Displaying items by tag: Flying fifteen

12th June 2010

'The Gruffalo' Takes Advantage in Dublin Bay Sailing Club Race

Keith Poole's 'The Gruffalo' made the most of the fact that several of the top Flying Fifteens were sailing the Northern Championships on the Ards Peninsula this weekend when he took a first and second in today's Dublin Bay Sailing Club races. Frank Burgess in Snow White Beat Grufalo in Race one but Poole struck bac k later in the afternoon to win from Tom Leonard's Mellifluence in the second race. Full results for June 12th Dublin Bay Sailing Club Results below:

DUBLIN PORT Dublin Bay Sailing Club Results for 12 JUNE 2010

BENETEAU 31.7 - ECHO 1. Legally Blonde (C.Drohan/P.Egan), 2. Thirty Something (Gerry Jones et al), 3. Flying Machine (Conor O'Gallagher)

BENETEAU 31.7 - 1. Legally Blonde (C.Drohan/P.Egan), 2. Thirty Something (Gerry Jones et al), 3. Flying Machine (Conor O'Gallagher)

CRUISERS 0 - ECHO 1. Lively Lady (Derek Martin), 2. Tsunami (Vincent Farrell), 3. WOW (George Sisk)

CRUISERS 0 - 1. Lively Lady (Derek Martin), 2. WOW (George Sisk), 3. Tsunami (Vincent Farrell)

CRUISERS 1 - 1. Jalapeno (Dermod Baker et al), 2. Powder Monkey (C.Moore/M.Byrne), 3. Xtravagance (Colin Byrne)

CRUISERS 1 - 1. Powder Monkey (C.Moore/M.Byrne), 2. Jetstream (Peter Redden), 3. Jalapeno (Dermod Baker et al)

CRUISERS 2 - 1. Jawesome 11 (V.Kennedy/M.Dyke), 2. Dick Dastardly (B.Cusack et al), 3. Red Rhum (J Nicholson)

CRUISERS 2 - ECHO 1. Kamikaze (P.Nash/B.McIntyre), 2. Red Rhum (J Nicholson), 3. Jawesome 11 (V.Kennedy/M.Dyke)

CRUISERS 3 - ECHO 1. Papytoo (M.Walsh/F.Guilfoyle), 2. Carrabeg (D.Martin/R.Deasy), 3. Pamafe (Michael Costello)

CRUISERS 3 - 1. Two Step (Ross Doyle), 2. Asterix (J.Counihan/F.Meredith), 3. Papytoo (M.Walsh/F.Guilfoyle)

CRUISERS 4 - 1. Rascal (K.Burke/S.Milner), 2. Ghrazel (Charles Pearson), 3. Maranda (Myles Kelly)

DRAGON - 1. Diva (R.Johnson/R.Goodbody), 2. Zinzan (Daniel O'Connor et al), 3. Zu (P.Dee et al)

DRAGON – Race 2 1. Zu (P.Dee et al), 2. Diva (R.Johnson/R.Goodbody), 3. Zinzan (Daniel O'Connor et al)

FIREBALL - 1. Goodness Gracious (Louise McKenna), 2. Incubus (S Oram)

FLYING FIFTEEN - 1. Snow White (Frank Burgess), 2. The Gruffalo (Keith Poole), 3. Gekko (S & P Nolan)

FLYING FIFTEEN - 1. The Gruffalo (Keith Poole), 2. Mellifluence (Tom Leonard), 3. Snow White (Frank Burgess)

GLEN - 1. Glendun (B.Denham et al), 2. Glenshesk (L.Faulkner et al), 3. Glenluce (D & R O'Connor)

IDRA 14 FOOT - 1. Dunmoanin (Frank Hamilton), 2. Sapphire (Lorcan O'Sullivan)

IDRA 14 FOOT - 1. Sapphire (Lorcan O'Sullivan), 2. Dunmoanin (Frank Hamilton)

MERMAID - 1. Lively Lady (G O'Neill & M Hanney), 2. Jill (P.Smith/P.Mangan)

MERMAID - 1. Lively Lady (G O'Neill & M Hanney), 2. Jill (P.Smith/P.Mangan), 3. Tijuana (David Creedon)

SHIPMAN - 1. Kelema (N.Blake/Z.Grace), 2. Euphanzel lll (Louis McSherry et al), 3. Ruadh (J.O'Connor/J.O'Callaghan)

SQUIB - 1. Buzz Lite (G.O'Connor/B.Foster), 2. Lola (Frank Whelan), 3. Anemos (Pete & Ann Evans)

SQUIB - 1. Lola (Frank Whelan), 2. Ladybird (M.Muldoon/B.Stevens), 3. Anemos (Pete & Ann Evans)

WHITE SAIL CRUISERS - ECHO 1. Finnegans Wake (T.Rowlands et al), 2. Afternoon Delight (Michael Bennett et al), 3. The Great Escape (P & D Rigney)

WHITE SAIL CRUISERS - 1. Windshift (R O'Flynn et al), 2. Act Two (Michael O'Leary et al), 3. The Great Escape (P & D Rigney)

Published in DBSC

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Top Crews to the Fore at Royal Alfred's Baily Bowl Weekend

There was a familiar ring to this evening's Royal Alfred prizegiving roll call where Baily Bowl trophies were presented to top ranked sailors in four separate classes.

A weekend of one design class action produced a testing five race series. Light to medium north-westerlies prevailed with some big shifts coming off the Dublin bay shoreline making for plenty of place changes both upwind and downwind on well laid, windward-leeward courses.

The competition was hosted by the National YC due to marina replacement works at the Royal St. George YC.

SB3's and Dragons raced on one course in the middle of the bay while the Flying 15's and Squibs race in Seapoint Bay, so close to the Sandymount shore on Saturday that the weather mark was laid in only nine foot of water.

The event - were it required - confirmed that the SB3 is the most popular one design in the country, the class producing a fine fleet of 22 boats almost twice the size of the other three fleets.

Allthough Howth's Ben Duncan, sailing Sharkbait, continues his domination of the class it was good to see Bray Sailing Club''s Marty Cuppage in third overall, one place behind Belfast Lough's David Cheyne.

Local favourite Sean Craig sealed his fate on Saturday when he counted a premature start penalty (OCS) in the afternoon race but neverthless a final race win today moved him to sixth overall.

If the SB3 is the most popular class then it has most likely been at the cost of the Dublin Bay Dragon fleet where weekend numbers did not make double figures. Rick Johnson sailing Diva continued his recent Dublin Bay form beating Andrew Craig's Chimaera who finished second and Peter Bowring's Phantom in third.

The National Yacht Club's John Lavery was the clear winner (three race wins) of the Flying fifteens where a dozen boats sailed. It was Northern Ireland travellers Andy Martin in second and Brian McKee third in a fleet otherwise made up from the local Dublin Bay class. It was disappointing turnout in some respects because the local fleet numbers almost 30 boats and the Baily Bowl doubled as a class championship.

In preparation for next month's British and Irish Squib Championships at the same venue the Royal St. George's Vincent Delany took a well earned win with three race wins in his final tally. Peter Wallace sailing Toys for the Boys was second and Lola (Frank Whelan) was third.

Published in Royal Alfred YC

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Irish Sailing Classes and Associations

Spoiled for Choice

There’s no shortage of one-design classes from which to choose and each gives its enthusiasts great competition, fun and camaraderie, writes Graham Smith in this review of the classes. A profile of each active class in Ireland is supplied below; just click on the title link (in bold) or the Class Association link to go directly to the information.

One-design racing is where it all starts. It is, after all, where all the top sailors earned their stripes, battling away for line honours without a thought for a handicapper’s calculator wiping away a hard-fought victory!

Indeed, you could count on less than one hand the number of top Irish sailors who didn’t cut their teeth in a one-design dinghy! Just think of Cudmore, Barrington, Watson, Wilkins, Hennessy and Dix to name a few and you realise that they honed their skills in everything from Enterprises to Lasers and a lot in between.

At present count, there are a little over 30 one-design classes in Ireland, split almost evenly between dinghies and keelboats, a statistic which might raise a few eyebrows. They range from the long-established Mermaids, IDRA14s and Dragons to the newer additions like Fevas, Topaz and RS Elite. They all fill a particular need and give their owners and crews considerable enjoyment.

Many have attracted their World or European Championships to Irish waters over the years and while 2009 is notable for a lack of such events here, the following year will see the Etchells Worlds at Howth and perhaps a few other international regattas too.

In addition to the review, we asked each class to complete a questionnaire giving details of their fleet numbers, whether they were on a growth pattern or holding their own, so we could highlight those ‘on the up’ and those remaining static in terms of numbers. The older traditional designs, as you might imagine, fall into the latter category, although that’s not a negative!

CLASS REVIEW The State of the Classes – League Table (as at February 2009)

S = Static; U = Up/growing

275 Optimist U

200+ Laser S

189 Mermaid S

160 Flying Fifteen S

130 RS Feva U

115 Shannon One Design U

100+ Mirror S

100+ Topper U

99 Topaz U

94 Laser SB3 U

87 GP14 U

85 Squib S

70 Fireball S

70 Ruffian S

60 J24 S

60 Shipman S

52 Dragon S

50 RS400/200 S

50 420 U

43 Multihulls U

42 Dragon S

40 Water Wags U

40 Wayfarer S

34 IDRA14 U

33 Puppeteer U

28 Etchells S

27 E-Boat U

26 Glen S

25 Enterprise S

18 Sigma 33 S

18 Howth 17 U

13 RS Elite U

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Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta

From the Baily lighthouse to Dalkey island, the bay accommodates six separate courses for 21 different classes racing every two years for the Dun Laoghaire Regatta.

In assembling its record-breaking armada, Volvo Dun Laoghaire regatta (VDLR) became, at its second staging, not only the country's biggest sailing event, with 3,500 sailors competing, but also one of Ireland's largest participant sporting events.

One of the reasons for this, ironically, is that competitors across Europe have become jaded by well-worn venue claims attempting to replicate Cowes and Cork Week.'Never mind the quality, feel the width' has been a criticism of modern-day regattas where organisers mistakenly focus on being the biggest to be the best. Dun Laoghaire, with its local fleet of 300 boats, never set out to be the biggest. Its priority focussed instead on quality racing even after it got off to a spectacularly wrong start when the event was becalmed for four days at its first attempt.

The idea to rekindle a combined Dublin bay event resurfaced after an absence of almost 40 years, mostly because of the persistence of a passionate race officer Brian Craig who believed that Dun Laoghaire could become the Cowes of the Irish Sea if the town and the local clubs worked together. Although fickle winds conspired against him in 2005, the support of all four Dun Laoghaire waterfront yacht clubs since then (made up of Dun Laoghaire Motor YC, National YC, Royal Irish YC and Royal St GYC), in association with the two racing clubs of Dublin Bay SC and Royal Alfred YC, gave him the momentum to carry on.

There is no doubt that sailors have also responded with their support from all four coasts. Running for four days, the regatta is (after the large mini-marathons) the single most significant participant sports event in the country, requiring the services of 280 volunteers on and off the water, as well as top international race officers and an international jury, to resolve racing disputes representing five countries. A flotilla of 25 boats regularly races from the Royal Dee near Liverpool to Dublin for the Lyver Trophy to coincide with the event. The race also doubles as a RORC qualifying race for the Fastnet.

Sailors from the Ribble, Mersey, the Menai Straits, Anglesey, Cardigan Bay and the Isle of Man have to travel three times the distance to the Solent as they do to Dublin Bay. This, claims Craig, is one of the major selling points of the Irish event and explains the range of entries from marinas as far away as Yorkshire's Whitby YC and the Isle of Wight.

No other regatta in the Irish Sea area can claim to have such a reach. Dublin Bay Weeks such as this petered out in the 1960s, and it has taken almost four decades for the waterfront clubs to come together to produce a spectacle on and off the water to rival Cowes."The fact that we are getting such numbers means it is inevitable that it is compared with Cowes," said Craig. However, there the comparison ends."We're doing our own thing here. Dun Laoghaire is unique, and we are making an extraordinary effort to welcome visitors from abroad," he added. The busiest shipping lane in the country – across the bay to Dublin port – closes temporarily to facilitate the regatta and the placing of six separate courses each day.

A fleet total of this size represents something of an unknown quantity on the bay as it is more than double the size of any other regatta ever held there.

Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta FAQs

What is Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Dun Laoghaire Regatta is Ireland's biggest sailing event. It is held every second Summer at Dun Laoghaire Harbour on Dublin Bay.

When is Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Dun Laoghaire Regatta is held every two years, typically in the first weekend of July.

Where is Dun Laoghaire Regatta held?

As its name suggests, the event is based at Dun Laoghaire Harbour. Racing is held on Dublin Bay over as many as six different courses with a coastal route that extends out into the Irish Sea. Ashore, the festivities are held across the town but mostly in the four organising yacht clubs.

How big is Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Dun Laoghaire Regatta is the largest sailing regatta in Ireland and on the Irish Sea and the second largest in the British Isles. It has a fleet of 500 competing boats and up to 3,000 sailors. Scotland's biggest regatta on the Clyde is less than half the size of the Dun Laoghaire event. After the Dublin city marathon, the regatta is one of the most significant single participant sporting events in the country in terms of Irish sporting events.

How old is Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

The modern Dublin Bay Regatta began in 2005, but it owes its roots to earlier combined Dublin Bay Regattas of the 1960s.

How many boats compete at Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Up to 500 boats regularly compete.

How many yacht clubs are represented at Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Up to 70 different yacht clubs are represented.

Where do the yachts come from to compete at Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

The Channel Islands, Isle of Man, England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Ireland countrywide, and Dublin clubs.

How many boats are visiting boats at Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Nearly half the sailors, over 1,000, travel to participate from outside of Dun Laoghaire and from overseas to race and socialise in Dun Laoghaire.

What type of yachts race in Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

21 different classes are competing at Dun Laoghaire Regatta. As well as four IRC Divisions from 50-footers down to 20-foot day boats and White Sails, there are also extensive one-design keelboat and dinghy fleets to include all the fleets that regularly race on the Bay such as Beneteau 31.7s, Ruffian 23s, Sigma 33s as well as Flying Fifteens, Laser SB20s plus some visiting fleets such as the RS Elites from Belfast Lough to name by one.

What famous sailors race in Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Some sailing household names are regular competitors at the biennial Dun Laoghaire event including Dun Laoghaire Olympic silver medalist, Annalise Murphy. International sailing stars are competing too such as Mike McIntyre, a British Olympic Gold medalist and a raft of World and European class champions.

How much does it cost to enter Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

There are different entry fees for different size boats. A 40-foot yacht will pay up to €550, but a 14-foot dinghy such as Laser will pay €95. Full entry fee details are contained in the Regatta Notice of Race document.

Where can spectators view Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Spectators can see the boats racing on six courses from any vantage point on the southern shore of Dublin Bay. As well as from the Harbour walls itself, it is also possible to see the boats from Sandycove, Dalkey and Killiney, especially when the boats compete over inshore coastal courses or have in-harbour finishes.

How does Dun Laoghaire regatta compare to international regattas?

Very favourably. It is often compared to Cowes, Britain's biggest regatta on the Isle of Wight that has 1,000 entries. However, sailors based in the north of England have to travel three times the distance to get to Cowes as they do to Dun Laoghaire.

Why is Dun Laoghaire Regatta so unique?

Dun Laoghaire Regatta is unique because of its compact site offering four different yacht clubs within the harbour and the race tracks' proximity, just a five-minute sail from shore. International sailors also speak of its international travel connections and being so close to Dublin city. The regatta also prides itself on balancing excellent competition with good fun ashore.

Who organises Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

The Organising Authority (OA) of Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta is Dublin Bay Regattas Ltd, a not-for-profit company, beneficially owned by Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club (DMYC), National Yacht Club (NYC), Royal Irish Yacht Club (RIYC) and Royal St George Yacht Club (RSGYC).

What does Dun Laoghaire Regatta contribute to the local economy?

The Irish Marine Federation launched a case study on the 2009 Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta's socio-economic significance. Over four days, the study (carried out by Irish Sea Marine Leisure Knowledge Network) found the event was worth nearly €3million to the local economy over the four days of the event. Typically the Royal Marine Hotel and Haddington Hotel and other local providers are fully booked for the event.