It is with the deepest regret that we record the death of Brendan Connor of Howth, who was Howth Yacht Club’s most senior member, having joined what was then Howth Motor Yacht Club as a Junior Member in 1947. In time he was to give long service as one of its most highly-regarded voluntary officers, working with calm and quiet efficiency as the Honorary Secretary during the sometimes turbulent years when the club was emerging from its two constituent smaller clubs, to become what was eventually the largest sailing club in Ireland, complete with its own marina complex and a thriving and successful sailing fleet.

He’d shown his maritime enthusiasm by serving as a cadet officer in the Merchant Marine. Then he went into the family business in Dublin, and as computers began to make their mark, he proved an effective pioneer in understanding them and using them to best advantage.

This stood him in good stead when he agreed to be co-ordinator of the Connor-Malcolm-Nixon trio, which produced the award-winning history of Howth Yacht Club for its Centenary in 1995, with Afloat.ie’s W M Nixon producing the words, and the tireless Ian Malcolm of the Howth 17s proving to be a very effective at sourcing the 550 photos used. Thanks to Brennie Connor’s calm yet strong leadership, the book appeared precisely on time for the actual Centenary date of Saturday, November 18th 1995.

His own choices in boat ownership reflected his natural seafaring good sense, which had started with crewing in an IDRA 14. He first came to notice as owner-skipper of the Folkboat Dysca, at a time when the Folkboat Class was a real force in the Irish Sea. As she was the first boat to have been built by the legendary Jeremy Rogers of Lymington, Dysca was one of the most elegant boats in the fleet, but at just 25ft LOA she had her comfort limitations for someone advancing into middle age, so he moved up to the eminently sensible Mark 1 Arpege Leemara.

But Brennie Connor’s sailing interests weren’t restricted to his own boats, and as an experienced cruising nan (he’d been elected to the Irish Cruising Club in 1980) he was a popular guest shipmate on other craft, many of them larger vessels based in the Mediterranean, whose best cruising areas he got to know very well.

Back home, he and his late wife Frankie were parents whose children were married in time to make him both a grandfather and great-grandfather, all of which he took calmly in his classic unflurried style. He brought a beneficial interest to everything in which he was interested, and the Howth sailing scene of today owes much to his quiet and determined sense of purpose, and his unfailing good humour.

Our heartfelt sympathies are with his extended family and his very many friends.

WMN