The first provincial regatta of the 2024 Irish Flying Fifteen season saw the fleet congregate in what has become, in a very short space of time, a very popular venue. In 2022, a small group of Dun Laoghaire Flying Fifteens headed west to sample the sailing waters of the west coast in a new venue in Galway as a trial regatta.

Competitors enjoyed a superb welcome with very warm hospitality over the two days, both at the regatta venue with teas, coffees, soup, a food van on the Saturday morning and sandwiches on Sunday afternoon and at a meal in a local pub on the Saturday night. This prompted a decision to take the Western Championships to the same venue in 2023 and this weekend past the trick was repeated.

Competitors who were able to get to Sruthan Pier on the Friday evening were afforded an opportunity to have a sail on a Galway Hooker, owned by the 2023 National Champion crew, Ronan O’Briain and a good number of Fifteeners availed of the opportunity on what looked like (from the WhatsApp photos) a glorious evening followed by a BBQ on the pier. The camaraderie continued into the evening and early morning for some with stories of taste buds and senses being treated to new experiences and tastes that some had forgotten.

Flying Fifteen crews enjoy sailing a Galway Hooker off Sruthan Pier, Connemara, Photo: Peter Murphy

Saturday morning wasn’t quite as glorious with overcast skies and an adverse forecast that suggested strong winds of 20 knots and gusts in the high twenties (XCWeather). With a mid-afternoon start and only two races planned, due to the tide, the midday forecast from Met Eireann was foreboding – Force 6 to 7 moderating later with showers. In short time the showers arrived and there was whistling in the rigging, but by the time the regatta briefing was undertaken by Brian Mathews (Dun Laoghaire), the wind appeared to have abated and the decision to race proceeded.

2024 Irish Flying Fifteen Western Championship results

Racing took place just outside the bay into which we launched and two Windward-Leeward races were sailed in quick time. A number of the fleet decided that discretion was the better part of valour and didn’t go out, but those who did enjoyed winds that were around the 18-knot mark with gusts that got up to 23 knots in the first race, won by a very comfortable margin by Shane MacCarthy & Hugh McNally (4116). Behind them there was tight racing in the front group of Lee Statham & Andy Paul (4070), Niall & Ronan O’Briain, the 2023 National Champions, club mates Dermot Flaherty & Joe McDonagh (4083) and the newest boat in the Irish fleet, Andrew McCleery & Colin Dougan’s 4120. Just behind this group were the NYC’s Tom Galvin & Cormac Bradley (3757), with Niall Meagher & Keith Poole snapping at their heels.

Race 2 was a much tighter affair with the National Champions and MacCarthy & McNally keeping close company with each other. And the chasing group was tighter as well as being bigger with membership of that group shared by Statham, Flaherty, Galvin, Court, Meagher and

Peter Kennedy & Stephen Kane (3920) a surprise member but better off than race 1 in which they recorded a DNF. For this race, the wind moderated to 15/16 knots with the gusts in the low twenties.

With two races down, the first two boats, MacCarthy & McNally and the O’Briains were tied, each with a 1,2 with the top spot going to the local boat on the basis of winning the second race. O’Flaherty & McDonagh were third (3,3) with Statham & Paul 4th (5,4) while McCleery & Dougan were tied on 11pts (4,7) with Galvin & Bradley (6,5).

The plan after racing was to reconvene at our dining venue, An Realt (The Star) in close proximity to where we had launched. Some admitted to using the intervening period to have a snooze – justified by the physical exertions of the day on the water and the lateness of the previous night.

A majority turnout of the competitors and organisers enjoyed a good night with a two-course meal, spirited post-mortems of the day and lots of craic! Some people made declarations of getting away early from the pub, but such was the atmosphere that a lot of those ambitions went astray.

Sunday, with a programme of three races, and a start time of 11:55, came about as a grey sky, slightly less wind with a change of direction, to the west. That necessitated a new sailing area, slightly further out to sea which also accommodated a larger course while sticking with the Windward-Leeward configuration. The timetable for the day, three races, put some pressure on the Race Officer but he allowed the first race to start under a conventional “P” Flag. However, the fleet reciprocated by going over the line early so a General Recall was signalled.

The subsequent start was under a “U” Flag and that flag was also used for the subsequent two starts, for races four and five.

MacCarthy consolidated his spot at the head of the fleet with two wins in Races 3 and 4. But to prove he didn’t have it all his own way, in one of these he had to come back from being fourth at the first weather mark. By the first leeward mark he had attained leadership of the race and never let it go.

The more moderate weather, combined with sunshine, prompted a full turnout of the fleet and to be expected some others had sorted out the “wrinkles” of the previous day to have a more meaningful presence at the head of the fleet. Most notable of these were Messrs Kennedy & Kane who scored two second places ahead of the O’Briains who scored two third places. The symmetry of places extended to Statham & Paul who scored two fourth places. Thereafter, it went askew with Flaherty & McDonagh scoring 7,5. Galvin, McCleery each scored an eighteen in race five with McCleery having terminal damage to a main and Galvin getting a letter score rather than a number score. Meagher & Court consolidated positions in the overall pecking order by having a two-race performance that was marginally better than the two races of Saturday. Neil Colin & Margaret Casey’s regatta came to a premature end with a broken shroud in race 3.

Kennedy and Kane won the day’s honours with a 2,2,1 to MacCarthy & McNally’s 1,1,4 and the O’Briains’ 3,3,2. It was enough to get them onto the podium for the overall regatta, behind MacCarthy & McNally and the O’Briains.

Niall Meagher & Keith Poole won the Silver fleet ahead of Alastair Court & Conor O’Leary. The Bronze fleet prize went to locals Mairtin O’Flaharta & Maidh O’hOibicin (3686).

FFC asked Cormac Bradley to present the Ben Mulligan Memorial prize to the youngest participant in the regatta – that went to Breandan McDonnacha (crew 3621).

Sruthan Pier, venue for the Flying Fifteen Westerns 2020, by Stephen Kane

Another fantastic weekend of hospitality and camaraderie had come to an end with great racing under the management of Brian Mathews and a local team of helpers. Flying Fifteen Chonamara have a wonderful community approach to this regatta, wives and partners all get involved, the chef who catered the Saturday night meal was back on the pier on Sunday afternoon with sandwiches and soup after racing and Class Captain Mike Hopkins (Maidh o’hOibicin) was offering cool “refreshments” to competitors from a cool box. The prize-giving on the pier was awash with the enthusiasm of the FFC members present.

National Champions Niall and Ronan O'Briain of Flying Fifteen Chonamara lead the 15-boat Flying Fifteen Western Championships after two races sailed in overcast and cool conditions with intermittent rain off the Galway coast.

The National Yacht Club's Shane McCarthy and Hugh McNally dominated the first race with a runaway win in 18 knots, with gusts up to 23 knots.

The second race was sailed in more moderate conditions, 14 - 18 knots, and was much tighter. The O'Briains won, but not by the earlier margin of McCarthy.

That leaves them tied on points with McCarthy, who finished second.

 did very well to get two races in.

Tomorrow's schedule is for three races under Race Officer Brian Matthews.

Flying Fifteen Western Championships results after two races sailed

Flying Fifteen Western Championships results after two races sailed

With five Dun Laoghaire-based Flying Fifteens away in France at the European Championships, a turnout of fourteen boats for last night’s DBSC Thursday race is indicative of the strength of the Class across the waterfront and even at that there were a few boats who aren’t in France who were not out last night. As it was the fleet was made up of a good proportion of the Royal St George based fleet, with the balance coming from the National Yacht Club.

Low water was at 18:50 but in the starting area, the flood was already underway. The forecast was for light SSE winds of the order of 4-8 knots. On the way out to the start area there was a sense that there was a bit more breeze, but the forecast was for it to go further southwards but stay light.

Our assessment was that the committee boat end was favoured and a number of others seemed to share that view, most notably Neil Colin & Margaret Casey (4028) and Ken Dumpleton & Joe Hickey (3955). We were a bit further away from the committee boat than planned and found ourselves pinned on starboard by a number of boats, the closest of which was Louise McKenna & Hermine O’Keeffe (3697). To leeward we had Alistair Court & Conor O’Leary (3753). A few minutes after the start gun there was a group of five boats heading offshore, with the balance pursuing a variety of inshore courses.

The tack onto port and an inshore passage saw us engage with what would turn out to be the lead bunch, Messrs Dumpleton, Colin and Phil Lawton (3803). Going inshore had paid, though I am not quite sure where Lawton had started on the line. McKenna who had tacked earlier than us to head inshore was also in close company and some of those who had headed offshore joined the peloton.

While Bulloch (R) was the first mark of the course, the reality is that Island (Q) was the further weather mark on course GW4, so in effect, Bulloch wasn’t a “turning mark”. By the time the leaders had passed Bulloch, the pecking order was Dumpleton, Colin, Lawton and Galvin & Bradley (3757), with Peter Murphy & Ciara Mulvey (3774), Court and McKenna following on. Dumpleton went furthest out to sea on the run down to Pier (V) while the other three gybed shortly after rounding Island to pursue a more inshore course. Colin got away from the other three and was followed around the mark by Dumpleton. Lawton was third but Galvin was followed around Pier by a 1720, who effectively blanketed him allowing both Murphy and Court to get an upper hand on him. Of these six boats, five went inshore, the exception being Dumpleton who went “big” offshore. At this stage Colin looked to be in control, staying between the mark and chasers. Galvin’s interaction with the 1720 seemed to be overcome when towards the latter stages of the leg to Island (directly from Pier) he was able to close on both Murphy and Court. However, at Island for the second time Colin led from Lawton with Court, Murphy and Dumpleton ahead of Galvin.

On the second run to Pier, Colin appeared to be “waltzing away” on a similar course to the run he had previously sailed. Lawton, however, went much deeper into Scotsman’s Bay and, as the breeze started to fade, he caught right up to Colin and got ahead of him in the rounding of Pier. The next three boats closed to a certain extent, for the same reason, with the flooding tide becoming more dominant in the fading breeze.

The ”hitch” upwind to the finish was challenging. Lawton won by going left. Colin initially looked good by going right but the transition to get across to the finish line was slow and with Court also going left, Colin was in jeopardy of losing another place on the water. However, he just managed to get across with Court finishing a very close third. Dumpleton was next to finish but had Murphy and Galvin for close company. Murphy is recorded as finishing next by the smallest of margins (even though a well-placed official had a different verbal take on the finishing order when he came ashore).

As the wind faded the dominance of the tide grew even more and the later boats had a real challenge to get to the finish with places lost in the dying moments of the race. Some were very aggrieved that a downwind finish wasn’t available!

Race Officer, John McNeilly, has now had three challenging Thursdays in a row, 1st Thursday was also a wind versus tide saga, 2nd Thursday was cancelled due to no wind and last night was a virtual repeat, with the same course as 1st Thursday. He will be looking forward to healthier winds!

DBSC Thursday Nights; Flying Fifteens; 9th May 2024

1. Phil Lawton & Crew; 3803.
2. Neil Colin & Margaret Casey; 4028
3. Alastair Court & Conor O’Leary, 3753
4. Ken Dumpleton & Joe Hickey, 3955
5. Peter Murphy & Ciara Mulvey, 3774.

Six Irish boats are competing at the Flying Fifteen European Championships starting on Thursday (March 9th) at Crozon Morgat in Brittany.

With crews also from France, Spain, Belgium, and the usual UK contenders, it promises to be an exciting four-day event.

Five of the Irish crews are from the National Yacht Club (NYC) in Dun Laoghaire, and the sixth are current National Champions Niall and Ronan O Briain from Connemara.

The Irish comprise: 

• Ian Mathews and Keith Poole (NYC)
• Alan Green and Chris Doorly (NYC)
• Niall Meagher and Nicky Matthews (NYC)
• Shane McCarthy and Hugh McNally (NYC)
• Niall and Laura Coleman (NYC)
• Niall and Ronan O Briain ( Connemara)

Although it is early season, the Irish have undergone winter training with NYC head coach Thomas Chaix, who will also be on the water in Crozon.

In addition to the national champion O Briains, former GP14 World Champion Shane McCarthy is also expected to be in the mix.

The event, hosted by Centre Nautique Crozon Morgat in Brittany, is part of the regional event Le Grand Priz Ecole Navale.

The 2023 DBSC season was a mixed bag of weather for everyone and the Flying Fifteens were no exception. We had Saturdays when we were blown off due to too much wind or dangerous seas only to find the following Thursday that we didn’t have enough wind to warrant going afloat. On another Thursday, we had a peasouper of an evening where only two boats bothered to try and find the committee boat – we did – before the Race Officer called the whole affair off. We also had the windiest Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta that I can recall where five Flying Fifteens “distinguished” themselves as being the only boats in a 400+ fleet to get a race in on the very blustery Thursday.

The Dun Laoghaire fleet was well represented at all the regional and National events, with a big turnout in Connemara in particular. Having seen the National title go West (Congrats Niall & Ronan) and another pedigree boat go west from Dun Laoghaire (followed up by a win in the closing Lough Derg regatta), the East Coast home of Flying Fifteens now has a challenge on its hands from our West Coast brethren.

After the close of the season, with the Frostbites a recent memory (Congrats Shane & Alan), and the deck at the National Yacht Club devoid of all the summer boats bar a couple of hardy Fifteens the fleet congregated for its 2023 prize-giving dinner.

The MC for the evening was Class Captain Robin Hilliard with able assistance from his daughter and crew Dasha, with guests in the form of Rosemary Cadogan, Vice Commodore of the National Yacht Club and Rosemary Roy, Honorary Secretary of DBSC.

A large number of prizes were awarded on the night, with quite a few acknowledged by specific trophies.

Frank Burns Trophy DBSC Thursdays 1st Crew Hugh McNally
Godkin Trophy DBSC Saturdays 1st Crew Chris Doorly
Siobhan Trophy DBSC Saturdays (Apr & May) David Gorman & Chris Doorly
Ross Doyle Tankard DBSC Thursdays Series 2 Shane McCarthy & Hugh McNally
Heineken Plate DBSC 1st Overall Neil Colin & Margaret Casey
Lady Crew Trophy* DBSC 1st Lady Crew Overall Margaret Casey
Lady Helm Trophy* DBSC 1st Lady Helm Overall Jill Fleming.
*New trophies presented by Mrs Rosemary Roy.
Cooper Trophy DBSC 1st Silver Fleet Adrian Cooper & Joe McNamara
Hellsgate Trophy DBSC 1st Bronze Fleet John O’Sullivan & Pat Kiersey
Halfway Mug DBSC Saturdays, 1st Silver Fleet Peter & Alex Sherry

Gold Fleet (Overall)
1. Neil Colin & Margaret Casey
2. Tom Galvin & Keith Poole
3. Alastair Court & Conor O’Leary

Silver Fleet (Overall)
1. Adrian Cooper & Joe McNamara
2. Peter & Alex Sherry
3. Jill Fleming & Richard O’Rahilly

Bronze Fleet (Overall)
1. John O’Sullivan & Pat Kiersey
2. Caomhan McKernan & Maurice Collins
3. Robin & Dasha Hilliard

Endeavour Trophy – Peter Murphy & Ciara Mulvey
Chase Trophy – Robin & Dasha Hilliard – Dalkey Island Chase
Captain’s Prize – Schull Harbour Race – Alan Green & Caroline Hannify
DAF Traveller’s Trophy – Niall Meagher & Nicki Matthews.
Neophyte Trophy (Newcomer to the fleet) – Gavin Hall.

Following the prize-giving, NYC Vice Commodore Rosemary Cadogan addressed the dinner in the absence of the Commodore, who was on the other side of the world.

The final formal act of the evening saw the outgoing Captain Robin Hilliard exit the office with a huge commendation for his efforts over the past 12 months and the “anointing” of his successor Joe Hickey with the donning of the Captain’s peaked cap.

The fixture list for the 2024 Flying Fifteen regatta circuit has been released within the past few days, and readers are reminded that this will be a qualifying year for the UK-hosted Worlds in 2025.

Flying Fifteens Prize-giving photo gallery 2023

Margaret Casey (L) receives the 1st Lady Crew Overall DBSC from National Yacht Club Vice Commodore, Rosemary Cadogan, with 2023 Flying Fifteen Class Captain, Robin Hilliard looking on. This is a new trophy donated to the Class by Rosemary Roy Photo: Cormac Bradley

Jill Fleming (C) with the 1st Flying Fifteen Lady Helm Overall DBSC with Rosemary Cadogan and Robin Hilliard. This is a new trophy donated to the Class by Rosemary Roy Photo: Cormac Bradley

Keith Poole (L) and Tom Galvin (2nd from right) pick up a prize for 2nd overall in DBSC Flying Fifteen Gold Fleet Photo: Cormac Bradley

Shane McCarthy (C) accepts the Ross Doyle Tankard for winning DBSC Flying Fifteen Thursdays Series 2 Photo: Cormac Bradley

Shane McCarthy with the Frank Burns Trophy for Hugh McNally – DBSC Flying Fifteen Thursdays, 1st Crew Photo: Cormac Bradley

Chris Doorly – 1st Crew Flying Fifteen DBSC Saturdays Photo: Cormac Bradley

Chris Doorly and David Gorman (L), winners of the Flying Fifteen Siobhan Trophy – DBSC Saturdays April & May, with Rosemary Cadogan and Robin Hilliard Photo: Cormac Bradley

Alastair Court with prizes for 3rd in Flying Fifteen Gold Fleet DBSC Photo: Cormac Bradley

Joe Hickey makes his maiden speech as the incoming (2024) Dun Laoghaire Flying Fifteen Class Captain Photo: Cormac Bradley

Irish Flying Fifteens, one of the country's biggest one design keelboat classes, will be subject to a qualification protocol for the 2025 class World Championships in Weymouth, England if more than if more boats want to compete on the Dorset coast than spaces permit. 

Flying Fifteen International will decide on the country allocations for the biennial championships last held in Perth, Australia, in 2023. 

The 2025 Worlds will be hosted by Weymouth and Portland Sailing Academy and will likely attract a strong Irish entry. 

The qualifying series consists of five events, the best of three to count for qualification. The two national championship results will be ranked +50%.

This is the same system used in 2008 leading into the Worlds hosted by the National Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire. 

2024 Irish Flying Fifteen Worlds Qualification Events Calendar

• FFAI Westerns 25th + 26th May - Sruthan, Connemara
• British Nationals 19th - 22nd June - SLYC, Co Down. Rank +50%
• FFAI Champs of Ireland - 6th - 8th Sept – Dunmore Rank +50%
• FFAI East Coast - 21st - 22nd Sept - Dublin.
• FFAI South Coast - 12th - 13th Oct - Lough Derg

It didn’t look very promising when the Flying Fifteen competitors arrived at the National Yacht Club at Dun Laoghaire Harbour on Saturday as the sea was flat calm with only an odd hint of wind and none forecast till later in the day. Despite this, the PRO Keith Poole headed out and set up station just to the north of the harbour mouth. Eight boats either paddled out or got a tow from the ribs it was that light. After a short postponement, a gentle breeze came in from the N/NW, and a course was quickly set with just one lap.

The first two positions overall were known before the start of the days racing, with Shane MacCarthy & Alan Green winning the trophy in first place and David Mulvin & Ronan Beirne in second. Third place was up for grabs. Green & MacCarthy alternated helming duties every second race so it was a successful joint effort.

Niall & Nicky Meagher sailed a great beat and were first to the weather mark, followed by Tom Galvin & Cormac Bradley and then a bunch led by Mulvin, O’Sullivan and MacCarthy in fifth. Galvin got very close to the Meaghers on the upwind to the finish bit the Meaghers prevailed to take the gun with Galvin & Bradley in second and John & Emmer O’Sullivan in third.

A downwind finish at the Flying Fifteen Frostbite Series at Dun Laoghaire Harbour

Race 2 got off quickly as it was apparent that the wind would drop. The rib crews were on call and ready to shorten the course, and this was how it panned out as the boats finished at the committee boat on the first run with the help of the tide under them. It was a clean start, and Joe Coughlan & Andy Marshal sailed an excellent beat on the right of the course to get to the weather mark just ahead of Galvin & Bradley, who recovered well after getting squeezed out at the start followed closely by Mulvin & Beirne with Jill Flemming & Joe Hickey fourth and Green & MacCarthy in fifth. It looked all over and that Coughan would win, but as a small zephyr of wind came in from behind it all changed in the last 50m. Galvin sailed past Coughlin with Mulvin and Fleming also piping Coughlan to the line.

With a consistent day's sailing in tricky conditions, Galvin & Bradley had moved up to a well-deserved third overall.

In a competition that has been on the go since 1979, this was as good and enjoyable as any of them, and at the prize giving in the NYC, winners Green & MacCarthy thanked the PRO Keith Poole and all the volunteers on the committee boat, including the owners Ronan and Cameron Columb, and those in the mark laying ribs.

The Flying Fifteen class in Dun Laoghaire started its annual Frostbite series, which has been going since 1979, with PRO Keith Poole and his team getting in two races in ideal conditions. The tide was flooding, and the wind was a slightly shifty 13-14 knots from the NW.

Racing got off cleanly with a good start by Coughlan & Marshall in the middle of the line as most boats ventured towards the pin end and headed inshore.

Flying Fifteen Mach Five sailed by Alan Green and Shane MacCarthy 

Alan Green & Shane MacCarthy rounded the weather mark first, closely followed by David Mulvin and Ronan Beirne, Nicky and Niall Meagher and Robin Hilliard & Joe Hickey. Downwind was a great spectacle with places changing on a regular basis so much so that Mulvin rounded the leeward mark in the lead with the Meagher’s second and Green third. Upwind the Meagher got in front but by the weather mark, Green and MacCarthy were back in front a lead they kept to the finish line with Mulvin and Beirne finishing second, the Meaghers third and Hilliard and Hickey fourth.

Race 2 got going very quickly, all the boats were well off the line, and this time, MacCarthy helmed to lead for a comfortable win. There were plenty of changes behind, but Mulvin & Beirne prevailed to keep second, Murphy and Mulvey recovered from doing turns to finish third just in front of the Meagher, followed by Hilliard & Hickey and O’Sullivan. The series continues next week. 

Flying Fifteen class Dun Laoghaire Frostbite Series

With the Flying Fifteen national title going west for the first time this year, the 2023 season just finished on a high for the class's burgeoning Connemara fleet, with Galway boats taking first and second in Lough Derg Yacht Club's Freshwater Keelboat Regatta at Dromineer in County Tipperary.

Ros an Mhíl's Dermot Flaherty and Joe McDonagh sailing Phoenix were winners by four nett points from national champions Niall and Ronán O'Brien in a ten-boat fleet.

Four races were sailed on Saturday with one discard, but racing was abandoned on Sunday by Race Officer John Leech due to a lack of wind at Dromineer.

National Yacht Club trio Alan Green and Keith Poole finished third.

Ten Flying Fifteens competed.

Sailing for sport in Connemara has long tended to be in a world of its own with the local traditional craft, but 2023 is very much a breakout year. One of our “Sailors of the Month” for July was the west’s Aongus O Cualain’s, who brought his optimised classic gleoiteog Blat na hOige to the Dublin Bay Old Gaffers Asgard Plate Race, and won overall against a fleet of every sort of gaff-rigged boat. And now in September, the growing Flying Fifteen fleet in Kilkieran has made it to the top, with Niall & Ronan O’Briain of Flying Fifteen Chonamara winning a very hard-fought Irish Flying Fifteen Nationals at County Antrim Yacht Club in Whitehead on Belfast Lough.

Whitehead is about as far from Connemara as you’ll get Flying Fifteen racing in Ireland, but if anything, the distance provided an added incentive to put down an important marker in the progress towards a more broadly-based outward-looking sailing picture in the far west.