#rsgyc – The Royal St George Yacht Club, the country's largest yacht club, is offering adult Sail training courses for 2013. The training season is about to get under way at the Dun Laoghaire waterfront club with a variety of courses for all levels of sailors including racing courses which participate in the weekly local Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC) summer series.

'Courses run on Sunday mornings, Wednesday and Friday evenings for beginners and intermediate levels' says the club's Gina Liuzzi.

For more contact the Royal St. George sailing office on 01-2147859 or email on [email protected]

#rsgyc – Dun Laoghaire's Royal St. George Yacht Club second cycling and sailing event got off to a promising start on Saturday with the Wicklow cycle stage of the event but lack of wind today meant prizes were awarded based on the cycling event alone.

The format for the Cycle Superstore Masters Sail / Cycle Challenge was a 70 km cycle on the Saturday followed by 3 Laser races this morning.

It was a beautiful day on Saturday with sunny blue skies and little wind. 39 cyclists gathered in the RSGYC for a 13:00 start.

The route went on the Vico Road to Shankill, past Dun Laoghaire golf club to Enniskerry. Things were going well with only one cyclist thinking better of the plan  to get to Enniskerry. The team regrouped and set off up and down the hills towards the waterfall. The sun still shone, the roads were quite and there was a hint of Autumn in the air as the first leaves turned to yellow. The steep hill out of the waterfall gave people a foretaste of the pain that lay ahead of them. The steepness of the hill declined and cyclists were again able to breath and talk at the same time!

Glencree was reached, and after a short rest the cycle continued on up the steep winding road past Lough Bray. Paul Keane, Neil O'Toole, Rory Fiztpatrick lead a  break away group towards the gate to the entrance of Kippure. An altitude of 522 m had been reached at this point, but there was a further 223m of steep climbing ahead. The mast at the top of Kippure looked deceptively close in the late afternoon sun. The final ascent got steeper and steeper, pushing hard in first gear, standing up on the pedals, lungs bursting to reach the summit of 725 m. Out of a group of 39, 17 reached the summit of Kippure (Troy Hopkins, David Cahill, Ger Owens,  Rory Fitzpatrick, Colin Galavan, Chris Arrowsmith, Phillip Lee, Aubrey Shaw, David Sommerville, Paul Keane, Cian Guilfoyle, Helena Barret, Neil O'Toole, Rory Mc Stay, Michael Raymond, Theo Lyttle and Hilary Williams).

The descent was back past Glencree to Enniskerry and to RSGYC for some well earned refreshments. In all 73 km and 990 of altitude gain.

The next morning dawned a beautiful sunny but calm day! Not what was required for the sailing. The Race Officer, David Williams, waited for the wind to fill in but to no avail. The sailing was cancelled. The masters prizes were awarded on the cycling alone.

The Cycle Superstore Masters Sail / Cycle Challenge Results:

First  Paul Keane

Second David Cahill

Third Colin Galavan

#sailing/cycle – Dun Laoghaire's Royal St George Yacht Club is hosting a cycling/sailing event that features a 70km cycle plus three Laser races on Sunday. The novel races takes full advatantage of Dun Laoghaire's unique location between the mountains and the sea. Entries close tomorrow and you can download a poster for the event below as a pdf.

Sailing and cycling are proving popular combination sports appealing to a wide range of sailors, even our London Olympians.

Well known sailing names such as Sean Craig and Colin Galavin have turned their hand to sailing Lasers these days and have been training for the event.

Other class stalwarts Chris Arrowsmith and Theo Lyttle have been seen far from the sea in the Wicklow mountains on their bikes. Paul Keane will be challenging hard for the title after his week training in the south of France.

Earlier this month Olympians Annalise Murphy and Scott Flanigan returned to competition as they competed in a sprint distance triathlon - 750m swim, 20K bike, 5K run, held in Collinstown, Co. Westmeath. They both gave a good account of themselves, results here.

The two day Laser Masters Sail/Cycle Challenge takes places on Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th October 2012. Details below.

Day 1, Cycle, Saturday 6th October

Start: 13:00 sharp from the Club forecourt.

http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/51168846

Route: The event will feature a cycle of about 70km, starting at 13:00 on Sat 6th October from the Club. The cycle will finish back at the Club at about 17:00. Have a look at the route on the link for full details.

We invite everyone to come along. You may participate in the cycle or the Laser racing alone, but as the weekend is all about the social we would encourage everyone to jump on a bike and do a few km. The cycle route will take us up to Enniskerry in the Wicklow mountains, so the roads are quiet and the scenery great. This year the challenge has been increased, with the route taking us to the summit of Kippure. It is a tarmac road to the top, but it is steeeep! Total altitude for the cycle is 996m.

There are good places to stop for coffee (or other drink) in Enniskerry and Glencree.

Scoring:

Kippure Summit 1 point

Sally Gap 3 points

Glencree 5 points

Enniskerry 7 points

DNC 10 points

Back to the Club to watch the Leinster Vs Munster Rugby match at 18:30.

Dinner

There is a 3 course dinner in the Club room at 20:00, with a few prizes for the cycling afterwards. The dinner is 25 euro per person. Book early as the dinner was popular last year and the Club room is limited to about 40 people.

Day 2, Sail, Sunday 7th October

On Sunday there will be 3 Laser races starting at 11:00. The races will be short (about 30 minutes), with the emphasis on skill rather than endurance!

The aim is to finish at about 14:00 with prize giving. If 3 races are sailed there will be 1 discard, with your two best races and the cycle score to count.

The entry fee for the sailing/cycling is 15 euro, and for the cycling alone is 5 euro.

Enter online at www.rsgyc.ie

#RS SAILING - Howth Yacht Club hosted 54 boats in three classes for the RS400, RS200 and RS Feva National Championships over the weekend (click HERE for photos).

The Irish version of the 'RS Games' proved a big hit with all competitors. The race management team, headed by PRO David Lovegrove, did a fantastic job to get 10 races in for all three classes in spite of some shifty conditions.

This was all the more impressive as each course change required the moving of up to 10 marks. No mean feat, but the Howth Yacht Club team took it in their stride.

In the RS400 class, bothers Emmet and James Ryan from the Royal St George Yacht Club took the top spot. They didn’t make things easy by using up a discard on the first race of the event and only snatched the win on the last run of the last race having rounded the final weather mark in fourth place.

Greystones class stalwarts Simon Herriott and Tom Moran took second place, while in third place, and the top youth RS400 team, was a very impressive display by Andy Verso and Oisin Baugh, also from Greystones.

In the RS200 class it was another family affair and another Royal St George win with father-and-son pair Sean and Stephen Craig taking first place. It was extremely tight at the top of the 200 fleet with only three points separating the top four boats in the end.

Teams from Greystones filled the next two podium places with Frank and Kevin O’Rourke taking second and last year’s champions Roy Van Maanen and Glen Reid taking third place.

In the Feva class, GB sailors filled the top three slots with Elliott Wells and Jake Todd taking the title on count back from fellow Hayling Island sailors Tom Darling and Will Dolin. Chay and Stirling Taylor took third place.

In the battle for local/Irish bragging rights, Eoin Lyden and Brian Stokes from Cork got one over the Dublin rivals to claim top Irish Feva spot.

Full results can be found at the Howth Yacht Club website at www.hyc.ie, while photos of the event are available HERE.

#rsgyc – Vincent Farrell's Tsunami was the winner of the IRC Zero division in yesterday's Frank Keane BMW Royal St. George YC Regatta sailed on Dublin Bay in an excellent turn out of 184 boats for 16 classes. Full results are downloadable below in an xcel format below. Photos below too.

In the one designs Tim Goodbody sailing White Mischief won the Sigma 33s from Paddy Maguire's Gwilli Two. New Flying fifteeen arrival Perfect Ten sailed by Lorcan Balfe of the National Yacht Club won the class ahead of Ben Mulligan sailing Mellifluence.

Mermaid class boats Aideen (left) helmed by Brendan Martin and Jill helmed by Patrick Martin pass each during the Frank Keane BMW St George Yacht Club regatta in Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin last Saturday. Photo: Joe St Leger

In the dinghy classes Conor Clancy's Clandogg MIllionaire from the host club was the Fireball class winner.  In the Water Wag's John Ross Murphy's Little Tern took two wins to claim top prize over Lawrence Hanley's Gavotte and scoring a 3 and a 2 Ross O'Leary was the Laser class winner. 

#rsgyc – The Royal St George YC celebrates its annual all classes regatta night in Dun Laoghaire on Saturday.  All types of yachts are entered from wooden Mermaids to Squibs to dinghies to racing SB20s and Flying 15s to cruisers from zero to class four.

This year, the Frank Keane BMW George Yacht Regatta 12, promises to be the best ever regatta and a fabulous fun filled family day out for young and old. From the piers, spectators can watch boats leaving Dun Laoghaire Harbour mouth from 10.30 onwards for racing starting at 11.30 until 3pm in Dublin Bay.

The club celebrates its 174th regatta proudly sponsorsed by Frank Keane BMW of Blackrock. Since the construction of this fine Victorian harbour in 1820, Dun Laoghaire with itswaterfront yacht clubs has been a focal point for yacht racing & sailing in Dublin. The first recorded Kingtown Regatta was in 1828.

All types of boats can enter from wooden mermaids to squibs to dinghies to racing SB3s and flying 15s to cruisers little and large.  Ashore, at the Royal St George YC, family fun begins at 12 midday on the quarterdeck with a bucking Rodeo Bull, Face-painting and bouncy castle? Summer Jazz by Stedfast marks the sailors return ashore and the start of the Pig on the spit BBQ. Prize Giving will be at 6pm by Frank Keane BMW.

Family Day out 2.45pm to 3.15 pm by the Rodeo Bull & Face Painting, The Quarter Deck. PRiZE Giving The QuarterDeck: 6 to 7pm..

#JOBS – Dun Laoghaire's Royal St. George Yacht Club is seeking an Events Manager. The job involves the management and co-ordination of the smooth operation of the catering-events office, with main responsibility for the coordination of the Club's major sailing events, weddings, private functions, and meetings. The demanding and rewarding role requires an energetic and driven individual according to the yacht club who want the position filled in time for the ISAF Youth Worlds at the club in July. More details below.

General Scope and purpose:

Liaise with Members and Event Organisers in the planning and organisation of Weddings, Major Sailing Events and ad hoc Social Events.

Communicate and market the Club's social programmes, dining options and private function facilities (weddings and corporate) and, in doing so, support the General Manager, Sailing Manager and Catering Office in achieving performance targets.

Promote the function business of the Club to Club Members.

Reporting to the General Manager.

Main Duties:

As the catering contact for the Club, to ensure that all catering enquiries are dealt with in an efficient and professional manner while liaising with the primary contact/ organiser to ensure that all his/ her requirements are met and the correct booking procedure carried out at all times.

To work with the General Manager in developing the Function Business in the Club. This is to include corporate and wedding business.

To be responsible for updating and maintaining the Club's 'function diary'.

Produce weekly function sheets and 'Banquet Event Orders' for each Club event and hold weekly briefing meetings with the Catering Operations Team to ensure the smooth running of all events within the Club.

To produce catering revenue forecasts every two weeks.

Participate in the organisation and running of the Club's major sailing events and in particular the Club's annual regatta, the junior regatta, the Dun Laoghaire combined regatta and the ISAF Youth Worlds in July 2012.

Promote the Club's bar and dining facilities to Members and their guests, through various forms of communication i.e. – posters, flyers, programmes, plasma screen, hymn boards, club emails and website with a view to increasing bookings and revenue.

Produce the Club's Spring, Summer and Autumn Social Programmes. This involves liaising, collating and drafting the programmes with all persons concerned to final completion.

Support the Social & Catering Committee in marketing and promoting the events outlined in the Spring, Summer and Autumn Social Programmes.

Keep the Club Website and additional micro sites up-to-date in regards to the Club's Social Events & News (the sailing section of the website is maintained by the Sailing Manager).

Use Social Media as a platform to keep in touch with Members – Twitter and Facebook.

Research markets to identify opportunities for events in the Club and develop new approaches for increasing and attracting the function business to the Club.

Competitive salary based on experience.

Please send a cover letter and curriculum vitae to Ann Gill, General Manager by email to [email protected] or by post to Royal St. George Yacht Club, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin.

#DRAGON SAILING – Ireland's Edinburgh Cup sailing champion Martin Byrne took fourth overall at last weekend's International Dragon Match Racing event in Cascais, Portugal.

The invitation only event included Dragon National Champions from across Europe.

Weather conditions were ideal with clear blue skies and moderate breezes for the three day event which was raced inside Cascais Harbour which drew a big crowd of specators on the shore. Having topped the round robin series of racing, Byrne faced Dutch Dragon and RC44 helm Pieter Hereema in the semi final.

After a penalty to Philipe Silva, Portuguese National Champion, in the 3rd/4th place race off the Irish champion who is also Commodore of the Royal St. George Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire finished fourth overall.

Pieter Hereema went on to win the event beating Klaus Klaus Deidericks in the final.

2012 is a big year for the Dragon class in Ireland. Not alone are they hosting the Gold Cup in Kinsale but the Edinburgh Cup is to be held in Belfast Lough in July.

Dragon sailors from over 12 countries have already entered this year's Brewin Dolphin Dragon Gold Cup, to be held at Kinsale Yacht Club from 8th-14th September.

Already, entries from Russia, Ukraine, Germany, Scandinavia, Portugal, France and the UK have entered as entries are expected from Hungary, Estonia, and further afield - from the USA and Australia - making this a truly international competition.

Participants are encouraged to register early and to book their and accommodation in this busy seaside town on the south coast of Ireland.

Entries are welcome through the specially designated website: www.dragongoldcup2012.com

The event is Sponsored by Private Client Investment Managers, Brewin Dolphin, who recently entered the Irish market with their acquisition of Tilman Asset Management.

Brewin Dolphin is also sponsoring the Grand Slam Series of Dragon events in Ireland this year which includes the Northern Area Championships and Edinburgh Cup in Belfast Lough in July, the Irish National Championships in Dun Laoghaire in August and the South Coast Championships and Gold Cup in Kinsale in September.

The Dragon Gold Cup was last held in Ireland in 1997, when the Royal Irish Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire hosted the event.

#RS SAILING - UK RS Association chairman Pete Vincent will be running another RS200 and 400 demo day from the Royal St George Yacht Club on the weekend of 24-25 March.

The well-known expert on RS boats is being brought to Dublin by RS400 owners Richard Tate and Emmet Ryan, who are "really keen to get an RS fleet up and running" in Dun Laoghaire.

"After the huge attention our boats have drawn both ashore and on the water, we feel there is already a keen interest from a broad cross section of sailors to learn something more about these incredible hiking dinghies," says Tate.

"There is a ready-to-race format for both RS200s and 400s to have a full season of racing every Tuesday and Thursday in Dublin Bay right from the go."

The RS200 is described as a "natural progression" from the RS Feva, while the RS400 "takes the concept one step further and way beyond". Both classes provide high performance assymmetrical racing for all age groups.

If you are thinking about moving into an RS200 or 400, this is the perfect opportunity to help you make your decision.

All demo sails must be booked in advance by contacting Pete Vincent directly at +44 7812 899 043 or [email protected]

#NORTH SAILS SEMINAR – US Sailmaker Bill Gladstone of North Sails returns to these shores for a nine stop lecture tour of Ireland starting this Saturday at the country's biggest club, the Royal St George YC in Dun Laoghaire. Gladstone was last here in 2009 and the series proved popular. From Dun Laoghaire the North Sails seminar heads West to Galway Bay. The full schedule is below.

Gladstone has been teaching sailing and racing for over 30 years. Topics this week, for the €20 pay at the door event, include starting tactics, upwind trim, wind shift Strategy to spinnaker trim and handling.

For more information, contact the club, Maurice O'Connell ([email protected] / 086 2364200) or Nigel Young ([email protected] / 087 2514434)

2012 SEMINAR SCHEDULE

Royal St George Yacht Club.....28 January 2012
9:30 am - 1:30 pm
National Yacht Club..................30 January 2012
7 pm - 11 pm
Galway Bay Sailing Club...........31 January 2012
7 pm - 11 pm
Tralee Bay Sailing Club...........01 February 2012
7pm - 11pm
Royal Cork Yacht Club.............02 February 2012
7pm - 11pm
Kinsale Yacht Club...................03 February 2012
7pm - 11pm
Royal Irish Yacht Club.............04 February 2012
10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Howth Yacht Club....................06 February 2012
7pm - 11pm
Royal Ulster Yacht Club*......... 07 February 2012
7pm - 11pm

Pay at the door. €20 per person. *RUYC £18 per person.