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