Golden Jubilee Dinner To Celebrate Fifty Laser Years At Howth

 

Laser sailors from across five decades will celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Howth Yacht Club Laser Frostbites at a dinner to be held in the club on Saturday, 1st March, 2025. At the time of writing there are at least six of the "originals" from the first series held in 1974 attending, including "founding father" John Gore Grimes, whose enthusiasm for Arctic cruising made the winter racing of Lasers seem normal.

All who sailed or were involved in the running of the event over the past fifty years are welcome. Organisers are urging people to book as soon as they can as places will be limited. Please do not be concerned if you have not been in touch or in the Club for some time; the idea is to get people together to celebrate and reminisce. People will be allocated to tables, and there will be at least one table per decade.

At one point, the Howth Frostbites had the biggest club Laser fleet in Europe with over ninety entries. The series was split with a pre Christmas series for the Courtney Cup and a Spring Series for the Rowan Trophy. Two other key events are the New Year's Day race and the now legendary Round Ireland's Eye Race to conclude the season where sailors can go either way around the island. At one point there was a hugely well attended Howth v Dun Laoghaire held between Christmas and New Year.

The series has always been competitive, and this ramped up when the Laser became an Olympic Class. Key to its success has always been great racing, an excellent sailing area, and competition for all ages and skill levels. This, combined with top class race management which is the envy of many other clubs. However, the real key to success has been the comradery, slagging, and the friendships forged, as evidenced by the list of sailors past and present who will be there on the night. To all guests on the night: please allow for tall tales, and the odd exaggeration of wind strengths, wave sizes, boat speeds etc, as we reminisce on a wonderful fifty years and an amazing group of sailors, organisers, and -- most importantly -- friends.