Afloat.ie regret to record the death of National Yacht Club member and former Trustee Mr. Liam Shanahan Snr.

Liam and his wife Emir and family have been stalwart members of the National Yacht Club at Dun Laoghaire Harbour for many years. 

"Together with their family, the Shanahans have made a huge and positive impact on many aspects of Club life", National Yacht Club Commodore Peter Sherry said last night.

"Always willing to help with the management of functions and events, they epitomised the true ethos of family membership", the Commodore added.

"Liam brought his very extensive experience as a successful businessman to bear for the benefit of the Club, which was greatly appreciated by every Commodore he supported during his long term as Club Trustee", he said.

An offshore racer, Liam was at the top of the sport in the 1980s and '90s in both Irish Sea and Round Ireland Race campaigns. "Liam was a stalwart of offshore racing and ISORA from its early days, racing boats like “Emircedes“ and “Lightning", ISORA Chairman Peter Ryan told Afloat. 

A former crew on Shanahan campaigns, and the Chairman of the NYC's Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race, Adam Winkelmann, expressed his condolences online saying: "Sincere condolences to Emir and the whole Shanahan family. Truly the end of an era for many of us who were mentored in offshore and life skills by Liam. So many fond memories of time at sea and onshore together. Truly a life lived to the full. Rest in peace Liam and thank you for it all". 

The National Yacht Club ensign will be flown at half-mast in his memory, and a minute's silence will be observed at the next club committee meeting.

A full appreciation of this very special figure in the Dublin and Irish sailing world will appear in due course; meanwhile, our heartfelt condolences are with his family and very many friends throughout Ireland and abroad.

The funeral arrangements are here

There may be 20,000 Irish fans or more in France for the Ruby World Cup this month, but not many of them are travelling by yacht.

The maritime voyage of some Dun Laoghaire Harbour sailors has attracted attention from the French media.

The National Yacht Club's Justin Burke and Michael Raymond were recently interviewed by the daily newspaper Ouest France, upon mooring their boat in Pornichet, Western France, ahead of Ireland's match against Tonga in Nantes.

Burke, who owns a JPK yacht based in Brittany, is using the vessel to support the Irish rugby team to its full potential

Burke and Raymond watched the Tonga match alongside crewmates Mark Burke, John Malone, and Gerry Haughey. The sailors plan to sail from Porniche to Port La Foret and then onwards to Paris for the Ireland vs South Africa match on September 23rd. Justin's brother, Paul, will join the crew for the upcoming match.

Read the full article on Ouest France here (subscription required).

The last week has been light, very light, and Ireland enjoyed a week of late summer. The conditions were too light for any races at the National Yacht Club Junior September Series in Dun Laoghaire Harbour, so the tally remained at three races after the races were completed on the series' weekend.

The ILCA (Laser) Connaughts was raced in Wexford (very fluid regional limits). The race officer managed to secure four races, as Afloat reports here. Sam Ledoux started with an OCS disqualification before scoring three race wins, securing the title in the ILCA 7 (Full rig) for his first event in the class.

RYA NI Youth Champs

Many NYC young sailors journeyed to Ballyholme to compete at the RYA Northern Ireland youth championships, a multi-class youth event marking the end of the season in the North and launching their winter training programmes.

Rory Hudson Hobb was the Topper champion at the RYA NI Youth Championships in Ballyholme

In the Topper Class, three races were completed, and Rory Brennan-Hobbs took the title. Consistency in the difficult light conditions was key, and his event resulted from steady progress all season. Seventh overall, Kate Kenny secured bronze in the girls. James Gorman concluded his event in 12th.

Matthew Holden and Peter Ridout, RYA NI Youth RSFeva Champions in Ballyholme

In the Feva class, Matthew Holden (with his local crew, Peter Ridout) took the title ahead of Felix Dion and Lucas Browne. Grace Keating and Hannah Walsh completed the unique race and sailed for the class in fifth overall.

The 29th event was also the Northerns. NYC girls Ella Fitzgerald and Lisa Flynn were putting their latest training to the test and completed the unique race sailed in 3rd (1st girls).

This year's event had a small Optimist fleet, and Alex Butcher used the event as practice prior to next week's Connaughts in Lough Ree (over 150 entries expected). After three races completed, he secured Silver.

It was a great show from NYC young sailors, and they are now looking forward to the Optimist Connaughts and the Feva Southern Championships.

Saturday, 2nd September, dawned windless on Belfast Lough for the second day of the Irish Flying Fifteen National Championships at County Antrim Yacht Club. It stayed that way sufficiently long for the Race Officer to fly a postponement flag ashore. It afforded the fleet an opportunity to tweak boats, apply temporary bandages to bruised hulls and engage in the social aspect of the regatta.

The fleet were advised to go afloat after the expiry of the hour signalled by the shoreside flying on the postponement flag. At that stage the water wasn't quite so glassy but there was a semblance of wind. It subsequently filled to allow 3 races to be sailed in winds that probably got up to ten knots.

A well know FF personality is often heard to say after a frustrating day on the water " you can't beat the sailing". Today, he bit back, scoring a 1,2,1 to elevate himself and his crew to the top of the overall standings albeit by a point ahead of the Connemara cousins, Niall and Ronan O'Briain who took the middle race win. The Connemara crew have an eight-point advantage over the Dunmore East combination of Lee Statham & Andy Paul who have 3pts over Peter Kennedy & Stephen Kane with another point separating them and overnight leader Trevor D'Arcy.

More wind is forecast for Sunday, but after a day of genteel winds and sunshine today, we won't get too greedy!

The overall results after five races sailed are below.

Irish Flying Fifteen National Championships results after five races sailed at County Antrim Yacht Club

The longstanding commitment of Facet Jewellers to the Flying Fifteen Class in Dun Laoghaire Harbour manifested itself again this past Saturday when the Facet Trophy was raced for by ten Flying Fifteens in a relatively empty Dublin Bay. Indeed, a start of ten boats might have been a high for the day in terms of overall participation.

The forecast for the weekend had been dire from the middle of the week, but as the week wore its way towards Friday, there was a sense that the conditions were set to moderate. However, anyone who was awake very early on the Saturday morning (3 – 4am) would have heard a howling gale outside. By 13:00, the concern wasn’t so much the wind but the sea state! However, a preliminary reconnaissance by the committee boat deemed that racing could proceed.

With the wind set to be slightly west of north, according to XCWeather, we set off for a start area in the vicinity of Merrion with a weather mark that was initially in transit with the leading lights at the mouth of the Liffey.

The wind was pretty much as forecast 16/17 knots with gusts coming through with each pass of grey cloud. However, with the tide still having just over an hour of flooding and the course being inshore, in relative terms, the seas were quite confused and lumpy. The majority of the fleet started on starboard tack for the first race with David Gorman & Cormac Bradley (4099) about halfway down the line in the company of Ian Mathews and Keith Poole (4093), David Mulvin & Ronan Beirne (4068), with Neil Colin & Margaret Casey (4028) also in this group. Unbeknownst to this scribe, three boats went hard right – Ken Dumpleton & Joe Hickey (3955), Joe Coughlan & Andrew Marshall (3913) and Jill Fleming (3747). The consequence of the latter group going hard right was that the former group, having done their best to get away from their colleagues in the middle and left of the course, found themselves playing second fiddle to Dumpleton & Hickey who were never headed after the weather mark and won by a comfortable margin. Behind them, the running order was Gorman & Bradley in very close company with Mulvin & Beirne and Mathews & Poole. Down the first leeward leg, Mathews and Mulvin closed on Gorman with Alastair Court & Conor O’Leary (3753) behind this group. Colin & Casey were also not far away from the chasing three.

As the chasing group gybed and gybed again to get to the leeward mark, Mulvin sneaked in ahead of Gorman while Mathews dropped a little behind. Within the last few boat-lengths to the mark, Gorman came back again, and while he had no room, Mulvin made sure that he wasn’t tempted to squeeze in, by slamming the door shut. At this stage, Mathews and Poole parted company, giving Gorman the chance to chase Mulvin up the next beat unfettered. Court also took advantage to get into fourth place.

There were no changes up the second beat and subsequent run in the lead group, leading to a finishing order of Dumpleton, Mulvin, Gorman, Court, Mathews, Colin, Alan Balfe & son (3995), Coughlan, Mick Quinn & Mary-Jane Mulligan (3960) and Fleming. Back on shore Dumpleton said his decision to go hard right was influenced by the cloud movement and while there wasn’t unanimity about that on the boat, it paid dividends.

For the second race, the RO, Barry O’Neil moved the weather mark quite a bit westward to compensate for the shifting breeze. Once underway the reverse of the first race applied! The bulk of the fleet worked the middle and right of the course after a starboard tacked start. Gorman, peeled off first, taking a modest port tack before coming back into the middle of the course again. Mathews, Court and Mulvin took the port tack later and Gorman found himself leading this bunch as he worked the middle part of the course. But where were Colin & Casey? In contrast to Dumpleton the first time round, they worked the extreme left of the course as Dumpleton had done before on the right and lead the fleet around the weather mark. Behind them came Gorman and Court with a bit of distance before Mathews, Mulvin and Dumpleton rounded.

The run to the leeward mark required only a single gybe and a much later one at that. Colin, Gorman and Court all rounded safely without giving anything away to those who were chasing them. All three set off on the second beat holding a port tack before Court became the first to peel off and go shore-wards. Gorman took the decision to chase Colin and as the beat developed it appeared that was a good decision as some distance had been eked out from Court and Colin’s lead was slightly reduced.

While Gorman had closed on Colin, he had to keep an eye on Court as a slip at this stage might change the whole scene in overall terms. Again, the run to the mark was a single tack sail with a gybe late on to accommodate the short three sail reach to the finish, the wind having swung a bit further westward. Gorman gybed before he reached the leeward mark which allowed him a more relaxed set of the spinnaker and a higher windward slot to the finish. Colin’s later gybe did not go quite so smoothly and Gorman was able to take advantage and the winning gun. Ashore, Colin’s explanation of his first beat tactics was working the shifts on the left hand-side.

Since a recent session on rigging and tuning by John Lavery, there has been a much greater awareness of the need to change rigs in accordance with conditions. Post-race it seems everyone had taken heed of John’s advice as most people made a rigging change between the two races.

The finishing order for the second race was; Gorman, Colin, Court, Mathews, Mulvin, Dumpleton, Coughlan, Balfe, Fleming.

Over the two races the points were as follows; Gorman (4), Court, Mulvin and Dumpleton (7), Mathews (9), Coughlan and Balfe (15), Quinn and Fleming (19), meaning that tie-breaks were needed to resolve the 1-2-3 in both the Silver and Gold Fleet.

Ronan Beirne & David Mulvin (4068) were 2nd Gold Fleet in the Flying Fifteen Facet Trophy race and were presented with the trophy by Pat Shannon of Facet Jewellers (right) Photo: Dasha Hilliard

Ken Dumpleton (left) & Joe Hickey (3955) were 3rd Gold Fleet in the Flying Fifteen Facet Trophy race and were presented with the trophy by Pat Shannon of Facet Jewellers (centre) Photo: Dasha Hilliard

Gold Overall
1. David Gorman & Cormac Bradley 4pts
2. Ken Dumpleton & Joe Hickey 7pts
3. David Mulvin & Ronan Beirne 7pts

Silver Fleet
1. Joe Coughlan & Andrew Marshall 15pts
2. Alan Balfe & son, 15pts
3. Mick Quinn & Mary-Jane Mulligan 19pts.

Alan Balfe & son (3995) – 1st Silver Fleet in the Flying Fifteen Facet Trophy race Photo: Dasha Hilliard

Andrew Marshall & Joe Coughlan – 2nd Silver Fleet in the Flying Fifteen Facet Trophy race Photo: Dasha Hilliard

Mick Quinn (3960) was 3rd Silver Fleet in the Flying Fifteen Facet Trophy race Photo: Dasha Hilliard

Class Captain Robin Hilliard, ably assisted by his daughter Dasha, officiated at the prizegiving at the National Yacht Club with Facet Jewellers’ Pat Shannon in attendance to hand out the prizes. Pat commended the fleet for the day’s racing and referenced the longstanding relationship between Facet Jewellers and the Flying Fifteen Fleet. He also thanked Class Captain Robin Hilliard for his work in putting the event together.

Dun Laoghaire's National Yacht Club Will Byrne crewed on Jon Desmond's Mills 41Chicago-Mackinac race winner, Final Final, at the weekend.

Desmond's debutantes took the overall ORC and class win out of 250 boats racing the 350-mile course on Lake Michigan.

Chicago Yacht Club organisers claimed, "Another successful race to Mackinac is in the books, with today’s award ceremony taking place on the great lawn of Mission Point Resort".

Dun Laoghaire's National Yacht Club Will Byrne (third from left) with his  crew mates from Jon Desmond's Mills 41 Final Final, the 2023 Chicago-Mackinac race winner Photo: CYC

The race, known as ‘America’s Offshore Challenge,’ delivered a spectacular race yet again with its mix of squalls, calms and, most of all, new memories for the 240 teams competing.

For the Mackinac Cup, awarded this year to the large racing boat overall winner, first-timer Final Final won Section 2 and the Cup.

Owner Jon Desmond of Cohasset, Mass., admitted they had more than a few moments of angst when they made a tactical decision to split from the fleet early on in the race. “We had this moment where it was like, ‘you realise we have just separated from the teams that have how many Macs under their belt’?” he said.

The decision paid off, and the East-coast-based Mills 41 is already planning its return to defend the victory.

Some sunshine and gentle sailing breezes on Dublin Bay allowed a full programme of three races for Wednesday's (19th July) National Yacht Club Junior Regatta sponsored by Sia Partners NextGen Consulting.

Over 100 boats contested the regatta in an in-harbour fleet at Dun Laoghaire and a main fleet that raced on Dublin Bay. 

RStGYC's Caoilinn Geraghty-McDonnell was the winner of the Laser 4.7 division, with Emily Cantwell second and Zita Tempany third. 

Optimists sailing downwind at the National Yacht Club Junior Regatta sponsored by Sia Partners NextGen Consulting. Scroll down for a photo gallery Photo: Michael Chester

RStGYC's Jamie White won the Optimists, Holly Cantwell was second with James Crawford, all RSTGYC, third.

The NYC's Tom Flannery and Alex Trickett were the PY two-handed winners in a 29er. 

A 29er skiff sailing on a reach at the National Yacht Club Junior Regatta sponsored by Sia Partners NextGen Consulting. Scroll down for a photo gallery Photo: Michael Chester

In the RS Feva, NYC's  Daniel Burns and John Healy won from RStGYC's Amy OHalloran, with RSGYC's Susanna Bloomer and Elizabeth Lyster third.

Prizes were presented by National Yacht Club Commodore Peter Sherry, assisted by the Junior Regatta organiser Rebecca Hall. 

National Yacht Club Junior Regatta 2023 Prizegiving Photo Gallery by Michael Chester

Results for the main fleet are below, and the harbour fleet result is here

National Yacht Club Junior Regatta 2023 Photo Gallery by Michael Chester

With four straight wins, Britain's Megan Pascoe won Sunday's Irish 2.4mR Championships 2023 held in Dun Laoghaire Harbour.

As Afloat reported previously, Saturday's first day of racing in the one-person keelboat event was lost to strong winds. 

The National Yacht Club hosted championships attracted sailors from the UK and Netherlands, including the previous world champion Pascoe.

Second overall at the Irish 2.4mR Championships 2023 held in Dun Laoghaire Harbour was Steve Bullmore from Spinnaker SC (GBR 1039) Photo: Afloat

British sailors also took second and third overall, with Steve Bullmore from Spinnaker Sailing Club winning silver and John Patrick from Blue Circle Cruising & SC taking bronze in the 13-boat fleet.

Sneek sailed by Dutch sailor Pieter Visser (NED 59), competing at the Irish 2.4mR Championships 2023 held in Dun Laoghaire Harbour Photo: Afloat

Results below

Strong northwesterly gusts have cancelled 29er Skiff National Championship racing at the National Yacht Club.

Friday evening and Saturday's schedules were both scrubbed because of the high winds. 

Racing is scheduled again for tomorrow (Sunday) on Dublin Bay.

As Afloat reported previously, top Irish crews have just finished four days of competition at Kiel Week in Germany, where sister-Brother duo Clementine and Nathan van Steenberge (NYC) finished up fifth and first mixed duo, having led the 29er fleet for the first three days.

Former National Yacht Club (NYC) Commodore Brían Barry of Killiney, County Dublin, has died.

Brian was a Member of the NYC for over 50 years. He came into sailing through Glenans, and with his wife Anne, he continued introducing people to sailing throughout his sailing career.

"With his financial training in Coopers and Lybrand, he served as treasurer for several difficult years following various crises in the Dun Laoghaire club. He served on several other sub-committees culminating in his election as Commodore in 1991, Commodore Peter Sherry told members this week.

Sherry said in a tribute that Brian, "together with Martin Crotty, pioneered the Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race and established our strong interclub relationship with Cumann Bádoírí Naomh Bréanainn (Dingle Sailing Club). His daughter Suzie continues the link with her involvement in the D2D".

Brian also initiated adult sailing in the club by donating his Hunter 27 “Willie Waw”.

"Always a gentleman and a much-loved family man", Sherry said.

"He will be sadly missed by all his friends within the Club and further afield. Our deepest sympathies go to his family during this difficult time", he added.

The NYC Club ensign will be flown at half-mast in his memory, and a minute's silence will be observed at the next Committee meeting.

Funeral details are here