Lough Foyle Yacht Club

A beautiful evening warm and nice breeze (ne F2/3)
Perch, Muff, Faughan x2

Peter F encountered the Perch at the start of race 1. Start lines are competitive but the perch doesnt move.
In race two Anton H was defending against Bill J in gybing battle doing quete well until he did the treble: caught the sheet in the transom, dropped the tiller and hit his head on the boom. All this resulted in a 360 degree gybe much to the amusement of the Bill and James J who sailed by.

Ken L and Alan T got into some sort of technical difficulties (don’t know what, some sort of leak) and had to return to shore.

Other than that a peaceful night of sailing was had by all.

Many thanks to Peter F as OD and Liam H as coxwain.

Great racing today with 5 GP14 in close races. Wind steady at about F4. Course from the perch then beat to black brea and reach to Conniborrow and run back to a mark near the Perch. The second race the course was changed to Muff, Faughan and the mark near the perch.
Pete F and James H had a capsize on the run. At the start line in race 1, nearly everyone was over. Great to see Anton H back out in the GP14 sailing this time with Gareth G.
Great pictures here from Sean McCafferty

Very windy day. Most of the fleet away in Mullingar at GP14 event. Eventually two young lads and someone who should have had more sense went out for a burn. Multiple capsizes ensued but it was great crack. After a sudden leeward exit from the boat Anton H found himself in shallow water and walked around most of the course.
Sean McCafferty was on hand to catch this great snap of Gareth G doing battle with Anton H’s Laser.

Many thanks to Bill J who once again has started the ‘have a go’ training sessions.

Many thanks also to Liam H for supporting this as Coxwain.

More details are available here. Please advise all your friends that the session are on and new all are welcome.

A pleasant evening of sailing with no shouting or crashing of boats.
Light but viable winds (up to F3).
Course from the perch to Muff to Faughan to Power station X 2.
Anton H and Cecil T had a good gybing battle in race 1.

George G LFYC handicap in the Solo has been revised to 1300.

Cecil T sailing in Alan T’s Phantom has been awarded an LFYC handicap of 1150

In race one Joe Kelly and Danny G collided near the mark at the power station. This resulted in damage to Danny G’s boat putting him out of race 2.

The first of the Culmore series of Punt races took place tonight.

Two Punts raced.

Danny Gallagher/Gareth G/Owen McC

James Hockley Jnr/Kevin Lynch/Alan T

Light winds, strong tides. Start at the perch, beat down to Conniborow, over to Faughan, back up to the power station.

James P H and crew were over the line and had to go back, Danny G and crew made a better start but may have been too near the shore and lost wind soon to be overtaken by Hockley and Co. Hockley and Co sailed on and went far in to keep out of the tide. The wind veered giving Danny G and Co very nice lift and a clear shot to the windward mark while the other boat was near marooned.

Thats how it ended, congratulations to Danny G and Co. The race was shortened to one lap due to light winds. The second race was cancelled.

Racing today started at early at 10.00am. Gareth G and Richard G were sailing their family GP14 and have been awarded PY in the LFYC handicap. The first race started from the perch to powerstation to faughan to conniborrow X2. A big tanker leaving port caused the OD and the coxswain to delay the start of the second race while the tanker completed its swing around in Culmore bay. Once clear, the second race started. The wind had changed so the course was changed. Sailing now in Culmore bay, starting off the slipway to powerstation and harts and the culmore green mark through the line X2. The wind picked up to F4/5 and very gusty and changeable making sailing challenging.

Congratulations to Gareth G and Richard G who won line honours in race 2. Four boats crossed the line in 17 seconds making for an exciting finish. Congratulations to Anton H who seems to be getting the hang of his new Laser.

Two races tonight. Race two was very much faster than race one, race tow taking just 15 minutes compared with race 1 at 31 minutes.

Bill J was sailing the club GP14 with guest crew and has been awarded an LFYC handicap of 1190.

I did not see this race so I cant comment on the course or the weather, but I assume it was windy and got windier and that accounted for the faster race times in the second race….

Racing today in breezy conditions. Great to see Bill J and Joy were out in the club GP14. Most boats were away at the GP14 event in Swords. (BTW there is a great event report here: http://www.yachtsandyachting.com/news/175988/GP14-Riocard-OTiarnaigh-Challenge)

At one stage Bill and Joy lost their rudder (fell off pin and gudgeon), but somehow managed to get it fixed back on. A tricky enough operation!

Anton H should learn the difference between Port and Starboard before he shouts out Starboard! LOL.

We have a nice new bright Green mark in place in Culmore bay. Hopefully that will shorten the “which mark do you mean” (points with finger into distance) conversations heard before most races and the subsequent “oh I thought you meant that other mark” conversations after the race.

Thanks as usual to Liam H and Peter F as Coxwain and OD.

PS. Don’t forget to give your £2 per sail to the OD on each race day.