Monkstown Bay Sailing Club in Cork Harbour has re-set its annual 'At Home' for Sunday. September 10. Bad weather forced cancellation in July.

The At Home will incorporate the Optimist and Feva Club Championships.

It will be a dinghy-only event as the Cobh-Blackrock annual race takes place the day before, which is a major event for all cruiser classes in the harbour clubs.

MBSC says it will post further details about its 'At Home' closer to September.

Monkstown Bay Sailing Club’s Tuesday night racing league continued with another spectacular evening’s racing in Cork Harbour last night.

The weekly league is a great event to get away from it all after the bustle of work, and last night was no different. The bay gleamed in the final rays of a sinking sun. The breeze was North Westerly, and an ebb tide was running. There was even a hint of strong wind, but in true Monkstown fashion, it came and went in the blink of an eye.

A light wind start at 7 pm in the shelter of the Sandquay, mixed things up for the competitors. Glassy conditions held the faster dinghies back. The PY race is an all-in race with a lovely variety of unusual dinghies that are not a common sight in Ireland.

MBSC Tuesday Night Photo Gallery by Chris Bateman

The tide had a dominating effect on the course and as a result, kept the racers tacking up the Blackpoint shoreline. This led to a few people running aground, shaking up the lead. Michael O’Brien and Ritchie Harrington in their 505 were having a great race, only to be stopped by the mud banks off the dockyard.

This allowed the Lasers and Aero’s to slip through, and there was no stopping them at that point. By this stage, the breeze had picked up.

In the end, Brendan Dwyer in his Laser, won what was a hard-fought race. Rob Howe came in second in his RS Aero, with Davy O’Connell taking third in his Laser after recovering very well from a capsize at the start line.

The evening’s race was great preparation for Monkstown’s At Home event, to be run this Saturday.

Great racing is promised, and a barbecue before prize giving will be the icing on the cake. Entry is free, and you can register online on MBSC’s website.

First gun will be at 2 pm.

Monkstown Bay Sailing Club (MBSC) will hold their ‘At Home’ annual regatta on Saturday with dinghy racing for National 18s, RS Fevas, Optimists and two classes for mixed dinghies offered in Monkstown Bay.

The First Gun for dinghies is at 1400 hours.

Cruiser racing is also offered in the schedule, with FG in the lower harbour for IRC, ECHO, Whitesail and Sportsboats at 1330.

Dinghy racing was cancelled at Monkstown last Friday evening due to the strong winds prevailing.

Monkstown Bay Sailing Club began their season in Cork Harbour on Tuesday night with the first race of the May League.

Thirteen dinghies raced in Class 1. The race was won by Brian Jones and Gary Frost, sailing a 505. Second in an ILCA 7 Laser was Richard Harrington, and third was Brendan Dwyer in another ILCA 7.

Four boats raced in Class 2, which was won by Lucy O’Connell and Kate O’Connor, sailing an RS Feva XL. Second, also in a Feva XL, were Daisy and Ruby Duggan and third, Tom and Tim O’Connor in a Mirror dinghy.

It was a pleasant evening for the introductory night, unlike Wednesday night when sailing at Cove SC and Kinsale YC was called off due to wind conditions.

55 dinghies competed across the fleets at Monkstown Bay Sailing Club 'At Home' 2022 regatta in Cork Harbour on Saturday.

As regular Afloat readers will know, the event was postponed from earlier in the season when strong winds cancelled the first 'At Home' attempt in late June.

The Monkstown Bay Sailing Club Regatta had three fleets of dinghies competing Photo: Bob Bateman

In Class 1, Laser full rig sailor Ronan Kenneally won from Fred Cudmore, Sandy Rimmington and Brian Dineen, sailing a penultimate National 18. The third was Harry Pritchard in a Laser Full rig

Fred Cudmore, Sandy Rimmington and Brian Dineen, sailing a penultimate National 18 Photo: Bob Bateman

Class 2 overall was won by Mirror duo Tim and Isobel O'Connor. 

Father and daughter Mirror duo Tim and Isobel O'Connor

The first Junior team was Isabelle McCarthy/Ben Dwyer in an RS Feva. Second junior was Alexia Creighton in a  Topaz Uno dinghy. The third junior crew were Anna Daly/Sarah Hallissey.

In the Optimist Class, Ruadhan Jackson won from Eoin Jones with Donnagh Jackson third. 

Video clips by Mary Malone

An Optimist start at the Monkstown Bay Sailing Club 'At Home' 2022 Regatta 

Bob Bateman's Monkstown Bay Sailing Club 'At Home' 2022 Photo Gallery

Philip Doherty in his Laser Radial is leading Monkstown Bay Sailing Club’s Class 1 in the August dinghy league after three races on a total of 5 points. Second is John Moynihan on 11 points, in another Laser and third is the duo of Judy Moynihan and Therese Loesberg in their Laser II on 12 points.

Ellen and Ayda Bruen are leading Class 2 in an RS Feva XL ahead of second-placed Isobel and Tim O’Connor, who won the July league. Third are Tony Geraghty and Daragh KIleen in another RS Feva XL.

Saturday, January 15th, was day two of Monkstown Bay Sailing Club’s Laser Winter League in Cork Harbour.

A windless morning was in store for the competitors. The bay was calm and clear, and the air had a cold bite. Nonetheless, the ever-popular league had attracted a fleet of sixteen sailors who swarmed the sand quay in the early hours of Saturday morning.

The club hut was surrounded by hustling volunteers who prepared the equipment for the intense racing that was to unfold at Ten O'Clock. With the windward/leeward course set, crash boats launched and sailors dressed, racing could begin.

The first few lasers drifted their way out on a glassy bay. The view of white dinghies on a calm bay was lovely yet unpromising. Alas, the optimism of Race Officer Alan Fehily and his team could not be quenched, and the starting gun went on time.

MBSC Committee Boat and Race Officer Alan Fehily

The pin was crowded and it was a battlefield of lasers fighting their way off the start line for race one. The breeze picked up at a slow pace and the competitors sailed their boats with finesse around the course.

Taking an early lead was MBSC’s Ronan Kenneally who took on the shifty conditions at a rapid pace. Only a metre behind was Richie Harrington. The two pushed each other around the course for the duration of the race. Taking first place was Kenneally, closely followed by Harrington across the finish line.

Slightly more breeze filled the course for race two and an increased tidal flow made race tactics difficult. Battling it out for line honours were MBSC sailors Richie Harrington, Chris Bateman and Rob Howe. With an exciting tacking battle towards the finish line, Harrington took first place. Following in second was Bateman. Rob Howe finished in third, nearly overtaking first and second place boats while they battled it out.

Race three was the most difficult of them all. Tidelines and tricky wind conditions gave the competitors a traditional South Westerly Monkstown bay racecourse.

Excelling on all fronts was MBSC’S Paul O’Sullivan, who took an early lead. Untouchable for the duration of the race, he extended away from the fleet, finishing with a big lead. Ronan Kenneally followed in second place with the consistent Rob Howe finishing in third place.

Once again, the sailors were ashore before twelve noon. After putting the boats away, they converged in the Bosun to warm up chilly hands. It was another great morning’s racing on Monkstown Bay thanks to the fine race organisers and competitive sailors.

I have always considered Laser sailors to be tough, particularly when I have seen them battling the elements of Winter weather during Frostbite series. So, standing on the Sand Quay at Monkstown in Cork Harbour, base of my home village club on a windswept Saturday morning, rain carried in the wind as I watched a few of them trying to right their boats after capsizing into the cold, choppy waters of the River Lee I shivered, huddled into my warm jacket and was pretty glad I wasn’t out there…..!!
You need to be fit to sail a Laser, I concluded and not afraid of a dousing in cold water. As the sailors came ashore from the Winter series run by Monkstown Bay Sailing Club, they were all happy with themselves. There was a great bit of craic going on amongst them.

 This league series was run by the club to get Lasers out sailing. It succeeded, with sailors from Youghal and Inniscarra clubs in the county joining harbour sailors.

“There are many Lasers around the harbour that aren’t sailed, maybe because there isn’t a centre where they can gather.”
“Get out racing…
“It’s easier to sit inside the window looking out and deciding not to go…”
“None of us are aspiring to be internationalists or Olympians, we just enjoy our sailing, but there has been perhaps too much emphasis on the top level of sailing rather than the clubs. It’s in the clubs that the future is…”
Those were amongst comments to me amongst a spirited group of sailors enthused after battling pretty demanding conditions. They also expressed an attitude that the event was a commitment to club sailing, underlining the importance of boosting the clubs.
Monkstown Bay SC faces a challenge ahead, because of the expansion of Cork Port at Ringasiddy, just across Monkstown Bay from the club house. There is concern about the impact which this will have on the available sailing water in the Bay, which could be restricted in the future.
Listen above to my interview with Charles Dwyer, one of the MBSC organisers of the League, who first described to me the sailing weather conditions that morning.

12 boats took part in the years 505 Irish Nationals and British Isles Championships. Following a delayed Swansea Cork ferry, the four UK boats made it to MBSC at 12 30pm on Saturday.

Racing on Saturday was held in Cuskinny with the breeze touching 25 knots on the downwind leg to the race area. The OOD team of Ciarán McSweeney and David Barry got racing underway at 3 15pm with the north westerly breeze softening to 12 to 15 knots. Ewen Barry and Simon Lake(8945) lead at mark one followed by Charles Dwyer and Conor Kelly (8961). Dwyer and Kelly's race came to an end at the first gybe mark with an impressive capsize( their first of two in the race). Barry and Lake showed impressive upwind speed with Barry and Kenney flying on the downwind in perfect reaching conditions. Barry and Kenney eventually took the lead on the top reach of the last leg and managed to hold on to take first, Barry and Lake second and Ronan Kenneally and Denis Cartwright taking a well deserved third place.

In race two, Barry and Kenney lead all the way round with some great battles for the 2, 3, 4 positions going on behind. Brian Jones and Gary Frost sailing 7771 came out ahead taking 2nd place with Ewen and Simon in 3rd. With the sun going down and a beat home the OOD team made the call to head for home and the warmth of the clubhouse.

Day 2 again brought great sailing conditions with a cold Northerly breeze and brilliant sunshine, racing got underway again in Cuskinny at 11 30am. Three races were held, in 8 to 12 knots. Denis Cartwright was joined by the third Barry brother Colin for the rest of the weekend as Ronan Kenneally had laser sailing commitments. Barry and Kenney again showed their pace on the day and with two firsts and a fourth were going to be hard to catch. Dwyer and Kelly found their footing with a 3, 1, 2 winning the second race by a considerable margin. Colin and Denis had a very consistent day with a 2, 3, 3 and had some extremely close battles with Dwyer and Kelly. Jones and Frost struggled in the lighter breeze posting a 5, 6, 5 leaving some work to do to catch back up to the group battling for second. Wade and Robert Cuppage added another boat to the racing today in Ethel, possibly one of the most famous 505's around and still sporting a deck stepped mast. Damage to Mikie and Josh's boat caused them to retire from races 4 & 5 with redress granted later as they were found to be not at fault. This meant that the battle for the junior title with James and Lisa O'Brien was hotting up and all to play for on the last day.

Going into the last day, with a gale warning in place for Monday, Alex and Adam lead on 4 points, Charlo and Conor in second on 10 points, Ewen & Simon and Colin & Denis tieing for third on 11 points.

Sunday night brought the usual banter with plenty or arm wrestling, chair jumping and general tough man competitions in the bar and stories of days gone by from Jim.

Monday morning brought new conditions with a strong southerly breeze filling in to the bay. As there were big winds forecasted and ferries to catch, Dave and Ciarán decided to hold racing in the bay. Conditions were good for the 505 with flat water and 18 to 22 knots of breeze. There was no catching Barry and Kenney again with their downwind pace proving to be the winning factor. They posted another two firsts to take the title counting all 1sts. Charlo was joined by Ronan Kenneally this time and despite a lightweight crew they took two seconds on the day to cement their second place overall. With Ewen and Simon breaking an outhaul in the first race they now had to count a 7th and a 3rd in the final race was not enough to fight off Colin and Denis. Brian and Gary's big breeze pace was back and the posted a 3rd and a 4th. Jim and Barney had a great first race taking 5th but a capsize in the second race but them out of the race.

In the juniors, Mikie and Josh posted a 6th and a 7th to take the junior title with Lisa and James' equal 6th and a 7th not enough to catch up.

505 Irish Nationals and British Isles Championships – MSBC 23rd to 25th October 2010

1 IRL/GBR           8945 Alex Barry & Adam Kenny 1 1 1 4 1 1 1
2 IRL                8961 Charles Dwyer & Conor Kelly 7 4 3 1 2 2 2
3 IRL               8497 Colin Barry & Dennis Cartwright 3 5 2 3 3 4 5
4 IRL/GBR           8955 Ewen Barry & Simon Lake 2 3 4 2 7 12 3
5 IRL               7771 Brian Jones & Garry Frost 4 2 5 6 5 3 4
6 GBR                8907 Jim Berry & David Barnes 6 7 6 5 10 5 10
7 IRL               8552 Michael O'Brien & John O'Gorman 5 6 7 8 4 12 13
8 IRL               8380 Charles & Jeannie McCarthy 8 8 8 7 6 12 8
9 IRL               8*08 Mike O'Brien & Josh Barrett 10 10 9 APA8.4 APA8.4 6 7
10 IRL              8679 James & Lisa O'Brien 9 9 11 10 8 7 6
11 IRL              8216 Joanne McCarthy & Steven O'Reilly 13 13 10 9 9 12 13
12 IRL              7852 Wade & Robert Cuppage 13 13 13 11 11 13 13