Just to give people some clarification, here is both the definition of vowels and consonants, and how the letter Y fits into both. http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq/aboutother/lettery?view=uk

In Summary, they point out that in the majority of cases, when Y is used as a vowel, it is interchangeable with the letter I - as in words like 'try' or 'crypt' would sound the same if an I was there instead. They also mention that there are no other consonants that give the same sound as a letter 'y' in words souch as 'young' or 'Yemen', and this is the reason that the letter 'y' is traditionally considered a consonant.

Discuss =P