Monkstown Bay Sailing Club in Cork Harbour will hold its ‘At Home’ this Saturday, at a time when it is experiencing “fantastic support” for dinghy sailing according to its Commodore.
“We have put a lot of effort into popularising sailing, particularly focusing attention on getting young people and newcomers into the sport and that is getting good support. Dinghy sailing is going very well this season,” says Club Commodore Sandy Rimmington.
“We must be one of the clubs with the biggest Feva participation. It is encouraging that, in making efforts to widen interest in sailing, for which we have been doing a lot of work, there has been particularly strong participation by girls. This is notable in the Feva fleet.”
This Saturday the ‘At Home’ will concentrate on dinghy racing. Classes 1 and 2 will include the stalwarts of the MBSC fleet, including 505s where club members continue to prepare for the Irish and World Championships in the harbour in August. Mixed dinghies will be included and there will be a separate class for Optimists. Racing starts at 1355.
The club is also celebrating its new champion with Chris Bateman winning last weekend's Fireball Ulster Championship when he teamed up with Conor Flynn of Blessington.
The re-surfacing of the Sand Quay, the club’s boat base, has boosted the club facilities, with two slipways for launching.
All clubs are being invited to race at Monkstown on Saturday, with the clubhouse hosting visitors after racing for the award of prizes.