Howth Yacht Club’s WD-40 Autumn League, sponsored by Team PR Reilly, got off to a blustery start on Sunday (25^th September), with the ten classes encountering fresh 26-knot southerlies, stronger gusts and tough sea conditions.

Perhaps it was the post-Rugby World Cup match euphoria or the gale forecast that was off-putting, but whatever the reason, around a quarter of the 150 boats entered for this year’s WD-40 Autumn League didn’t make it to the starting line for the first race of the series! As it was, some boats experienced gear damage and others were unable to complete the course.

It’s been a good season for Pat Kelly’s ‘Storm’ and the run continued with a comfortable win in Class 1 on IRC while ‘Tiger’ (Harris/Hughes) took the spoils on ECHO in a race which saw the first four boats crossing the line within a minute.

Line honours by a minute converted into a bigger IRC win for Anthony Gore-Grimes’ ‘Dux’ over second-placed ‘Superhero’ (Byrne/Banahan) in Class 2 and was also enough to earn top spot on ECHO too, in that case ahead of ‘Indigo’ (Ritchie/Eadie).

In Class 3, Antrim visitor Alfred Mayrs’ ‘Quickflash’ and ‘Starlet’ (Ed Bourke) battled it out at the head of the fleet, with the local boat taking the gun and ECHO honours (ahead of ‘Shenanigans’ – Douglas/Keane, MYC) and the northern crew heading the IRC standings.

Another visitor, Paul Tully of Dun Laoghaire Marina on ‘White Lotus’, clearly enjoyed heading the dozen Howth boats in Class 4 (White Sails) on ECHO while Colm Bermingham’s ‘Bite the Bullet’ did enough to beat ‘Changeling’ (Kieran Jameson) into second place on IRC. In the other White Sail division – Class 5 – ‘Demelza’ (Ennis/Laudan) had a good win over bigger rivals on ECHO and Harry Byrne’s Alphida’ topped the IRC rankings.

The Etchells was a match-racing affair, in effect, with Jay Bourke’s ‘Dirty Protest’ having a fairly comfortable margin of victory over ‘Glance’ (O’Reilly/Dix) while in the J24s, national champion Flor O’Driscoll (‘Hard on Port’) had a similar lead over second-placed ‘Crazy Horse’ (Mossy Shanahan). A feature of the J24 event is two boats – ‘Scandal’ and ‘Kilcullen’ – being sailed by two HYC Development Squad crews and they finished 3^rd and 4^th respectively.

The biggest entry and biggest fleet on the day was the Puppeteers and national champions ‘Harlequin’ (Clarke/Egan) filled their accustomed position at the top of the standings, with two minutes to spare over ‘Mojo’ (Callen/Stanley), although that order was reversed under the HPH handicap.

Biggest scratch win of the day was in the Squibs where ‘Kerfuffle’ (Craig/Ruane) had over 6 minutes in hand over ‘Too Dee’ (Dave Sheahan) and almost as big a win on HPH over ‘Arctic Fox’ (G.Barry). Only 22 seconds separated ‘Oona’ (Peter Courtney) and ‘Isobel’ (the Turveys) in the Seventeens after an hour and a half’s racing, but the latter had the consolation of winning on HPH.

The WD-40 Autumn League, sponsored by Team PR Reilly and supported by H.B.Dennis Airside and Windguru, continues next Sunday, 2^nd October, with the second race in the 6-race series.

Class 1 IRC
1. Storm, P Kell, HYC
2. Equinox, R McDonald, HYC
3. Tiger, Harris/Hughes, HYC

Class 1 ECHO
1. Tiger, Harris/Hughes, HYC
2. Riot, B Linehan, HYC
3. Storm, P Kelly, HYC

Class 2 IRC
1. Dux, A Gore-Grimes, HYC
2. Indigo, Ritchie/Eadie, HYC
3. Maximus, P Kyne, HYC

Class 2 ECHO
1. Dux, A Gore-Grimes, HYC
2. Indigo, Ritchie/Eadie, HYC
3. Maximus, P Kyne, HYC

Class 3 IRC
1. Quickflash, A Mayrs, ABSC
2. Starlet, E Bourke, HYC
3. Goyave, Camier/Fitzpatrick, MYC

Class 3 ECHO
1. Starlet, E Bourke, HYC
2. Shenanigans, Douglas/Keane, MYC
3. Goyave, Camier/Fitzpatrick, MYC

Class 4 IRC
1. Bite the Bullet, C Bermingham, HYC
2. Changeling, K Jameson, HYC
3. White Lotus, P Tully, DLM

Class 4 ECHO
1. White Lotus, P Tully, DLM
2. Sojourn, Lacy/Blandford, HYC
3. Bite the Bullet, C Bermingham, HYC

Class 5 IRC
1. Alphida, H Byrne, HYC
2. Demelza, Ennis/Laudan, HYC
3. Voyager, J Carton, HYC

Class 5 ECHO
1. Demelza, Ennis/Laudan, HYC
2. Alphida, H Byrne, HYC
3. Voyager, J Carton, HYC

Etchells
1. Dirty Protest, J Bourke, HYC/GSC
2. Glance, O'Reilly/Dix, HYC

J24
1. Hard on Port, F O'Driscoll, HYC
2. Crazy Horse, M Shanahan, HYC
3. Scandal, HYC Dev Red, HYC

Puppeteer Scratch
1. Harlequin, Clarke/Egan, HYC
2. Mojo, Callen/Stanley, HYC
3. Gold Dust, Walls/Browne, HYC

Puppeteer HCap
1. Mojo, Callen/Stanley, HYC
2. Harlequin, Clarke/Egan, HYC
3. Flycatcher, Dillon/Wright, HYC

Squib Scratch
1. Kerfuffle, Craig/Ruane, HYC
2. Too Dee, D Sheahan, HYC
3. Arctic Fox, G Barry, HYC

Squib HCap
1. Kerfuffle, Craig/Ruane, HYC
2. Arctic Fox, G Barry, HYC
3. Too Dee, D Sheahan, HYC

17 Footer Scratch
1. Oona, P Courtney, HYC
2. Isobel, B & C Turvey, HYC
3. Deilginis, Deilginis, HYC

17 Footer HCap
1. Isobel, B & C Turvey, HYC
2. Oona, P Courtney, HYC
3. Deilginis, Deilginis, HYC

Howth Yacht Club's Lambay Race is renowned for providing a real mix of conditions to test the skills - and patience - of the hundreds of crews participating.... and the 2011 event was certainly no different!

Light to moderate westerlies which greeted the fleets at their respective starts veered and died, veered some more and gained in strength, faded along the back of the island and eventually veered to the south-east by the finish in a steadily increasing wind!

The effects were reflected in a number of the class results where pre-race favourites became victims of tidal flows and wind fluctuations, although there would be no complaints about shortening both courses after three and a half hours and more on the water.

Class 1 was led home by Crazy Horse (Reilly/Chambers) on the water but it was Makutu (Doyle & Others) who took the IRC honours by three minutes corrected ahead of the fleet leader while Trinculo (M/Fleming) was comfortably the ECHO winner.

MiniMumm (Cobbe/McDonald) got the gun and the IRC award in Class 2 ahead of Impetuous (Noonan/Chambers) and was runner-up to Superhero (Byrne/Banahan) on ECHO by a narrow margin.

Royal Irish YC visitor Supernova (Lawless & Others) were clearly not fazed by the conditions, romping home in Class 3 by a massive 25 minutes on the water, corrected to over 15 minutes on IRC ahead of Holly (B.McMahon). Unsurprisingly, the margin was also good enough to win ECHO too, from Lee na Mara (R.O’Malley).

The White Sail ‘A’ Division saw On the Rox (C&J Boyle) get the better of Bite the Bullet (C.Bermingham) on both IRC and ECHO while Alphida (H.Byrne) topped the ‘B’ Division on IRC and was runner-up to Bandersnatch (K.O’Grady) on ECHO.

Five First 31.7s travelled from Dun Laoghaire to compete with Howth’s C’Est la Vie in a scratch event and it was magic (O’Sullivan/Espey) of the Royal Irish which came home first by just under two minutes. An importation of six Shipman from the southside saw Joslim (Clarke/Maher, RSt.GYC) beat second-placed Just Good Friends (M.Carroll, DMYC) by over three minutes.

The other one-design classes started on the Inshore Course with the Squibs and Howth 17s given a head-start before a 3-class start of Etchells, SB3s and J24s gave chase, followed by E-Boats, Ruffians and Puppeteers.

Fetching (Quinn/O’Flaherty) had just 23 seconds to spare over second-placed Glance (Dix/O’Reilly) in the Etchells, Shockwave (E.Quinlan) had the better of Sin a Bhuifl (G.Guinness) in the SB3 match-race and former All-Ireland Sailing Champion Stefan Hyde (RCYC) on Kilcullen headed home the J24s by a little over a minutes from Hard on Port (F.O’Driscoll).

The regular fleet leader in the Puppeteers, Harlequin (Clarke/Egan), didn’t disappoint and headed the 17-strong fleet home by 15 minutes on scratch from Yellow Peril (N.Murphy), with the result the same on handicap.

Ten Ruffians travelled from Dublin Bay and it was the National Y.C.’s Ruff N Ready (Kirwan & Others) who took the honours from Ruffles (M.Cutliffe, DMYC) while Puffin (E.Harte) topped the Squib rankings by two minutes from Wasabi (C&N Penlerick) on scratch and was runner-up to Pegasus (T&K Smyth) on handicap.

The Howth 17s, almost as old as the Lambay Race itself, were led home after almost 4 hours racing by Aura (I.Malcolm) from Rita (Lynch/Curley) with the latter taking the handicap honours from Leila (R.Cooper).

HOWTH YACHT CLUB.  LAMBAY REGATTA (RACE) 11/06/2011   Class 1  IRC:  1, Makutu Doyle/Others HYC;  2, Crazy Horse Reilly/Chambers HYC;  3, Storm P Kelly HYC;  Class 1  ECHO:  1, Trinculo M Fleming HYC;  2, Makutu Doyle/Others HYC;  3, Gringo T Fox NYC;  Class 2  IRC:  1, MiniMumm Cobbe/McDonald HYC;  2, Impetuous Noonan/Chambers HYC;  3, King One D Cullen HYC;  Class 2  ECHO:  1, Superhero Byrne/Banahan HYC;  2, MiniMumm Cobbe/McDonald HYC;  3, Impetuous Noonan/Chambers HYC;  Class 3  IRC:  1, Supernova Lawless/Others RIYC;  2, Holly B MacMahon HYC;  3, Goyave Camier/Fitzpatrick MYC;  Class 3  ECHO:  1, Supernova Lawless/Others RIYC;  2, Lee na Mara R O'Malley HYC;  3, Taiscealai Richardson/Lindberg RIYC;  First 31.7  SCRATCH:  1, Magic O'Sullivan/Espey RIYC;  2, Bluefin Two M & B Bryson NYC;  3, C'est la Vie Flannelly/Others HYC;  Puppeteer  SCRATCH:  1, Harlequin Clarke/Egan HYC;  2, Yellow Peril N Murphy HYC;  3, Blue Velvet C & K Kavanagh HYC;  Puppeteer  HPH:  1, Harlequin Clarke/Egan HYC;  2, Yellow Peril N Murphy HYC;  3, Blue Velvet C & K Kavanagh HYC;  Squib  SCRATCH: 1, Puffin E Harte HYC;  2, Wasabi C & N Penlerick HYC;  3, Pot Black I & R McMurtry HYC;  Squib  HPH:  1, Pegasus T & K Smyth HYC;  2, Puffin E Harte HYC;  3, Wasabi C & N Penlerick HYC;  17 Footer  SCRATCH:  1, Aura I Malcolm HYC;  2, Rita Lynch/Curley HYC;  3, Leila R Cooper HYC;  17 Footer HPH:  1, Echo B & H Lynch HYC;  2, Leila R Cooper HYC;  3, Pauline O'Doherty/Ryan HYC;  Etchells  SCRATCH:  1, Fetching Quinn/O'Flaherty HYC;  2, Glance Dix/O'Reilly HYC;  3, Northside Dragon D Cagney HYC;  Shipman  SCRATCH: 1, Joslim Clarke/Maher RStGYC;  2, Just Good Friends M Carroll DMYC;  3, Whiterock H Robinson RIYC;  E Boat  SCRATCH:  1, OctupussE P O'Neill CY&BC;  Ruffian 23  SCRATCH:  1, Ruff N Ready Kirwan/Others NYC;  2, Ruffles M Cutliffe DMYC;  3, Ripples F Bradley DMYC;  SB 3  SCRATCH:  1, Shockwave E Quinlan HYC;  2, Sin a Bhuifl Guinness/Costigan HYC;  White Sail A IRC:  1, On the Rox C & J Boyle HYC;  2, Bite the Bullet C Bermingham HYC; 3, Flashback Hogg/Others HYC;  White Sail A  ECHO:  1, On the Rox C & J Boyle HYC;  2, Bite the Bullet C Bermingham HYC;  3, Changeling K Jameson HYC; J 24  SCRATCH:  1, Kilcullen S Hyde RCYC;  2, Hard on Port F O'Driscoll HYC; 3, Jibberish Wormold/Others HYC;  White Sail B  IRC:  1, Alphida H Byrne HYC; 2, Voyager J Carton HYC;  3, Demelza Laudan/Ennis HYC;  White Sail B  ECHO:  1, Bandersnatch K O'Grady HYC;  2, Alphida H Byrne HYC;  3, Demelza Laudan/Ennis HYC;  White Sail B  HPH:  1, Voyager J Carton HYC;  2, Sandpiper A Knowles HYC;  3, Alphida H Byrne HYC;  White Sail A  HPH:  1, On the Rox C & J Boyle HYC;  2, Sojourn Blandford/Lacy HYC;  3, Bite the Bullet C Bermingham HYC