Squib fleet in Freshwater Keelboat Regatta 2026 at Lough Derg Yacht Club

by Ronan Mac Donell 20 Oct 02:13 PDT

Squib fleet in Freshwater Keelboat Regatta at Lough Derg © Josh St. John

The Squib class once again demonstrated why it remains one of Ireland's strongest one-design keelboat fleets with a fiercely contested six-race series at the Freshwater Keelboat Regatta hosted by Lough Derg Yacht Club.

A strong entry of 32 boats assembled from clubs across Ireland and Northern Ireland, producing close racing throughout the fleet and an overall result that remained undecided until the final race of the regatta.

After three days of highly competitive sailing, Atomic (137), sailed by Ian Travers and Keith O'Riordan (Kinsale YC), emerged as overall winners after a very consistent weekend including a race win in Race 5. Indeed, there were 5 separate race winners in the 6 race series.

Second overall went to the pseudo locals Tears in Heaven (869), sailed by Ewan and Tom McMahon (HYC/LDYC). The duo enjoyed an outstanding regatta, claiming two race victories and leading the standings for much of the weekend. However, a retirement in the final race with a broken main halyard proved damaging in more ways than one.

Completing the podium was Squib 11, sailed by Dick Batt and Pete Richards (Royal Victoria YC). The veterans produced one of the most consistent scorecards of the event to finish third overall on 18 points.

Notable mentions to Sean and Paul Murphy (Crackers, 25, KYC) who were just one point behind in fourth place. The lads were on fire early on Saturday but then some hurdles appeared. Jack Mc Mahon and Natasha (Archimedes,822, HYC), took 5th overall. After a slow start they found their groove!

As usual there was a strong local entry and there is evidence that the LDYC fleet is building in numbers and in performance. This was demonstrated by Josh and Alex (Chilli, 156) taking the Silver Fleet prize for their weekends work.

Squib fleet in Freshwater Keelboat Regatta at Lough Derg - photo © Josh St. John

Off the water, LDYC had all the logistics in place to support a great weekend off the water too. Notable mentions to Patricia, Tadhg and their trusted team who put on a great championship dinner in the club on the Saturday evening with the upstairs bar set up very nicely for a relaxed evening of good food, wine and some chatter.

Also, the ritual sauna nearby was on hand for tired sailors to recover with some heat and a 'plongee dans la lac'!!

Squib fleet in Freshwater Keelboat Regatta at Lough Derg - photo © Josh St. John

Sad news

On the weekend we also heard of the death of Dave Sheahan of Howth and Glandore Yacht Clubs. Dave was a very prominent Squib sailor winning the Nationals in 1983 and more recently competing with his son Simon and daughter Carol Ann and more locally, in Glandore with his sister and the grandkids when they were to hand.

Dave was a great advocate for sailing and a great supporter of Squibs having owned his from new in the early 80s and never letting it slip from his grasp. He also liked nothing more than some strong debate over rules interpretations! We send our condolences to his family and extend a hip ray to Dave for a life well lived.

Squib fleet in Freshwater Keelboat Regatta at Lough Derg - photo © Josh St. John

Overall Results:

Pos	Boat	Sail No	Helm	Crew	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Pts
1	Atomic	137	Ian Travers	Keith O'Riordan	KinsaleYC	3	‑6	3	2	1	2	11
2	Tears in Heaven	869	Ewan Mc Mahon	Tom Mc Mahon	HYC/LDYC	2	4	1	1	6	(RET)	14
3	SQUIB	11	Dick Batt	Pete Richards	Royal VictoriaYC	5	3	2	4	4	‑9	18
4	Crackers	25	Sean Murphy	Paul Murphy	Kinsale YC	1	2	4	‑10	8	4	19
5	Archimedes	822	Jack Mc Mahon	Natasha Hemeryck	HowthYC	‑10	10	5	3	2	3	23
6	Granat	871	David Stewart	M J Geraghty	RIYC	4	8	11	‑15	7	1	31
7	Femme Fatale	24	Vincent Delany	Joe O' Byrne	LDYC/RStGYC	7	1	‑14	9	9	6	32
8	Rubyblue	35	Aidan O' Connell	Justine Davenport	RIYC	‑14	9	9	7	3	5	33
9	Toys for the boys	818	John Sullivan	Paul Bowem	KinsaleYC	8	7	7	6	10	‑13	38
10	Klipbok	89	Mikey Carroll	Michael Carroll	KinsaleYC	12	‑15	6	5	14	7	44
11	Volante	807	Simon Watson	Jordy Withers	KillyleighYC	‑16	13	16	8	5	10	52
12	KAIZEN	882	Ronan Mac Donell	Eoin Kernan	HowthYC	‑15	11	8	11	11	12	53
13	Firecracker	149	Steven Bridges	Brian Kelly	KillyleighYC	13	5	15	12	‑20	11	56
14	Misfire	127	David McFarlane	Jennifer Murphy	LDYC	6	17	19	‑20	17	8	67
15	Chilli	156	Josh St John	Alex Minginovic	LDYC	11	12	13	13	19	‑21	68
16	Dogwatch	70	Terry Rowan	John Wallace Curtin	RNIYC/RStGYC	9	19	10	18	‑28	17	73
17	Supersonic	94	David Adely	Patrick Birdthistle	LDYC	18	14	18	14	13	‑19	77
18	Sedition	79	Sean O' Riordan	Padraig Mcgillicuddy	Kinsale YC	19	23	‑28	17	12	14	85
19	Perfection	44	Oliver Kierse	Mark O' Sullivan	LDYC	22	22	12	16	18	‑23	90
20	Outlaw	785	Tadg Murphy	Rob Murphy	LDYC	‑26	20	21	25	15	15	96
21	Kookaburra	813	David Maher	Fergal Keeting	LDYC	20	‑28	17	21	21	18	97
22	Beesknees	97	Frank McGowan	Richard Callanan	KinsaleYC	23	16	22	22	‑27	26	109
23	Pintail	875	Jerry Buckley	Jane Buckley	LDYC	17	24	(DNC)	19	26	25	111
24	Sonata	654	Craig Morrison	Frank Hill	KinsaleYC	(DNC)	27	20	26	23	16	112
25	Sidewinder	138	Roger Jones	Noel Colclough	LDYC/RIYC	(DNC)	26	24	24	16	24	114
26	Squibbo	16	David Marchant	Vicki Marchant	LDYC	‑27	18	25	27	25	20	115
27	Siadwell	878	Tudor Roberts	Leuan Williams	HollyheadSC	25	21	23	23	24	‑27	116
28	Pot Black	147	Pat Salter	Ross McCarthy	KinsaleYC	21	25	27	‑28	22	22	117
29	Dannger	155	Nigel Dann	Ger Sheeran	KinsaleYC	24	‑29	26	29	29	28	136
30	Big Shadow	476	David Hanly	Liam Kelly	LDYC	29	30	29	30	(DNC)	DNC	151
31		2	Saoirse Evans	TBC	LDYC	28	31	30	31	(DNC)	DNC	153
32	Flora	643	Bobby Nash	Una Leader	KinsaleYC	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	165