Dave Cullen and Nigel Biggs campaign their hefty First 50 Checkmate XX with a style that suggests she fulfils the role in Dublin and elsewhere that Denis Doyle's Moonduster did from Cork. Like Moonduster, Checkmate's crew demands are such that there's an element of the sailing training ship in her campaigning. This makes it all the better than she went to the Sovereigns in Kinsale and won the trophy with five clear wins on the big-fleet coastal courses.
Nigel Biggs & Dave Cullen of Howth & RIYC are "Sailors of the Month" (Regatta) for June
About The Author
Afloat.ie Team
Afloat.ie is Ireland's dedicated marine journalism team.
Have you got a story for our reporters? Email us here.
We've got a favour to ask
More people are reading Afloat.ie than ever thanks to the power of the internet but we're in stormy seas because advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. Unlike many news sites, we haven't put up a paywall because we want to keep our marine journalism open.
Afloat.ie is Ireland's only full-time marine journalism team and it takes time, money and hard work to produce our content.
So you can see why we need to ask for your help.
If everyone chipped in, we can enhance our coverage and our future would be more secure. You can help us through a small donation. Thank you.

















































