Displaying items by tag: Bruce Lyster

7th May 2020

Bruce Lyster 1941-2020

The late Bruce Lyster (on left) as his hugely successful Half Tonner Swuzzlebubble finishes first in the late August 1980 Abersoch-Howth Race to add the ISORA Championship Title to a season of national and international success

The death of Bruce Lyster of Dun Laoghaire at the age of 78 is the sad loss to the Irish sailing community - and our maritime world generally - of a multi-talented figure who combined exceptional abilities in the financial and administrative areas with an abiding zest for the sea and sailing, and an engaging enthusiasm for encouraging others afloat through his work in sail training.

He showed such a talent for mathematical and financial studies in his boyhood that he was recruited directly from school in Dublin into the rising ranks of the growing international accountancy firm which became Price Waterhouse Cooper, while in sailing he was to go on to fill many roles, the most high-profile being as Commodore of the Royal St George Yacht Club from 1995 to 1998.

He came to this and many other significant positions through the combination of his special administrative talents, and a personal devotion to sailing which mainly expressed itself through sailing cruisers and offshore racing. In the late 1970s, he was one of several owners in Dun Laoghaire who campaigned a Ron Holland-designed 30ft Club Shamrock in DBSC and ISORA racing, but in 1979 the experience of coming through the notorious Fastnet Race storm of that year in Patrick Jameson’s Swan 40 Finndabar broadened his outlook.

Far from being put off high profile competition by this experience, for the season of 1980, he decided to go at top-level racing with exceptional thoroughness through the acquisition of the somewhat wayward but exceptionally fast Bruce Farr-designed New Zealand-built Half Tonner Swuzzlebubble, which Bruce Lyster rightly envisaged as being ideal for one season of flat-out campaigning

He recruited a crew of already proven but still rising talents of the calibre of Robert Dix, Drewry Pearson, Des Cummins and others to fulfil a dream season – run with typical Lyster efficiency on the basis of his quiet yet indomitable determination and special administrative talents – which by the end of the summer of 1980 saw Swuzzlebubble resplendent with many DBSC trophies, together with a host of prizes from a Cowes Week campaign in which they won every race except one, and at the end of August an overall win in the Abersoch-Howth Race which clinched the ISORA Championship Title for 1980.

He was out of the Irish scene for a while with a period working in New York, and when he returned it was to race and cruise in due course in the deeper comfort of the Sigma 38 class which developed in Dublin Bay around 1990, his own boat being Errislannan, named for that lovely bit of coastal west Connemara immediately south of Clifden, where the Lyster family had a holiday property.

However, it was in Dublin and Dublin Bay that he was now filling administrative roles in several organisations, for in addition to his rise through the officer ranks of the Royal St George YC, he was much involved with the Sail Training organisation, and played a key position in running the 1998 Tall Ships visit to Dublin, the largest gathering of tall Ships ever seen on the island.

tall ships in dublin2 Tall Ships gather in Dublin Port. Bruce Lyster was in a key organising committee role during their record-breaking visit to Dublin in 1998
The fact that he was very active in this while in his final year as RStGYC Commodore gives some indication of Bruce Lyster’s ability for multi-tasking. But his renowned capacity for efficient administrative procedures and his legendary ability for the rapid analysis of a set of financial figures meant that – as one former colleague put it – “ten minutes of concentrated input from Bruce Lyster was worth an hour of anyone else’s more generalized opinions”

Inevitably this meant that in areas involving his most highly-developed levels of expertise, there would be times when he didn’t suffer fools gladly. But in everyday matters and in the general business of running organisations which supported his enthusiasm for the sea and sailing, he was the essence of charm with a quiet sense of special and alert humour which was much enjoyed by those privileged enough to experience it.

Sail Training remained one of his particular enthusiasms, and after retirement from professional life, he continued his involvement with Sail Training Ireland, something to which he gave a more tangible form through part-ownership - after the Errislannan years - of a Hallberg Rassy 38 in which he encouraged young crews to broaden their cruising and offshore experience.

At a different level, he served for many years as a Commissioner of Irish Lights while – unbeknown to his sailing world – he continued to be a valued adviser and committee member of the Irish Wheelchair Association.

As he scaled down his boat sizes with advancing age, he sailed for a while with the First 31.7 Camira, and his final sailing partnership was in the Shipman 28 Poppy.

His enjoyment in the company of fellow sailing enthusiasts never diminished, and those who knew Bruce Lyster will cherish his memory and the remarkable contribution he made to Ireland’s maritime life across a broad spectrum of interests, to each of which he gave dedicated commitment. Our heartfelt condolences are with his family and friends in this very sad loss.

WMN

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National Yacht Club Facilities

Facilities include a slipway directly accessing Dun Laoghaire Harbour, over eighty club moorings, platform parking, pontoons, fuelling, watering and crane-lifting ensure that the NYC is excellently equipped to cater for all the needs of the contemporary sailor. Berths with diesel, water, power and overnight facilities are available to cruising yachtsmen with shopping facilities being a short walk away. The club is active throughout the year with full dining and bar facilities and winter activities include bridge, snooker, quiz nights, wine tasting and special events.

National Yacht Club History

Although there are references to an active “club” prior to 1870, history records that the present clubhouse was erected in 1870 at a cost of £4,000 to a design by William Sterling and the Kingstown Royal Harbour Boat Club was registered with Lloyds in the same year. By 1872 the name had been changed to the Kingston Harbour Boat Club and this change was registered at Lloyds.

In 1881. the premises were purchased by a Captain Peacocke and others who formed a proprietary club called the Kingstown Harbour Yacht Club again registered at Lloyds. Some six years later in 1877 the building again changed hands being bought by a Mr Charles Barrington. and between 1877 and 1901 the club was very active and operated for a while as the “Absolute Club” although this change of name was never registered.

In 1901, the lease was purchased by three trustees who registered it as the Edward Yacht Club. In 1930 at a time when the Edward Yacht Club was relatively inactive, a committee including The Earl of Granard approached the trustees with a proposition to form the National Yacht Club. The Earl of Granard had been Commodore of the North Shannon Y.C. and was a senator in the W.T.Cosgrave government. An agreement was reached, the National Yacht Club was registered at Lloyds. The club burgee was created, red cross of Saint George with blue and white quarters being sky cloud, sea and surf. The Earl of Granard became the first Commodore.

In July of 1950, a warrant was issued to the National Yacht Club by the Government under the Merchant Shipping Act authorising members to hoist a club ensign in lieu of the National Flag. The new ensign to include a representation of the harp. This privilege is unique and specific to members of the National Yacht Club. Sterling’s design for the exterior of the club was a hybrid French Chateau and eighteenth century Garden Pavilion and today as a Class A restricted building it continues to provide elegant dining and bar facilities.

An early drawing of the building shows viewing balconies on the roof and the waterfront façade. Subsequent additions of platforms and a new slip to the seaward side and most recently the construction of new changing rooms, offices and boathouse provide state of the art facilities, capable of coping with major international and world championship events. The club provides a wide range of sailing facilities, from Junior training to family cruising, dinghy sailing to offshore racing and caters for most major classes of dinghies, one design keelboats, sports boats and cruiser racers. It provides training facilities within the ISA Youth Sailing Scheme and National Power Boat Schemes.

Past Commodores

1931 – 42 Earl of Granard 1942 – 45 T.J. Hamilton 1945 – 47 P.M. Purcell 1947 – 50 J.J. O’Leary 1950 – 55 A.A. Murphy 1955 – 60 J.J. O’Leary 1960 – 64 F. Lemass 1964 – 69 J.C. McConnell 1969 – 72 P.J. Johnston 1972 – 74 L. Boyd 1974 – 76 F.C. Winkelmann 1976 – 79 P.A. Browne 1979 – 83 W.A. Maguire 1983 – 87 F.J. Cooney 1987 – 88 J.J. Byrne 1988 – 91 M.F. Muldoon 1991 – 94 B.D. Barry 1994 – 97 M.P.B. Horgan 1997 – 00 B. MacNeaney 2000 – 02 I.E. Kiernan 2002 – 05 C.N.I. Moore 2005 – 08 C.J. Murphy 2008 – 11 P.D. Ryan 2011 – P. Barrington 2011-2014 Larry Power 2014-2017 Ronan Beirne 2017 – 2019

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