Provident CRM Squib East Coast of Ireland Championship at Howth Yacht Club

This Squib 50th Anniversary event was held in Howth, Co. Dublin which was, at one time, the largest Squib fleet in the country with forty Squibs. Having declined to a handful of Squibs in 2012, this North Dublin Club can now boast a growing fleet as is indicated in the result sheet below.

At present there is an interesting rivalry between Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club, Killyleagh Yacht Club on Strangford Lough, and Kinsale Yacht Club, with the north and south Dublin Squibs (currently) in the second division.

Every kind of weather experienced by this Squib fleet. In Saturday's Race 1, in a shifting force 3-4 westerly wind, Colm Dunne and Fiona Ward from Kinsale in 'Allegro' won from Peter Wallace and Martin Weatherstone from Belfast in 'Toy for the Boys' and Robert Marshall from Killyleagh in 'Slipstream'.

Race 2in similar conditions but with thunder squalls, Gordon Patterson and Ross Nolan in the historic 'Fagin' won from 'Allegro' and newcomers Simon Sheahan and A. Quinn from Howth in '123 O'Leary'.

Race 3had to be postponed as a heavy rain squall blew across the start line. Some minutes later the fleet got away with Race 3, which was won by 'Toy for the Boys' with 'Fagin' second and Noel Colclough's 'Periquin' from Dun Laoghaire third.

Thus, overnight the leaderboard was 'Toys', 'Fagin', 'Allegro', 'Slipstream', 'Periquin'.

On Sunday morning the Squibs were greeted by a calm and a sea mist giving them limited visibility. However, the breeze soon arrived, so the sailors went afloat.

Race 4, in a big lumpy sea with a 14 knot north westerly wind, was won by 'Slipstream' and as 'Fagin' approached the finish line ahead of 'Toys' and 'Periquin', 'Fagin' considered sitting on 'Toys' to allow 'Periquin' to take second place which would have sent 'Toys' down the leaderboard, but he didn't risk it.

In the final race, in which the tide had turned and the less sea state remained difficult, the wind dropped off 10 knots, 'Allegro' showed his speed and skill to run away with the race from Ian Travers and Keith O'Riordan in the multicoloured 'Outlaw' from Kinsale, and Ronan MacDonell and Tonia McAllister from Howth in 'Fantome'.

Thanks to sponsors Provident CRM.

Overall Results: