Successful annual Keelboat Regatta in Dromineer

The annual October Freshwater Keelboat Regatta at Dromineer, hosted by Lough Derg Yacht Club, was staged recently.

2021's unusually gentle Autumn, it provided two to three days of very usable sailing breezes, mostly from the southwest.

And if the sun tended not to put in an appearance until late afternoon despite the high-pressure area moving over the country, a least it provided welcome brightness when it did show up for the healthy outdoor prize-giving ceremonies.

This event attracted ten local boats and fifty visiting boats to the Dromineer and Nenagh region comprising of 120 adult sailors who stayed locally over a period of three days. Competitors were drawn from all over Ireland (including Norther Ireland) plus a number from the UK.

Among the local boats competing were a number of new members to Lough Derg Yacht Club who only started sailing last May.

LDYC Commodore Joe Gilmartin and his team, led by Honorary Sailing Secretary Fergal Keating, welcomed a strong fleet across four keelboat classes, with John Leech serving as Race Officer for the Dragon and SB20 area, while Liam Moloney looked after the Squibs and Flying Fifteens.

All classes had sufficient numbers for good racing among boats which had come from many parts of Ireland.

But it was the Squibs, currently on a roll and further buoyed by the prospect of the big championship – effectively the Squib Worlds – in Kinsale next June, which were in a league of their own, with a pandemic-defying turnout of 29 boats representing most Irish centres, and including a couple of cross-channel challengers.

Part of the Squib's growing success lies in their entertaining and informative Irish Squib Forum, and its recently-posted enthusiastic response to the Lough Derg event by Fiona Sugrue-Ward of the Kinsale fleet joyfully captures the flavour of the class and the place and the pace very well indeed:

Lough Derg Yacht Club was the venue for the final Regional Squib Event of 2021. A bumper turnout of 29 Squibs raced in the Freshwater event, and it is great to see such numbers on the start line. The Fleet love going to Lough Derg, and as always the Club ran a super event, both on and off the water.

With six races held over the two days, conditions on the lake were almost perfect with southwesterlies averaging 10-12 knots making racing fair across the racecourse. There were five different individual race winners leading to a final race where any one of eight Squib combinations could have won outright.

Racing had been really close and placings up and down the fleet were impossible totally on the spot. When the numbers were finally crunched in the Race Office, it was Quickstep from Cultra with a consistent top and finishes and one race win which danced to overall victory with the Royal North of Ireland's Gordon Patterson and Ross Nolan.

Bookending the weekend with wins in Race 1 and 6, Kinsale's Outlaw 785 secured second overall for Ian Travers and Keith O'Riordan. Local Squib Femme Fatale 24, with Lough Derg's Joe O’Byrne and Vincent Delany helming, went for third overall. Bookending the weekend with wins in Race 1 and 6, Kinsale's Outlaw 785 secured second overall for Ian Travers and Keith O'Riordan. Local Squib Femme Fatale 24, with Lough Derg's Joe O’Byrne and Vincent Delany helming, went for third overall.

This Regatta is an annual event which Lough Derg Yacht Club organise and host. This event is going from strength to strength making a significant contribution to the local economy. The event was supported by a team of 25 local volunteering members who gave freely of their time.

Lough Derg Yacht club welcomes new members and offers Sailing and Powerboat lessons for adult members to get them started, and have a fleet of sailing boats that are available for use by members. Further details on how to become a member and get involved can be found on: www.LDYC.ie.