golden V'S club shamrock

Yup, I stand corrected. What is it about those half-tonners? Maybe it was just that they were one hell of a ride - always fun and not too complicated! I miss them!

 

The thing I love about halves was that they were normally mini ocean racers, rather than day boats. Most of them down here in Oz were racer/cruisers, which are (to me) the best of both worlds. I'm quite happy to give up .01 knots in exchange for having a dual-purpose boat, especially because you normally get bigger fleets. And the racing was close; even at twilight level there would be anything up to a dozen other halves of around the same vintage and speed.

Sure they were slow, but who cares? Ballasted keelboats are all slow for their length (compared to boards, kites, cats, tris, skiffs or even dinghies) so why not just admit that they don't go fast and concentrate on their many other strengths, like close racing, accommodation, and economy?

 

Lady Shamrock

Here is some good news!She is under new ownership for some time now.

http://blog.mailasail.com/syladyshamrock/3

The Club Shamrock was a bit more tender than the Golden, upside down type lead keel on Lady Shamrock.
The Compression post in Aluminium crimped as the OP said.
Not too bad a job to bang in a S/S replacement.
Rudder fell off.Replaced with new.
Mast (Proctor) mast needed reinforcing plates at crosstrees.REplacement masts had through welded tang.
Interiors were to a high standard,Swan like in miniature.
Very good in heavy seas as they had two bows.
Volvo MD7a needed replacing with MD2020 and 7 deg down angle box.
Huge improvement under power.
P brackets were alloy, replaced after fracture with bronze.
Built South Coast Boatyard, now Jack Lynch Tunnel area Cork.
Factory closed with full order book.
Reason: 800 man hours budget to complete, worked out at 1200.
Very good floors in way of keel fastenings, gave no trouble at all in drying out at piers or slabs.
Sail quality and trim is important to avoid heavy helm loads.
Spinnaker needs chokers and preferably a sort of 1/2 kite high up in heavy weather is the weapon of choice.
End for end spi pole routine is the bees knees with four sheets.
on a 2/3 Jib and one or two reefs you can cruise anywhere in comfort.
There is one named Fiona for sale in Ireland just now at a very good price.
The above link describes Donal McCarthy's voyage to America from Limerick.
My sincere admiration Donal!

 

Shamrock in Turkey

Hi all,

not sure if you are still watching this forum/thread but the yacht shown in the photos in Turkey was a Shamrock!! I believe that a new design was put forward at one point (designed by Ron Holland) in the late 80ies or early 90ies. It was around 28ft long. I read a magazine article/advert about it at one time. The plan was to make it in or around Galway on the west coast (Ireland).

As a proud Club Shamrock sailor since 1979 I always took a keen interest in anything related to them. I'm sure that I have a copy of it in the boats paperwork somewhere...

Happy sailing to all!

 

Remember when I started racing yachts in the mid 90s there were 5 or 6 club shamrocks in our class on a Wednesday night. 2 or 3 were sailed very well and always up around the top. Still 3 or 4 floating around the place white sails racing or cruising. My mates dad did the 79 fastnet on one. They were rolled 360 and all crew voted to head for the nearest boozer after.

 

Not Grimalkin!