Howth Yacht Club will find itself in double focus this coming weekend, with the Club's historic 1898-founded Howth 17s staging their Annual Championship off the peninsula port, while down in the Solent on Sunday 12th August, leading HYC member Conor Fogerty – the current Afloat.ie Sailor of the Year on the strength of his success in the OSTAR – starts in the Two-Handed Division in the RORC  Round Britain & Ireland Race with Simon Knowles as co-skipper writes W M Nixon.

Conor Fogerty, the current Volvo Sailor of the Year, with the 2016 winner, Olympic Silver Medallist Annalise Murphy. Photo: Brian Turvey
The Club has been on a real roll since Fogerty was awarded the supreme title early in February. Before the month was out, he and a full crew, including regular shipmate Simon Knowles, had for the second time (previous was in 2016) won Class 4 in the RORC Caribbean 600 with the much-travelled Sunfast 3600 Bam!

And Howth's Caribbean 600 success didn't stop there, as clubmate Michael Wright had chartered the 45ft Pata Negra to race Class 2, and they recorded a second. Then it was back to Howth and into planning and organisation of the new-style Wave Regatta scheduled for the first weekend of June, with Michael Wright's leading hospitality organisation the primary sponsor.

The Michael Wright-chartered 45ft Pata Negra, on her way to second in Class 2 in the RORC Caribbean 600 2018

Classic Half Tonner Checkmate XV

With the weather coming into line in the nick of time to provide summery sailing, it was a very well-supported success, with local skipper Dave Cullen's Classic Half Tonner Checkmate XV taking the overall honours. But this was no flash in the pan gained solely by having rock stars in the crew, for in July Checkmate XV went on to win the Howth Aqua Two-Handed Race, with Dave Cullen crewed by Aidan Beggan, they'd also taken the bullet in all three Dun Laoghaire regattas, and later this month they'll be racing the Half Ton Classic Worlds in Nieuwpoort in Belgium, starting August 20th.

Dave Cullen's Checkmate XV getting a perfect start in a staging of the Half Ton Classics Worlds. They'll be going again at this year's championship at Nieuwpoort in Belgium, which starts on August 20th

Meanwhile, other areas of Howth sailing had been having highlights and lowlights since the Fogerty circus set the world alight in February. The Howth-based J/109 Storm (Kelly family) won both the Largs Regatta and the Scottish Series across in Scotland in May, while in July Jonny Swann of Howth with the Half Tonner Harmony was the overall winner of the all-comers Harbour Race in Volvo Cork Week, with clubmate Paddy Kyne third overall in the X-302 Maximus.

Historic 120-year-old Howth 17s

But at home, there had been some concern about the future of the historic 120-year-old Howth 17s, the "soul of Howth sailing", as several of them had been severely damaged when Storm Emma destroyed their winter storage shed on the East Pier at the beginning of March.

Yet miraculously only one boat – Anita – was deemed a total loss. Fingal's own ace boatbuilder Larry Archer has worked miracles in bringing the other damaged boats back to full health, with only one still to go afloat again. And as for Anita, in classic yacht terms she wasn't a total loss as they always had her original lead ballast keel, so now she is being re-built in Douarnenez in Brittany using the subsidised support of the French government's boatbuilding apprentice scheme at the Paul Robert-headed L'Atelier d'Enfer.

This does indeed mean "The Workshop of Hell", for that was the name given to the part of the old port in which it is located when the area was massively noisome and malodorous with the activities of at least 25 fish-processing companies. But as far as Howth 17 sailors are concerned, they can call it anything they like so long as work on re-building continues to progress smoothly with HYC Rear Commodore Ian Malcolm liaising the project, and Anita expects to re-launch next June.

The Howth 17 Isobel (Conor & Brian Turvey) returning to her home port. In 2018 she has been celebrating her 30th birthday with wins including the National YC Regatta, Clontarf Regatta and the Single-Handed Race. Photo: W M Nixon

Back home, the class seems to have been energised by the shock of the events in March, and the 2018 season has been good, getting average turnouts of 14 boats week in, week out, with many young people joining the class to enjoy its unique flavor which includes the annual race round the Baily Headland to Clontarf Regatta, and racing to Malahide in the Jack Gibney Classic, as well as racing across Dublin Bay to the National YC Regatta in Dun Laoghaire.

Newer owners such as HYC Vice Commodore Ian Byrne have been encouraged by that very special experience of getting their first winning gun in this unique class, and he did it in boat No 14, Gladys, which also provided the same experience many years ago for renowned chef Aidan MacManus of the famed King Sitric restaurant in Howth.

Cooking up for a storm…….chefs Aidan MacManus and Neven Maguire of TV fame. As an experienced offshore racing campaigner, Aidan MacManus has been preparing ready meals for the Round Britain & Ireland challengers, fellow Howth sailors Conor Fogerty and Simon Knowles

After his years with the Seventeens, Aidan went into offshore racing ownership in partnership with Kieran Jameson in the Sigma 38 Changeling, and one of the many major events they completed together was the Round Britain and Ireland Race. This week, his experience in that 1800-mile marathon is being put to good use, as he is preparing a store of ready meals to sustain Conor Fogerty and Simon Knowles as they campaign Bam! round the same course.

Round Britain and Ireland

The RORC Seven Star Round Britain and Ireland – held every four years – was an event of outstanding success for Ireland last time round, as 2014's saw Liam Coyne of the National YC and Brian Flahive of Wicklow win the Two-handed Division and several classes with the First 36.7 Lulu Belle, a great achievement in a notably rough contest.

For 2018, the turnout in the two-handed division has significantly increased, and Conor Fogerty and Simon Knowles certainly have a job of work on their hands. But the fact that the key area of on-board catering has been overseen in advance by a master-chef who has personal experience of the race gets certainly them off to a flying start.