Howth Yacht Club welcomed 31 boats to the Provident Squib Irish Championships over the weekend of 26th – 28th July.
Three boats from the UK joined the already high quality home fleet.
Friday’s weather didn’t play ball and, after two abandoned races PRO Scorie Walls sent the fleet home for early tea and cake (A.K.A beer and chicken wings).
An unusual orange orb appeared over Howth on Saturday. It was christened ‘The Sun’ by Fergus O’Kelly who quickly donned his blackout shades, beekeeper hat and Winter sailing gear. Coming with the rays of heat was enough breeze for send the fleet on its way around a short windward-leeward track. Home boat Kerfuffle (Dalton and Merry) took the victory in Race 1, while fellow HYC veterans Stanley and O’Kelly snaffled Race 2 in Tears of Dürt.
Not unfamiliar with winning, RNIYC’s Paterson and Nolan in Quickstep 3 took Race 3. We now had the minimum number of races to constitute a championship. Phew! With a light forecast for Sunday, Scorie told the fleet to scoff down their lunches quickly and to strap in. We were going for five races today.
Crackers (Murphy Family) lead all the way around to take Race 4 and fellow Kinsalers Travers and O’Riordan in Atomic bagged Race 5. Mucky Duck led at the end of Saturday with a worst result of 5th!
As the PRO predicted, Sunday morning was glassy….ideal conditions for the fleet to remain ashore and caffeine load. Some wind appeared and the fleet was spat out of the harbour on a flood tide to battle it out for the final two races. Cagney and Driscoll, in Howth (And RNIYC) boat Aficionado made winning Race 6 look easy. Fittingly, Mucky Duck showed a clean pair of heels to the fleet to take the final race, although the championship was already theirs!
Mucky Duck wins the Irish Nationals
The Silver Fleet award went to Slipstream”Killyleagh Yacht Club – Robert Brugal-Marshall and Alex Minginovic. At the prizegiving, Rear Commodore and sponsor Gary Cullen thanked the visitors for again putting their faith in HYC to run the Class’s premier event, noting that the Irish Championship now overtook the (UK) Nationals in terms of attendance. Regatta Chair Emmet Dalton gave special praise to those members who came forward to offer their boat as accommodation for visitors. This HYC spirit put the icing on the cake for the event and ensured money was wisely spent elsewhere. Over the Bar!
PRO Scorie and her team were applauded for excellent race management (Careful, Scorie, you could easily become the go-to PRO for the fleet!)