Blustery, Boisterous J/Cup Ireland

ByStuart Johnstone
Sailboats racing on a choppy sea with a large cargo ship in the background.


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(Dun Laoghaire, England)- The second annual J/Cup Ireland was hosted, again, by the Royal Irish Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire, Ireland. The event featured the Irish J/109 Nationals, the Irish J/80 Nationals, and an IRC Handicap fleet.

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J/109 Nationals
Strong southerly winds got the first race of the J/109 National Championships off to a spectacular start offshore of Dun Laoghaire. Pat Kelly’s STORM from Howth Yacht Club claimed victory in the opening race as winds gusted to 30 knots; they gave the fleet a demonstration in heavy air sailing when she dominated the eight-boat fleet in what turned out to be the only race of the day. Second place went to Barry Cunningham on CHIMAERA, and third was Richard Goodbody’s WHITE MISCHIEF, despite a shredded spinnaker.

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Sunday Finale:
While the STORM crew made a statement of their intent when they took an emphatic win in ‘storm’ conditions on Saturday, they followed this up with a strong performance in more moderate conditions on Sunday.

Kelly’s STORM secured three wins from four races on Dublin Bay. Second place went to Goodbody’s WHITE MISCHIEF, and rounding out the podium in third was Cunningham’s CHIMAERA.

In race one, STORM opened with a win, ahead of CHIMAERA and WHITE MISCHIEF. Race two saw SOTRM lead again, followed by WHITE MISCHIEF and CHIMAERA. For race three, WHITE MISCHIEF took the victory, followed by STORM in second and CHIMAERA third. Then, for the fourth and final race, STORM crossed first, followed by Brian Hall’s SOMETHING ELSE in second, and CHIMAERA in third.

Eight boats competed over the series, with four races sailed and one discard applied. The event was sailed as part of the RIYC’s J/Cup Ireland, supported by Viking Marine and Key Yachting.

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J/80 Nationals
In the 2025 Irish J/80 National Championships, Austin Kenny’s RAM JAM took top honors in the hotly contested fleet of ten boats. Their record of 11-2-1-2 for 5 pts net included the single discard.

More moderate conditions prevailed on Sunday after 30 knot winds on Saturday led to one dismasting in the single race sailed.

Second place went to Pat O’Neill’s MOJO from Howth Yacht Club. MOJO finished with a 4-1-2-4 record for 7 pts net.

Third was Owen Laverty’s RED CLOUD, which secured a race win on the final day. Laverty’s team posted an 11-4-4-1 for 9 pts net.

In the extremely blustery race one on Saturday, Fred Tottenham’s NINE crossed first, followed by Stephen Gill’s JAVELIN in second and D. Curtin’s JESTER in third place. Most of the fleet either dropped out or never finished the race, including Kenny’s RAM JAM and Laverty’s RED CLOUD.

In Saturday’s more moderate winds, the entire fleet participated in all three races. Race two went to MOJO, ahead of RAM JAM and NINE. Then, RAM JAM took victory in race three, followed by MOJO and Ian Simmington’s PROBABLY. Laverty’s RED CLOUD sealed race four with a win, while RAM JAM placed second and JESTER third.

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IRC Division
In the J/Cup Ireland IRC class, the tie-break rule was needed to decide the winner in a modest two-boat class. The J/112E VALENTINA and the J/122 THE BIG PICTURE each finished on four points after four races and one discard. However, it was VALENTINA that won on the countback rule to break ties by winning the last race!

VALENTINA, owned and skippered by Johnny Treanor, claimed the last two race wins to secure the weekend result. THE BIG PICTURE, helmed by Michael and Richard Evans of Howth Yacht Club, scored the first two race wins, yet lost on the tiebreaker format.

For more Key Yachting J/Cup Ireland sailing information
https://www.keyyachting.com/events/key-yachting-j-cup-ireland/