National Yacht Club

A Cracking Day…………………. ‘Do you know where Poldy is?’ No, not Molly Bloom wondering where her hubby, the wandering Leopold, has got to.  Rather some lost NYC sailors piloting a very fast J80 very slowly across Dublin Bay. Poldy. as all sailors know is a mark near Dalkey, Salthill, Poolbeg or maybe Seapoint.  It is not, were were pretty sure in Wales. But even getting us to that stage, half-way across the Bay was itself a miracle of organisation and co-operation. The problem:    How to get 8 x J80 sailboats across from Howth on the Sunday morning of the ISAF World Championships. The solution:    Ask the members of the NYC to help! The expectation was that we would get 15 or 16 hardy souls and that we would sail them back double-handed.  As it turned our 25 sailors piled into the last carriage of the 09.33 DART to Howth.  Several others boarded at other stations and a few made their own way to Howth Marina (forty -plus sailors in all) where the 8 J80s were ready and waiting for sailors in glorious sunshine and a developing westerly breeze. Brian Turvey from Howth YC directed us to the boats, and within minutes everyone was busy getting the sails up and the boats were ready departure.   One boat cheated and got towed out but the other seven sailed off their berths and made their way to the start area and the 3 minute warning was sounded, followed by a downwind gate start.  Some awful spinnaker work followed, before the wind suddenly moved to the right and we all had to drop anyway (the wisdom of hoisting kites in the lee of a big headland with steep cliffs was questionable). The fleet sailed in close contact in a lovely breeze and the sail trimmers were kept very busy with boats frequently overpowered in the regular gusts and wind-shifts.  Boats were all handled well by the skippers and crews, who all remarked afterwards on how comfortable they are to sail. The scenery as we rounded Baily/Howth Head really was exceptional, especially in the bit of sun, as the boats hardened-up to a tight fetch.  The two Rosbeg marks were passed to starboard as was the Turning Mark. Adrian Cooper and Martin McCarthy showed good boat speed early on, and set a very determined course towards the distant Poldy Mark, with some boats moving significantly to weather and others to leeward.  The confusion about the exact location of Poldy Mark need not detain us further.  All boats rounded within a couple of minutes, and we had a one-sided beat against the tide up to Bay Mark to the finish.  In the last few hundred yards, the wind started to misbehave, dropping and shifting. Adrian Cooper took the gun, followed closely by Martin McCarthy and the rest of the fleet. We tied up at the Carlisle Pier pontoons (with varying degrees of skill in berthing displayed by crews), and were greeted back at the National by a really good BBQ, a pint or two, and some pleasant company in sunshine on the balcony. It was great to see so many ‘irregulars’ taking part in this event, notably Bernard & Sheila Flynn and Brian Burdett who haven’t sailed for a while, Lisa Phillips and Ciara Ruddy reminding us all that Summer is here, Suzie McGrath who had the boat ready to sail before we had even arrived in Howth, and of course the family teams, the Marshalls, Coopers, O’Sullivans & Murphys. A big thank you to all our skippers on the day, Ray Duggan, Alan Green, Adrian Cooper, William Despard, Justin Burke, John McNeilly, Martin McCarthy, David Meeke, John O’Sullivan and Peter Murphy. Also many thanks to:

• Tim and his team back at the Club for a superb BBQ in such pleasant environment
• Brian Turvey from Howth YC for having the boats ready for us
• Dublin Port for their help
• Ruth, Con and Cathy for making it so easy to organise

Talking to quite a few people afterwards, the most common question was ‘when are we doing this again?’.  The answer is I don’t know when, but we will certainly do something similar in the near future – watch this space! What a great day! Brendan MacConville / Alan Dooley