In one of the highlights of the club year, the National Yacht Club awarded thirteen annual awards for outstanding sailing achievements on Saturday night.

The awards, as well as the Commodore’s Cup, were presented at the NYC annual Sailing Awards Dinner at Dun Laoghaire Harbour.

National Yacht Club Commodore Conor O’Regan and the array of NYC silverware Photo: Michael Chester

The Boyne Regatta Cup – for best performance in offshore racing of the year

Gavin Doyle - 1st in IRC 2 handed, 1st in IRC 4 and 3rd overall in the RORC Castle Rock Race 2021 and 3rd Overall, 3rd in IRC 4 and 3rd in the IRC 2 handed division in the RORC Channel Race 2021, JOG NJO Sails Weymouth 2021 – IRC 4 – 2nd, RORC/SORC Solent Shakedown 2021 1st, sailing his Corby 25 Duff Lite with Co-Skipper Alex Piatti Photo: Michael Chester

The O’Leary Cup – for best performance of the year in one designs

John Lavery & Alan Green (pictured left) - Winners of the Flying Fifteen Championship of Ireland for a second consecutive year are presented with the O'Leary Cup by Conor O'Regan Photo: Michael Chester

The Edward Yacht Club Trophy – for best performance of the year in dinghies, Mermaids or Flying Fifteens

David Cahill  - 1st overall on Tuesday nights and 2nd overall on Saturdays in the huge Laser Radial Class (44 competitors) in DBSC. Winner of the Dr. Alf Delany Cup for most successful dinghy for the season Photo: Michael Chester

John Byrne Memorial Trophy – for the greatest contribution to sailing in the NYC during the year

Alan Balfe - For his dedication and commitment in organising events in his role as Sailing Secretary last year and for the last two years in very difficult Covid times Photo: Michael Chester

The Winkelmann Trophy – for Cadet of the year

Nathan van Steenberge - For his campaign in the 29er class, finishing 11th overall in 29er Europeans in Lake Garda in October in a 200 boat fleet Photo: Michael Chester

The Greystones 1892 Regatta Cup – for the team who represented the Club with distinction

(Above and below) The large team of volunteers on shore and on the water for the Laser 4.7 Youth Worlds. The trophy was collected by Con Murphy. Young and old, the volunteers worked with great dedication and commitment on the water (on the committtee boat, on mark laying and rescue RIBS) and ashore (Race Office and Results, Covid Officer, and launching and recovering 120 Lasers quickly and efficiently each morning and afternoon throughout the week-long event).  Many of the volunteers worked on all or most days of the event. Photos: Michael Chester

The Paul Murphy Cup – for the sailing management volunteer of the year

Gearoid O’Riain & Liam O’Riain - For their long standing commitment in providing their skills and RIB for mark laying at most of the events hosted by the National Yacht Club Photo: Michael Chester

The Township Cup – for best Cruise of the year

Simon Wall - For his 2-handed, 8 days cruise from Sweden to Dun Laoghaire in October 2021 in very rough seas conditions 

The Muglins Cup – for the most interesting family cruise

Barry MacNeaney - For sailing a Bavaria 40 from Preveza Greece around the South Ionian Gulf with nine onboard including his five grandchildren aged 10y to 16y – for them, a huge adventure learning boat handling skills of helming, holding a course, basic navigation, anchoring in secluded bays for swimming,  and sleeping on deck.

Martin Crotty Trophy Award – for a younger Member who shows sailing endeavour

Conor Totterdell - Co-skippered ‘Desert Star’ of Irish Offshore Sailing to second place in IRC4 category in the Fastnet Race, finishing 14th overall and top placed Irish Entry with a mostly inexperienced crew. The prize was accepted by Alan Daly and presented by Suzie Barry with Conor O’Regan Commodore of the NYC Photo: Michael Chester

The Wild Geese Trophy – for The overseas member who achieves the best performance in racing or distinguishes himself/ herself in sailing

Tom Dolan - For his amazing sailing achievements in the Figaro Class, ‘the toughest one-design racing class’ offshore and single-handed, and for sharing his experience with our younger members on his recent visit to the NYC. The prize was accepted by Gerry Jones Photo: Michael Chester

The Sue McDonnell Trophy – for the female club member who has contributed most to the advancement of women in sailing

Caitriona O’Brien - For her dedication in her role organising and enabling the NYC Women on the Water racing on the Club J80s. The award was presented by Fiona Mc Donnell with Conor O’Regan Commodore of the NYC Photo: Michael Chester

The Totterdell Trophy – for the member who has contributed most to promoting and developing the Laser class in the club

Aisling Murphy - For organising all the adult Laser sailing activities in the Club Photo: Michael Chester

The Commodore’s Cup

Finn Lynch - For his Silver Medal at the ILCA World Championships in Spain 

NYC Sailing Awards – Commodore’s Commendations 2021

Commendations were presented by Commodore of the NYC, Conor O’Regan. Photo: Michael Chester

Wednesday morning saw some early 2022 season double-handed two boat tuning for a pair of Jeanneau Sunfast 3600 keelboats on Dublin Bay.

ISORA campaigners Searcher (Pete Smyth) and John O'Gorman's Hot Cookie enjoyed 10-15 knots north-westerlies for a fast reach from Dun Laoghaire Harbour.

Searcher and Hot Cookie, both from the National Yacht Club, cut quite a dash crossing a deserted bay at speed under pink and red spinnakers.

The pair returned to the harbour after a two-hour session with Searcher sporting a ripped kite in conditions that had strengthened to over 20 knots in gusts.

ISORA celebrates its Golden Jubilee with a return to traditional Irish Offshore Racing in 2022 with the first fixture on May 28th with a 60-mile race from Dun Laoghaire to Holyhead. All this, of course, is preceded by DBSC's Spring Chicken Series that begins on February 6th. 

The National Yacht Club will be hosting a Match Racing Invitational in its fleet of Elliott 6m one-design keelboats on the 4th and 5th of December at Dun Laoghaire Harbour.

The purpose of this event is to match Ireland's best match racers against each other in anticipation of a National Championships in early 2022.

Invite forms for consideration are available here. Organisers say an impartial panel will review all applications, and ten invites will be issued.

A Notice of Race can be found below for full details of the event.

Further details are available from Mark Hassett ([email protected]) or Will Byrne ([email protected]).

This weekend sees the conclusion of the five-week-long Flying Fifteen Frostbite Series at Dun Laoghaire Harbour.

Sixteen boats are entered, with an average of 11 competing each weekend.

PRO Keith Poole and his race team have provided great courses and racing in various conditions.

Ken Dumpleton and Joe Hickey in 'Rodriguez' lead the way after their impressive three race wins last Saturday, but Tom Galvin and Chris Doorly in 'Thingamabob' are just two points behind and with three races due on Saturday, they are still in with a chance.

Peter Murphy and Ciara Mulvey are in third place, followed by Tom Murphy and Karel Le Roux and Joe Coughlan and Andrew Marshall.

The NYC Frostbite Series for Flying Fifteens and Mermaids, which has been run for forty years, resumed this season after a break of two years.

Over sixty yachts and cruisers will be hauled out of the water at Dun Laoghaire Harbour tomorrow as the 2021 summer season ends at Ireland's biggest boating centre. 

The National Yacht Club and neighbouring Royal St. George YC will lift out approximately 30 cruisers apiece using a mobile crane. 

The boats will overwinter on the hardstanding at the waterfront clubhouses, where space is at a premium.

It's not the end of all sailing by any means, however. A winter Turkey Shoot Series run by DBSC that attracts up to 70 boats, mainly from the town marina, is scheduled to start on Nov 7th, and the DMYC Dinghy Frostbite Series will run in harbour racing until March.

Dun Laoghaire Harbour sailor Justin Burke was racing in the IRC B division of last weekend's postponed Spi Ouest Regatta and received a warm welcome in Brittany. 

Burke of the National Yacht Club, a champion SB20 and Flying Fifteen sailor, recently acquired a JPK 10.30 and used Spi Ouest as a shakedown on the new boat, including its short-handed options.

"I'm very taken by Brittany. Beautiful scenery, lovely food and a great attitude to sailing. The weather helps a lot, but above all the people. We have met a lot of like-minded locals".

Burke says the emphasis is very much on sailing rather than the bar afterwards and was somewhat surprised to come across quite a lot of older boats, including an old Shamrock. All the vintage boats were well kitted out with new sails and all "slickly sailed", he says.

Burke's plan is to return to France, (where there are reasonably priced flights to Nantes from Ireland) and race Spi Ouest regatta again in the Spring of 2022. He'll decide then if he leaves his new boat 'Das Boot' in Brittany or brings her home to Dun Laoghaire.

He told Afloat, "there's great energy and a lot is going on in Brittany". He has been invited to join a local training session for short-handed sailing.

More on Spi Ouest regatta here

John Patrick (left) from Belfast Sailability was the winner of the  2.4mR National Championships held at the National Yacht Club at Dun Laoghaire Harbour at the weekend.

A small fleet of five competitors (from a total fleet of eight boats in the country) raced for both Open and Para titles. 

The National's Ed Totterdell was the Race Officer with four races sailed on Saturday and two on Sunday, all inside the harbour.

The open event was won by John Patrick from Belfast Sailability with Patrick Hassett in second and Oisin Putt in third place both from NYC.

The Para event was won by Patrick with Oisin second.

John Patrick (right) from Belfast Sailability was the winner of the Open Division of the  2.4mR Nationals held at Dun Laoghaire Harbour and receives his prize from National Yacht Club Commodore Conor O’Regan

Patrick Hassett (right) is congratulated by National Yacht Club Commodore Conor O’Regan for his overall win of the 2.4mR Nationals (Para division) at Dun Laoghaire Harbour

The National Yacht Club hosts the ICRA Nationals on Friday. 80 boats are entered. As in previous years, Afloat sticks its neck out to predict the top boats and winners in each division at Dun Laoghaire

In a typical year, you would have a big event such as Cork Week or Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta to gauge which boats are on form before predicting who will rise to the podium at a late-season ICRA Nationals. With VDLR cancelled in 2021, we will have to rely on events such as Sovereigns Cup, Calves Week, D2D, ISORA and DBSC to predict the likely winners.

Wind forecasting –this will play a big part this year. With only a day to go, the weather pattern indicates generally light to medium airs. Most wind models call light airs on Friday, a little more on Saturday, maybe around 10 knots. Sunday is generally light, though one wind model is showing 15 knots for the last day.

Class 0 will have only one race —a long coastal on Friday and one race Sunday with three short races on Saturday. All the other classes will have two races on Friday and Sunday and three on Saturday.

Clearly, with light wind predominating for the first two days, it must be expected that the winners will come from boats that do well in these conditions.

Class 0 

An excellent turnout of 13 yachts is expected from Northern Ireland, Cork and Dublin.

As Afloat previously reported, from Northern Ireland comes Shaun Douglas's Beneteau 40.7, Gamechanger and Jay Colville's First 40, Forty Licks. These boats perform well and are well crewed but generally prefer medium conditions to let them use their waterline lengths. We are not sure they will get this breeze on Friday and Saturday.

Paul O'Higgins' JPK 10.80 Rockabill VI - likes the breeze Photo: Afloat

If the conditions are medium to fresh, you would have to include Paul O'Higgins' JPK 10.80 as one of the likely winners. However, as was seen at Calves Week this year, she struggles in light airs, and this weekend's forecast will not be to their liking. She will stay in the hunt, though.

Sovereigns Cup winner, the new Grand Soleil 44, Samatom, owned by Bob Rendell from Howth, showed great form in both light and windy conditions in Kinsale to take the series from some good entries. However, her talents at that event included Olympian Mark Mansfield, who for ICRA's will be aboard another Class 0 entry, Frank Whelan's Greystones debutante J/122 Kaya.

The three Sunfast 3600s, Yoyo, Hot Cookie and Searcher, will be competing, but the lighter airs will not be to their liking.

This leaves the two likely favourites in these conditions, Conor Phelan's Ker 37 Jump Juice from Royal Cork and Frank Whelan's J/122 Kaya. This could be an exciting battle with Mansfield calling the shots on Kaya and Maurice (Prof) O'Connell doing the same on Jump Juice. Should it stay light, there will be nothing in it.

If the breeze comes up a bit, Kaya will still be strong, so we will call for Kaya to take it from Jump, but not by much.

Class 1

With 26 entries, this will be the biggest class numerically. Nearly all from the Dublin area apart from the two well sailed J/109's From Cork (Brian Jones' Jelly Baby and Finbarr O'Regan's Artful Dodger) and the Ker 32, Hijacker from Strangford lough, owned by Stuart Cranston. Hijacker will be the top-rated boat in its class, but if form is anything to go by, her performance at a light airs Scottish Series in 2021 will not bode well for this event.

Form boat - J/99 Snapshot (Mike and Ritchie Evans) Photo: Bob Bateman

Class 1 will likely be dominated by the many J/109s competing plus the new J/99 Snapshot, owned by Richard and Michael Evans from Howth. Snapshot won a competitive Sovereigns Cup Class 1 and is competitive in light and medium conditions. She will have Shane Hughes aboard, so expect her to make the podium.

The conditions will favour the J 109's, and there are 14 entered. Trying to pick who will emerge will be difficult. In 2021, Finbarr O'Regan's Artful Dodger took the runner up spot at the Sovereign's Cup, but that is after John Murphy and Richard Colwell's Outrageous had two OCS results. Outrageous, if she stays clean, will be in the mix. From Dublin Bay, you have the trio of John Maybury's Joker 2 (a four times ICRA winner), Tim Goodbody's White Mischief and Brian and John Hall's Something Else. All three regularly perform well. From Howth, Outrageous (tactician Aoife Hopkins) will be joined by Pat Kelly's Storm (tactician Robert O'Leary), who favours a breeze typically, but will nevertheless be there or thereabouts. Depending on what talent these J109's have onboard will determine who will likely come to the top.

We will go for Outrajeous and Snapshot, taking the top two slots, with Snapshot taking it by a hair.

Class 2

14 entries in this class will undoubtedly be dominated by the Half Tonners who excel in lighter airs. If there is a breeze for the three days, you could see Anthony Gore Grimes Dux come into the picture, but it does not look like this breeze will be present. Likewise, the J 97's Lambay Rules and Windjammer.

Not to be ruled out - David Kelly's Half Tonner King One Photo: Bob Bateman

The battle of the Half Tonners will be intriguing. The three form Half tonners will unfortunately not include David Cullen's Checkmate XV. Instead Cullen will sail with Nigel Biggs on Checkmate XVIII. Darran Wright's Mata will include Howth's Ross McDonald and Olympian Killian Collins, who will no doubt make a difference. The form would say that Nigel Biggs always performs well on the big stage. We will call for Nigel Biggs Checkmate XVIII to take it from Mata and Jonny Swann sailing David Kelly's King One instead of his regular Harmony coming in third.

Class 3

Paul Coulton's Cri Cri Photo: Afloat

Like Class 2, In lighter airs, the Quarter Tonners will like to rule the roost here. Paul Coulton's Cri Cri and Barry Cunningham and Jonathan Skeritt's Quest, both from the Royal Irish, will likely be the front runners. Of these two, Quest has the better record in the past and loves the light air.  Northern Ireland's Snoopy is still something of an unknown quantity here.

Were there to be breeze develop expect the J 24's to come into the picture, and of these, the wily Flor O'Driscoll could be one to watch.

Quest to win from Cri Cri and then a J24, possibly Flor.

Download the full entry list for the ICRA Championships here and download the Sailing Instructions below

This article was updated at 2 pm on Sept 2 to include additional crew and entry details

The Irish Cruiser Racing Association (ICRA) National Championships returns to Dublin Bay this weekend (September 3-5th) and brings one of the biggest Division Zero fleets the cruiser-racer body has ever seen.

An expected fleet of 13 Zeros is bigger than the fleet of ten that raced in the 2019 Championships at the Royal St. George Yacht Club.

The National Yacht Club will host the championships, the biggest test for Irish cruiser-racers since West Cork's Sovereign's Cup at Kinsale in June and Calves Week in August.

In all, a total fleet of almost 80 boats has been mustered, and that's a welcome boost for the championships that was cancelled twice last year in the pandemic.

Class divisions are downloadable below (as an excel file) for the weekend championships as another strong fleet of Division One yachts is unveiled by ICRA, with 25 or so entries anticipated. 

National titles

The arrival of the championships mean national titles in four IRC classes plus a white sails event will be decided on the Bay by next Sunday.

A total of 17 clubs from Ireland's North, South and East coasts will be represented by 77 crews, a slight reduction in overall numbers (100 boats in 2019) attributed to the country's gradual reopening after Covid-19.

ICRA Nationals - 17 clubs from Ireland's North, South and East coasts will be represented. Photo: Afloat

“This year’s event is an opportunity for re-building crews and team bonding,” said Richard Colwell, Commodore of the Irish Cruiser Racing Association. "This year hasn't been without regular club racing, but the ICRA championships will be the biggest test of the year with so many clubs represented in the fleet."

The ICRA series will be hosted by the National Yacht Club, Dun Laoghaire. The Covid restrictions mean that the championships will have to spread out a little, with a maximum of 200 to be accommodated in one location. After consultation with the other waterfront clubs, Royal St George and Royal Irish members will be hosted by their respective clubs. Visiting boats and their crews will be hosted at the National Yacht Club.

ICRA Courses

Many former national champions are participating across all classes. Two inshore fleets, with Class 1 in White Fleet and Class 2, 3 and non-spinnaker in Orange fleet, will race windward/leeward and round the cans. Class 0 will race a mixture of coastal and windward/leeward courses, starting from the same line as Class 1.

International Race Officers Jack Roy and Con Murphy are running racing afloat. At the same time, Ailbe Millerick and Bill O'Hara will lead ICRA's Protest Committee, who will, as in 2019, be on the water to witness racing.

Robert Rendell's Grand Soleil 44 Samatom will be racing in a bumper Class Zero Photo: Adam Winkelmann

After a great season with his previous boat Eleuthera, Frank Whelan's J122 Kaya from Greystones Sailing Club could well be the form boat in Division Zero, though with a slew of rivals in this hotly contested class. Conor Phelan's Ker 37 Jump Juice from the Royal Cork YC and Paul O'Higgins' JPK1080 Rockabill VI from the Royal Irish YC are certain to be in the mix with Robert Rendell's Grand Soleil 44 Samatom from Howth YC.

Conor Phelan's Ker 37 Jump Juice Photo: Bob Bateman

After overall victory in Kinsale for the Sovereign's Cup in June, Mike & Richard Evans' J99 Snapshot will again try to disrupt the J109 fleet's dominance of Division 1. However, Stuart Cranston's Ker 32 Hijacker from Strangford Lough could add a fresh challenge.

Mike & Richard Evans' J/99 Snapshot Photo: Bob Bateman

Of the J109s, John and Brian Hall’s Something Else from the National YC will be looking for a result on home turf but can expect Howth's Colwell with John Murphy on Outrajeous to be on form as well as the Jones family's Jelly Baby from Crosshaven and the Goodbody's White Mischief from the Royal Irish YC.

John and Brian Hall’s Something Else from the National YC Photo: Bob Bateman

"We're all set and looking forward it - this is our first regatta in two years - we have a great crew, some of whom have sailed with me for 40 years," said Tim Goodbody (80). "Racing under IRC is great as we can sail with nine up so I can share the helm with Richard when I get tired."

The Royal Irish Yacht Club's John Maybury made it four in a row at the ICRA National Championships in 2019 in his Class One J109 yacht Joker II Photo: Afloat.

Nigel Biggs from Howth YC moves out of his new Flying Fifteen one design and back into Checkmate XVIII and will be the boat to beat in Division 2 after a near-perfect track record of wins in Dublin Bay in recent years. The Wright/De Nieve owned Mata, also from Howth, are likely challengers amongst the half-tonners.

Nigel Biggs' Half Tonner Checkmate XVIII Photo: Afloat

If the event gets breeze, clubmates Dux, an X302 sailed by the Gore-Grimes family, could repeat their 2019 event win though Lindsay Casey and Denis Powers' J97 Windjammer from the Royal St George YC is also tipped for the fresher conditions.

Anthony Gore-Grimes' Dux from Howth Yacht Club emerged overall winner of the Irish Cruiser Racing Association (ICRA) National Championships Photo: Afloat.

Bray Sailing Club’s Flor O’Driscoll will be taking on the might of the Royal Irish YC with his J24 Hard On Port facing the likes of Paul Colton’s Cri Cri and Barry Cunningham with Jonathan Skerritts' Quest, both revamped quarter-tonners.

"I've always enjoyed the ICRA's as the J24 is rated pretty well under IRC," O'Driscoll said while preparing for East coast championships in Howth. "We raced for the first time in two years in Foynes for the southerns but could have done better with a sixth place."

The Covid-19 pandemic forced the abandonment of much of the 2020 and early 2021 fixtures. Still, measures have been relaxed enough to permit safe competition afloat though shoreside social activities continue to be severely curtailed for this season.

Howth J109 Outrajeous (Richard Colwell and John Murphy) Photo: Bob Bateman

"Our main priority is to deliver a strong racing series afloat this year which will certain to be a warm-up for hopefully a full 2022 season," said Richard Colwell, Commodore of the Irish Cruiser Racing Association. "While social is more difficult in Covid restrictions, we have worked hard to make sure there will still be limited social activity spread across the Dun Laoghaire waterfront so everyone can enjoy the event as much as possible."

Racing begins this Friday at 1125hrs.

2021 ICRA National Championships Event Schedule

Thursday 6th June

2100hrs Skippers Briefing on Zoom (an invitation will be emailed in advance)

Friday 7th June

0830hrs Breakfast on the forecourt, Coffee & pastries in Club Room bar
1125hrs Racing
1600hrs BBQ on the forecourt
1800hrs Sailing Buffet in Dining Room

Saturday 8th June

0830hrs Breakfast on the forecourt, Coffee & pastries in Club Room bar
1125hrs Racing
1600hrs BBQ on the forecourt
1930hrs Regatta Dinner

Sunday 9th June

0830hrs Breakfast on the forecourt, Coffee & pastries in Club Room bar
1025hrs Racing
1500hrs BBQ on the forecourt
Approx. 1630hrs ICRA National Championships Prize Giving

The National Yacht Club's under 30 membership is making waves on European waters over the coming weeks.

As Afloat reported earlier, over in Palma, Spain, NYC's Will Byrne is currently competing on the Club Swan 50 'Mathilde' at the 39th Copa del Rey. This event attracts some of the top sailors worldwide, and the team currently lies 10th overall after a strong start to the final series of races.

The Dun Laoghaire Harbour club's U25 Team are heading off to their first event this weekend to compete in the J/24 National Championships in Sligo Yacht Club. The skipper Mark O'Connor hopes for a good result against a strong fleet that includes U25 teams from rival clubs.

With an increased interest in offshore sailing among younger members, Oisin Cullen, Conor Totterdell, Conor Corson, and Saoirse Reynolds are all participating in the world-famous Fastnet Race.

This year's edition of the race concludes in Cherbourg for the first time, increasing the overall distance by 15% to 695nm. Oisin and Saoirse will be taking on the race for a second time on Simon Harris’s J/112e 'J’Ouvert' in IRC2. Conor Corson will be on the bow of the A13 'Phosphorus II' in IRC1, while Conor Totterdell is co-skippering Irish Offshore Sailing Schools Sunfast 37 'Desert Star'.