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Displaying items by tag: Fingal Cruiser Challenge

This year’s Fingal Cruiser Challenge kicks off on Saturday 13 May with the Fingal Coastal, the first in a nine-event series that also includes the famed Lambay Races, the Asgard Race and much more.

Organised by Howth Yacht Club in association with Malahide Yacht Club, the open series of Saturday races is touted as the only alternative on the East Coast to ISORA for coastal racing.

It regularly brings together a variety of keelboat owners and racers to enjoy the action on the water, not to mention the social gatherings after the racing.

Entry is €40 which includes six races in the waters north and east of Howth Harbour, plus three combined with other events and regattas.

The full calendar for the Fingal Cruiser Challenge 2023 is as follows:

  • 13 May - Fingal Coastal
  • 27 May - Asgard Race
  • 3 June - Lambay Races
  • 17 June - Kish & Back Challenge
  • 15 July - Howth-Rockabill-Coastal
  • 22 July - Malahide Regatta
  • 5 August - Gibney Classic
  • 19 August - Dublin Bay Coastal Race
  • 2 September - Fingal Coastal Challenge

The Notice of Race is available from the HYC website HERE.

Published in Howth YC

Saturday 4 July marks the start of the 2020 Fingal Cruiser Challenge with a mini coastal race starting from Howth pier, with the gun at 10am.

Howth Yacht Club intends to start all boats off together and the fleet will be racing under HPH handicap only.

This is the third year of the revamped Fingal Series and will feature a combination of four mini-coastal races and the Lambay Race.

The series is intended to encourage keelboat owners, both racers and non-racers, to participate in some or all of the challenges that we can fit into our shortened season.

The mini coastal races are hoped to be attractive to boats with short-handed or less experienced crews, while providing close racing for those who like to be at the front.

The Notice of Race and entry form for the series are available online.

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the Aqua Two-Handed Challenge returns to Howth later in July, with a wider array of classes welcome.

Meanwhile, club racing starts tomorrow (Tuesday 30 June) for the one-designs at HYC, as was confirmed last week. Entries can still be submitted HERE.

Published in Howth YC

Beneteau 211 sailing in Ireland

A small, fast cruiser/racer – in style very much a miniature Open 60 or early Figaro, the Beneteau First 211 offers high sailing performance for her size, plus simple accommodation for up to four people.
The boat is very dinghy-style to sail, although the keel makes her self-righting, and foam buoyancy renders her unsinkable, according to the French manufacturer.

Designed by Groupe Finot and introduced in 1998 as a replacement model for the 1992 model First 210, the Beneteau First 211 is a small high-performance yacht designed to be simple to sail and take the ground or be trailed. The words' pocket rockets' tend to be used to describe these boats!
The design was revised to become the Beneteau First 21.7 in 2005. All three models, 210, 211 and 21.7, are very similar in style and concept and share many actual components.

The hull of the Beneteau First 211 is solid GRP, with sandwich construction for the deck moulding. There is foam buoyancy at the bow and stern, guaranteeing unsinkability. The ballasted drop keel is raised by a manual jack and allows easy transport of the boat and drying out if required, supported level by the twin rudders.
The sailplan has a non-overlapping jib to keep sheet loads down and a large spinnaker to achieve high speeds downwind. With almost six foot of draught with keel down and twin rudders for control, upwind performance is also excellent.

The design is popular in Ireland's boating capital at Dun Laoghaire Harbour, where up to a dozen race as part of a one-design class in regular Dublin Bay Sailing Club racing. The boats also race for national championship honours annually. The boats are kept on Dun Laoghaire Marina and look all the more impressive as the fleet of pocket rocket racers are all moored together on one pontoon.

At A Glance – Beneteau First 211 Specifications

LOA: 6.2m (20ft 4in)

Draught: 1.8m to 0.65m (5ft 11in to 2ft 2in)

Displacement: 1,100kg (2,200lb)

LWL: 6m (19ft 7in)

ARCHITECT
• Finot Conq et Associés

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