Howth Yacht Club celebrated the Halloween bank holiday weekend with the annual Dinghy Regatta on Sunday, 30th October. Despite the later-than-usual timing, entry numbers were high, with 54 boats from as far as Lough Ree Yacht Club, Wexford Harbour Boat and Tennis Club and Cushendall Sailing and Boating Club, along with the more local clubs of Sutton DC, Clontarf Y & BC, Skerries SC, Malahide YC, Rush SC, and Dun Laoghaire’s National YC and Royal St. George Yacht Club.
Unfortunately, the days of strong winds preceding the event did not abate sufficiently to allow the full spectrum of dinghies assembled to ultimately sail, with the Race Officer David Lovegrove making the hard decision to keep the Topper, ILCA 4, Feva and Optimist Regatta fleets on the hard. But those confined to shore were consoled with the popular fare available in HYC’s lively Light House hospitality facility.
This left the IDRA 14s, ILCAs 7 & 6, and the Optimist Main Fleet to set out and test their mettle on the high seas. After a short postponement, the first race was off with steady winds that decreased but kept the fleet on its toes with some sporting gusts. Throughout the second race, the wind quickly gained strength, causing the Race Officer to abandon the last race, by which time winds of 36 knots were being recorded on the Committee Boat.
In the IDRA fleet, first place and the Wilkinson Cup was taken by Ryan Cairns and Orla Doogue (CYBC), with second going to Alan Carr and Sarah Robertson (SDC), with Christian Lorenz and Pat O’Kelly (CBYC) in third.
The Optimists saw Harry Dunne of HYC – still buoyed up by finishing ahead of Rocco Wright in the Junior National Championships at Schull - securing first place and the Drisheen Cup, Hannah Scott (HYC) taking second, with Nicole Quinn (HYC) in third.
If the Optimist podium was all Howth, the ILCA 6s were very different - first place went to long-distance Glens of Antrim visitor Barry McCartin (Cushendall SBC), second to Daniel O’Hare (Rush SC) and third to Dave Kirwin (Malahide YC). Finally, in the ILCA 7 fleet, first place and the Heron Trophy was won by Darragh Kelleher (Skerries SC), with Conor Murphy (HYC) taking second place, and Stephen Quinn (HYC) in third.