Kinsale Yacht Club in West Cork is well pleased with its Under 25 development programme following the team's success at the J24 National Championships raced in Foynes YC, Co.Limerick.

Named ‘Kinsailor’ when it was launched last year, the KYC yacht won the Under 25 section, took the silver prize for second overall and finished eighth of the 20 boats racing that included top sailors in the Class.

The Kinsale crew were: Mikey Carroll, Leslie Collins, Rachel Akerlind, Micheál Ó Suilleabháin, and Jack O’Sullivan.

“A great result,” said former Commodore Dave Sullivan, the Under 25 Team Mentor.

“Little did I think when we started out last October that we would have our boat so successful in the U25 section at the National Championships. She is a super boat with a super team of sailors. It took a lot of hard work and commitment to get to this stage and we are thankful to KYC members for their overwhelming support and continued generosity.”

This membership backing enabled the setting-up of the programme and the purchase of the boat.

“We still have the Eastern Championships in late August and Europeans in Howth in September to look forward to,” says Dave Sullivan.

Last weekend, the J24 National Championships took place at Foynes Yacht Club on the Shannon Estuary. 18 boats took part in the event drawn from all over the country.

Thursday evening was very busy with boats being launched and some final adjustments being made. Registration and Weigh-in also took place that evening, with a few having to run a marathon and have saunas to make the final cut, but perseverance prevailed, and everybody was at their target weight of 400 kgs in time for the first race on Friday morning!!

Foynes Yacht Club's U25 J24 team were very busy making and selling sandwiches every morning before racing, with the proceeds going towards the upkeep of their J24 Jasper.

Friday was an extremely tricky day on the water for the J24s

At the outset, Commodore John Paul Buckley welcomed everyone to Foynes Yacht Club and wished fair and safe sailing to all competitors and hoped that it would be an enjoyable event both on and off the water. Mark Usher, President of the J24 Association, said a few words on behalf of the J24 Association, and Derek Bothwell, Race Officer, gave the briefing.

Race Officer Derek Bothwell from Howth

Eight races were held over the weekend, three races on Friday, four races on Saturday and one on Sunday. Friday was an extremely tricky day on the water. The wind was light and shifty, making it difficult for OOD Derek Bothwell and his Mark Layers to set courses. However, they did prevail and managed to run three races. Saturday and Sunday brought a much steadier breeze.

Sam Byrne and the Howth Headcase crew with the J/24 National Championship Trophy at Foynes Yacht Club

Headcase (Howth Yacht Club) were the overall winners of the J24 National Championships 2022.

It has been a great year for Headcase so far this year, winning the UK J24 Nationals and the Kiel Regatta in Germany. In their prizegiving speech, Sam Byrne stated that they loved coming to Foynes Yacht Club, and that the standard of racing was one of the best. He complimented the Race Management, the onshore support, and the great hospitality.

Taking second place were the Kerry boys, Janx Spirit from Tralee Bay Sailing Club, and third place went to El Rico, Lough Erne Yacht Club, all the way from Enniskillen.

Silver fleet winners Kinsalor (Kinsale Yacht Club) won the U25 category

Kinsalor (Kinsale Yacht Club) won the U25 category and took first in the Silver Fleet. Foynes Yacht Club's U25 Jasper came second in the U25 category.

J24 2022 Irish Championships results are below

Irish J/24s have won seven out of the eight races in the weekend's UK Nationals at Plymouth, with the all-Ireland-crewed Headcase taking six bullets and the overall title to add to her recent success in topping
the class in Kiel in Germany.

Things are looking good for the J/24s in Ireland facing into the big championship next month in Howth, as Janx Spirit from Tralee Bay SC took one of the other wins to place fourth overall.

Meanwhile, the Headcase crew are keeping up the crazy pace - they're on the overnight cross-Channel ferry, and hope to be on the start line at 10.55 hrs in Volvo Cork Week this (Monday) morning.

Moving targets. The successful crew of Headcase in Plymouth on Sunday afternoon were (left to right) Sam O'Byrne (Howth YC), Marcus Ryan (Mayo SC), Ryan Glynn (Ballyholme YC), Cillian Dickson (Lough Ree YC & HYC) and Louis Mulloy (MSC). Fresh from success at Kiel Week, they've moved on again, headed towards Volvo Cork Week for Monday morning via the overnight ferry

Whatever excitements the Irish J/24 class may have been providing in home waters this past weekend, the current all-Ireland Champions (in every sense) with the not-inappropriately-named Headcase have succeeded brilliantly in keeping their heads above water and their noses in front in the top-of-the-line Kiel Week in Germany.

They've taken in Kiel as part of their countdown to the J/24 Europeans in Howth in August, with the UK Nationals very much in sight. But for now, this multi-talented crew (drawn from every Irish Province except Munster) had a scorecard to dream of in Kiel, with six bullets in nine races.

12 teams travelled from throughout Ireland to compete in the 2022 J24 Northern Championships hosted by Lough Erne Yacht Club over the weekend of 18th and 19th June.

Four local boats including Barry Humphreys on TJ, Tim Rippey on Jigalo, Luke Mcbride on Crazy horse and JP McCaldin on Il Riccio took part.

Racing on Lower Lough Erne from the Lough Erne Yacht club the teams completed all 6 races over the weekend in strong winds on the broad lough. Racing was overseen by national race office Derek Bothwell and a team of volunteers on and off the water.

Race one on Saturday afternoon started in 24 knots of wind and was a very close contest with the lead changing several times the race eventually going to local team Il Riccio led by JP McCaldin, second was the new owner of Hard on Port from Bray sailing club Dave Bailley, with Diarmaid Mullen, Sligo Yacht Club, in third position with his new boat to the class Smugairle Róin and close battles down the fleet for the other places.

Race two went to Class president Mark Usher from Greystones sailing club sailing Jumpin’ Jive again with second place going to Hard on port and Il Riccio in third.

Race three saw Hard on Port take their first race win with Jumpin’ Jive in second position and Colm O’ Flaherty and team in their new boat Jedi from Sligo Yacht club coming third.

With the wind increasing again, Hard on Port dominated race four to take the win from Il Riccio with Smugairle Róin in third. Very tired, battered, and bruised sailors retired to the clubhouse in Killadeas for an evening of entertainment and to swap tails of the days epic racing in strong winds and sea-like waves. The seen was set on Sunday for an exciting two-race showdown between Hard on Port, Il Riccio and Jumpin Jive all separated by just 3 points any one of them could still take the event.

Sunday dawned calmer but by the time the teams arrived in the sailing area winds were again as strong as the previous days and small jibs were the order of the day to keep the boats under control.

Race 5 was again a battle between Hard on Port and Il Riccio. Il Riccio needed to beat Hard on Port to keep their event hopes alive and were leading at mark 1 but great speed by Hard on Port saw them take the lead win the race and their tight controlling position over Il Riccio allowed Jumpin Jive through to take 2nd from Il Riccio. This result meant Hard on Port took their first event win under Dave Bailey with a race to spare and left the rest to battle it out for the final race.

The final race was dominated by Il Riccio who stuck with the smaller jib, Smugairle Róin also stuck with their jib and came 2nd with Jumpin Jive third. This result meant Il Riccio finished 2nd overall with Jumpin Jive in 3rd. 1st silver fleet and under 25 team went to Howth under 25 team on Killcullen lead by Oisin O’ Connor, definitely a team to watch for the future.

Back to the clubhouse to de-rig and ready for the long drive home for all the travelling teams.

The J24 Northern Champion for 2022, Dave Bailey who said “delighted to get the win in very challenging conditions over the weekend. A great start to the season and looking forward to the events ahead throughout Ireland. The event was run superbly from start to finish as always by LEYC. More great memories to add to our sailing up North”.

At the prizegiving, event organiser June Clarke thanked event sponsors and wished everyone a safe journey. The class looks forward to its National championships in Foynes Yacht Club in July.

The J/24 One Design 'Legal Alien' racing keelboat is for sale and priced at €14,000

The 1987 Rogers hull is in excellent condition and race-ready, according to seller Jill Sommerville. 

A marine surveyor report has been completed on the keelboat and the boat has current ECHO & ICR certs. Her Sail number IRL 4064 was recently approved for Ireland.

Her inventory includes a road trailer and trailer box with 1 spare wheel, and straps. 

Legal Alien has a large sail wardrobe and Veloctitek instruments.

Read the full advert on Afloat boats for sale with contact details here

Kinsale Yacht Club has launched its Under 25 Team’s J24 and named it ‘Kinsailor.’

The boat is the last J24 to have been built by Jeremy Rogers, who also built Contessas, on the Isle of Wight.

“At 31 years old she is in fine condition. When she emerged from the mould it went to Slovenia. She will give our Under 25 Team great racing here in the club and at events in other clubs,” said Dave O’Sullivan, the former club Commodore, who led the project to acquire the boat.

Dave O’Sullivan, (pictured centre) the former club Commodore, who led the project to acquire the U25 boat Photo: Bob Bateman

Members of the Under 25 team are looking forward to club racing next month and have a list of events planned for the season.

Tom MacSweeney (left) poses the questions to Kinsale Yacht Club U25 sailors at the launch of the new club J/24. Listen to the podcast below Photo: Bob Bateman

I was at the launch and naming ceremony at the club where I spoke to Under 25 Team members for this week’s Podcast, which you can hear here.

The Shannon Estuary's RWYCI October Series concluded this weekend on the 30th of October. The series had scheduled races over the first four Sundays and the final Saturday in October.

Racing was cancelled due to bad weather on the first weekend, the series got underway on week two in sunshine and light north-westerly winds of 6-10 knots, under the excellent race management of Aoife Lyons and David Vinnell.

The on-the-water team got in three races in each class with windward-leeward courses for the spinnaker fleet and triangular courses for the white sails fleet.

In the spinnaker fleet, it was Tadhg O'Loingsigh and crew on their J24, Janx Spirit topping the spinnaker fleet in both ECHO and IRC. In white sails the very impressive traditional sailing craft, Sally O'Keeffe, built by Steve Morris and operated by Seol Sionna, won race one, and race three was won by Pat O'Shea's Malo 36, Amergin, however, Elaine O'Mahoney & Simon McGibney's newly acquired First 265 lead the class after week one with a 2nd – 1st – 2nd.

Series organiser Simon McGibney (left) with Diarmuid O'Donovan's J/24 Yachtzee crew, the IRC winners of the Royal Western Yacht Club October Series 

On the third Sunday of racing, OOD's Aoife Lyons and David Vinnell, ran two races in beautiful sunshine with a southerly 10-12 knots. In the spinnaker fleet Janx Spirit continued their great form with a further two wins in IRC while Rob Allen's Corby 25 lead the spinnaker fleet in ECHO. In white sails, Adrian O'Connell on his modified Seawolf 26 claimed two wins to put pressure on the leaders.

With another weekend cancelled due to weather, the final weekend of racing took place on the last Saturday of the month, in this enjoyable series. There was plenty of wind from the south-west and luckily the rain held off during the mid-afternoons racing. White sails completed their full schedule of races with another two races, both won by Fintan Keating's Halberg Rassy, Passade, who enjoyed the heavier winds. The spinnaker fleet added three more races to their series with two wins for the Corby 25, Smile and a race win for Ray McGibney's J24, Lady J in ECHO and two wins for Diarmuid O'Donovan's J/24 Yachtzee, with Smile taking the final race win in IRC.

At the overall prize-giving event on Saturday evening event organiser, Simon McGibney thanked all the volunteers especially the OOD's David and Aoife for superb racecourses and efficient running of races each week. 

Overall results:

• Spinnaker IRC: 1st Yachtzee, 2nd Janx Spirit, 3rd Smile
• Spinnaker ECHO: 1st Smile, 2nd Yachtzee, 3rd Janx Spirit
• White Sails: 1st Lucita, 2nd Sally O'Keeffe, 3rd Amergin

Full results here

While several national and international classes are notably successful in having a truly all-Ireland spread, only in the J/24s would you somehow end up with ten different clubs from every part of the country coming up in lights in the final setting of the leaderboard.

But then Rod Johnstone's 45-year-old first pitch at yacht design has acquired something of a cult status among its devotees. And though there have been more than a few hyper-successful J Boat designs since (and then some), for the true aficionados, there's only one, and that's the 24.

Thus when impecunious young folk decide they've simply got to have a boat of their own, a class of such longevity offers a very wide selection of good-value doer-uppers. And once they get the boat restored and back in racing trim, they'll find the class is a friendly community with any amount of senior – and some very senior – lifelong enthusiasts who are generous with support and helpful advice.

Clean start. Three boats – 5219 (Il Ricco), 4212 (Scandal) and 4794 (Hard on Port) – are getting the best of it. At the end of the day, their overall placings were 5219: 4th overall, 4212: 12th oa, and 4794: 3rd overall. Photo: Annraoi Blaney

Father of the Class – longtime enthusiast Flor O'Driscoll (centre) originally of Cobh but now very much of Bray, with his loyal crew in the process of receiving the prize for third overall.

Thus although the class got together in strength for the recent J/24 Nationals in Sligo, with the prize this year being the Bicentenary-celebrating Ladies' Cup of Sligo Yacht Club, it was a distinctly storm-curtailed event. So with the pandemic restrictions being further eased, all the signs were there'd be a good turnout for this past weekend's WaterWipes J/24 Eastern Championship at Howth, and the signs were right on target.

Nevertheless, despite some warmly-welcomed fresh crews and boats entering the 18-fleet equation, up at the sharpest end of the fleet it was a case of As You Were with the clear overall winner being Headcase, the National Champion at Sligo, syndicate-owned and raced with Cillian Dickson on the helm, and sailing under the colours of Howth YC, Lough Ree YC, Mayo SC, and Ballyholme YC in a remarkable combination from which Munster is the only missing province.

Anyone who complains that the mainsail number and the spinnaker number on Crazy Horse (Luke McBride, Lough Swilly YC) don't match, and that the blue spinnaker on Scandal (Isobel Cahill, Howth YC) doesn't seem to gave a number at all, is missing the point of the contemporary J/24 Class in Ireland. Photo: Annraoi Blaney

The other domineer was Colm O'Flaherty of Sligo with Jana, who together with Headcase had put down a marker in the first race with the old one-two, while third went to Mark Usher of Greystones. But Race 2 saw a hugely popular win for the Father of the Class, Flor O'Driscoll of Bray, and this kept things a bit more open for the six-race series.

Line up the usual suspects….HYC Commodore Paddy Judge (centre) with the victorious Headcases

Nevertheless, the underlying trend was irreversible, the final total having Headcase on 6pts, Jana on 13, and Flor O'Driscoll's Hard on Port on 16, just one point clear of Lough Erne's J P McCaldin on 17 in Il Ricco. A detailed analysis of the complete scorecard speaks volumes for the key role this timeless little boat plays at clubs throughout the country. And yes, it was noticed that between the J/24s and the 420s, Lough Ree YC was having an extremely successful weekend at Howth.

Results here

Sam O'Byrne, Quarter Master of the championship-winning Headcase Society, explaining how you can successfully campaign a J/24 with a crew drawn from three of Ireland's four provinces

Every sport sees it happen. Young enthusiastic kids who can't get enough training, competing, fitness, drills, and dreams of making it big writes Paul O'Hare of Rush Sailing Club.

Many then drift away from the sport they loved as they get into their late teens and 20's. Sport gets replaced with studies, college, travel, partners, new careers, marriage, family, and maybe realising that they are not the next Cluxton, Keane, O'Driscoll, or Murphy. Finally, after 10 or 15 years, they get back to the sport they once loved, but now with their own kids.

In sailing, this is an all too familiar story as young sailors, tossed about on the seas of Ireland in single-handed Oppies, Toppers and Lasers, give up the sport during their adolescence. It's hard then to get back into a small dinghy when they are older, so many give up sailing altogether.

Well, the fine people at Rush Sailing Club in North County Dublin have watched this happen throughout the generations, from the club's inception in 1954 to the modern day. They've put together a plan to keep these young adults in the sport by making it exciting, inclusive, competitive and fun. Central to this drive is the club's acquisition of two J/24 racing keelboats. The club chose this popular and competitive boat with 5,500 boats sailing in 165 fleets throughout 110 countries. Crews range from four to six people, and the boat is an ideal all-rounder, offering exciting racing to experienced sailors but a safe introduction to novices (that's right, it has a keel so it won't capsize! Mostly). The boat can be trailered to events and is suitable for all kinds of weather.

The new Rush Sailing Club J/24's look fast with their new paint job

The team in Rush are lead by two 20-year old committee members, David Kelly (Sailing Sec) and Lauren O'Hare (Senior Instructor, SI). They are putting together a team racing schedule with the new boats and some other multi-crewed boats that the club own. Team racing draws in members of all ages as Rush family dynasties are pitted against each other. Novices will sail alongside seasoned veterans in a winner-takes-all season. In addition, young crews aim to compete around Ireland & the UK against other clubs in this highly competitive class. The club aims to boost sailing with competition on the water, enhancing the membership experience for all.

Rush Sailing Club members collecting the boats in Southampton before their renovation 

The boats are aptly named 'Juvenile Delinquent' and 'Out of Control'. They were purchased second hand in Southampton at the start of the lockdown, and in typical RSC fashion, they were sourced, collected, gutted and restored by the club's members under the stewardship of Commodore David Kelly (senior). Sponsorship provided by local businesses and members allowed the club to put the boats on the water with zero cost to the membership!

So, if you've never sailed but would love to give it a try, or if you want to get back to sailing, or if you fancy a bit of high-octane competitive fun, then contact RSC, where a new sport, hobby and obsession awaits you.