class 3 Non Spinny HPH: 1, Stromcrow D Cronin; 2, Bandersnatch K O'Grady; 3, Cu na Mara C Brown LASER FROSTBITE WINTER (O'ALL) 21/11/2010 LASER STANDARD: 1, Conor Greagsbey NYC (17.00); 2, Paul McMahon HYC (23.00); 3, Daragh Kelleher SSC (24.00); LASER STANDARD APPRENTICE: 1, Conor Murphy HYC (9.00); 2, Brendan Costello MYC (10.00); 3, Davy Carr SDC (14.00); LASER STANDARD MASTER: 1, Conor Greagsbey NYC (14.00); 2, Daragh Kelleher SSC (17.00); 3, Paul McMahon HYC (20.00); LASER STANDARD GRAND MASTER: 1, Michael Evans HYC (10.00); 2, Robin Hegarty HYC (10.00); 3, Stephen Quinn HYC (12.00); LASER RADIAL: 1, Simon Revill HYC (13.00); 2, Ciaran Costello MYC (19.00); 3, Robert Ferris HYC (19.00)

HOWTH YACHT CLUB. BRASS MONKEYS WINTER (RACE) 07/11/2010 Class 2 HPH: 1, Rum Doodle D Byrne; 2, Flashpoint O'Flaherty/Others; 3, C'est la Vie Flannelly/Others; 4, Papillon B O'Halloran; 5, Maximus P Kyne; Class 3 HPH: 1, Tobago Hanna/Others; 2, Runaway Higgins/Others; 3, Pucaban G McGuire; 4, Pinocchio Davidson/Swan; 5, Invader G Glynn; 6, Just Good Friends M Carroll; Class 1 Non Spinny HPH: 1, Blue Eyes W & C Buckley; 2, Tantrum Three O'Leary/Klimche; 3, Brazen Hussy Barry/Stirling; 4, Puffin Eile F & P Newport; 5, Demelza Ennis/Laudan; 6, Mystique R & R Michael; Class 3 Non Spinny HPH: 1, Stromcrow D Cronin; 2, Hippocampus B O'Loughlin; 3, Bandersnatch K O'Grady

HOWTH YACHT CLUB. LASER FROSTBITE WINTER 07/11/2010 RACE 1 LASER STANDARD: 1, Paul McMahon HYC; 2, Conor Greagsbey NYC; 3, Darrell Reamsbottom HYC; 4, Conor Murphy HYC; 5, Daragh Kelleher SSC; 6, Stephen Quinn HYC; LASER STANDARD APPRENTICE: 1, Conor Murphy HYC; 2, Brendan Costello MYC; 3, Brian Tyrrell HYC; 4, Conor Hopkins HYC; LASER STANDARD MASTER: 1, Paul McMahon HYC; 2, Conor Greagsbey NYC; 3, Darrell Reamsbottom HYC; 4, Daragh Kelleher SSC; 5, David Quinn HYC; 6, Evan Dolan NYC; LASER STANDARD GRAND MASTER: 1, Stephen Quinn HYC; 2, Robin Hegarty HYC; 3, Daragh Sheridan HYC; 4, Cathal Sheridan MYC; 5, Dermot Mowatt HYC; 6, Alan Carr SDC; LASER RADIAL: 1, Darragh Peelo MYC; 2, Vincent Varley MYC; 3, Robert Ferris HYC; 4, Simon Revill HYC; 5, Ciaran Costello MYC; 6, Carla Fagan 

HYC LASER FROSTBITE WINTER 07/11/2010 RACE 2 LASER STANDARD: 1, Robin Hegarty HYC; 2, Colm Cunningham HYC; 3, Conor Greagsbey NYC; 4, Paul McMahon HYC; 5, Conor Murphy HYC; 6, Stephen Quinn HYC; LASER STANDARD APPRENTICE: 1, Conor Murphy HYC; 2, Conor Hopkins HYC; 3, Brendan Costello MYC; 4, Brian Tyrrell HYC; LASER STANDARD MASTER: 1, Colm Cunningham HYC; 2, Conor Greagsbey NYC; 3, Paul McMahon HYC; 4, Darrell Reamsbottom HYC; 5, Richard Deane HYC; 6, Evan Dolan NYC; LASER STANDARD GRAND MASTER: 1, Robin Hegarty HYC; 2, Stephen Quinn HYC; 3, Dermot Mowatt HYC; 4, Conor Costello MYC; 5, Daragh Sheridan HYC; 6, Edward Ferris HYC

Howth Yacht Club is staging a lunch to help Round the World skipper Joe English who has been diagnosed with Alzheimers disease according to a note on the club website.

Coming from a career in sailing that started in 1976 in North Sails' Kinsale loft, Joe is probably best known for his role as Skipper of NCB, the Irish maxi yacht which competed in the 1989 Volvo Ocean Race.

He also took over as Skipper of Toshiba in the 1997 race. More locally, Joe was an innovator in the Cork 1720 project in conjunction with Tony Castro.

In recent years, Joe has been diagnosed with Alzheimer disease at a very young age and recently featured in a Prime Time documentary on RTE on the subject. A charitable trust has been launched to help Joe and his family over the coming years and this year's HYC Christmas lunch is to benefit this worthy cause.

The lunch is on Friday, 10th December

Ireland's biggest Laser sailing dinghy series starts in over a week and organiser Dave Quinn has been in touch with ten good reasons to race in the 2010 Howth Laser Frostbite series on Sunday 31st October. We're sure there's many more but here's Dave's top ten:

1) This is the biggest series in Ireland, typically with over 50 entries

2) Howth welcome - great pre and post race social atmosphere in club.
3) Great Racing - Two short races per day, in open water just outside the harbour with committee boat starts. Great way to work on your helming and tactics over the winter.
4) Mix of competition - Sailors range from top 5 ranked sailors all the way through to beginners and casual racers. Ages range from 15-65.
5) Laser Round the Island and Lunch - A legendary, not to be missed end of season race, and party in March.
6) Great value - €4 per race, which covers the lunch in March also!
7) Free boat parking - entry fee also covers parking your boat in Howth the the full winter.
8) Dedicated race course - No other classes racing. Mix of windward leeward and triangle courses.
9) Full Rig, Radial and 4.7 fleets all supported
10) Friendly advice, guidance and help make it a great introduction to dinghy racing

Enter online at www.hyc.ie. For enquiries contact David Quinn 086 2835671

This year's Howth Yacht Club Autumn League – sponsored by WD-40, Crystal Holidays and The Food Room – ended on a high note from a competitive viewpoint, with moderate northerly winds and plenty of sunshine to complete the series with two back-to-back sailing races on all three courses.

While a number of pre-racing favourites and series leaders came through to take the honours in their respective classes, there were a few anxious moments on some boats, with some indifferent results on the final day.

No such concerns were on board Pat Kelly's Storm, with a win in the first race sealing the series in which their discard was a 2nd place. While Ross McDonald's Equinox challenged hard and won the second race of the day, it was never going to be enough so the runner-up spot was their reward. The same two boats also shared the day's spoils in the WD-40 mini-series and the overall placings were identical to the IRC, although a double success on ECHO meant Equinox enjoyed overall honours in both events ahead of their main rival.

The day didn't start well for Class 2 favourite Kinetic with an OCS in the first race which was won by the narrowest of margins by MiniMumm (Cobbe/McDonald) ahead of Impetuous (Noonan/Chambers). That aberration was put to rights in the second race with the Colwell/Murphy crew getting the nod over Impetuous, a result that wrapped up the IRC title with six points to spare over Dave Cullen's King One. A second and a first on ECHO were sufficient to give Impetuous overall victory in that division to add to 3rd overall on IRC.

Class 3 ended as it started with Vince Gaffney's Alliance to the fore. Winning the first race ahead of Kevin Darmody's Gecko and then swapping places in the second was more than enough to maintain the overall lead and win on IRC by four points from the principal rival. The ECHO honours went to Malahide boat Tobago (Tom Ray & Others) which tied with Gecko on points and won on better discard.

Trinculo (Michael Fleming) and Bite the Bullet (Colm Bermingham) won the two races in Class 5 on both ECHO and IRC, the upshot of which was overall success on ECHO for the Bermingham crew by three points over the Boyle's On the Rox. On IRC, a third and a second put Flashback on level terms with Bite the Bullet on points but getting the nod on countback.

Stephanie Ennis and Windsor Laudan will remember the 2010 Autumn League with some fondness, as their debut series in the veteran Shamrock Demelza was outstandingly successful in Class 5. The smallest boat in the fleet was competitive throughout the series and a double win on ECHO just cemented their dominance of the class, with a healthy 8-point margin over runner-up Harmony (D&H Toomey). Harry Byrne's Alphida, with a first and second on the final day, emerged top of the IRC rankings by two points ahead of Joe Carton's Voyager.

On the one-design course, Jay Bourke's Northside Dragon from the Royal St.George YC, experienced its worst day of the series, with a 9th and a 4th, yet discarding that last

place in the opening race was enough to take the Etchells title by a single point from Simon Knowles' Jabberwocky. The day's two races were won by Robert Dix's Glance and Dan O'Grady's Kootamundra Wattle respectively.

Mossy Shanahan, helming Scandal, enjoyed a good win in the first J24 race with a minute to spare over national champion Flor O'Driscoll in Hard on Port although the latter had the last laugh by reversing the order in the final race. Howth's Jibberish (Fergus O'Kelly et al) did not have a good day but even two third places were enough to head the small fleet by one point from Scandal.

A double success for Puppeteer champion Garrett May and crew on Ibis was no doubt satisfying but it was never going to be enough to deny Harlequin (Clarke/Egan) unless the early pace-setter faltered badly. Finishing right on the tail of the double-winner was all they needed to take the crown by a comfortable 8-point gap. On handicap, another double success, this time by Flycatcher (Wright/Dillon), moved them up the rankings to 2nd overall, one point behind a delighted Harlequin crew taking those honours too.

After a slow start, Emmet Dalton's Klipbok emerged at the top of the Squib fleet yet again but it required two straight wins and two average results by the series leader Kerfuffle (Craig/Raune) to achieve that result. A double handicap success for Rechaun (C.Kellett) did not spoil the party for Emer Harte's Puffin, handicap winner by a single point from Phil Merry's Shadowfax.

It was all change on the Seventeen's course, with two firsts giving the overall honours to Ian Malcolm's Aura, three points clear of the early leader Rita (Lynch/Curley). A first and a second on handicap were also enough for Aura to enjoy a double success, with Derek Bothwell's Sheila taking the runner-up spot.

HOWTH YACHT CLUB. AUTUMN LEAGUE (O'ALL) 16/10/2010 Class 1 IRC: 1, Storm P Kelly HYC (6.00); 2, Equinox R McDonald HYC (12.00); 3, Crazy Horse Chambers/Reilly HYC (14.00); Class 1 ECHO: 1, Equinox R McDonald HYC (7.00); 2, Storm P Kelly HYC (10.00); 3, Tiger Hughes/Harris HYC (16.00); Class 2 IRC: 1, Kinetic Colwell/Murphy HYC (11.50); 2, King One D Cullen HYC (17.50); 3, Impetuous Noonan/Chambers HYC (19.00); Class 2 ECHO: 1, Impetuous Noonan/Chambers HYC (14.00); 2, Kinetic Colwell/Murphy HYC (17.50); 3, C'est la Vie Flannelly/Others HYC (20.50); Class 3 IRC: 1, Alliance V Gaffney HYC (7.00); 2, Gecko K Darmody HYC (11.00); 3, Holly B MacMahon HYC (14.00); Class 3 ECHO: 1, Tobago Ray/Others MYC (14.00); 2, Gecko K Darmody HYC (14.00); 3, Rossinver C Scott HYC (16.00); Class 4 ECHO: 1, Bite the Bullet C Bermingham HYC (9.00); 2, On the Rox C & J Boyle HYC (12.00); 3, FanatiX R Fanning HYC (12.00); Class 4 IRC: 1, Flashback Hogg/Others HYC (8.00); 2, Bite the Bullet C Bermingham HYC (8.00); 3, Trinculo M Fleming HYC (12.00); Class 5 ECHO: 1, Demelza Ennis/Laudan HYC (8.00); 2, Harmony D & H Toomey HYC (16.00); 3, Force Five R & J McAllister HYC (17.00); Class 5 IRC: 1, Alphida H Byrne HYC (8.00); 2, Voyager J Carton HYC (10.00); 3, Force Five R & J McAllister HYC (14.00); Puppeteer SCRATCH: 1, Harlequin Clarke/Egan HYC (8.00); 2, Ibis G May HYC (16.00); 3, Yellow Peril N Murphy HYC (17.00); Puppeteer HPH: 1, Harlequin Clarke/Egan HYC (25.00); 2, Flycatcher Wright/Dillon HYC (26.00); 3, Gepetto E O'Reilly HYC (27.00); Squib SCRATCH: 1, Klipbok E Dalton HYC (5.00); 2, Kerfuffle Craig/Raune HYC (7.00); 3, Shadowfax P Merry HYC (11.00); Squib HPH: 1, Puffin E Harte HYC (11.00); 2, Shadowfax P Merry HYC (12.00); 3, Kerfuffle Craig/Raune HYC (13.00); 17 Footer SCRATCH: 1, Aura I Malcolm HYC (6.00); 2, Rita Lynch/Curley HYC (9.00); 3, Oona P Courtney HYC (19.00); 17 Footer HPH: 1, Aura I Malcolm HYC (7.00); 2, Sheila D Bothwell HYC (10.00); 3, Rita Lynch/Curley HYC (20.00); Etchells SCRATCH: 1, Northside Dragon J Bourke RStGYC (12.00); 2, Jabberwocky S Knowles HYC (13.00); 3, Kootamundra O'Grady/Reilly HYC (15.00); J 24 SCRATCH: 1, Jibberish O'Kelly/Others HYC (8.00); 2, Scandal B McDowell MYC (9.00); 3, Hard on Port F O'Driscoll RStGYC (10.00)