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Displaying items by tag: Abersoch

Waterford Harbour Sailing Club's A35, Fools Gold, skippered by Rob McConnell returned to Wales at the weekend for another regatta campaign. Having won the IRC Welsh Nationals in August in Pwllheli, the Dunmore East boat has gone on to win Abersoch Keelboat Week, IRC division one by half a point.

Fools Gold was up against a range of cruiser–racers in her ten boat fleet including J109s, J97s, Corbys and a Beneteau 234.7. Results are here.

16–year–old helmsman, Dunmore East 420 dinghy champion, Geoff Power got his first taste of cruiser–racing on the tiller of Fools Gold.

A two race retirement after a broken rig, was no barrier for McConnell's crew who, among others, squeezed out ISORA overall leader Mojito for the win.

The Wateford crew also won 'Best Visiting Boat' Trophy at Abersoch. The win completes a successful season for McConnell who also clinched Sovereigns Cup overall honours in July.

Published in ICRA
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Conor Phelan's much travelled Ker 37 Jump Juice from Royal Cork Yacht Club leads class one of Abersoch keelboat week in North Wales this week. Five races of the series have been sailed so far with one discard. The Crosshaven entry, with Maurice O'Connell onboard as part of the Munster crew, leads the Jon Batson skippered Dehler 36 Wombat by a point and a half. There are three more races left to sail today and two tomorrow. Full results in the nine boat class one fleet are here 

Published in Offshore
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#abersochdinghyweek – The dinghy is dead? Think again. Across the Irish Sea in North Wales, Abersoch dinghy week has had its biggest entry since 2007.

It promised to be bigger and better and, with 273 entries across 51 fleets the Crewsaver Abersoch Dinghy Week 2014 was certainly an event not to be missed.

The extremely warm weather enabled the competitors to top up their sun tans! This did however result in light winds all week. This did not dampen the sailors' spirits with hot sun, sea & sand there was still plenty of fun to be had.

This year saw the successful introduction of a smaller course with committee boat starts for the Topper, Tera and Optimist fleets, resulting in the spectacular sight of 50 youth boats enjoying the competitive side to sailing.

Crewsaver Abersoch Dinghy Week Organiser Andy Teague says 'I am amazed at the number of entries with competitors coming from as near as Pwllheli and as far as Dubai. I would like to thank everyone for making it such a great event.'

Hannah Burywood, Marketing Coordinator for Crewsaver comments 'Crewsaver Abersoch Dinghy Week is an extremely well organised, enjoyable event that every dinghy sailor should have noted in their calendar.'

With this in mind jot the 2015 date in your calendar: Registration, 25th July 2015 Sailing, 26th - 31st July 2015. Could Ireland revive its own dinghy week concept?

Complete results here

Published in Racing
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Three Irish Dragons made the top five at the Northern Area Championships last weekend, just across the water in Abersoch. South Caernarvonshire Yacht Club hosted a small fleet, sailing in gusty conditiond of up to 25 knots. Royal St George YC vice-commodore Martin Byrne topped the Irish entries with five seconds in seven races, but couldn't edge out ahead of Tim Tavinor and his crew who pocketed a brace of bullets to walk away deserved leaders.

Just thirteen boats lined out for the event, with Kin (Simon Brien) and Phantom (David Williams) the other two Irish boats alongside Jaguar.

Results HERE

Published in Racing
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Royal Irish Yacht Club - Frequently Asked Questions

The Royal Irish Yacht Club is situated in a central location in Dun Laoghaire Harbour with excellent access and visiting sailors can be sure of a special welcome. The clubhouse is located in the prime middle ground of the harbour in front of the town marina and it is Dun Laoghaire's oldest yacht club. 

What's a brief history of the Royal Irish Yacht Club?

The yacht club was founded in 1831, with the Marquess of Anglesey, who commanded the cavalry at the Battle of Waterloo being its first Commodore. 

John Skipton Mulvany designed the clubhouse, which still retains a number of original architectural features since being opened in 1851.

It was granted an ensign by the Admiralty of a white ensign with the Coat of Arms of the Kingdom of Ireland beneath the Union Jack in canton.

Many prominent names feature among the past members of the Club. The first Duke of Wellington was elected in 1833, followed by other illustrious men including the eccentric Admiral Sir Charles Napier, Sir Dominic Corrigan the distinguished physician, Sir Thomas Lipton, novelist, George A. Birmingham, yachtsman and author, Conor O'Brien, and famous naval historian and author, Patrick O Brian. 

In the club's constitution, it was unique among yacht clubs in that it required yacht owners to provide the club's commodore with information about the coast and any deep-sea fisheries they encountered on all of their voyages.

In 1846, the club was granted permission to use the Royal prefix by Queen Victoria. The club built a new clubhouse in 1851. Despite the Republic of Ireland breaking away from the United Kingdom, the Royal Irish Yacht Club elected to retain its Royal title.

In 1848, a yachting trophy called "Her Majesty's Plate" was established by Queen Victoria to be contested at Kingstown where the Royal Irish Yacht Club is based. The Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland at the time, George Villiers, 4th Earl of Clarendon suggested it should be contested by the Royal Irish Yacht Club and the Royal St. George Yacht Club in an annual regatta, a suggestion that was approved by both clubs with the Royal St. George hosting the first competitive regatta.

The RIYC celebrated its 185th Anniversary in 2016 with the staging of several special events in addition to being well represented afloat, both nationally and internationally. It was the year the club was also awarded Irish Yacht Club of the Year as Afloat's W M Nixon details here.

The building is now a listed structure and retains to this day all its original architectural features combined with state of the art facilities for sailors both ashore and afloat.

What is the Royal Irish Yacht Club's emblem?

The Club's emblem shows a harp with the figure of Nice, the Greek winged goddess of victory, surmounted by a crown. This emblem has remained unchanged since the foundation of the Club; a symbol of continuity and respect for the history and tradition of the Royal Irish Yacht Club.

What is the Royal Irish Yacht Club's ensign?

The RIYC's original white ensign was granted by Royal Warrant in 1831. Though the Royal Irish Yacht Club later changed the ensign to remove the St George's Cross and replace the Union Jack with the tricolour of the Republic of Ireland, the original ensign may still be used by British members of the Royal Irish Yacht Club

Who is the Commodore of the Royal Irish Yacht Club?

The current Commodore is Jerry Dowling, and the Vice-Commodore is Tim Carpenter.

The RIYC Flag Officers are: 

What reciprocal club arrangements does the Royal Irish Yacht Club have?  

As one of Ireland's leading club's, the Royal Irish Yacht Club has significant reciprocal arrangements with yacht clubs across Ireland and the UK, Europe, USA and Canada and the rest of the World. If you are visiting from another Club, please have with a letter of introduction from your Club or introduce yourself to the Club Secretary or to a member of management staff, who will show you the Club's facilities.

What car parking does the Royal Irish Yacht Club have at its Dun Laoghaire clubhouse?

The RIYC has car parking outside of its clubhouse for the use of its members. Paid public car parking is available next door to the club at the marina car park. There is also paid parking on offer within the harbour area at the Coatl Harbour (a 5-minute walk) and at an underground car park adjacent to the Royal St. George Yacht Club (a 3-minute walk). Look for parking signs. Clamping is in operation in the harbour area.

What facilities does the Royal Irish Yacht Clubhouse offer? 

The Royal Irish Yacht Club offers a relaxed, warm and welcoming atmosphere in one of the best situated and appointed clubhouses in these islands. Its prestige in yachting circles is high and its annual regatta remains one of the most attractive events in the sailing calendar. It offers both casual and formal dining with an extensive wine list and full bar facilities. The Club caters for parties, informal events, educational seminars, themed dinners and all occasions. The RIYC has a number of venues within the Club each of which provides a different ambience to match particular needs.

What are the Royal Irish Yacht Club's Boathouse facilities?

The RIYC boathouse team run the launch service to the club's swinging moorings, provide lifting for dry-sailed boats, lift and scrub boats, as well as maintaining the fabric of the deck, pontoon infrastructure, and swinging moorings. They also maintain the club crane, the only such mobile crane of the Dun Laoghaire Yacht Clubs.

What facilities are offered for junior sailing at the Royal Irish Yacht Club?

One of the missions of the Royal Irish Yacht Club is to promote sailing as a passion for life by encouraging children and young adults to learn how to sail through its summer courses and class-specific training throughout the year. 

RIYC has an active junior section. Its summer sailing courses are very popular and the club regularly has over 50 children attending courses in any week. The aim is for those children to develop lifelong friendships through sailing with other children in the club, and across the other clubs in the bay.
 
Many RIYC children go on to compete for the club at regional and national championships and some have gone on to represent Ireland at international competitions and the Olympic Regatta itself.
 
In supporting its young sailors and the wider sailing community, the RIYC regularly hosts junior sailing events including national and regional championships in classes such as the Optmist, Feva and 29er.
 
Competition is not everything though and as the club website states:  "Many of our junior sailors have gone on the become sailing instructors and enjoy teaching both in Ireland and abroad.  Ultimately, we take most pleasure from the number of junior sailors who become adult sailors and enjoy a lifetime of sailing with the club". 

At A Glance – Royal Irish Yacht Regatta 2023 Dates

  • RS Feva East Coast Championships - 6th May to 7th May 2023
  • Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta - 6th-9th July 2023
  • Cape 31 Irish National Championships
  • RIYC Junior Regatta
  • J Cup Ireland 2023 - August 26th/27th 2023
  • Annual Pursuit Race

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