#isora – No sooner is last night's DBSC racing over than some round–the–cans regulars are venturing outside the Bay this evening on a two–race ISORA weekend, with the Isle of Man as the focus. As David O'Brien reports in this morning's Irish Times Sailing Column the overall leader and defending champion Ruth (Liam Shanahan) has claimed a five point lead going into tonight's fourth race that has attracted a bumper fleet of over 20 that sees the focus of Irish sailing heading offshore this weekend.

The first race is tonight's 60–mile race four in the ISORA series from Holyhead in North Wales to the Isle of Man followed on Sunday by race five's 100–miler from the Manx port to Dun Laoghaire starting early at 0630 hours.

Overall, Shanahan's J109 from the National Yacht Club (NYC) leads Adrian Lee's Cookson 50 Lee Overlay Partners of the Royal St. George YC. The Pwllheli–based J109, Mojito is third. J boats occupy four of the top six places after three races and this weekend's forecast may also play into J hands.

As of this morning, the course for each race is likely to be direct from start to finish with light winds on offer and upwind a lot of upwind sailing predicted. This year's Avery–Crest sponsored series has the added attraction of satellite tracking that plots each competitors course, giving an extra dimension for race followers.

#isora – The Race 3 of the ISORA Avery Crest Offshore Series was very special as it was the first time that an ISORA Race was to be recorded using Yellow Brick (YB) satellite trackers that featured on Afloat's home page live during the race from Dun Laoghaire to Holyhead on Saturday. This 'huge step' for ISORA was facilitated by the generous sponsorship of "Avery Crest Ski Chalets Meribel" writes Peter Ryan, Chairman ISORA. Overall results after three races are available to download below.

The sponsorship allowed ISORA to acquire YB trackers to be used in all their races in the future. The use of the trackers brings the challenges and progress of offshore racing "right into your sitting room". In the past the fleet headed off from the start line and disappeared over the horizon, out of sight and unfortunately, out of mind. Now with the superb quality product, YB Trackers, all the boats taking part can be tracked and their progress followed by those left behind. As part of this leading tracking system, people can now download the YB Tracking app and buy the entire ISORA 2015 series of races for €2.99. All races can be replayed and analysed after the race in the comfort of your own home.
Of the 18 entries for the race, 17 came to the start line where National YC Commodore, Larry Power, sent the fleet off direct towards Holyhead at 08.05. The weather forecast for the race was not good since the beginning of the week. Earlier in the week the race promised to be run with very strong winds. However, as the week developed, a window of opportunity opened in the forecast to allow nearly perfect conditions for the race. This window was to close by early Sunday morning when again strong southerly winds were expected on the Irish Sea. With this limited window of opportunity available, the Sailing Committee decided to shorten the course to go direct to Holyhead.

A screenshot of the ISORA fleet race trackers used for the first time in Saturday's race from Dun Laoghaire to Holyhead. Click here for more

At the start, the winds were North westerly 10-12 knots. The forecast showed that a hole of "no wind" would develop close to the Irish coast by mid-day and it was vital that the fleet made progress away from the land immediately after the start. The fleet, lead by the Adrian Lee's Cookson 50 "Lee Overlay", sped under spinnaker out of the bay towards Holyhead. With the tide turning north just after the start, the fleet were pushed north.
Soon into the race, there was little sign of the "hole" appearing and the fleet sped towards Holyhead with an ETA of 15.30 for most of the fleet. In the fleet there were five J109s. "Jedi", now sailed two-handed got into some spinnaker hoist difficulties are the start and fell to the rear of the fleet. "Wakey Wakey" also had problems at the start and also fell towards the rear. The remaining three J109s, "Ruth", "Mojito" and "Sgrech" commenced a battle for position that went on for nearly five hours with less than a boat length between the three.
Then the "Hole" arrived!! The fleet slowed down to a near halt. This was made worse by the significant "lop" on the sea, making progress very difficult. "Lee Overlay" who sped away from the fleet after the start, appeared to have sailed very north and probably around the hole. They make cracking progress sailing a most northerly course until due north of the Skerries. There they gybed into a strong foul tide but heading for the finish line in Holyhead.
The remainder of the fleet were caught in the "hole" and all progress stopped for approximately two hours. Two handed "Bam" and J109, "Ruth", were first to break and head off at speed towards Holyhead followed eventually by the fleet.
On the approach to Holyhead, many of the fleet underestimated the strength of the south going tide cross the mouth of the harbour and, while only slightly below the course to the end of the breakwater, got trapped in the tide and made very little progress toward the end of the pier end. This "faux pas" allowed the main fleet to regain contact with the leading part of the fleet.
"Lee Overlay" had an easy passage, crossing the finish line at Holyhead at 14.26 and turned on the line to head back to Dun Laoghaire. The next boat to arrive was "Bam" at 17.00. The last boat to cross the finish Line, manned by Dawn Russell of Holyhead sailing Club, was "Lady Rowena" at 19.33. At this stage "Lee Overlay" had nearly arrived back to its berth in Dun Laoghaire marina.
Adrian Lee's " Lee Overlay" took an easy overall and Class 1 win on his first cross channel in ISORA since his return to racing in the Irish Sea. David Simpson's Swan "Albireo" took Class 2 and Silver Class. The downwind racing did not suit the J's with "Ruth" taking 3rd place overall behind "Bam".
The next two races involve a weekend of offshore racing with a race from Holyhead to Douglas on Friday evening, 22nd May, followed by a second race starting early Sunday morning 23rd May from Douglas to Dun Laoghaire. These races can be followed by downloading the YB tracking app or on the tracker viewer on the ISORA website www.isora.org .
These are exciting times for ISORA. The use of the YB trackers is a critical cog in the progress and development of offshore racing in these waters.

#isora – Today's ISORA offshore race has been confirmed as starting at the DBSC Pier Mark on Dublin Bay with a direct to finish at Holyhead, a distance of some 54–nautical miles. Follow the race on the tracker above. Winds are forecast to be light for the crossing, west to north west in direction and no more than 12 knots. Stroner winds from the south are due this evening. The reigning ISORA champion Ruth skippered by Liam Shanahan was the winner of April's first race coastal race of the season, a fortnight ago and is racing again this morning. Today's race features 18 starters made up of 13 from the Irish offshore fleet and five welsh boats. The start time is 0800 hours. More information and a copy of the sailing instructions is here.

 

#isora – Racing under the burgee of the National Yacht Club, the third race in the Irish Sea Offshore Racing Association (ISORA) 2015 series will start from Scotsman's Bay on the south side of Dublin Bay early on Saturday morning. The Irish offshore fleet is fitted with yellowbrick trackers for the 60–mile race across the Irish Sea from Dun Laoghaire to Holyhead, an important warm up for next month's Dun Laoghaire to Dingle race, also from the NYC.

The reigning ISORA champion Ruth skippered by Liam Shanahan was the winner of April's first race coastal race of the season, a fortnight ago. The NYC J–109 took a six minute win on corrected time from the Irish National Sailing Club Reflex 38 Lynx skippered by Kenneth Rumball. Third in that race was the Arklow Sailing Club J122, Aquelina.

ISORA Race three sailing instructions are downloadable below.

#isora – The reigning ISORA champion Ruth skippered by Liam Shanahan was the winner of today's first race coastal race of the 2015 season. The National Yacht Club J–109 took a six minute win on corrected time from the Irish National Sailing Club Reflex 38 Lynx skippered by Kenneth Rumball. Third in a buoyant 16–boat fleet was the Arklow Sailing Club J122, Aquelina (James Tyrrell). Results are downloadable below as a jpeg file.

Additional report from the Irish National Sailing School's Kenneth Rumball:

With much anticipation the Irish National Sailing School's new yacht Lynx, headed out for her first race on Saturday morning. The primary purpose of the purchase of the yacht Lynx for the Irish National Sailing School was to enable the growing centre to be able to deliver Royal Yachting Association and Irish Sailing Association cruising courses including Competent Crew, Dayskipper and Yachtmaster Courses to which the centre has gained recognition for the upcoming season. However with manager, Kenneth Rumball's varied racing background, the yacht purchased also needed to be able to deliver on a racecourse, hence the purchase of Lynx, a Reflex 38 originally successfully campaigned by Martin Breen.

Saturday's race was the first Irish Sea Offshore Racing Association race of 2015, originally planned as trip down to North Arklow, with a varied forecast for the Saturday, a decision on Friday was made to change the course to a trip south as far as Breaches Shoal, then north to East Kish before passing the Kish light and finishing at the pier heads. The crew on board Lynx included the INSS's Kenneth Rumball as skipper with experienced offshore sailors Keith Kiernan and James Ryan, Luke Malcom as bowman and INSS instructors, Calum Paterson, Andrew Abbott, Gareth Boyle and Robin Jones.

The previous night's study of grib files showed a strong westerly to start with the wind going northerly and dying throughout the day... Actual conditions were a little different, a strong Northerly of 25kts saw the fleet off from a start line just off the East Pier. The J109 Ruth made the best start followed tightly by Bam the Sunfast 3600 and then Lynx racing. Along the first fetch to the Muglins, Lee Overlay Partners (Cookson 50) stormed ahead followed by Bam and Lynx having rolled Ruth on the fetch. At the Muglins, Ruth made a swift hoist and shot ahead of her competition, a delayed hoist on Lynx saw them follow in pursuit. It then became a drag race between Ruth and Lynx to Breachers Shoal with both boat revelling in the windy downwind conditions.

By Breachers Shoal, Lynx had reeled in Ruth and was only a few boat lengths behind her. A tough long upwind to the Kish allowed Lynx to pass Ruth and hold off the ever approaching Aquelina, a J122. Rounding the Kish, Lynx hoisted their A5 to head home to the harbour. Lynx managed to hold off Aquelina to take second across the line to the Cookson 50 Lee Overlay Partners. On corrected time the J109 Ruth took the first race, six minutes ahead of Lynx.

A great first race for Lynx and very much enjoyed by her crew, the boats only second time sailing since having been purchased by the INSS over the winter. We are very much looking forward to many days teaching both racing and winning races.

 

 

#ucd – ISORA, the Irish Sea Offshore racing body, has entered into an understanding with University College Dublin (UCD) Sailing Club to provide crew places on ISORA boats.

ISORA boss Peter Ryan says: "this innovative scheme will allow students to gain offshore experience and will further promote offshore racing within the sailing fraternity."

An ISORA pre-season talk about offshore racing will be held in the National Yacht Club at 17.30 this Friday, 17th April. 

#isora – Yellowbrick (YB) satellite trackers will be fitted to ISORA offshore boats for the 2015 Irish offshore season transmitting critical boat data including boat speed and position for a series of races across the Irish Sea.

YB Tracking are responsible for tracking most of the classic and high profile offshore races all over the world inlcuding the Rolex Fastnet race.

ISORA Chairman, Peter Ryan said "I am delighted that the 'ISORA Avery Crest Ski sponsored Offshore Series 2015' can now be followed by our supporters at their yacht clubs, on a computer or even on their smart phones. Spectators will now be able to appreciate our experiences as we race in challenging conditions in keenly fought races as we cross the Irish Sea. This device will also provide us with additional safety information. "

The ISORA calendar attracts 20 to 30 boats for a series of offshore races across the Irish Sea.

Followers will be provided with a visual representation of the race on a computer generated chart with 'leader board' and league table. 

 

#sid – Sailing in Dublin Club (SID Club) has just acquired an additional cruising boat to add to its growing fleet writes Jessica O'Donnell. Silver Wind, a 35ft Sun Odyssey boat, was purchased thanks to the assistance of a grant from the Government's Sports Capital scheme with the balance paid from Club funds. SID put together dedicated grant and boat acquisition sub-committees drawn from club members and they put much hard work into securing this important new acquisition. The new boat, which was purchased with the aim of increasing participation in sailing, has been enthusiastically welcomed by SID's growing club membership.

Since its foundation thirty years ago, Sailing in Dublin Club has gone from strength to strength and its current fleet includes Laser Vagos; Ruff Diamond, a Ruffian 23; Obsession, a Sigma 33 boat, and now an additional cruising boat, Silver Wind. As a sailing collective, SID offers wonderful opportunities for racing and cruising without someone having to own their own boat. Its volunteer ethos means that there is also a pool of members to also draw upon to help with, and therefore offering more opportunities to learn more about, boat maintenance.

SID regularly participates in the DBSC series of races throughout the year, races in the challenging Irish Offshore ISORA races as well as Regattas in Dun Laoghaire and elsewhere close to Dublin. The Club's cruising ambitions have grown impressively and in 2015 SID has an exciting cruising programme which will see members sail in cruises along the east, south and west coast of Ireland stopping off in the likes of Dunmore East, Crosshaven, Baltimore, Dingle and Galway along the way. There are also plenty of shorter cruises and days sails closer to home against the backdrop of stunning Dublin Bay. With the new boat, there is now even more comfort and enhanced features for members when cruising. This cruising aspect is only one part of a vibrant club that also has an active dinghy section so there is certainly something for everyone!

While not a sailing school, there is a strong emphasis in SID on encouraging members to up-skill through their participation in recognised sail training provided by sailing schools around Ireland and abroad. A volunteer Training Officer and training sub-committee regularly update members on the availability of approved sail training courses whether related to VHF, First Aid, Sea Survival skills, operating a powerboat or other relative subjects. Club members, too, are happy to share their skills with others on different rungs of the sailing ladder and such co-operation and opportunities for sailing development from competent crew to skippering is one of the Club's most attractive features.

As a small and friendly club, there are opportunities for socializing after sails and throughout the year at Club dinners, BBQs and other events. With two female Commodores in succession the Club is also leading the way in promoting 'women on the water'. SID's excellent value – the annual membership subscription is only €370 – and variety and extent of sailing opportunities has seen the Club's membership grow impressively year on year. New members are always welcome and for anyone who would like to avail of a Guest Sail with SID, they can do so by going to the Club's website www.sailingindublin.ie The cost of a Guest Sail is only €40 and is redeemable against full membership subscription should a person wish to join the Club. With the bright evenings and summer approaching it is definitely time to get out sailing! To find out more about SID and what it has to offer click www.sailingindublin.ie 

#isora – With the first ISORA coastal race in just two weeks time, (25th April with races from Dun Laoghaire and Pwllheli) offshore sailors gather next Friday for an  ISORA Pre–Season Talk & Reception at the National Yacht Club. ISORA Commodore Peter Ryan is extending the invitation to all Afloat.ie readers.

Ed Hill of North Sails will talk about offshore sailing and tactics and ISORA's own Liam Coyne will talk about "Planning for a two handed race". There will be tips on sail changes, dealing with practical problems in two handed racing and safety concerns.

The talk will be hled next Friday at the NYC at 19.30 hours

#isora – Dickie Richardson of Holyhead, who died last month aged 89, played a key role in the Irish Sea Offshore Racing Association during the Golden Age of distance racing in the area during the 1970s. Yet although he was best known as one of the moving spirits in the formation of ISORA in 1971, there was much more to him than this.

He was a remarkable man with an extraordinary ability to turn his hand to anything. Professionally, he was a consultant anaesthetist with some of his most noted work being done in the cardiothoracic surgical unit at Broad Green Hospital in Liverpool when open heart surgery was being developed, an area in which he was much involved.

But as was made clear at his well-attended funeral in Bangor, North Wales, he was an engineer at heart, a man who loved making and doing. He derived deep satisfaction from building his own boats and understanding all the technical processes, whether it was laying up glassfibre, making aluminium castings, fabricating stainless steel fittings, or installing beautifully finished wooden lockers which usually incorporated some ingenious design features reflecting his long experience of sailing.

A Lancashire man through and through, somehow he brought the spirit of the sea into the heart of the Liverpool suburb of Eshe Road North where he and his doctor wife Elspeth lived and reared their three sons Angus, William and Michael in an eccentric household in which there always seemed to be a boat at some stage of construction filling the front garden.

While his increasing eminence in Liverpool's medical establishment meant that he had links to both the Royal Dee and Royal Mersey Yacht Clubs, his sailing heart on Merseyside was definitely with the homely Tranmere Sailing Club. He'd been one of the team of volunteers which built TSC's new clubhouse in the early 1960s, and there, after a day of working at boats whose craning-out he had gaffered in his own easy-going way at Tower Quay in Birkenhead, he could while the evening away in contented and productive chat about solving boat maintenance and management problems.

Invariably, he'd be filling the air with strong aromas from his favourite pipe which, when sailing, he made seaworthy in rough weather by having the tobacco so firmly tamped in place that he could safely invert the bowl when rain or spray threatened to extinguish the blessed glow.

It was during the working years in Liverpool that he had the greatest variety in his boats. His sailing was largely self-taught, having learned through cruising a small boat in short hops along the challenging North Wales and Anglesey coasts. Then as the family grew, he acquired the Albert Strange-designed 29ft yawl Emerald, built in North Wales in 1938. But he was also branching out into participation in offshore racing, and became a member of the RORC, taking part in an early Middle Sea Race aboard the innovative 40ft S & S sloop Deb, owned at that time by Solly Parker of North Wales. Subsequently she was owned by David Hague and re-named Dai Mouse III to be frequently raced in ISORA events, and these days she's famous as Sunstone, cruised worldwide by Tom and Vicky Jackson.

Some of the ISORA fleet during the period when Dickie Richardson chaired the organization during the 1970s. Included in this group sharing Howth Harbour with the fishing fleet in pre-marina days are Philip Watson & Kieran Jameson's J/24 Pathfinder II (third left), the famous S&S 40 Dai Mouse III which is now better known as Sunstone (centre left), and the McGruer 17-ton yawl Frenesi (centre right). Photo: W M Nixon

The Richardson's first boat with offshore racing ambitions was the Hustler 30 Skulmartin in 1971, which they finished from a bare hull. They were pioneers in the use of sails made by John McWilliam, who in those days operated under the Tasker label. Photo: W M Nixon

Dickie was to make his own first foray into being an offshore racing owner with the Hustler 30 Skulmartin, which he finished himself from a bare hull. That was his boat when ISORA was founded in 1971, but in late 1973 he bought the almost-new Billy Brown-designed Half Tonner Garland of Howth, which had won her class in the newly-inaugurated ISORA Captain's Cup Week in Holyhead, an event which in time developed into ISORA Week.

Dickie up-graded his new boat with a fractional rig, re-named her Blackwater in line with his policy of having boats named after navigation markers such as lightships in the Irish Sea, and took her in 1974 to the Half Ton Worlds in La Rochelle with a youthful Harold Cudmore as helmsman. In a large fleet they finished eight overall, but it was clear that new designs from Ron Holland and Doug Peterson were the future of offshore racing success. So Dickie and his teenaged sons acquired the bare hull of a Holland-designed Golden Shamrock from the builders in Cork, and finished her to become the Half Tonner Harry Furlong, named after a rock on the north coast of Anglesey.

Their former shipmate Harold Cudmore meanwhile was putting together his own Holland-designed Shamrock campaign with the intensely competitive Silver Shamrock, which duly won the Half Ton Worlds in Trieste in 1976, while back in the Irish Sea the hugely popular ISORA programme was to see Shamrocks in all their variations, Harry Furlong among them, featuring at the front end of the fleet.

Until ISORA got itself up and running in 1971, all sorts of organisations were involved with distance racing in the Irish Sea. This is a programme issued by the Irish Cruising Club for the 1963 season.

Until Dickie Richardson with others like Hal Sisk from Dun Laoghaire launched the idea of an Irish Sea Offshore Racing Association after the end-of-season Pwllheli-Howth race in 1971, the offshore programme around the area had been fragmented, and date clashes were almost inevitable. Many organisations – some of them very informal - were involved, with the Irish Cruising Club and the Royal Alfred YC active on the Irish side, while in the north the Clyde Cruising Club interacted with the Belfast Lough clubs to run races across the North Channel. Over on the Welsh and English side, the Mersey & North Wales Joint Offshore Committee had developed into the Northwest Offshore Racing Association, and it was this body – with rapidly increasing numbers, particularly from the Irish side – which became ISORA in 1971 with its remit extending to include when possible events in the North Channel, and the annual Round Isle of Man Race, while also including an annual RORC event which might take the fleet to Cork.

What resulted was something which nowadays would be seen as an impossibly crowded and time-consuming programme. But it has to be remembered that times were very different during the 1970s. The Troubles were at their height, and links of friendship across the Irish Sea in a period of active terrorism could be difficult by any means other than a sailing boat. Thus the successful functioning of ISORA was definitely a power for the good, and at its height it had a remarkable fleet of 107 boats from all round the Irish Sea and adjacent areas taking part in its annual season-long championship. Its comprehensive programme, which guaranteed at least seven long weekends of sailing and racing afloat interspersed with friendship ashore in the ports visited, was exactly what people needed in those stressful times.

Inevitably, the challenges of running such an extraordinary and wide-ranging organization on an entirely voluntary basis were enormous, particularly as Dickie Richardson as chairman knew he had to do it with a minimum of fuss. This involved heroic restraint in diplomacy on his part, as normally he wasn't one to suffer fools gladly. Yet with the success of his efforts and those of his committee, for a while the clout of ISORA was such that they were able to hold impressive ISORA Weeks in Cork, Dublin Bay, Cardigan Bay off Abersoch and Pwllheli and even on the Clyde, thanks to their ability to bring a large fleet with them.

But it was all being done in a changing situation. An improved road network in England may have meant that owners from the big inland cities of the north could now reach their boats in Wales more easily, but for some of them an hour or two of extra travel meant they could access boats to race with the RORC fleet from the Solent, which provided modern facilities that far out-stripped the excessively tidal and very primitive harbours of North Wales, and the still-undeveloped ports on the Irish coast.

Then too, because the biennial ISORA Week mopped up all available fleets to one venue, other places felt left out and became more active in promoting their own regattas such as the Scottish Series on Loch Fyne. This clashed directly with the Irish Sea's Round the Isle of Man Race, and it was the latter which faded.

Perhaps most importantly of all, however, social attitudes were changing. The rough and ready approach of it being acceptable for dedicated offshore racing enthusiasts to disappear off for a very long weekend at least seven times a summer, often in order to race an event of barely a hundred miles, just didn't do in the modern family-oriented world.

This led to the introduction by individual clubs of longer events which featured a more clearly defined timescale, with the first biennial Round Ireland Race from Wicklow in 1980, while the National YC's Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race – also biennial -arrived in 1993.

By that time the annual ISORA programme had been pared down to a more family-friendly scale, but sailing patterns had changed so much, with sunshine holidays afloat in warmer climes rising rapidly in popularity, that just a few years ago there actually was a move for the formal winding-up of ISORA. But happily that was averted, and the basics of the organization are still in being to provide manageable passage races for those who want them, and numbers are now modestly increasing.

Meanwhile for Dickie and Elspeth Richardson and their boys, in the late 1970s the focus of family life had increasingly moved towards their second home in Holyhead, while the pressure on the accelerator for offshore racing achievement was eased early in 1977 with the acquisition of the bare hull of an elegant Ohlson 38 which duly filled the front garden at Eshe Road North in Liverpool.

The new Ohlson 38 Matthew Walker off Holyhead SC (where Dickie Richardson had been Commodore) in 1977. Less than six months earlier, she'd been a bare shell in the Richardson's front garden in Liverpool. Photo: W M Nixon

Ready and willing. Despite the rapidity of her completion, Matthew Walker in full commission to cruise to southwest Ireland within six months of the Richardson family taking delivery of the bare hull. Photo: W M Nixon

Classic Richardson work. In the summer of 1977, the stemhead fitting on Matthew Walker, which Dickie Richardson fabricated himself, still needed a bit of cosmetic work. But it did what was needed for the first cruise. Photo: W M Nixon

There was a longterm plan to re-emphasise their interest in cruising, but being the Richardsons, once the job was there to be done, it had to go ahead at great speed, for the hull had been delivered late. The new boat – called Matthew Walker – was put afloat in time for a summer cruise to southwest Ireland in the summer of 1977. Though she was still fairy basically finished in some areas, that could be sorted in time. But meanwhile she was certainly ready for sea and Dickie – after a final rush of work on the boat which saw him put in a seven day non-stop work programme – was sent below by his family to sleep as they cleared Holyhead Harbour. He woke up 48 hours later off the coast of West Cork.

In his work as a medical consultant, he was also always prepared to go the extra mile to achieve results, and in his Liverpool days he'd been on the Project Management Committee getting the huge new hospital into commission. He put in so much of his own time on this that when the massive facility finally opened, his sailing friends assumed that he'd be rewarded in some way in the British Honours List. But the word from within was that, in the quest to get the hospital up and running, he'd been so blunt abut the inadequacies of official management that he'd offended far too many NHS sensibilities to have any chance of receiving that well-earned gong.

On retirement Dickie and Elspeth moved to Porth y Fellyn in the almost rural western corner of Holyhead Harbour where they'd converted a former Methodist Chapel into a hospitable home for sailors in which they particularly valued their proximity to Holyhead Sailing Club, where he had served as Commodore, and frequently did duty as a Race Officer while being much involved with training and junior sailing, particularly through a thriving Optimist class.

Another project which suited his talents was done in concert with his longtime sailing friend Alan Stead, another sea-minded Liverpool anaesthetist who had also retired to the Holyhead area. They managed to secure a lease on some space on the inner part of Holyhead breakwater, got themselves an old crane, and offered DIY lay-up facilities to local boats in much the same style as Tower Quay in Birkenhead in the old days.

A man enjoying his new boat. Dickie Richardson finally relaxes aboard Matthew Walker after getting her completed and ready for sea in record time. On the helm is his old friend and fellow Tranmere SC stalwart Bert Whitehead, who was Honorary Treasurer of ISORA in the challenging early days. Photo: W M Nixon

Senior sailor. A recent photo of the late Dickie Richardson. Photo: Holyhead SC

In his own sailing, Dickie threw himself into cruising the Ohlson 38 Matthew Walker with the same enthusiasm he'd devoted to offshore racing, and the Rias of Northwest Spain and the islands of the Outer Hebrides became favourite destinations. As for his talented sons, in their late teens and early twenties Angus and William did a spot of yacht design and building, the tiny and very attractive wishbone ketch Poacher being one of their products. But then William, like his younger brother Michael, went on to qualify as an advanced oil drilling engineer, and when the boys were home on leave from distant oilfields, Dickie particularly enjoyed discussion of the specialist techniques they had to use in a technically demanding profession.

Elspeth died in Holyhead on Christmas Day 2010, aged 86, and sadly for Dickie, he was also pre-deceased by his eldest son Angus in 2011. He himself soldiered on until January 2015. He would have much enjoyed his own funeral – it was a classic of its type. And should anyone suggests that the 1970s were a dull decade, rest assured they were no such thing when Dickie Richardson was around and firing on all cylinders, gruffly full of ideas and schemes and bubbling with his own quiet can-do enthusiasm. It was always a lively time in the Richardson orbit.

WMN