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Displaying items by tag: Keohane

#ROWING: A composite men’s senior eight of Shandon Rowing Club and Presentation Brothers College, Cork were the fastest crew at the Cork Head of the River today. They outpaced two other senior eights: a Shandon/Cahir composite and Cork Boat Club. The UCC intermediate eight were the second fastest overall, clocking 12 minutes 36.6 seconds - just under seven seconds off the winning time. John Keohane of Lee Valley was the fastest single sculler on the day, and Amy Bulman recorded the fastest time for a woman. 

Cork Head of the River (Selected Results)

Men

Head One:

Eight – Senior: 1 Shandon/Presentation 12 minutes 29.7 seconds, 2 Cork BC 12:44.8, 3 Shandon/Cahir 13:29.7. Intermediate: UCC 12:36.6. Junior 18: Cork 12:55.7.

Head Two:

Sculling, Single – Senior: Lee Valley (J Keohane) 15:10.7. Inter: Lee (D O’Sullivan) 15:44.7. Jun 18: 1 Fermoy (G Morrison) 15:53.8, 2 Athlunkard (E Gallagher) 16:09, 3 Lee (H Deasy) 16:09.5. Jun 16: Lee (L Guerin) 16:35.3.

Head Three:

Four – Senior: UCC 13:58.8. Inter, coxed: Cork 14:19.4. Jun 18, coxed: Muckross 17:21.9. Jun 16, coxed: Fermoy 16.44.2.

Head Four:

Sculling, Quadruple – Inter: Shandon 14:08.7. Club Two, coxed: Clonmel 15:46.5. Jun 18: Cork 14:16. Jun 16, coxed: Cork 14:47.5.

Head Five:

Pair – Jun 18A: Cork 16:36.0.

Head Six:

Sculling, Double – Inter: Presentation, Cork 15:41.6. Club Two: Shandon 16:52.7. Novice: St Brendan’s 19:15.3. Jun 18A: Shandon 15:41.4. Jun 16: Lee 16:43.0.

Rolling Head

Eight – Intermediate: Muckross 14:22.3. Masters: Fermoy 14:16.6.

Pair – Jun 18A: Pres, Cork 17:39.9.

Sculling, Quadruple – Inter: UCC 15:59.5. Club Two, coxed: Fermoy 18:27.8. Novice, coxed: St Brendan’s 16:19.0. Jun 18A: Pres, Cork 14:32.0. Jun 16, coxed: Pres, Cork 14:36.2. Masters: Shandon 15:31.3.

Double – Jun 18: Presentation, Cork 16:05.4. Jun 16: Skibbereen 16:21.6.

Single – Senior: Clonmel (A Chadfield) 16:57.2. Jun 18: Skibbereen (K Mannix) 17:18.5. Jun 16: Skibbereen (D O’Sullivan) 18:47.5. Masters: Cahir (D Heffernan) 16:49.3.

Women

Head One:

Eight – Intermediate: UCC 15:24.3.

Sculling, Quadruple – Club Two, coxed: Lee 15:08.5. Novice, coxed: Fermoy 16:55.6. Junior 16, coxed: Cork 15:34.9.

Head Two:

Pair – Senior: Cork 16:38.2. Junior 18A: Lee 16:54.8.

Head Three:

Sculling, Double – Senior: UCC 15:45.0. Jun 18A: Cork 16:45.6. Jun 16: Lee 16:33.0.

Head Five:

Sculling, Single – Senior: 1 UCC (A Bulman) 17:57.3, 2 Cork (M O’Neill) 18:10.8. Inter: UCC 19:11.1. Novice: Lee 21:03.1. Junior 18A: Muckross 19.04.0. Jun 16: Lee Valley 19:17.8.

Rolling Head

Eight – Jun 16: Shandon 16:29.9.

Four – Masters, coxed: Clonmel 18:59.4.

Pair – Senior: UCC 17:33.3.

Sculling, Quadruple – Club Two, coxed: Fermoy 18:27.8. Jun 16, coxed: Shandon 15:57.8.

Double – Jun 18A: Clonmel 17:57.4. Jun 16: Fermoy 17:27.1.

Single – Senior: Fermoy (S Bouanane) 17:36.4. Inter: Fermoy (S Bouanane) 19:25.9. Jun 18A: Fermoy (S Cotter) 18:40.5. Jun 16: Shandon (C Minehane) 17:51.5.

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: Ireland’s Monika Dukarska and Eimear Moran had to settle for missing out on a semi-final place at the World Cup Regatta in Aiguebelette in France. The Ireland double scull was in with a chance of taking the top-three place they needed until the final third of the race. John Keohane was off the pace in his repechage of the men’s single scull.The Corkman finished fourth when a top-two place would have taken him through to the A/B semi-finals.

World Cup Regatta, Aiguebelette, France, Day One (Selected Results, Irish interest)

Men

Single Sculls – Heat One (Time Trial; First Directly to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage); 1 Cuba (A Fournier Rodriguez) 6:48.06; 2 Canada 6:55.45, 3 Finland 6:59.39, 4 United States 7:06.59, 5 Ireland (J Keohane) 7:12.69, 6 Hungary 7:17.37. Repechage One (Two to A/B Semi-Finals): 4 Keohane 7:39.38.

Lightweight Single Sculls – Heats (Time Trials; First Two Directly Through to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage) – Heat One: 1 China (Tiexin Wang) 7:02.36, 2 France (D Piqueras) 7:07.64; 5 Ireland Two (M O’Donovan) 7:20.78

Heat Three: 1 Ireland One (P O’Donovan) 7:11.34, 2 Britain (Z Lee-Green) 7:15.60.

Repechage One (First Two to A/B Semis; 3-5 to C Final): 4 Ireland Two (O’Donovan) 7:37.56.

Women

Pair – Heat Two (Time Trial; First Three to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 Canada (N Mastracci, S Grainger) 7:13.29, 2 United States Two (G Luczak, C Lind) 7:13.87, 3 Ireland (L Kennedy, L Dilleen) 7:18.15; 4 Germany Two 7:32.77, 5 China Two 7:37.06.

Double Sculls – Heat Three (Time Trial; First Three Directly to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 Belarus (E Karsten, Y Bichyk) 6:51.94, 2 Britain (F Houghton, V Thornley) 6:54.71, 3 China (Yuwei Wang, Weiwei Zhu) 6:57.09; 4 France 7:07.40, 5 Ireland (M Dukarska, E Moran) 7:12.42. Repechage (Three to A/B Semi-Final): 5 Dukarska, Moran 7:40.13.

Lightweight Double Sculls – Heat Two (Time Trial; First Two Directly to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 Britain One (I Walsh, K Copeland) 7:02.44, 2 United States (D Karz, M Sechser) 7:07.21; 3 Ireland (C Lambe, D Walsh) 5:21.89, 4 Mexico Two 7:20.55, 5 Belarus 7:20.95. Repechage (First Two to A/B Semi-Finals; 3-5 to C Final): 1 Brazil (B Cardoso, F Beltrame) 7:24.44, 2 Ireland (Lambe, Walsh) 7:25.65; 3 Poland 7:27.13, 4 Belarus 7:33.59, 5 Czech Republic 7:37.94, 6 Mexico One 7:46.68.

Single Sculls – Heat Three (Time Trial; First Two directly to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 China (Jingli Duan) 7:30.54, 2 Ireland (S Puspure) 7:34.63; 3 Switzerland 7:35.99, 4 France 7:37.79, 5 Zimbabwe 7:41.57, 6 Croatia 7:42.46.

Pararowing – Arms and Shoulders Men’s Single Sculls – Heat Two (First to A Final; rest to Repechage): 5 Ireland (T Kelly) 5:48.38. Repechage Two (First two to A Final): 4 Kelly 6:06.18.

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: Sanita Puspure marched into the A/B Semi-Finals at the World Cup Rowing regatta at Aiguebelette in France today. First or second in her heat, which was run as a time trial, was enough to secure qualification for the Ireland sculler. She matched the pace of Duan Jingli of China for much of the 2,000 metres, but at the end the Chinese won, with Puspure taking a clear second.

Mirka Knapkova of the Czech Republic and Emma Twigg of New Zealand won the other heats – with Twigg the fastest winner by over four seconds.

There was only ever going to be one man to win John Keohane’s heat of the men’s single scull: Angel Fournier Rodriguez of Cuba dominated the time trial and took the only direct qualification place. Keohane finished fifth of the six starters.

The Ireland women’s double of Monika Dukarska and Claire Lambe finished fifth of five in their heat.

World Cup Regatta, Aiguebelette, France, Day One (Selected Results, Irish interest)

Men

Single Sculls – Heat One (Time Trial; First Directly to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage); 1 Cuba (A Fournier Rodriguez) 6:48.06; 2 Canada 6:55.45, 3 Finland 6:59.39, 4 United States 7:06.59, 5 Ireland (J Keohane) 7:12.69, 6 Hungary 7:17.37.

Lightweight Single Sculls – Heats (Time Trials; First Two Directly Through to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage) – Heat One: 1 China (Tiexin Wang) 7:02.36, 2 France (D Piqueras) 7:07.64; 5 Ireland Two (M O’Donovan) 7:20.78

Heat Three: 1 Ireland One (P O’Donovan) 7:11.34, 2 Britain (Z Lee-Green) 7:15.60.

Women

Pair – Heat Two (Time Trial; First Three to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 Canada (N Mastracci, S Grainger) 7:13.29, 2 United States Two (G Luczak, C Lind) 7:13.87, 3 Ireland (L Kennedy, L Dilleen) 7:18.15; 4 Germany Two 7:32.77, 5 China Two 7:37.06.

Double Sculls – Heat Three (Time Trial; First Three Directly to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 Belarus (E Karsten, Y Bichyk) 6:51.94, 2 Britain (F Houghton, V Thornley) 6:54.71, 3 China (Yuwei Wang, Weiwei Zhu) 6:57.09; 4 France 7:07.40, 5 Ireland (M Dukarska, E Moran) 7:12.42.

Lightweight Double Sculls – Heat Two (Time Trial; First Two Directly to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 Britain One (I Walsh, K Copeland) 7:02.44, 2 United States (D Karz, M Sechser) 7:07.21; 3 Ireland (C Lambe, D Walsh) 5:21.89, 4 Mexico Two 7:20.55, 5 Belarus 7:20.95.

Single Sculls – Heat Three (Time Trial; First Two directly to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 China (Jingli Duan) 7:30.54, 2 Ireland (S Puspure) 7:34.63; 3 Switzerland 7:35.99, 4 France 7:37.79, 5 Zimbabwe 7:41.57, 6 Croatia 7:42.46.

Pararowing – Arms and Shoulders Men’s Single Sculls – Heat Two (First to A Final; rest to Repechage): 5 Ireland (T Kelly)

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: John Keohane won the men’s senior single sculls at Metropolitan Regatta on Dorney Lake on Saturday. The Lee Valley man was among a number of Irish winners on the day: Carlow and NUIG won the Intermediate One fours and coxed fours respectively and UCD’s women eight won their intermediate one final. The Gráinne Mhaol/NUIG crew were second in the senior eight.

Metropolitan Regatta, Dorney Lake (Irish interest, selected results)

Saturday

Men

Eight – Senior: 2 Gráinne Mhaol/NUIG.

Four – Intermediate One: 1 Carlow. Four Coxed – Intermediate One: 1 NUIG

Pair – Intermediate One: 3 Presentation Brothers, Cork.

Sculling, Quadruple – Intermediate One: 2 UCC. Junior: 3 Cork BC

Single – Senior: 1 Lee Valley (J Keohane) Intermediate One: 3 Carlow (Aaron Bolger)

Women

Eights – Intermediate One: 1 UCD; 3 Trinity (three-boat final) Fours, coxed – Intermediate One: 1 UCD 7:19.2. Intermediate Two: 2 Commercial.

Pair – Senior: 2 Cork BC

Sculling, Quadruple – Intermediate One: 3 UCC.

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: The repechage route did not prove a fruitful one for Ireland crews at the European Junior Rowing Championships in Hazewinkel in Belgium. The men’s double of Conor Carmody and David O’Malley were competitve until halfway, but they needed to finish in the top two and missed out by finishing fourth. They will go on to a C/D semi-final tomorrow. The men’s pair of David and Brian Keohane and single sculler Erin Barry both finished fifth. They go directly to their C Finals.

European Junior Rowing Championships, Hazewinkel, Belgium (Irish interest):

Men

Pair – Heat Two (First Two Directly to A/B Semi-Finals: 5 Ireland (D Keohane, B Keohane) 7:30.39. Repechage: 5 Ireland 7:34.21

Double Sculls – Heat Three (First directly to A/B semi-finals): 4 Ireland (C Carmody, D O’Malley) 6:56.91. Repechage: 4 Ireland.

Women

Double Sculls – Heat One (First Two Directly to A/B Semi-Finals): 2 Ireland (J English, E Lambe) 7:54.10.

Single Sculls – Heat Three (First Two directly to A/B Semi-finals): 5 Ireland (E Barry) 8:38.33. Repechage: 5 Barry 9:05.20.

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: A team of seven athletes have been selected to represent Ireland at the European Junior Rowing Championships in Hazelwinkel, Belgium on May 24th and 25th. This is the first time Rowing Ireland has sent a team to compete at this event.

 The team is:

Junior Women’s Single Scull: Erin Barry, Bann RC.

Junior Women’s Double Scull: Eimear Lambe, Commercial RC and Jasmine English, Belfast BC

Junior Men’s Double Scull: David O’Malley, St Michaels RC and Conor Carmody, Shannon RC

Junior Men’s Pair: David Keohane and Brian Keohane, Presentation College RC

All seven athletes represented Ireland in 2013. Erin Barry, Jasmine English, David O’Malley and Conor Carmody competed at the Junior World Rowing Championships, while Eimear Lambe, David Keohane and Brian Keohane were chosen for the Coupe de la Jeunesse, a European tournament. This year’s World Junior Rowing Championships and Coupe de la Jeunesse both take place in August.

Published in Rowing

#IrishRowingChampionships: Claire Lambe and John Keohane won the men’s and women’s senior single sculls titles at the Irish Rowing Championships at Farran Woods in Cork today. Both had hard battles before crossing the line as winners.

Lambe had a disappointing start and saw Sinéad Jennings take and hold the lead until halfway. Lambe came back and led by 1500 metres, but Jennings mounted challenge after challenge.

Keohane took the lead early on but had to battle to retain it. Eimantas Grigalius, a World Junior Champion in 2003, drove hard a the Corkman through the closing 500 metres, but Keohane, rating below his opponent, retained his lead – and the title he won last year.

There was great excitement in the closing stages of the men’s novice coxed four. UCD’s lead was eaten away and then completely lost to Queen’s University, who won by .92 of a second. UCD also lost out in the women’s intermediate coxed four to a strong St Michael’s crew of Hannah McCarthy, Emily Tormey, Kate O’Brien, Hanah O’Sullivan and cox Conor McGowan.

The men’s intermediate pair and the women’s junior pair and men’s junior double sculls were convincingly won by UCC, Portora and Shandon respectively.

Irish Rowing Championships, National Rowing Centre, Farran Woods, Cork – Day Three (Selected Results, Finals)

Men

Four – Novice, coxed: 1 Queen’s 7:49.87, 2 UCD 7:50.79, 3 UCC 7:55.25.

Pair – Intermediate: 1 UCC 8:13.04, 2 Portora 8:36.82, 3 Bann 8:42.84.

Sculling, Double – Junior: 1 Shandon (J Casey, A Harrington) 7:55.13, 2 Skibbereen 8:13.06, 3 Lee 8:19.07.

Single – Senior: 1 Lee Valley (J Keohane) 8:00.96, 2 Three Castles (E Grigalius) 8:03.83, 3 Portadown (S McKeown) 8:21.55.

Women

Four, Intermediate, coxed: 1 St Michael’s 8:10.43, 2 UCD C 8:18.36, 3 UCD A 8:28.10.

Pair – Junior: 1 Portora (D Maguire, P Mulligan) 9:04.90, 2 Muckross 9:16.42, 3 Shannon 9:19.32.

Sculling, Single – Senior: 1 UCD (C Lambe) 9:09.20, 2 St Michael’s (S Jennings) 9:10.31, 3 Three Castles (H Walshe) 9:28.57.

Published in Rowing

# ROWING: Ireland had a good start at the European Rowing Championships in Seville today. Claire Lambe nailed the second place she needed to qualify directly for the A Final of the lightweight single sculls and Sanita Puspure qualified for her semi-final of the single sculls by taking the third of three qualification places.

Ireland’s two other crews face into repechages later today. Niall Kenny and Justin Ryan took third in a heat of the lightweight double sculls won by Italy, who took the one semi-final place on offer, repelling a challenge by Austria. Ireland won a mini-battle with Bulgaria for third.

John Keohane finished fifth in his heat of the single sculls. Germany’s Marcel Hacker had his expected win, with Mindaugas Griskonis of Lithuania taking the second qualification place. Keohane, who is new to this level, held off Russian Denis Kleshnev, who finished sixth.

European Rowing Championships, Seville – Day One (Irish interest)

Men

Lightweight Double Sculls – Heat Four (One Directly to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechages): 1 Italy (A Micheletti, P Ruta) 6:39.92; 2 Austria 6:44.49, 3 Ireland (N Kenny, J Ryan) 6:47.43, 4 Bulgaria 6:48.89, 5 Czech Republic 6:51.76.

Single Sculls – Heat One (First Two Directly to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechages): 1 Germany (M Hacker) 7:03.91, 2 Lithuania (M Griskonis) 7:08.15; 3 Italy 7:19.44, 4 Greece 7:22.19, 5 Ireland (J Keohane) 7:25.67, 6 Russia 7:27.89.

Women

Single Sculls – Heat One (First Three to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 Ukraine (N Dovgodko) 8:04.02, 2 Norway (T Gjoertz) 8:04.65, 3 Ireland (S Puspure) 8:09.24; 4 Bulgaria 8:18.54, 5 Armenia 9:41.08.

Lightweight Single Sculls – Heat One (First Two Directly to A/B Semi-Finals; rest to Repechage): 1 Austria (M Tauper-Traer) 7:25.35, 2 Ireland (C Lambe) 7:58.09; 3 Czech Republic 8:06.09, 4 France 8:09.57, 6 Cyprus 8:10.61.

 

Published in Rowing

# ROWING: John Keohane was the fastest man at the Ireland Trials at National Rowing Centre in Cork today. However, the Lee Valley heavyweight was just nine hundredths of a second ahead of lightweight sculler Paul O’Donovan in the Time Trial. The 19-year-old from Skibbereen was assessed to have a percentage of world’s best time in his grade of 94.8 per cent – albeit with a strong tail wind. The conditions were forecast to deteriorate as the day went on and on-the-water work was done early in the morning.

Time Trial (Selected Results)

Men - Senior/Under-23/Lightweight single sculls and pairs (1900 metres; ranked on per centage of projected world best time for each class). Selected Results.

1 P O’Donovan (lightweight) 6 mins 40.85 (94.8 per cent), 2 G O’Donovan (lwt) 6:50.10 (92.7), 3 J Keohane (heavyweight) 6:40.76 (92.4), S O’Driscoll (lwt) 6:52.87 (92.0), 5 F McQuillan-Tolan/S O’Connor (heavyweight pair) 6:25.33 (91.2), 6 D Neale (hwt) 6:46.49 (91.1), 7 L Prendergast (lwt) 7:04.10 (89.6), 8 J Mitchell/M Wray (hwt pair) 6:35.16 (89.0), 9 A Burns (lwt) 7:07.79 (88.8), 10 A Boreham (hwt) 7:04.84 (87.2).

 

Published in Rowing

#ROWING: John Keohane was the fastest men’s single sculler and Marie O’Neill the fastest woman at the big Skibbereen Head of the River at the National Rowing Centre in Cork on Saturday. Skibbereen’s men’s quadruple scull were the fastest crew of the day, with a winning time of 10 minutes 30 seconds for the 3,800 metres.

Skibbereen Head of the River, National Rowing Centre, Farran Wood, Cork, Saturday (Selected Results)

Head One

Women, Eight – Junior 16: Shannon 13:27.

Quadruple Scull – Senior: Skibbereen 11:36. Intermediate: University of Limerick 13:43. Novice, coxed: Cork 13:30. Junior 18A: Skibbereen 12:01, 2 Shandon 12:12, 3 Castleconnell 12:22.

Head Two

Men

Single Sculls: 1 Lee Valley (J Keohane) 12:01, 2 University of Limerick (Penny) 12:03, 3 Cork IT (O’Donovan) 12:19. Intermediate: 1 Skibbereen (Burns) 12:33, 2 UCC (McGuckin) 12:42, 3 Skibbereen (Leonard) 12:44. Novice: 1 Lee (Keogh) 12:45, 2 Clonmel (Murphy) 13:06, 3 UCC (Stanton) 13:34. Junior 18A: 1 Lee (Mitchell) 12:25, 2 Skibbereen (Ryan) 12:26, 3 Presentation (Keohane) 12:34. H

Head Three

Women, Pair – Senior: Cork 14:23.

Single Scull – Senior: 1 Cork (O’Neill) 13:12, 2 Skibbereen (Walsh) 13:13, 3 Skibbereen (Fitzgerald) 13:44. Intermediate: 1 Lee Valley (K Corcoran-O’Hare) 13:45, 2 Cork (Judge) 14:25, 3 Fermoy (Dowling) 14:35. Novice: 1 University of Limerick (Griffin) 15:13, 2 Lee (McGrath) 15:19, 3 University of Limerick (Mooney) 15:39. Junior 18A: 1 Skibbereen (Walsh) 13:46, 2 Fermoy (Shinnick) 13:47, 3 Cork (Hamel) 14:23. Junior 16: Cork (Beechinor) 14:37.

Head Four

Men, Four, coxed – Junior 18A: Presentation 12:08.

Double Sculls – Senior: 1 Lee Valley 11:18 and Skibbereen/Cork IT 11:18. Intermediate: Skibbereen 11:30. Novice Lee 12:06. Junior 18A: 1 Skibbereen 11:13, 2 Lee 11:16, 3 Shandon 11:30. Junior 16: Skibbereen 11:44.

Head Five

Women, Four – Senior: Cork 11:49. Intermediate, coxed: Shandon 13:06. Novice, coxed: 13:42.

Double Scull – Senior: 1 Skibbereen B 12:35, 2 Skibbereen A 12:36. Intermediate: Killorglin 13:10. Junior 18A: 1 Fermoy 12:40, 2 Graiguenamanagh 13:40, 3 Cork 14:01. Junior 16: Muckross 13:16.

Head Six

Men, Eight – Intermediate: University of Limerick 10:52. Junior 18A: Presentation 10:42. Junior 16: Presentation 11:54.

Quadruple Sculls – Senior: Skibbereen 10:30. Intermediate One: University of Limerick 11:32. Junior 18A: 1 Skibbereen 10:29, 2 Lee 10:34, 3 Shandon 10:49. Junior 16, coxed: Clonmel 11:13.

Rolling Head (Two Kilometres)

Quadruple Sculls - Junior 15, coxed: Killorglin 7:45.

Published in Rowing
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Howth 17 information

The oldest one-design keelboat racing class in the world is still competing today to its original 1897 design exclusively at Howth Yacht club.

Howth 17 FAQs

The Howth 17 is a type of keelboat. It is a 3-man single-design keelboat designed to race in the waters off Howth and Dublin Bay.

The Howth Seventeen is just 22ft 6ins in hull length.

The Howth 17 class is raced and maintained by the Association members preserving the unique heritage of the boats. Association Members maintain the vibrancy of the Class by racing and cruising together as a class and also encourage new participants to the Class in order to maintain succession. This philosophy is taken account of and explained when the boats are sold.

The boat is the oldest one-design keelboat racing class in the world and it is still racing today to its original design exclusively at Howth Yacht club. It has important historical and heritage value keep alive by a vibrant class of members who race and cruise the boats.

Although 21 boats are in existence, a full fleet rarely sails buy turnouts for the annual championships are regularly in the high teens.

The plans of the Howth 17 were originally drawn by Walter Herbert Boyd in 1897 for Howth Sailing Club. The boat was launched in Ireland in 1898.

They were originally built by John Hilditch at Carrickfergus, County Down. Initially, five boats were constructed by him and sailed the 90-mile passage to Howth in the spring of 1898. The latest Number 21 was built in France in 2017.

The Howth 17s were designed to combat local conditions in Howth that many of the keel-less boats of that era such as the 'Half-Rater' would have found difficult.

The original fleet of five, Rita, Leila, Silver Moon, Aura and Hera, was increased in 1900 with the addition of Pauline, Zaida and Anita. By 1913 the class had increased to fourteen boats. The extra nine were commissioned by Dublin Bay Sailing Club for racing from Kingstown (Dún Laoghaire) - Echo, Sylvia, Mimosa, Deilginis, Rosemary, Gladys, Bobolink, Eileen and Nautilus. Gradually the boats found their way to Howth from various places, including the Solent and by the latter part of the 20th century they were all based there. The class, however, was reduced to 15 due to mishaps and storm damage for a few short years but in May 1988 Isobel and Erica were launched at Howth Yacht Club, the boats having been built in a shed at Howth Castle - the first of the class actually built in Howth.

The basic wooden Howth 17 specification was for a stem and keel of oak and elm, deadwood and frames of oak, planking of yellow pine above the waterline and red pine below, a shelf of pitch pine and a topstrake of teak, larch deck-beams and yellow pine planking and Baltic spruce spars with a keel of lead. Other than the inclusion of teak, the boats were designed to be built of materials which at that time were readily available. However today yellow pine and pitch pine are scarce, their properties of endurance and longevity much appreciated and very much in evidence on the original five boats.

 

It is always a busy 60-race season of regular midweek evening and Saturday afternoon contests plus regattas and the Howth Autumn League.

In 2017, a new Howth 17 Orla, No 21, was built for Ian Malcolm. The construction of Orla began in September 2016 at Skol ar Mor, the boat-building school run by American Mike Newmeyer and his dedicated team of instructor-craftsmen at Mesquer in southern Brittany. In 2018, Storm Emma wrought extensive destruction through the seven Howth Seventeens stored in their much-damaged shed on Howth’s East Pier at the beginning of March 2018, it was feared that several of the boats – which since 1898 have been the very heart of Howth sailing – would be written off. But in the end only one – David O’Connell’s Anita built in 1900 by James Clancy of Dun Laoghaire – was assessed as needing a complete re-build. Anita was rebuilt by Paul Robert and his team at Les Ateliers de l’Enfer in Douarnenez in Brittany in 2019 and Brought home to Howth.

The Howth 17 has a gaff rig.

The total sail area is 305 sq ft (28.3 m2).

©Afloat 2020