Founded in 1770, Lough Ree Yacht Club is the second oldest yacht club in the world after the Royal Cork. The club is located on the south end of Lough Ree at Ballyglass, Coosan. The tradition of organised boating and sailing in the Athlone area goes back to at least 1731, with a regatta on the river planned as one of the activities for the festival week. Early activities included gatherings of boats and cruises in company but racing developed in the following years.
From its earliest days it was known as Athlone Yacht Club and was renamed Lough Ree Yacht Club in 1895. At that time the lion and roses from the arms of Athlone town were also adopted as the Club burgee.
The Shannon One Design Class was established in 1922 when Morgan Giles was asked to design a racing dinghy based on the dipping lugsail open 18’ lakeboat which was used widely on the Shannon and had been modified for racing. With a large sail and comparatively narrow beam, a Shannon One Design is a lively performer, especially in a fresh breeze. The class attracts a wide range of sailors from far and wide, for the two main events each year, the week-long regattas at Ballyglass on Lough Ree and Dromineer on Lough Derg during August. Up to 55 SODs have participated in these events. Many of the same family names that attended those first meetings in the early 1920’s still feature in SOD racing today. The Shannon One Design boat register is currently at SOD No. 179.
Junior sailing was introduced to the Club in 1968 in the form of a dozen Optimist dinghies, and this fleet has expanded and thrived most successfully since that time being joined by Mirrors, Lasers and 420’s in more recent years. Cruisers race regularly although our numbers have dropped in recent years, but it is great to see a few new cruisers joining the fleet recently. J24 keelboats started racing at LRYC in the mid 90’s and thrived until recent years. LRYC has hosted many regional and national J24 events over the years and Cillian Dickson of Lough Ree is the current double J24 European Champion along with his team on Headcase. There are still a few J24’s at the club and it is hoped that LRYC will get an Under 25 team active in 2025.
Lough Ree has more recently been home to a fleet of 6 or 7 SB20 keelboats and we regularly host regional events and the national championships. These are proving very popular with keelboat sailors as they can be towed behind a family car and only require 3 to sail.
Lough Ree also hosts regular events to complement the club racing calendar. We host Double Ree every second July and this is a two handed regatta for Mirrors, Fevas, 420’s and 29ers. We also host regular class training camps for Oppy’s, Mirrors and 420’s due to our sheltered inland location. In 2023 we hosted the largest ever Optimist Connaught Championships with 184 boats attending. We will host the Optimist National Championships in 2025 and this is likely to exceed 200 boats with many international visitors.
The Club has made great strides in the last 20 years, particularly by the acquisition of more property, and the extension and improvement of the premises and provision of fixed and floating jetties. Sailing activity is currently at a high level and the Club continues in the tradition of its 254 years to be a convivial centre of sailing on Lough Ree and the host to many important sailing events. Our club is slightly different to many club around the country as we have a large contingent of motor cruisers and barges that act as summer homes for members. This means that the club is very busy with members staying onsite for the 3 week sailing course every July, regular weekend events and for our annual week long regatta every August.
While we are not technically a WIORA club, we do have some sailors who race in WIORA events from time to time. I hope you will come and visit us at an event some day and enjoy some smooth water sailing on lovely Lough Ree.
Donie Herraghty
Commodore