It has been a golden if sometimes very thin thread running through Irish sailing continuously since 1947. Despite the vagaries of the Irish weather and the increasing complexity of our sailing programme, absolutely every season for sixty-nine years now we’ve managed – occasionally with some difficulty – to create a viable come-all-ye-class-champions national event which rotated the venues and the boat types used. It’s an event which brings together multiple talents from many classes to produce a Champion of Champions after a hectic weekend of racing, and 2016’s edition starts this morning at the Royal Cork Yacht Club at Crosshaven. W M Nixon attempts to grasp the will-of-the wisp which is the ideal that was the Irish Helmsman’s Championship and is now the ISA All Ireland Championship, and finds it’s in a bit of bother.

It’s ironic that while the publicity machine beats the drum ever-faster for the annual Endeavour Trophy, the Helmsmans Championship’s British equivalent which is being staged in England in a week’s time, here in Ireland publicity had seemed almost muted in the run-up to this weekend’s All Ireland until the news broke this week that two GP 14 sailors – including the World Champion – had declined an invitation to enter on the grounds that the event has become too out of line with other dinghy events for participation in terms of entry fee and other costs.

It’s ironic that the British Championship should be on a roll, while ours is getting the kind of publicity any iconic event could well do without, because the Irish event was introduced quite a few years in advance of the British one. And when the Endeavour Trophy was up and running properly, didn’t we send over one of our best Enterprise crews to take part, and didn’t they win it overall when Robin Hennessy and Robert Michael of Malahide won the Endeavour Trophy in 1968?

The other RCYC. The Royal Corinthian Yacht Club at Burnham-on-Crough in Essex is hosting the Endeavour Trophy in a week’s time with the lineup including two Olympic medallists, and an event fee of 130GBP includes food and accommodation for the weekend, and the entry fee. The Endeavour Trophy was won by Ireland’s Robin Hennessy and Robert Michael in 1968. Photo courtesy RCYC

These days, the organisers of the Endeavour Trophy lay down the red carpet all the way to the RCYC in Burnham-on-Crouch in order to entice the stars of many classes to come and give of their best in the Endeavour Trophy, and said stars are treated well in the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club with an event fee of £130GBP which includes all food and accommodation in addition to entry.

But in Ireland, the RCYC – aka the Royal Cork Yacht Club - has been left out on a limb in staging the ISA All Ireland Championship 2016, so they’ve had to charge the entrants an entry fee of €220 plus an extra €1000 waiver for insurance requirement.

Now admittedly €90 of that entry fee is to cover for three at the All Ireland Dinner in the RCYC tonight, which seems to me a perfectly justifiable way to ensure that everyone is truly involved in the event in its totality. But nevertheless a modest sponsorship package would take disagreeable financial challenges out of the equation at a time of the season when many amateur sailors are just about cleaned out in the resources department. And though as we’ll see in looking down the list of participants, there are some distinctly top-end sailors involved, the essence of the All Irelands is that it should be a celebration of Irish amateur sailing sport at every level of boat expense to include the less affluent.

There was sponsorship of the event until five years ago, but once that had gone with the recession, costs for participation gradually rose. And this summer with Irish sailing attention at every level increasingly focused on the Olympics and the wonder of Annalise’s Silver Medal, it may well be that insufficient attention was being given to the fact that the up-coming All Ireland is an event which offers a very attractive and compact sponsorship package, particularly with the 70th Anniversary coming up next year.

Annalise Murphy and coach Rory Murphy immediately after winning the Olympic Silver Medal in August. Today she is testing herself in a very different environment – the bear-pit of the two-day ISA All Ireland Championship raced in the new National 18 Ultras at Crosshaven. Photo World Sailing

Let’s hope securing this particular sponsorship package is work in progress. Meanwhile, after a long and exhausting season of many events, your columnist found himself energised by the thought that the All Irelands 2016 are going to staged at Crosshaven in the new Ultra National 18s. This is the next stage in a success story which has its heart and soul in Cork Harbour, and the development of this remarkable class with affordable boats is a credit to all involved, not least the Royal Cork which came up with seed money just when it was needed to bring this new Phil Morrison creation to fruition.

We think we’ve become used to the look of the new National 18s, but the other day I came across this photo of Ewen Barry’s boat in light airs, and you see things you hadn’t noticed before. It’s a timely photo to use, as Ewen has been the tops in 2016, leading the charge to the outright win by a clear margin when nine of the new Cork boats went to the big championship at Findhorn in Scotland, so naturally he’s the National 18 representative in this morning’s all-Ireland lineup, sailing for Monkstown Bay SC.

They don’t have to pretend to be different. The new Phil Morrison-designed National 18s are very different . This is Ewen Barry’s champion D’Good, D’Bad and D’Blaster , and he is representing the class in this weekend’s All Ireland. Photo: Robert BatemanThus he must be a favourite. But National 18 favourites can be beaten when the All Ireland is sailed in the class at Crosshaven, as happened back in 1970 when the 17-year-old Robert Dix, crewed in a very positive manner by Richard Burrows, raced a National 18 to such good effect that he became the youngest-ever Helmsmans Champion, besting the likes of Somers Payne and Harold Cudmore to do so.

He’s still the youngest-ever winner, while the first woman winner was Laura Dillon way back in 1996. But in All Ireland Helmsmans Championship terms, 1996 is only the day before yesterday, for in a series going right back to 1947 when Douglas Heard won, the outstanding feature is the longevity of the winners. Senior of all those very happily still with us is Ted Crosbie who won in 1950, while doubly awarded and still playing around in boats is Neville Maguire, winner in 1952 and 1954. Between those two wins was the still active Johnny Hooper, then in 1955 and 1960 the winner was Clayton Love, who just three weeks ago played a starring role in the IDRA 14 Class’s 70th Anniversary.

Laura Dillon was the first woman winner, in 1996

Ted Crosbie is the senior Champion Helm – he won in 1950. He is seen here with the Boat of the Year award at the Royal Cork in 2015. Photo Bob Bateman

Clayton Love (right) with Jim Lambkin left) and Sean Flood at the recent IDRA 70th Anniversary regatta. Clayton won the Helmsmans Chmpionship in 1955 and 1960. Photo: W M Nixon

So the message is clear and simple. If you want to live long and live well, win the All Ireland Helmsman’s Championship. Here’s the lineup for this morning’s start:

Defending Champion: Anthony O’Leary RCYC; National 18: Ewen Barry Monkstown Bay Sailing Club/ RCYC; RS400: Alex Barry MBSC/RCYC; SB20: Stefan Hyde RCYC; Mermaid: Sam Shiels Skerries SC; Laser Standard: Darragh O’Sullivan Kinsale YC; IDRA14: Alan Henry Sutton Dinghy Club; Flying 15: David Gorman National YC; RS200: Neil Spain Howth YC; Shannon One-Design: Mark McCormick Lough Ree YC; ICRA Division 1: Colin Byrne Royal Irish YC; ICRA Division 2: Jonny Swan Howth YC; ICRA Divison 3: Paul Gibbons RCYC; 1720: Peter O’Leary RCYC; Laser Radial: Annalise Murphy NYC; J24: Cillian Dickson HYC.

If the weather predictions prove correct there’ll be an easing northwest to north breeze today after some early morning rain, then a rising southerly tomorrow with generally good weather, with the event ending before the next lot of wet and windy weather comes in tomorrow night. It could be an ideal mixture of conditions for a remarkable mixture of abilities, as the lineup ranges all the way from helms for the Mermaid and Shannon One Design Classes - Sam Shiels of Skerries and Mark McCormick of Lough Ree respectively – through several former winners including of course the defending champion Anthony O’Leary who is trying to make it three in a row, and on up to the exalted heights of Olympic Medaldom with Annalise Murphy.

Frankly, it’s very courageous of Annalise to let her name go forward, as the begrudgers will be looking for any slip–ups. But we know she’s a genuine sportswoman as her relaxation sailing is buzzing about in a foiling Moth which offers endless opportunities for making a holy show of yourself. So taking herself out of her Olympic Laser Radial comfort zone into a bearpit like the All Ireland race in three-person National 18s undoubtedly has class.

Peter O’Leary representing the 1720 Class, is expected to be among the front runners this weekend
But whether her name will be heading for the famous salver on Sunday evening is another matter altogether. You’d be inclined to expect the name O’Leary to feature in the reckoning, but which particular O’Leary is anyone’s guess. Former winner Stefan Hyde is also a force to be reckoned with when he’s on form. In fact there are maybe seven in that list who are in with a real chance. And if it is someone outside our list who becomes the All Ireland Champion 2016, we’ll be happy to let you know and admit we got it wrong.

Odyssey, the prototype for the new Phil Morrison-designed National 18 Ultra. The use of these fascinating boats for the All Ireland Championship this weekend is the latest stage in a remarkable class development story in which the Royal Cork Yacht Club has played a key role. Photo courtesy National 18 Class

W M Nixon takes a look back at last weekend’s All Ireland Championship with some thoughts on the unique atmosphere around Dun Laoghaire Harbour on a busy sailing weekend, while giving us an insight into the hugely successful sailing partnership between champion Anthony O’Leary and his Number One Dan O’Grady, leading on to the hope that our top amateur sailors can be given the respect they deserve by sailing’s professional administrators, then finally reminding everyone that proposed plans for Dun Laoghaire Harbour come under public scrutiny from October 14th onwards.

If ever a photo said more than a thousand words, then Afloat.ie’s definitive vision of Anthony O’Leary taking a commanding lead in the finals of the All Ireland Sailing Championship in Dublin Bay on Sunday is it. Any further comment on the ins and outs of the sailing is superfluous. The current Afloat.ie “Sailor of the Year” and his crew of Dan O’Grady and Cian Guilfoyle went on to win the series going away, and all the photos combine to provide the compulsive slideshow of a magnificent achievement and a peak moment in the Irish sailing season.

Had there been any doubt about the central role of our All-Ireland Helmsman’s Championship in the Irish sailing psyche, then this writer had already been very quickly disabused of it by a properly irate response to last weekend’s Sailing on Saturday blog about some of the story around the Helmsman’s Championship. In it, our records had become confused, and we peddled the myth that Gordon Maguire had won the big one in 1982 at Dromineer on Lough Derg, when it was raced in Shannon One Designs.

We’d been led astray by an old black & white photo print trawled out of the antique filing system - a splendid pic showing a Shannon OD at full chat – for which the tag said that this was Gordon Maguire winning the Helmsmans Championship in 1982.

“Rubbish” was one retort we received, from Mossy Shanahan no less, one of several comments from those for whom 1982 is but yesterday. “In 1982 at Dromineer in the SODs, the great Dave Cummins of Sutton won it, and his crew and tactician was Mossy Shanahan, while the owner’s representative on board was the great Jimmy Furey, master builder of Shannon One Designs and other classic and traditional boats”.

The extraordinary combination of Dave and Mossy and Jimmy seem to have been the dream team, and a silent one too – Dave and Mossy had sailed successfully together for so long they scarcely exchanged a word, communicating instead by some sort of telepathy when racing. And as for Jimmy, if he says three words, it’s a speech. Whatever, they won every race in the final at Dromineer in winds in excess of 20 knots.

Dave Cummins was winner of the 1982 Helmsman’s Championship, defending the title he won in 1981. Photo: W M Nixon

On a damp Autumn day of dense air, that’s a lot of pressure to contend with in an open clinker-built boat so narrow and supple that it’s said that in a real breeze of wind, a Shannon One Design will turn round and look at you. Be that as it may, so out-of-kilter were our recollections that we then almost made another inaccuracy to assert that Gordon Maguire must have been second. In fact, he was third overall, second slot going to ace Lough Derg and Shannon One Design helm Peter Huskinson, one of whose more distinctive claims to fame is direct descent from the first person ever to be killed in a railway accident.

Dave Cummins was on top of his form in the early 1980s, as he also won the Helmsmans in 1981, but like Gordon Maguire he has since furthered his sailing career in Australia, while Peter Huskinson now lives in France where he has become a writer. Mossy Shanahan is of course still very much one of the strengths of the sailing talent of the Howth peninsula. And in a remote corner of County Roscommon on the west shore of Lough Ree, the talented Jimmy Furey continues to build classic small craft, and just last weekend the Dublin Bay Water Wags visited him in considerable fleet numbers, as one of his latest creations is a new Water Wag for Cathy MacAleavey, and it was rightly felt that the best way to introduce the new boat was a Water Wag Regatta at Lecarrow.

Jimmy Furey and Cathy MacAleavey in the workshop in County Roscommon where together they built a Shannon One Design, and more recently have completed a Water Wag

Jimmy Furey’s superb craftsmanship is evident in this transom knee on the new Water Wag, which was celebrated with a class regatta last weekend on Lough Ree at Lecarrow. Photo: Cathy MacAleavey

It’s cross-linkages like this, taking us in unexpected directions every which way through our sailing community, which make the All-Ireland something very special. It may be a bit artificial in its concept, but until somebody thinks of something better, this Championship of Champions is the best we have to give us a very concentrated dose of top level Irish amateur sailing in all its crazy variety. And it has to be said that holding it in Dun Laoghaire in the first weekend of October gives it an extra zing, for the old granite pond is fairly hopping with boats and all sorts of waterfront activity at this time of year, as though the sea-minded citizens have suddenly noticed that the nights have become longer than the days, and every moment of sailing is now much more precious than it was in the long bright hours of June.

Any dedicated visitor to this website for the past six days will have had a good flavour of the Dun Laoghaire weekend’s hyper-activity, but to those many reported events we must add two extra happenings at the Royal Irish Yacht Club. On Saturday afternoon, University College Dublin Sailing Club were planning to hold a unique media event there to introduce their team for next week’s Student Yachting Worlds in France. This media event was unique in that, so far as we can ascertain, there was intended to be a distinct absence of media, as they hadn’t been asked.

But these days, you have to think of all sorts of cunning ploys to ensure publicity, and not asking the media is as good a way as any to get their jaded attention. And maybe next week, with the up-coming 35th annual series in full swing at La Baule near Saint-Nazaire from October 13th to 20th, we’ll get the bones of the story, as UCD have form in this event - they won in 2012 by an unprecedented margin with Aidan McLaverty as skipper and Barry McCartin as tactician, while Cork Institute of Technology won in 2008 when Nicholas “Nin” O’Leary was their skipper/helmsman.

But by Sunday, as the All Ireland was building to its climax out in Dublin Bay, at the Royal Irish they were looking the other way, hosting a classic and vintage car rally. If there’s one thing that might distract boatnuts, it’s gorgeous lovingly-maintained old cars. But duty called us along the way towards the harbour’s southeast corner, and there at the National Yacht Club we found that, in typical Dun Laoghaire style, the All-Ireland was just an add-on to the real business of the weekend, the annual Jelly Bean Factory Junior Regatta in a harbour busy with many events including Fireball intros and training from the sailing schools.

Party time down at the “Old Granite Pond” – never mind the weather, the flags are out at the National Yacht Club. Photo: W M Nixon

However, before leaping into a sea of jelly beans, the unfolding All-Ireland drama out in the Bay had to be recorded through its course, and though their second place in the first race showed that the O’Leary/O’Grady/Guilfoyle team were human after all, their progress thereafter towards the top was clinical.

Dan O’Grady (47) of Howth first got to crew with Anthony O’Leary back in the 1990s when Ireland was very much alive, and on track towards prosperity without having reached the lunatic phase of the Celtic Tiger when everyone lost the run of themselves with an economic disaster which has effectively deprived us of the best part of a sailing generation.

But back in the 1990s, there was hope in the air and enthusiasm was the theme. The two of them first sailed together in the 1720 Sportsboat Euros at Kinsale in 1998. How many boats do you think would have been in that, bearing in mind the class had been founded as recently as 1994, and still had an element of the experimental about it?

Well, Dan recalls the fleet as having been 72 strong. Seventy-two 1720s, and each with a crew of five descending on Kinsale…… Heaven help us, but the past is indeed a different country. There’s a quality of sport and sheer zest in life implicit in that large number which it’s still almost impossible to imagine today as we crawl slime-covered out of the recession

When the going was good…… Back in pre-recession days before other fancier classes had come along, the 1720s were able to muster numbers like this, with 72 boats for their Euros at Kinsale in 1998, when Dan O’Grady first crewed for Anthony O’Leary. But now the class is showing signs of new life, thanks in no small part to the enthusiasm of the O’Leary family.

But those were the days, and let it be recalled that the new O’Leary/O’Grady team didn’t win overall on their first outing. They were second, but the winner was Olympian Mark Mansfield on top of his form, and when Mansfield’s on top of his form, he’s in a league of his own.

Yet gradually over the years, Dan O’Grady found himself becoming an O’Leary associate when he wasn’t racing his own boat (he’d been an Olympian himself), and he says it’s a pleasure to be involved, as the crew panel is enormous, based as it sometimes can be on the entire circle of friends and sailing colleagues within the ambit of O’Leary senior and his three sons Peter, Nicholas and Robert.

There’s a quite proper mutual respect between father and sons in their sailing, but lots of give and take in a healthy family context too, with the bean an ti Sally (nee Aisher) keeping things under control when her menfolk get too exuberant.

It all reached a new peak in 2014 when Anthony in effect put the three-boat Irish Commodore’s Cup team together as a solo run, and Dan O’Grady found himself in the hot seat with Peter O’Leary on the boat which was the cornerstone of the team, Marc Glimcher’s new Ker 40 Catapult. The team captain’s confidence in Catapult and her people was fully rewarded, as she was top scoring boat in the entire series and thus the major contributor to Ireland’s historic victory. But as Dan said, it also brought him a moment of mixed feelings, for one day Marc Glimcher had to be away on business, and Dan suddenly found himself the oldest man in the crew.

The Accumulator….. Dan O’Grady was recruited by Anthony O’Leary to be aboard the new Ker 40 Catapult, top scoring boat in the successful 2014 Irish Commodore’s Cup Team.

That said, he still has quite a few years in hand on Anthony O’Leary, but they both keep themselves very fit, as they showed so forcefully during the All Ireland on Sunday when that increasingly harsh sou’easter built up the pressure in every sense. As for the third hand, they knew they needed somebody of a hundred kilos to hit the weight target, and thanks to the unrivalled O’Leary network, young Cian Guilfoyle of the National YC – a cousin of the already successful Seafra Guilfoyle of Royal Cork – found himself spending the sailing weekend in some very distinguished and ultimately extremely successful company.

It was as well that he was on the strength, as otherwise the mighty Dun Laoghaire sailing machine would have gone unrepresented in the top four places overall, for they went to Alex Barry (Cork, second), Cillian Dickson (Howth, third), and Roy Darrer (Dunmore East, fourth) with Chris Helme of the Ruffian class and Royal St George YC flying the first flag for Dun Laoghaire in fifth.

Provided you stay within the weight targets, you are permitted to race a J/80 in the All-Ireland with four on board. Cillian Dickson took this approach, and with a first and second in last two races as the breeze piped up, it seemed a good way to go, but then Anthony O’Leary was second and first in those same races, though as Dan O’Grady reports, “we certainly could have used an extra pair of hands towards the end”.

As to what it’s like to race with Anthony O’Leary, ordinary mortals can only get a hint of it by discussing it with Dan O’Grady, as he himself is of star status, and thus when he’s sailing with The O’Leary, they’re operating at a different level to the ordinary run of sailors. But as with the Cummins/Shanahan linkup we were discussing earlier, the amount of talk on board is minimal, a good team knows what to do with as little talk as possible - excess chatter is a waste of energy.

But having given it their all, they arrived back into Dun Laoghaire precisely as scheduled, but red-eyed, salt-burned and exhausted, with those who had travelled long distance mad keen to head for home as soon as possible. For these were all amateurs and unlike professional sailors, Monday is not a rest day, so the underlying principle for the organisers should be to get the brief awards ceremony done and dusted just as soon as possible.

As it happens, such a priority was difficult to assert in the mood in the National YC, where most of the active members were winding down after providing support vessels and other help in staging The Jelly Bean Factory Junior Regatta, a crazy multi-class festival of kids’ sailing cheerfully sponsored by the Cullen family, who are the very epitome of the old saying that when running your own business, if you’re not having a lot of fun, or making a lot of money, then why are you doing it?

Peter Cullen of the Jelly Bean Factory, co-founder of the Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race in 1993, has made an enormous contribution to Irish sailing, and is firmly convinced that it should be fun. Photo: W M Nixon

They seem to manage both, and as ever it was great fun meeting up again with the JBF’s Peter Cullen, co-founder with Martin Crotty of the Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race back in 1993, who is as sharp as a tack. For when I complained that I’d have to return again to the seaward end of the boat park to get his brand pennants with the lettering running in the right directions, quick as a flash Peter says, no you don’t, just take their reflection in the bar window. So here’s the Jelly Bean factory flags the right way round, but the Mitsubishi Motors covers on the Flying Fifteens in their boat-park are reversed, so we’ll have to make amends for that when singing for our supper at the Flying Fifteens’ Annual Dinner in the National next month.

Bright suggestion – by using the bar window reflection, we got the Jelly Bean Factory flags the right way round without having to take a long walk. Photo: W M Nixon

The All-Ireland championship event out in Dublin Bay had meanwhile being brought so efficiently to its conclusion by Race Officer Jack Roy and his wife Rosemary the Time-Keeper and their team that, in a neatly-choreographed harbour scene, the little ’uns of the Jelly Bean Regatta had almost completed returning to their home clubs along the waterfront when the compact flotilla of the J/80s came powering back in through the harbour mouth in that rising and undoubtedly rain-bearing sou’easter.

On time and on target – thanks to Jack Roy’s efficient race administration, the J/80s in the All Ireland 2015 were back on the pontoons with the results confirmed by 3.30pm. Photo: W M Nixon

They were all handily berthed in the pontoons off the National by 3.30pm, and before 4.0pm the photos and results were posted on Afloat.ie, giving every hope that the scheduled All-Ireland Championship 2015 prize-giving – usually a brief little ceremony, but it’s very important to get it just right – could take place promptly as planned by 4.0pm. With competitors from as far away as Sligo, Crosshaven and Waterford, it was simple good manners to allow them to be on their way as soon as possible, as an All-Ireland Dinner in the club on the Saturday evening – timed early to accommodate that night’s rugby match – had already provided the weekend’s social highlight.

In fact, the off-stage un-folding of the Rugby World Cup drama was a counter-point to the weekend’s sailing, and as Anthony O’Leary stepped ashore shortly before 3.30pm, the successful defender – who played rugby for Munster in his day - expressed the hope that by the time the kick-off in the Ireland-Italy match occurred at 4.45pm, the O’Leary mobile would be sweeping home along the motorway past Port Laoise. That would have him comfortably on time to listen to the match on the remainder of the journey back to Cork, and perhaps even be in line to register in Cronin’s of Crosshaven at the magic hour of 7.0pm Sunday for the sacred and traditional review of the weekend’s activities by the great and the good of Crosshaven sport.

Quite why everyone now lost about thirty-five minutes out of their lives in unnecessary delays in the awards ceremony you’d be hard-pressed to say. All the amateurs were there on time, ready to do their duty, including the President of the ISA himself to perform the honours. But as soon as the Association’s professionals were relied on to keep things moving along, the wheels came off, with an official photographer gone missing, and no short sharp programme of events, such that when it finally dawned on the ISA’s pros that these top level amateur sailors were tired and wanted to go home, the man from the ISA suddenly tried to send them on their way without allowing time for the winner to thank his crew and the hosting club.

The abiding impression was of a lack of proper respect for amateur sailors. These management wonks seem to be over-impressed by the big money going the way of professionals and Olympians. But fortunately the 2015 All-Ireland winner, as a former Admiral of the Royal Cork Yacht Club and a former Flag Officer of the Royal Ocean Racing Club, knew a thing or two about protocol and good manners. So Anthony O’Leary redeemed the situation by quietly taking over simply through dignified personal presence, and saved us all with a graceful little speech to send everyone happily on their way, even if he himself was still not even out of Dun Laoghaire on the road for home when kick-off in the Ireland-Italy rugby match took place.

Unwinding after the event - the very best of Irish Corinthian sailing enthusiasm in the National Yacht Club with (left to right) Cian Guilfoyle, Dan O’Grady, Anthony O’Leary and Rosemary and Jack Roy. Photo: W M Nixon

Meanwhile over the weekend we’d seen what an enormous leisure asset Dun Laoghaire Harbour can be in its present form, but we’d also seen that it needs to be busy - use it or lose it. But for those who think this columnist is a supporter of the idea of an enormous occasionally-used cruise-liner berth to provide added income to keep the harbour going as a commercial proposition, my apologies – what was supposed to be ironic pot-stirring to get some ideas inter-acting was taken instead as real firmly-held views.

The idea was to get people seriously discussing the harbour’s future, and how it might be financed, but instead we got quite a few knee-jerk reactions with very few creative visions among them. However, things are now moving along, and with the Oral Hearing about the Cruise Liner Berth with An Bord Pleanala scheduled for eight days from 14th October onwards, there should be every opportunity to publicise the situation. But just saying “No” will not be enough. The Irish people will have to be persuaded that keeping Dun Laoghaire Harbour in basically unchanged form will provide a public amenity of benefit to all to such an extent that its benefits will over-ride crude commercial requirements. It’s asking a lot.

(Ed notes: A Boat Rally Against Dun Laoghaire Cruise Berth will be held at 1pm today)

 

All Ireland Sailing Champion Anthony O'Leary will defend his Irish Sailing Association title after finishing top of his qualifying group in the first day of the weekend championships at the National Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire today.

After a day of slack winds on Dublin Bay six finalists from a fleet of 16 is made up of four keelboat and two dinghy helmsmen.

In group A, RS400 dinghy champion Alex Barry; Flying Fifteen champion Dave Gorman and Alan Henry of the IDRA 14s qualify for tomorrow's final while in group B it's O'Leary, ICRA's Cillian Dixon and Chris Helme of the Ruffians who go through.

Six qualifying races were sailed with only two minutes separating first and last place in any of the races despite trying conditions that started this morning shrouded in fog.

Two more helmsmen will qualify from a line–up of eight in repechage rounds yet to be sailed in supplied J/80 keelboats.

The forecast for tomorrow is for more light south–easterlies but scheduled to strengthen significantly for the finals tomorrow evening.

Read WMN Nixon's All Ireland preview 

Results to date:

 

 

Sailor of the year Anthony O'Leary will defend his Irish Sailing Association (ISA) All Ireland Sailing title against 15 other invitees at the National Yacht Club later this month in the ISA's own J80 keelboat fleet.

In a boost for north Dublin sailing, five of the 16 invitees hail from Howth Yacht Club and there are four are drawn from the ranks of the ICRA cruiser–racing divisions but there is no ICRA Zero invitee on the list. The RS400s are sending Alex Barry of Monkstown, the Flying fifteens are fielding David Gorman who will race from his home club. From the clinker classes the Shannon One Designs will be represented by Frank Browne of Lough Ree, the Mermaids by Patrick Dillon of Rush Sailing Club and the IDRA 14s by Alan Henry of Sutton DC. Michael O'Connor will race for the SB20s. (See invitee list below)

David Gorman (left) and Chris Doorly will represent the Flying Fifteens

The ISA published its invitation list last Friday and says its selection process for the event is 'in full swing'. So far though there appears to be no representation from a number of one design classes including: J24, Dragon, 1720, J109, Sigma 33, Puppeteer or Fireball dinghy classes or any of the Olympic team. The ISA notes it 'did not receive valid nominations from any of the other Class Associations'. Class Associations, it says, were 'asked to provide their nominations for their best sailor', and the previous year's champion is asked to return to defend the title. 

Michael O'Connor (left) represents the SB20s at the All Ireland Sailing Championships on October 3 at the National YC

As Afloat previously reported the ISA All Ireland's take place from 3-4 October. The closing dates for nominations was September 21st 2015. 

No wild card entries have been published so far. 

2014 Champion	Anthony	O'Leary	RCYC
RS400	Alex	Barry	Monkstown Bay SC
GP14	Niall	Henry	Sligo Yacht Club
Shannon OD	Frank	Browne	L Ree YC
Flying Fifteen	David	Gorman	National YC
Squib	Fergus	O'Kelly	Howth YC
ICRA 1	Roy	Darrer	Waterford Sailing Club
Mermaid	Patrick	Dillon	Rush SC
Laser Std	Ronan	Cull	Howth YC
SB20	Michael	O'Connor	Royal St.George YC
IDRA14	Alan	Henry	Sutton DC
RS200	Frank	O'Rourke	Greystones SC
ICRA 2	Simon	Rattigan	Howth YC
ICRA 4	Cillian	Dickson	Howth YC
Ruffian	Chris	Helme	Royal St.George YC

ICRA 3

Niamh

McDonald

Howth YC

 

The ISA has issued an explanation on the selection process for this year's event as follows:
The Irish Sailing Association (ISA) received nominations from sailing classes across the Nation. Last year's champion Anthony O'Leary received an automatic place, and the remaining places were selected from the 22 classes that submitted a valid nomination. The three largest dinghy classes and the three largest keelboat classes receive six places, and the next six largest classes on the list receive the next six places. The steering group decided to continue down the list of classes in order of fleet size at their respective National Championships. All classes invited accepted, with the exception of the laser radial nominee who was not available, so the next on the list was ICRA 3 who accepted, and completed the lineup.

#allirelandsailing – Royal Cork Sailor Anthony O'Leary is the 2014 ISA All Ireland Sailing Champion beating clubmate Stefan Hyde on count-back following a two day, 12 race battle against 15 other national class champions. The top five in the event were all Cork harbour sailors.

The Crosshaven sailor who brought home the Commodore's Cup to Ireland for a second time in August has competed in the Championship numerous times (including runner–up four times) but had never brought home the coveted Helmsman Trophy. 

Sunshine and a breeze of 10-12 knots again awaited the sailors today for the finale of the ISA All Ireland event hosted by Howth Yacht Club. First to take to the waters north of the harbour were the eight sailors competing in the repechage for the remaining two final spots.

Local sailor Conor Turvey and J24 Champion Flor O'Driscoll finished Race 1 at the top of the leader board. O'Driscoll went on to win Race 2, and the repechage, to qualify him for the Final but a penalty for Turvey cost him the remaining place. Ultimately it was consistency that paid off for Clontarf's Pat O'Neill. His 3, 3 earned him the eighth place in the Final.

O'Leary, who is also the 1720 national champion stormed into the lead in Race 1 of the Final and just could not be caught. He rounded each mark in pole position to take the win and push him to the top of the leader board. O'Leary was tailed by Pat O'Neill and RS200 sailor Alex Barry but fellow Corkonian Stefan Hyde's 4th was enough to keep him in 2nd place overall with defending champion Ben Duncan only a point behind in 3rd.

There was a significant shift in the leader board after the second race. Stefan Hyde, Anthony O'Leary and a third Cork sailor; Alex Barry were first to cross the line. This resulted in a Cork takeover of the top four places with overnight leader Ian Nagle rounding off the domination by moving up to 4th. Duncan pulled in his worst result of the championship and even the discard couldn't save him from dropping to 7th overall.

The penultimate race couldn't have been closer. All eight competitors were neck and neck throughout, jostling positions. In a shock result Stefan Hyde finished in last place but he discarded to hold on to the top spot. Alex Barry had his second consecutive bullet followed by Pat O'Neill who finished in 2nd place for the second time in three races. Now only 3.5 points separated the top four sailors in a Cork dominated fleet.

The wind dropped off to about 7 knots for the final deciding race. Again, it was so close that the positions changed frequently. At the first mark, Anthony O'Leary was at the back of the fleet but he then led around the second mark. Alex Barry, who had been 3rd around the first mark, dropped to the back of the fleet rounding the final mark. But O'Leary and his crew Dylan Gannon and Dan O'Grady could feel the win. They maintained their lead, crossed the line two places ahead of Stefan Hyde, tied them on points, and won on count-back in what was undoubtedly the closet fought All Irelands in many years. Hyde and his crew Jerry and Jimmy Dowling who were OCS in the final race ultimately took Silver and Alex Barry, Sandy Rimmington, Lisa Neary and Patrick Good claimed Bronze. 

Results

Boat	Helm	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	Dis	Total
2	Anthony O'Leary	RCYC	1	4	3	1	3	7	1	7	13
4	Stefan Hyde	RCYC	1	1	2	4	2	8	3	8	13
8	Alex Barry	MBSC	4	2	4	3	1	1	8	8	15
5	Ian Nagle	RCYC	1.5	1	2	6	6	3	2	6	15.5
1	Pat O'Neill	CY&BC	5	2	8	2	5	2	4	8	20
3	Chris Helme	RSGYC	3	5	1	8	3	5	6	8	23
7	Ben Duncan		2	5	1	5	7	6	7	7	26
6	Flor O'Driscoll	RSGYC	6	3	6	7	4	4	5	7	28

#allirelandsailing – Royal Cork sailors lead the way into tomorrow's All Ireland Sailing Championship final at Howth Yacht Club. RCYC's Ian Nagle and Stefan Hyde topped their respective flights after six preliminary races in near perfect 12–northerly winds. Full results from both flights are below.

Another Royal Cork helm, Commodore's Cup champion Anthony O'Leary, was first to get a win this morning, closely followed in Race 1 by defending champion Ben Duncan and Northern Irish Squib Champion Ross Vaughan. A technical problem with Ian Nagle's J80 keelboat meant he was unable to finish the race. His score would be awarded based on his average for the next two races - something that would later yield a dramatic change of the leader board.

Race two returned some interesting results with the initial top competitors all finishing back mid-fleet. Ben Duncan took the final bullet in Race 3 but a 1, 2 from Nagle gave him an average of 1.5 and total of 4.5 points to pip Duncan to the top spot. O'Leary, tied on points with Duncan but losing on count-back, earned the final guaranteed place in the Final. Ross Vaughan, Pat O'Neill, Flor O'Driscoll and Conor Turvey must now sail in the repechage in the hopes of progressing.

In Flight 2 former All Ireland Champion Stefan Hyde from Royal Cork stormed into the lead, winning the first two races. A 2nd in Race 3 gave him a total of 4 points putting him straight through to the Final in overall pole position. Chris Helme from the Royal St George and Alex Barry from Monkstown Bay Sailing Club finished 2nd and 3rd respectively. Joining the Flight 1 sailors in the repechage will be Richard Evans, Conor Phelan, Laurence Hanley and Guy Kilroy.

There are two races planned for the repechage tomorrow with racing scheduled to get underway at 10.15am. Only the top two teams will be given the opportunity to compete against the top six sailors in the Final. Flight results from today will carry forward to the four-race Final with a discard being applied after four races. Racing is under the direction of ISA President David Lovegrove.

Flight 1 Results

Boat	Helm	Club	R1	R2	R3	Total
6	Ian Nagle	Royal Cork YC	1.5	1	2	4.5
5	Ben Duncan		2	5	1	8
8	Anthony O'Leary	Royal Cork YC	1	4	3	8
7	Ross Vaughan	Royal North of Ireland YC	3	6	4	13
3	Pat O'Neill	Clontarf Y&BC	5	2	8	15
2	Flor O'Driscoll	Royal St George YC	6	3	6	15
1	Conor Turvey	Howth YC	4	8	7	19
4	Jonathan O'Rourke	National YC	7	7	5	19

Flight 2 Results

Boat	Helm	Club	R1	R2	R3	Total
2	Stefan Hyde	Royal Cork YC	1	1	2	4
6	Chris Helme	Royal St George YC	3	5	1	9
1	Alex Barry	Monkstown Bay SC	4	2	4	10
7	Richard Evans	Howth YC	2	6	5	13
5	Conor Phelan	Royal Cork YC	6	4	3	13
8	Laurence Hanley	Lough Ree YC	5	3	6	14
4	Guy Kilroy	Royal Irish YC	7	7	7	21
3	Roy Van Maanen	Greystones SC	8	8	8	24

#allirelandsailing – The Irish Sailing Association (ISA) has issued its final list of invitees (see below) for tomorrow's All Ireland sailing championships at Howth Yacht Club together with clarification on how the selection for the competition was conducted.

The explanation follows comment from sailors on this site as to why some of the country's biggest classes, such as the Laser dinghy and Flying Fifteeen keelboat were not invited.  

In a statement, the ISA says it gives 'certain discretion' to a steering group in how it operates the selection criteria. It says these are published in the letter to classes requesting their nominations.

The statement continues 'The main operating difference for tomorrow's competition was the request for 2014 National Champions to be nominated and that a place would not be passed to a another sailor. Classes who had not completed a nationals by August 25th could use a ranking list. The objective was to ensure that as many class national champions as possible would get an opportunity to compete in the 2014 championship'.

According to the ISA, the basic rules are:

The class must have their ISA affiliation for 2014 paid in full.The Race Officer at the national championships has to be a National RO, or Regional RO under mentoring by a National RO. This is an ISA Policy from 2005 designed to improve the standard of racing at class championships. For this purposes the ISA recognises the qualification of officials from other national authorities e.g. RYA, FFV as well as ISAF International ROs.The SG are not permitted to select from classes that do not comply with one or other these rules.

All other nominees were considered and the selection process set out in the report was followed. The top three dinghy and keelboat classes based on numbers at their national championships were selected first, that gave six. The remaining classes, dinghy and keelboat together, were then ranked in order of numbers and the next nine selected. Where there were equal numbers a lottery was held to determine the order. The remaining classes were ranked in order for call up, by lottery, if and when a place became available.

Some nominees were unable to accept places due to pre-existing commitments (e.g. family engagements or competition abroad as part of ISA Squads) and the places awarded to other classes in order of the selection. In other cases the nominee was not able to accept a place.

Full text here

2014 ISA All Ireland Invitees

Name	Surname	Club	Class
Alex	Barry	Monkstown Bay SC	RS400	National Champion
Ben	Duncan		Defending Champion	Champion 2013
Richard	Evans	Howth YC	ICRA 2'	National Champion
Laurence	Hanley	Lough Ree YC	Shannon OD	National Champion
Chris	Helme	Royal St George YC	Ruffian	National Champion
Stefan	Hyde	Royal Cork YC	SB20	National Champion
Guy	Kilroy	Royal Irish YC	Water Wag*	National Champion
Ian	Nagle	Royal Cork YC	ICRA '1'	National Champion
Flor	O'Driscoll	Royal St George YC	J24*	Ranking Champion
Anthony	O'Leary	Royal Cork YC	Commodores Cup & 1720	National Champion
Pat	O'Neill	Clontarf Y&BC	IDRA 14 & E-Boat	Double National Champion
Jonathan	O'Rourke	National YC	Mermaid	National Champion
Conor	Phelan	Royal Cork YC	ICRA '0'	National Champion
Conor	Turvey	Howth YC	Howth 17 Footer	National Champion
Roy	Van Maanen	Greystones SC	RS200	National Champion
Ross	Vaughan	Royal North YC	Squib	National Champion

#allirelandsailing – 16 national sailing class champions have been invited to compete at the Howth Yacht Club hosted All Ireland Sailing Championships on the 6th and 7th of September. The championship, which began in 1947, will be sailed in the ISA's fleet of J80 keelboats where some of the nation's top sailors will battle it out for the coveted Helmsman's Trophy.  Scroll down for invitee list.

From its invite list published yesterday the Irish Sailing Association (ISA) has opted not to invite some of the strongest Irish dinghy and one design keelboat classes. For example there is no Flying fifteen invite despite a proud showing of 29–boats for its championships on Strangford Lough last weekend. Neither is there an invitation (invitation list below) for the Laser, Fireball, Dragon, National 18 or Puppeteer classes. Nor are there invitations extended to the Olympic squad such as Annalise Murphy, winner of the women's Moth World Championships. 

Mirror, Topper and 420 class invitees are also missing from the list but these may yet appear on the Junior Helmsmans invitee list as these classes are mainly sailed by youth sailors in Ireland.

Among the invited competitors is recent Commodore's Cup winner and 1720 national champion Anthony O'Leary. O'Leary has competed at the All Irelands numerous times and although sons Peter and Nicholas have won the championship a combined five times, Anthony himself has yet to bring the title back to Cork. There are three Cruiser Racer invitees for ICRA division winners.

Defending All Ireland Sailing Champion Ben Duncan will face some stiff competition next week as he fights to retain his title. Earning a nomination from the GP14 class is Olympic veteran Ger Owens who competed at the Games in Athens, Beijing and most recently in London. Owens is no stranger to the ISA championship having won it in 2000. He will also line up against the 2007 victor Stefan Hyde.

The 16 boats will compete in two fleets of eight on Saturday, each scheduled for three races.

From there the top three boats from each fleet will progress to Sunday's final four-race series with two additional places remaining for the top two boats from a two-race repechage on Sunday morning.

2014 invites

Name	Surname	Club	Class
Alex	Barry	Monkstown Bay Sailing Club	RS400
Ben	Duncan		Defending Champion
Richard	Evans	Howth Yacht Club	ICRA 2'
Laurence	Hanley	Lough Ree Yacht Club	Shannon One Design
Chris	Helme	Royal St George Yacht Club	Ruffian
Stefan	Hyde	Royal Cork Yacht Club	SB20
Ian	Nagle	Royal Cork Yacht Club	ICRA '1'
Flor	O'Driscoll	Royal St George Yacht Club	J24
Anthony	O'Leary	Royal Cork Yacht Club	Commodores Cup & 1720
Pat	O'Neill	Clontarf Yacht & Boat Club	IDRA14 & E-Boat
Jonathan	O'Rourke	National Yacht Club	Mermaid
Ger	Owens	Royal St George Yacht Club	GP14
Conor	Phelan	Royal Cork Yacht Club	ICRA '0'
Conor	Turvey	Howth Yacht Club	Howth 17 Footer
Roy	Van Maanen	Greystones Sailing Club	RS200
Ross	Vaughan	Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club	Squib

#allirelandsailing – Prior commitments mean the All Ireland sailing champion Peter O’Leary will be unable to defend his 2012 title.  Nor will any of his Olympic 2012 team mates make the Howth Yacht Club start line as Annalise Murphy, Ryan Seaton and Ger Owens, who all received nominations, bow out of tomorrow's competition, where big breeze is expected. The ISA released the line up of 16 competitors this morning. Download line up below as a jpeg file.

As Afloat.ie reported earlier the ISA initially planned a prequalification round for the event for tomorrow but these plans appear to have changed, giving an appearance that 16 is all that could be mustered, a far cry from a few years ago when there were complaints over not getting invited, even to the prequalifying Friday line-up of 28 plus classes. 

The 16 class representatives hail from all four corners of the country; nine sail from Dublin, three from Cork and one a piece in Westmeath, Limerick, Donegal and Antrim.

Mermaid – Mark Boylan, Skerries SC; Fireball – Noel Butler; ICRA '1' – Colin Byrne, Royal Irish YC; Laser Radial – Thomas Chaix, Kinsale YC; J24 – Cillian Dickson, Howth YC; SB20 – Ben Duncan; Junior Winner – Séafra Guilfoyle, Royal Cork YC; Shannon OD – Laurence Hanley, Lough Ree YC; Ruffian – Trevor Kirkpatrick, Carrickfergus SC; Wild Card – Finn Lynch, National YC; Flying Fifteen – Ian Mathews, National YC; ICRA '2'– Simon McGibney, Foynes YC GP14 – John McGuinness, Moville BC; RS400 – Emmet Ryan, Royal St George YC; Multihull – Mark Small, Kinsale YC; Howth 17, Mike Toomey, Howth YC.

Among them is a strong up-and-coming youth contingent. Finn Lynch from the ISA Academy earned a wild card nomination for his recent performance at the Laser European & World Championships. The 17 year old took home three medals at the regatta including Gold - U21 Men’s Laser Radial Worlds, Silver – Men’s Laser Radial Europeans and Bronze – Men’s Laser Radial Worlds. Joining Finn in the line-up will be fellow Academy member Séafra Guilfoyle who earned his place by winning the Junior All Ireland event last month in Co. Cork.

Representing the Mermaid class will be Mark Boylan who this year became the youngest ever Mermaid National Champion at the age of 20. And making up an all youth crew for Optimist Squad coach Thomas Chaix will be Dara O’Shea and Douglas Elmes who have since graduated from Oppies and Johnny Durcan who is still on the national Optimist Squad.

The 16 boats will compete in two fleets of eight on Saturday, each scheduled for three races. From there the top three boats from each fleet will progress to Sunday’s final four-race series with two places remaining for the top two boats from a two-race repechage on Sunday morning.

Up to 25 knot south westerly winds are forecast for both days of competition.

#allirelands – Invitations to the senior All Ireland Sailing Championship also known as the Helmsmans championships have been issued by the Irish Sailing Association (ISA) this morning. The event takes place in Howth Yacht Club from the 25th – 27th of October in J80 keelboats.

Included in the line up is Laser European Radial champion Annalise Murphy and the defending champion Peter O'Leary. The full list of invitees is downloadable below as a jpeg file.