Irish 12 Foot Dinghy Championship at Lough Ree Yacht Club

Richard Reurslag at the Irish 12 Foot Dinghy Championship at Lough Ree © John Malone

A little history

In 1924, the members of Seapoint Boat Club in County Dublin were so impressed when Captain Jimmy Payne from Cork won the first World Dinghy Championships on the Brussels-Antwerp Ship Canal in an International 12 Foot Dinghy, that they adopted the class and the following year had six boats built by local Dun Laoghaire builder, Michael Mahony for the sum of £40 each including sails. The decision to adopt the new class was made in the expectation that Seapoint sailors could also win international trophies in Europe.

In 1925, the second World Dinghy Championship was held in Cork Harbour in International 12 foot dinghies with Captain Jimmy Payne again representing the Irish Free State. After many races over three days, Mr. Watney of England, and Mr. Van Haltern of Belgium had been excluded. However, Captain Payne and Mr. Bokre of the Netherlands were on equal points, so a sail-off was called for, which was won by Payne by a mere 29 seconds.

Things did not work out as hoped for the Seapoint men. They did travel to Cork Harbour in 1927 to compete against their southern opponents. The Cork men won. Later in the year the Cork men came back to Seapoint but the weather was not suitable for dinghy sailing. The Seapoint sailors never did go abroad to compete in any International 12 Foot Dinghy events.

'Albany' sailed by Gail Varian and Nicky Schofield-Gray at the Irish 12 Foot Dinghy Championship at Lough Ree - photo © John Malone

The present day

Moving forward ninety-five years, the Irish 12 Foot Dinghy Championship was held in Lough Ree Yacht Club in the centre of Ireland over four days in June 2022. The first day's activity consisted of 'Sailing Round Ireland on the Inside' with six competitors from Holland, England and Ireland cruising the two miles from Lough Ree Yacht Club in Leinster to Hodson's Bay Hotel in Connacht for lunch in a light northerly wind.

This was the first event for International 12 Foot Dinghies in Ireland with visitors from Europe since the World Dinghy Championship in Cork in 1925.

The following day the Irish Championship commenced with two races in bright sunshine and a force-four easterly wind on the choppy waters north of the Yellow Islands, conditions which challenged the little 12 foot dinghies. Race one was won by NED 814 sailed by Gerrit Klugkist crewed by Leen van Willigen. Ian and Jenny Magowan in the Dublin Bay rigged Sgadan IRL 1 took second place and Colin Blewitt's home-built Tortoise GBR 57 in third.

'Sgadan' sailed by Ian and Jenny Magowan at the Irish 12 Foot Dinghy Championship at Lough Ree - photo © John Malone

Owen O'Connell's Rankin IRL61 lost its mast and was unable to sail for the rest of the day.

Race two was again won by NED 814 with Bert Bos in UisceBeatha NED859 in second place and Sgadan in third place. All returned to the clubhouse for some much-needed lunch, and in the afternoon the racing was relocated to the flatter waters located between Barrymore and the LRYC clubhouse at Hillquarter. The waves were less challenging but the gusts were as strong and more shifty than before.

Again Gerrit Klugkist in NED814 took the gun after three laps of the triangular course, with Uisce Beatha second and Sgadan taking third place.

All the competitors were tired after three races, so there was no further racing that day. Paul Gillespie in Calypso IRL37 suffered a broken boom which prevented him from taking any further part in the regatta. Gerrit Klugkist in NED814 held an impressive overnight lead with three wins, thanks to his decision to sail with a crew of two.

'Tortoise' sailed by Colin Blewett of Poole in the Irish 12 Foot Dinghy Championship at Lough Ree - photo © John Malone

On Sunday the wind had dropped to force three, and veered further to the east. This time Nicky Schofield-Gray and Gail Varian in the Dublin Bay rigged Albany IRL9 took the win from Owen O'Connells Rankin from Cork Harbour which showed great speed on the off-wind legs and Uisce Beatha in third place.

A back-to-back race saw Uisce Beatha win from Mark Delany's Cora IRL8 (a hundred year-old Seapoint boat which had previously been numbered K29) and Gerrit Klugkist third.

After lunch the wind remained as before, and in the 'passage' race Uisce Beatha won from Gerrit Klugkist and Mark Delany's Cora.

On Monday a triangular race took place in a force 2-3 easterly breeze, which was won by the now dominant Uisce Beatha, with Cora second and Gerrit Klugkist third. The final race was another 'passage' race, in which Uisce Beatha won from Albany and the consistent Gerrit Klugkist third.

Gail Varian and Nicky Schofield-Gray win the Edmond Johnson Trophy and the Altair Trophy at the Irish 12 Foot Dinghy Championship at Lough Ree - photo © John Malone

At the prize-giving Bert Bos won the overall trophy, a half model of a 12 foot dinghy, and Mark Delany and Cora won the 'Cora Trophy' for the best Irish based International 12 Foot Dinghy, and Gail Varian and Nicky Schofield-Gray who had swapped helm and crew positions won the historic 'Edmond Johnson Trophy' for the best Dublin Bay rigged 12 Foot Dinghy and 1931 'Altair Trophy' for best crew for the championship.

Ian and Jenny Magowan in Sgadan were on equal points with Albany after nine races, but Albany had the better result in the last race and thus won the two silver cups on countback.

In conclusion, the Irish boats are older than their European counterparts, and suffered more breakages in the strong winds. There is a substantial advantage in strong winds to bring a second crew person along. This event was such a success that we expect to have British or European visitors travelling to Ireland in the coming years for Friendship Series events.

Overall Results:

Mark Delany wins the Cora Trophy at the Irish 12 Foot Dinghy Championship at Lough Ree - photo © John Malone