Day two of the Optimist Leinster championship at Howth Yacht Club dawned with a lot less wind than the previous one, posing difficulties for sailors and race officers alike.

Launching was slightly delayed as the optimistic sailors waited for the wind to fill in.

The feather weights in the fleet cheered silently whereas the heavy weather sailors hoped that windguru had got it wrong and that perchance 20 knots was on the way.

Race 4 of the championship was completed in 7 knots of breeze and in the senior fleet Cathal O'Regan RCYC took a bullet followed by Jack Fahy Rsgyc. In the juniors Royal Cork took line honours with Michael Crosbie taking first followed by Harry Twomey. After this the longed for discard kicked and places reshuffled.

Race five of the championship was started for the junior fleet in 5 knots of breeze but had to be abandoned after a significant wind shift which would have resulted in an unfair race.

Once again the junior fleet started but after the wind died away the PRO made the wise decision to once again abandon as too much was at stake to risk having a floating race.

Ribs were sent out in all directions in search of the elusive wind which appeared to be playing hide and seek. Finally wind filled in and having moved the course in the direction of Portmarnock one race was completed for both senior and junior fleets. The 3pm deadline for starting a race was fast approaching and having all had a long day on the water and sailed fairly PRO Richard Kissane made the wise decision to send the fleet home.

Local sailor and overnight leader Dylan O'Grady had to concede to Cathal O'Regan for Leinster Championship honors as the cork sailor won out on count back. In the Junior Fleet Aoife Byrne was the outright winner followed by the National Yacht Clubs Conor Gorman who had improved tremendously on his position from yesterday.

The Regatta fleet once again had a great days sailing and PRO Des Flood managed to get one race in which was won by HYC's Sarah Evan's. The overall winner of the regatta fleets 4 races was John Twomey.

The top 5 winners in the Senior and Junior Fleets are listed below.

Senior Fleet

1 Cathal O'Regan Royal Cork Yacht Club
2 Dylan O'Grady Howth Yacht Club
3 Kate Darcy Royal Cork Yacht Club
4 Tom Higgins Royal St. George Yacht Club
5. Charlie Cullen National Yacht Club

Junior Fleet

1 Aoife Byrne Royal Cork Yacht Club
2 Conor Gorman. National Yacht Club
3 Rory O'Sullivan. Royal Cork Yacht Club
4 Harry Twomey Royal Cork Yacht Club
5 Leah Rickard National Yacht Club

Congratulations to the event management and hospitality teams in HYC chaired by ISA board member Robert Dix for hosting a fantastic event.

This concluded the IODAI event roundup for the season. Prizes were awarded first to the. Regatta Fleet sailors and then later the main prize giving concluded at 5 pm.
Congratulations to all the sailors who have learnt so much over the season see you all next year!

Howth Yacht Club hosts the final day of the Leinster Optimist Championships this morning with in excess of 150 entries. Saturday dawned bright and if not sunny, exceedingly pleasant. The wind was from the north approx 12 knots and the there was definitely an autumnal nip in the air.

Richard Kissane as PRO started the proceeding at 11 am with a sailors briefing and the sailors launched shortly afterwards. It was a beat out to the course beside Irelands eye but luckily the tide had turned and helped the sailors on their way. After the sailors had launched refreshments and home made goodies were served to parents with donations going to Crumlin Children's Hospital.

3 races were completed on the main fleet course with the wind dropping over the course of the day to approx 6 knots and times and veering slightly easterly. HYC's own Dylan O'Grady had a stormer of a day with a 1st, 2nd and third but he can't rest on his laurels just yet as Kate Darcy from RCYC is hot on his heels a mere one point behind followed slightly further back on 12pts by Tom Higgans.

Over in the Junior Fleet (aged 12 and under) Aoife Byrne from RCYC is leading the charge winning the first two races and taking a 4 th in the 3 rd she is followed by the home clubs Eve McMahon and her own team mate Rory O'Sullivan.

Regatta fleet sailors sailed in the sheltered waters behind Aqua restaurant under the watchful eye of lead coachs Mark Condy and Emma Davis. They had a fantastic days sailing as they practised the skills learnt over the season. 3 short races were also completed for these younger sailors with Thomas O'Neill, Juilette Garett and John Toomey each taking a race win.

HYC's hospitality didn't disappoint and the sailors were served delicious spaghetti bolognese with garlic bread followed by ice cream in the main dining room of the club.

Racing continues today and with lighter winds forecast it's still all to play for...

#matchracing – Howth's Yacht Club's Diana Kissane faces strong opposition in Denmark at the Women's Match Racing World Championship and yesterday strong gusts and a long day conspired to really test the sole Irish entry who sustained six losses, the same as Finnish and Dutch entries

Local hope Lotte Meldgaard and French Anne-Claire Le Berre are the only undefeated skippers after the opening day of the 2015 ISAF Women's Match Racing World Championship, the first event on the 2015 Women's International Match Racing Series (WIM Series), in Middelfart, Denmark. Both scored 8 - 0 on a long and very action-packed Wednesday:

"Even with one reef in the main and a smaller jib replacing the genoa, the Match 28's we're racing here are quite overpowered. We lost control a couple of times, but excellent crew work got us back on track again" Meldgaard comments.

The opening day offered truly challenging conditions for the competitors as well as for the race management. Gusts approaching 30 knots swept down the course, leaving broaching boats, freely flying kites and wet and exhausted sailors behind.

The racing in Middelfart continues with the round-robin Thursday and Friday, while the weekend will see the exciting knock-out rounds to crown the World Champions.

Standings after one day of round-robin in the 2015 ISAF Women's Match Racing World Championship in Middelfart, Denmark, the first event on the 2015 WIM Series (skipper, country, wins - losses):

1. Lotte Meldgaard, DEN, 8 - 0
1. Anne-Claire Le Berre, FRA, 8 - 0
3. Anna Östling, SWE, 7 - 1
4. Camilla Ulrikeholm, DEN, 5 - 1
4. Caroline Sylvan, SWE, 5 - 1
6. Stephanie Roble, USA, 4 - 2
6. Klaartje Zuiderbaan, NED, 4 - 2
8. Pauline Courtois, FRA, 5 - 3
8. Katie Spithill, AUS, 5 - 3
10. Milly Bennett, AUS, 3 - 5
11. Louise Christensen, DEN, 2 - 6
12. Johanna Larsson, SWE, 0 - 6
12. Nina Ramm-Schmidt, FIN, 0 - 6
12. Rikst Dijkstra, NED, 0 - 6
12. Diana Kissane, IRL, 0 - 6
16. Sanna Hager, SWE, 0 - 8

#matchrace – Howth Yacht Club's Diane Kissane and her crew are competing at this week's ISAF Women's Match Racing World Championship in Denmark, as Afloat previously reported back in May. Warm and sunny conditions with a strong southerly breeze today welcomed the 81 sailors participating in the 2015 ISAF Women's Match Racing World Championship, the first event out of four on the 2015 Women's International Match Racing Series (WIM Series), to Middelfart, Denmark. The rain waited politely until the last practise session in Match Racing Denmark's fleet of Match 28 boats was over:

"It takes a while to learn a new boat, but we've also had some practise on our home waters and feel quite confident going into this event," says World # 1 and defending World Champion Anna Ostling.

During Tuesday's practise session in Middelfart the Swedish crew of Team Anna had a few great fights against last year's World Championship bronze medallist and WIM Series # 4, American Stephanie Roble of Epic Racing:

"It's a shifty and tricky venue and we were happy to be controlling the Swedes a lot of the time. I like the boats a lot, they spin quickly and it's good to be five on board," Roble comments.

By Sunday we'll not only know which of the top ranked sailors has captured the World Championship title, but also who gained points on this first event out of four on the 2015 WIM Series. The first two years of the WIM Series saw 39 professional teams from 19 countries competing for gold and glory.

2015 ISAF Women's Match Racing World Championship teams (skipper, country, ISAF World Ranking):

Anna Ostling, SWE, 1
Camilla Ulrikkeholm, DEN, 2
Stephanie Roble, USA, 3
Anne-Claire Le Berre, FRA, 4
Lotte Meldgaard, DEN, 5
Caroline Sylvan, SWE, 6
Klaartje Zuiderbaan, NED, 7
Pauline Courtois, FRA, 8
Milly Bennett, AUS, 9
Johanna Larsson, SWE, 13
Nina Ramm-Schmidt, FIN, 14
Katie Spithill, AUS, 16
Sanna Hager, SWE, 17
Rikst Dijkstra, NED, 18
Diana Kissane, IRL, 60
Louise Christensen, DEN, 6

#sb20worlds – Shane Murphy, Daragh Sheridan and John Phelan of Howth Yacht Club lead Irish hopes at the SB20 Worlds in Italy. The Dublin trio are 20th in a fleet of 98 after six races sailed and might well have been higher only for a black flag scored in the last race this afternoon. Full results HERE.

Three races completed on Day 2 with the 98-boat fleet now divided into 'gold' and 'silver' fleets, determining who can challenge for the title. But there's nothing to split the leaders, with two teams tied on points after six races.

Torbole provided more classic conditions at Lake Garda for the second day of the 2015 SB20 World Championships, with the famous south to south-westerly afternoon 'Ora' breeze allowing six more races to be held, three each for the two qualifying fleets. The qualifying series is now over and one discard comes into play. Eight more races are scheduled – with just one discard allowed from the final races: there is no room for error over the next three days.

The large international entry is now split into Gold and Silver fleets, with the Gold fleet leaders vying for the title of 2015 World Champion. Competition couldn't be tighter, with the lead two boats each tied on 12 points apiece. Roger Hudson's South African 'Race Ahead – Spirit of Cape Town' had a super-consistent day, scoring a fourth and two seconds, while the French youth team 'Give me 5' from the FFV opened their day with a win, and went on to score another second and fourth.

Robin Follin of 'Give me 5' commented after racing: "So far in the regatta we've wanted to sail 'safe' so as to make it into the Gold fleet. Now we know our boat is fast, so tomorrow we should take more risks!"

Early leaders Ian Ainslie and Italian crew have dropped to third on 17 points after counting a sixth and fifth from today's races. There is little to split the fourth placed Russian team of Alexey Murashkin, who took two seconds today to end on 23 points, and the highly-fancied Ukrainian entry skippered by Rodion Luka, who is lying in fifth on 24 points. Luka scored two race wins today, but also finished in 19th place in the day's opener, which forces his 'Sky Line' team to count an earlier 12th place on their scoreline.

The first British boat is Joe Llewellyn in sixth place with 'Forelle Estates', who picked up his first race win of the championships today. He is tied on points with seventh-placed Russian entry Vladimir Prosikhin on 'Nika'. The first of a strong Australian entry is Glenn Bourke and Robert Jeffreys, currently in ninth place.

SB20 World Council Class President Ed Russo, who is racing on 'Black Magic' in eighth place, said: "It is extremely tough out there. The competition is incredibly tight and it's great to see the youth teams coming to the fore. We are looking forward to the final series – where it's going to get even tougher for sure!"

For some teams the no-hold-barred nature of the championship led to disappointment ashore, with Pieter Heyn and Rob Gullan's 'F5 Synthesis Team Gul' (GBR) picking up two OCS scores on today's competitive startlines. The Black Flag also caught a couple of boats out in the final race of the day. There was more disappointment still for Richard McAdam and team on 'Here Comes Bod' (GBR) scoring three DNFs today, after failing to sail with the correct fleet.

Those teams now in the Silver fleet aren't out of contention for a prize haul, as class builder and supplier Sportsboat World will be sponsoring the Silver fleet with separate bounty up for grabs, and from tomorrow the leaders in that division will be flying the famous bright pink spinnaker (Tour de France yellow jersey-style).

SportsboatWorld are also sponsoring a 'Nations Cup' prize for the best aggregate score for the top three teams from each nation overall. The main contenders expected to compete for this include France, Italy, Russia, Ukraine, UK, Australia and Ireland. Inevitably, with UK and Australia as the two leading teams currently some 'Ashes style' rivalry is developing...

#squib – A three-way tie at the top of the 2015 Squib Nationals leaderboard was settled in favour of David Jones and Mark Hogan from South Caernarvonshire Yacht Club writes Emmet Dalton. Saturday's final race was led from start to finish by the duo. That race saw the second overall going to their clubmates Nigel Harris and John Stephenson. The champagne-splashed podium was completed by Malcolm Hutchings and Andy Ramsey from Royal Corinthian Yacht Club.

On the final day, Principal Race Officer, David Lovegrove, set the fleet off under the U-Flag penalty system after some misbehaving during the first attempt. The 20kt southeasterly breeze in glorious Howth sunshine, with five 1,700m windward legs, made sure that the crews got their bang for buck. Without exception, "Squib Arse" was suffered by hard-hiking sailors! The visiting sailors would later express their gratitude to David for his skill and engagement with a fleet that enjoyed his communicative banter on the VHF all during the week.

The event was made all the more epic by the championship dinner. Even the traditional Howth Seventeen Footer Class would have been impressed by the array of precious metals and rare timbers presented. Top Irish boat was "Aficionado" (RNIYC), hard driven by John Driscoll and David Cagney to 9th place. The leading HYC Squib was the super-slippery "Kerfuffle" in the hands of Emmet Dalton and Neal Merry which ended the week in 22nd place.

Woe betide anyone who thinks that grey (or no) hair indicates an easy crew to pass. Such was the quality of the fleet that one previous champion noted that he would have been happy to end up in the top ten at the end of the week!

Howth looked fabulous in a week of sun and the competitors enjoyed a warm welcome from the members and fabulous food and service. So good was the championship dinner that the Squib Association Chairman announced that it was the best meal at any Squib Championships in 40 years! That opinion was roundly applauded by the 130 guests.

Thanks was also expressed to the Race Office team, Orla Sweeney, Dara and Lara Jameson, Emma Inglis and Alice Kissane and to the ever-watchful Fergus O'Kelly and his group of friendly tape-wielding equipment inspectors for ensuring that each boat complied with the rules.

Launching, berthing and retrieval of the boats was coordinated like a North Korean political rally by Pat McCaughey. Slick!

Finally, the top speed of the week was shared by "Alchemy" from Royal Yorkshire Yacht Club and Howth's "Kerfuffle" both hitting 10.2kts during Monday's screaming reaches. 

Additional reporting Vincent Delany

SQUIB NATIONALS 2015- day 6- Final Day.

The level and depth of talent in the 49 boat National Squib fleet was seen in today's race off Ireland's Eye at Howth. The wind was between 15 and 20 knots from the south-east. The outcome of the Squib Championship 2015 was yet to be decided. The three leading contenders being Malcolm Hutchings and Andy Ramsay from R.C.Y.C. in 'Lady Penelope', on 12 points, Nigel Harris and John Stephenson. S.C.Y.C., in 'Banshee', on 14 points, and David Jones and Mark Hogan, from S.C.Y.C. in 'Ric O'Shea', on 20 points. Which of these talented sailors had the ability to pull the championship out of the bag?
Unusually, the scoring system used allowed for two discards in eight race series. Would the winner be an older boat such as 'Banshee', no.65, or 'Ric O'Shea', no.136, or would it be the newer boat, 'Lady Penelope', no. 819? There was another significant variable in the mix, would the winner use Batt Sails or Hyde Sails? 'Ric O'Shea' is the only one of the three to use a complete wardrobe of Batt Sails the others only use Hyde Sails.
The course selected by race officer Dick Lovegrove was Course Number Two, a windward-leeward race of with five beats of 1.7km. each. The sea conditions were a little 'lumpy', and the tide was due to change mid-race.
On the start line the tide was flowing against the Squibs, which enabled the fleet to start on their first attempt, without recourse to the 'U' flag, which had been used for most of the races earlier in the week. The race officer did not use the dreaded 'black flag' at any race this week.
On the first beat against the tide it was 'Ric O'Shea' which appeared to get the bit between their teeth. The wind was steady in strength and direction, so it was a boatspeed race. At the first windward mark 'Ric-O-Shea' led from Gerard Dyson and Tony Saltonstall in 'Alchemy'. The locally Howth based 'Too Dee' sailed by Dave and Simon Sheahan rounded the mark within the top six boats. 'Banshee' rounded in about eighth place and 'Lady Penelope' about five places behind. These two had a lot of work to do, it was going to be a long nine mile race. On each round 'Ric O'Shea' sailed to her pre-determined tactical plan, and increased her lead until she was more than 100m. ahead of the bunch of Squibs following. 'Crossfire' sailed by Dave Best and Pete Richards worked their way into second place.
At the last leeward gate marks it appeared that 'Lady Penelope' had done enough to take her place on the podium and lift the championship trophy. But there was still one more beat to be completed, and the tide had turned. 'Lady Penelope' and 'Banshee' rounded different leeward gate marks, and by the end of the beat at the finish line, 'Banshee' had overhauled her opponent. As they passed the finish line the order was:
1st. 'Ric O'Shea', 136, David Jones and Mark Hogan, S.C.Y.C.
2nd. 'Crossfire' 797, Dave Best and Pete Richards, S.C.Y.C.
3rd. 'Alchemy', 800, Gerard Dyson and Tony Saltonstall, R.Y.Y.C.
4th.'Helmut Shoing II', Nigel and Jack Grogan, R.C.Y.C.
5th. 'White Magic', David Wines and Keith Davies, W.H.S.C.
6th. 'Moonstone', Malcolm Blackburn and David Shiel, S.C.Y.C.
7th. 'Pani-Munta', Mike Probert and Richard Delves, R.C.Y.C.
8th. 'Banshee', Nigel Harris and John Stephenson. S.C.Y.C.
9th. 'Lady Penelope', Malcolm Hutchings and Andy Ramsay. R.C.Y.C.,

So, who had won the championship?
Remarkably after eight races and two discards, 'Ric O'Shea', 'Banshee', and 'Lady Penelope' were all on equal points. Each had 21 points after discards.
'Ric O'Shea' discarded a 15th. and 21st. place. 'Lady Penelope' discarded 25th. and 26th. places. 'Banshee' discarded an 8th. and 29th. These figures are not relevant under the current scoring system, where a draw is resolved by the highest place boat in the last race which, as noted above, was won by 'Ric O'Shea.

RESULTS OF THE NATIONAL SQUIB CHAMPIONSHIP 2015.

1st. 1st. 'Ric O'Shea', 136, David Jones and Mark Hogan, S.C.Y.C.
2nd. 'Banshee', 65, Nigel Harris and John Stephenson. S.C.Y.C.
3rd. 'Lady Penelope', 819, Malcolm Hutchings and Andy Ramsay. R.C.Y.C.,

The top Irish Squib is 'Aficionado', 78, John Driscoll and David Cagney in 9th place.

Of the top ten places overall, 4 were from South Caernarvonshire Y.C., 4 were from Royal Corinthian Y.C., one from Royal North of Ireland Y.C., and one from Royal Yorkshire Yacht Club, which indicates that strong fleets at the local clubs are significant to developing the boatspeed necessary to win championship races under all conditions.

The top lady helmsman is Megan Pascoe with crew Hannah Stodel in 'Squibble' from Weymouth who finished in 31st. place. Their performance in this fleet is commendable. The also won the trophy for the top 'ParaSquibbers'. They were thrilled by the friendly and welcoming atmosphere which exists in the Squib fleet. They are newcomers in this fleet, and are more accustomed to the 2.4m. class, and Sonar parolympic circuits.

#squib – Yesterday the Squib fleet in Howth, north of Dublin, enjoyed conditions similar to those on Sunday last, with an offshore south-westerly wind blowing from Portmarnock beach at about 4 knots. Race officer David Lovegrove decided to postpone racing until the wind grew in strength and the direction stabilized. When the wind increased to about 6 knots, the race course was laid with windward-leeward Course 4, with a beat length of about 1.5 km. The cumulus clouds hung over the land, while over the sea there was a blue sky. How would the Squibs interpret this information?

The Squib fleet, as usual, rushed the start line, and the were recalled. On the second attempt the fleet started cleanly. Ian Peter Keely in 'Squibbo' from Waveney and Oulton Broad Yacht Club seemed to have great speed in the conditions, and quickly broke clear of the leading line of boats. He is the only boat in the fleet which uses Londen and Gray sails which appear to be tuned to flattish water. Many of the Squib fleet headed left, because the forecast had suggested that the wind would swing towards the south. However the wind flicked back and forth by up to fifteen degrees. Approching the windward mark, David Lloyd and Mark Stones in 'Incendio' appeared to hold the lead, but they were headed, and the lead boat was your race correspondent in 'Femme Fatale' from the Royal St. George Yacht Club, Dun Laoghaire. However 'Femme Fatale's' lead was short lived as 'Incendio' led around the leeward mark from Cian and Finbarr O'Regan in 'Fagan'. On the second beat 'Femme Fatale' played the shifts like a boat more used to lake sailing. At the windward mark 'Femme Fatale' had a 2 boatlength lead from 'Incendio'. On the run 'Femme Fatale' stayed low, and benefited from a small windshift fifteen boat-lengths from the leeward mark, at which point the races was shortened, requiring competitors to beam reach to the finish line.
The finishing places were:
1st. 24, 'Femme Fatale' Vincent Delany and Joe O'Byrne, R.St.G.Y.C.
2nd. 160, 'Incendio', David Lloyd and Mark Stones, D. Portsmouth Y.C.
3rd. 65, 'Banshee', Nigel Harris and John Stephenson, S.C.Y.C.

Then the wind did as promised, and swung to the south east. The race course was moved accordingly. Again, it took two attempts for the 49 boats of Squib fleet to achieve a clean start in the 14 knot breeze. The tide flowing from the north was beginning to have an impact on the racing. There was a great battle at the front of the fleet, where David Jones and Mark Hogan in 'Ric-O-Shea' held a short lead from Malcolm Hutchings and Andy Ramsey in 'Lady Penelope'. These two gybed back and forth on the offwind leg at which stage the wind had dropped to about 8 knots. At the first leeward gate there was an interesting choice. Take the port mark and be swept around the mark or take the starboard mark where you were nosing the tide. Behind the first four boats a large numbers of Squibs reached the leeward gate at the same time. Some were lucky to round the leeward mark quickly and to get into clear air. On the second beat there was a sharp chop on starboard tack which slowed the progress of the Squibs. It was a long race with1.7 km. legs. After the first three laps the race seemed to be establishing a pattern, head left, and tack when you were fifteen boat lengths short of the layline for the windward mark. On the final lap the pattern changed, and it paid to go right. Many place changes occurred due to competitors failing to respond to the windshift. At the finish the places were:
1st. 'Ric-O-Shea', 136, David Jones and Mark Hogan, S.C.Y.C.
2nd. 'Lady Penelope', 819, Malcolm Hutchings and Andy Ramsey R.C.Y.C.
3rd. 65, 'Banshee', Nigel Harris and John Stephenson, S.C.Y.C.

The second discard has been applied to the results. The scoreboard has not changed much since yesterday and now looks like this:

1st. 'Lady Penelope', 819, Malcolm Hutchings and Andy Ramsay. R.C.Y.C., 2,3,3,(26),2,(25), 2.
2nd. 'Banshee', 65, Nigel Harris and John Stephenson. S.C.Y.C., 6,1,7, (29),1,3,3.
3rd. Ric-O-Shea', 136, David Jones and Mark Hogan, S.C.Y.C., 1,2,2,(21), (15), 14, 1.

It can be seen from above that despite the consistency of the counting results, each of the competitors has had some lowly placings, which they have been able to discard.

The leading Irish boat is 'Aficionado', 78, John Driscoll and David Cagney have dropped one place to 7th. place, with Cian and Finbarr O'Regan's 'Fagin' in 11th place.

The leading lady helmsman is Megan Pascoe with crew Hannah Stodel in 'Squibble' who lie in 32nd. place in the 49 boat fleet.

#squib – Visiting UK father and son crew Nigel and Jack Grogan of the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club at Burnham–on–Crouch in Essex made a clean sweep of the Irish National Squib Championships at Howth Yacht Club today. The pair took three race wins with a final score of eight nett points and did not have to sail the last race of the series.

Local crew Fergus O'Kelly and Jonathan Wormald were second on 22 points in the  26-boat fleet.

Recent Northern Ireland Champions John Driscoll and David Cagney got off to a poor start counting two disqualifications in the six race, one discard series but reocovered well – to also count three race wins – to finish sixth overall.

Third was 2012 Irish champion Aidan O'Conell and Ross Nolan.

Was the three day Squib Championships held in Howth Yacht Club on 19-21 June just like any other regional championships with the usual suspects at the top? The answer is no. Unlike other Irish events, we had two very welcome visitors from the UK.

They were the two class sailmakers, Dick Batt and Pamela Phelan in Squib, and Nigel and Jack Grogan in Helmut Shoing II. Did they take first and second places? No they didn't.

Race one was held on Friday evening on the course north of Howth harbour where the Nationals are due to be sailed in a weeks time. Helmut Shoing showed great speed in a 10 knot breeze and ran away with the race, winning by a few minutes. Second place went to David Eccles and Phil Hutchinson in Innisallagh from the Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club, with third place going to Sam Lyness and John Reynolds in The Worm from the same club. The pattern appeared to be set. The UK teams to take the lead followed by the Northern teams. In this windward-leeward race there was a strong ebb tide and important tactical decisions to be taken on which leeward mark to round. In fact it paid to ignore the tide and to head left on the beat, where the wind pressure was greater. Three of the fastest boats in the fleet, Fagin, Aficianado and Arctic Fox which were all previous championship winners, were premature starters. This was to be significant in the overall championship results.

On Sunday there were three races, in the same westerly wind conditions. Race two was on the windward leeward course with Helmut ShoingII taking the gun from SB20 sailor Aidan O'Connell standing in for the injured Gordon Patterson with Ross Nolan in Quickstep III from R.N.I.Y.C. taking second place, and Fergus O'Kelly and Jonathan Wormaid in the mid-numbered boat Selik from the host club. Would it be possible for a mid-numbered Squib to produce consistent championship winning results?

Race three was also held in a shifty wind which flicked back and forth by up to 20 degrees. The early leaders Vincent Delany and Joe O'Byrne in Femme Fatale from the Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club and Royal St. George Yacht Club were unable to resist the pressure from astern and particularly from John Driscoll and David Cagney in Afficianado on the triangular course, so at the finish it was Afficianado, Femme Fatale and Helmut ShoingII.
Race four was a windward leeward race in the shifty wind, and again saw the cool crew in Afficianado, taking the gun from Helmut Schoing and Inishallah.
Overnight it was clear that it was going to be a high scoring championship with Helmut ShoingII holding a good lead from Femme Fatale and Selik. Every competitors required to improve his consistency. Who could achieve it?

On Sunday the forecast was for eighteen knots of wind from the same direction as the previous day which would certainly present a challenge to all the crews. The shorter windward leeward race was selected by OOD Harry Gallagher and his team in their new flagship Starship Wonderprise.
Helmut Schoing showed great boat handling skill by working through the fleet from behind to take a win from Selik and Quickstep III. The eighteen knot wind never arrived, but there were heavy gusts and also some confusing light patches in the shifty offshore wind blowing from Portmarnock which demanded quick gear changing from the crews. The flood tide remained strong.

By the last race it was clear that Helmut Shoing II with three wins, a second and a third place had won the championship. They headed ashore leaving the last race to the Irish to fight out the final race between themselves. It was a longer windward-leeward race in which the wind had shifted about fifteen degrees to the north. In the early stages Afficianado and Fagin were making up for their misdeamour in the first race. They seemed to be wired together in the lead with and invisible thread. Then on the third beat Inisallagh found a windshift by heading south, and she moved to the lead. Until the finish line these three boats and QuickstepIII fought to win the race, and potentially win the championship. At the finish line after five long beats Aficianado won from Fagin and Inisallagh and QuickstepIII.
What had happened to Squib? She showed astounding speed on the first beat of almost every race, frequently rounding in first place, thereafter the problems arouse, with minor breakdowns showing that unless your boat is well prepared and tried and tested, you are putting yourself at a great disadvantage.

Are the Irish happy to have amateurs and professionals racing together on the same event? The answer is a resounding yes!

Which sailmakers products won?
Helmut Schoing II- All Hydes.
Selik- Hyde main and Batt Jib.
Quickstep III- Not Known.
Femme Fatale- Hyde jib and spinnaker and Batt mainsail.

Next big event for the Squibs is the British Isles Championships also to be sailed at Howth from the 26th June – 3rd July. 

Results are downloadable below 

#Laser - Annalise Murphy has a new contender in the Laser Radial class on the Irish scene as Howth Yacht Club's Aoife Hopkins rises in the rankings.

Hopkins' 81st place in the world, according to the latest ISAF rankings, now puts her second nationally behind the Olympic standout, who last week took fifth place at the ISAF World Cup in Weymouth.

Hopkins also qualified for that event, being the youngest competitor at the age of 16 – which means she has years of experience to build ahead of her to show her true potential, and achieve her dream of a medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

That's quite an achievement for a teenager who's only been sailing the Laser Radial for two years!