Lough Foyle Yacht Club

A number of LFYC sailors attended Seafest Regatta in Rathmullen last weekend. Racing on Saturady was cancelled due to very heavy winds. There was a good turn out on Sunday with two dinghy fleets sailing. There was a PICO fleet (16 boats) and a Larger Dinghy fleet (5 boats, Gp14, 2 laser Bahia’s, a laser vago and a Laser). Two races were held in medium winds (f3/f4) and strong tides leading to a bumpy ride.

James L and James H were sailing a GP14 and won both races in the larger Dinghy Class, coming  first overall.

Jack H was sailing a PICO and came 5th and 2nd coming in third overall in the PICO Class.

Congratulations lads!

Jack H, James H, James L at Rathmullen Seafest

A good turn out of boats with 16 PICos and 5 larger Dinghys

As usual in Rathmullen the hospitality and the food was excellent. Seafest got a great overall turnout with chances to go surfingm, canoeing and taster sailing sessions. A great weekend despite the weather on the Saturday.

A very nice evening sail. Alan T raced his new Phantom for the first time today. He has been awarded an LFYC handicap of 1127 (same as a GP). Ken and Keith L had a very close race atthe front of the fleet. Great to see Ken D sailing his Scorpion again this year and bringing on a new crew. Bill J took out George G’s Solo for a run.

Lough Foyle Punts are made in Derry by Ken Doherty (featured here) and in Moville by the McDonalds. A number of other makers have also made excellent boats.

The design of the Punt is hundreds of years old and preserved in these FORMS guides…

and the tools and and the methods of construction have changed not very much…

Its a skilled process with a lot of by eye judgement…

made by hand, yes but extremely accurately made. Ken D also made this rather nice scale model of the Punt. I wonder will he bring it along to the Clipper Punt Race for people to see….I must ask him…

Clipper visit to Derry programme details here

Notice of race here TUESDAY 7.00PM, 3rd of July, Culmore point

More about Foyle Punts here

Racing for both Punts and Dinghys was cancelled due to high winds

🙁

There are two fleets racing next saturday. (16th)

The Lough Foyle Punts race  at 1.30 (OD Dermot M) and the Dinghys race at 17.00 (OD Bill J)

Sailing to standard PY regulations today (no LFYC handicap). A very windy day. Overcast. Westerly wind. Ebb tide (very strong in the second race).
Start at the perch up to Harts, Powerstation, Conniborrow, Fahan. Spectacular sailing. In the first race Dermot M rudder fell off forcing retirement. Anton H and Jack H sailing well in difficult conditions. Anton H and Jack H went over twice but made good recoveries in both incidents. Finishing the race was difficult because of the very strong tide even with the strong winds.
A great day out.
The Punt race in Moville was cancelled later in the day as winds continued to build.

Racing cancelled due to high winds

The LFYC Dinghy Regatta is on this saturday at 11.00am.

The event is open to all and it would be great to see a big turnout.

The Dinghy Regatta is sailed for a seperate Cup outside the normal LFYC club series. The cup is now fairely old (unknown) with a fine list of former winners. Come along and have a go at adding your name to the list.