Howth Seventeens
The boats have a distinctive gaff rig with jackyard topsail. In layman's terms, the main sail has 4 corners, with the uppermost part of the sail attached to a spar (or sprit) attached to the mast. The topsail generally is distinctively coloured, affording easy identification of boats for spectators on shore.
In total, 20 boats have been registered to this class. Sail #1 (Rita) was built in Carrickfergus and was the first Seventeen sailed into Howth in 1898. The most recent of the fleet, Sail #20 (Sheila) was built and launched in 2009. Some of the others were lost at sea, thankfully with no loss of life.
The Howth Seventeen fleet can be seen racing over the Summer months, on Saturday afternoons off the East Pier.
The cache
Stage 1
At this location, there is a distinctive piece of sculpture. From here, looking out to the mouth of the harbour, the fleet of Seventeens are moored in Summer time.
At the sculpture, count the number of spikes and call this number A. The cache can be located at N 53 23.((A*40) +35) W 006 04.0((A*2) +5).
Stage 2
The cache has been placed close to, but not on, the grounds of Howth Yacht Club. Howth YC is private property and there is no need to enter their grounds to locate this cache. The location is near an area of the harbour very popular for recreational use, so some stealth may be needed for retrieval. Please make sure to safely and discreetly re-hide the cache to prevent accidental discovery.