Displaying items by tag: Portsmouth yardstick

19th October 2021

RYA Calls for Portsmouth Yardstick Submissions

The RYA is calling on clubs to help make 2021 one of the biggest and best years for Portsmouth Yardstick handicap data to ensure numbers are as accurate as possible for 2022.

The Portsmouth Yardstick handicap system is run jointly by the RYA and its affiliated clubs to allow sailors to race different boats against each other fairly.

At the end of each year, clubs submit their results data to the RYA which collates and analyses it then adjusts PY numbers accordingly. The more data received, the more accurate the PY numbers will be.

Due to a lack of racing in 2020 due to Covid-19 restrictions, PY numbers stayed the same for 2021 – but it’s hoped that an influx of submissions this year will allow for the numbers to be updated.

This year’s deadline for PY submissions is December 20.

Adam Parry, technical manager at the RYA, said: “As we approach the 70th anniversary of the Portsmouth Yardstick scheme it would be great if this year was one of our largest returns showing how strong our clubs and classes are after a turbulent 2020.

“Understandably there was far less racing in 2020 which lead us to our decision to freeze the PY numbers for a year but we are hoping that this year we can have enough data to help update numbers and help clubs create fairer racing for their members”.

Club handicap and results officers can submit their data online here

Published in RYA Northern Ireland

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3rd March 2017

€1,000 First Prize at Royal Cork Yacht Club PY Dinghy Sailing Race

Royal Cork Yacht Club will run its fourth edition of the Horizon Energy Group sponsored PY1000 river race on March 25th.

The Portsmouth Yardstick handicap dinghy race takes place on the Owenabue river in Crosshaven Cork, in front of the Royal Cork Yacht Club with a 1430 first gun.

'We already have a large number of entries from many different boats like RS400 & 200, Laser, GP14, Topper, Mirror, National 18 (Ultra, Ultimate and Classic) just to name few', says Royal Cork Rear Admiral, Kieran O'Connell.

In the last three years a vareity of different dinghy designs took home the title: 2014 RS400, 2015 Laser full Rig, 2016 Laser full Rig.

The race will have a prize pool of €1000 with a minimum guaranteed €700 going to first place. The Notice of race is downloadable below.

Published in Royal Cork YC

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16th February 2015

Big PY Dinghy Fleet on a Chilly Day for DMYC Frostbite

#pyfleet – The PY fleet turned out in good numbers for yesterday's DMYC frostbite series and despite the weather had a great day's racing after all writes Hugh Sheehy. Cold water temperatures and winds gusting from 10 knots to 28 knots led to some conservative sailing, but the racing was still pretty full on.

At the end the result continued the recent strong run by the Finns, with Richard Tate leading the way home from Long and Hamilton in the IDRA14s.

Tate started with the main group down at the pin while Des Fortune's Finn timed a gust right and got a big right shift off the boat end right at the gun. Fortune's boat was clearly ahead at the first mark with Tate and Long chasing hard back in from the left. It was PUFFY under the weather mark.

Careful sailing was the order of business down the run with booms not let too far out and some spinnakers not-flying. Tate and Fortune's Finns started to pull clear on the 2nd beat before Fortune's boat retired leaving Tate to sail out to victory. A nice win, although not by a big margin, with Long only 20 seconds behind on corrected time. And although Hamilton was a full two minutes further back he only had ten seconds over Tom Murphy in the K1.

The most notable result was the one second difference between Devaney and Lordan in 5th and 6th. Tight times!

PY and Laser fleets each had 13 boats on the water, with the RS and Fireball fleets disappointed to see only 5 boats in each class. But it was a good day.

A good day! And a good day to have a good wetsuit too!

Published in Racing

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25th January 2015

Will Portsmouth Yardstick Dinghy Class Be Reinstated at Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

#dlregatta –The race is on to muster a viable handicap dinghy class after Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta dropped its Portsmouth Yardstick (PY) dinghy class start from July's biennial event on Dublin Bay.

The organisers say they are limited by resources and personnel but hold out hope that the class could be reinstated if they 'receive written entries from eight compatible dinghies (on block) to the regatta secretary'.

Mixed dinghy sailors argue the decision to drop the class for the 2015 is 'a most disappointing outcome'.

Ireland's biggest regatta is expected to have over 500 entries this year.

Organisers say that 'due to a request from the Laser Standard Rigs to have their own start, the low number of other PY entries during previous regattas, and the large number of other classes to be catered for, it has been decided not to give a PY start in 2015.

'It does seem an odd decision, particularly in a context where sailing is trying to be more inclusive and trying to get people into the sport. Mixed Dinghies is a great way of doing this' PY sailor Hugh Sheehy told Afloat.ie.

Among others, the 'Sailing In Dublin Club' has backed up Sheehy's plea for reinstatement: 'As our members are regular entrants to the Dun Laoghaire Regatta, we would like the PY start to be reinstated. Why not be as inclusive as possible to encourage dinghy sailing in Dun Laoghaire?'

Published in Volvo Regatta

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18th February 2014

DMYC PY Fleet Is Dead Heat at the Top

#dmyc – With only ten boats on the water there was a little more room than usual on the start line in Race 1, which Sheehy's OK Dinghy took advantage of with a clean pin end start, tacking and crossing the fleet. Half way up the first beat the lead had gone. Results for both races are downloadable below.

Pierre Long had picked a good left shift and was coming across on port in his IDRA14. He had caught right up but only saw the now starboard tack OK Dinghy at the last moment. A slam tack resulted in an extremely unwanted capsize, mere minutes after the start. Ouch.

Frank Hamilton took advantage and sailed out to another race win with Des Fortune's Finn - ably sailed by Colin Galavan - only 40 seconds behind in 2nd. With discards kicking in the Finn and Hamilton's IDRA14 ended the race 1st and 2nd, and joint first overall. Meantime Long had righted the capsized IDRA and fought back to finish 7th!

In Race 2 the start was marred by a windward/leeward between Long's IDRA and Sheehy's OK Dinghy in the seconds before the gun. The OK Dinghy's protest will be heard next week. McCarthy won the start this time, with another clean tack and cross just after the gun showing excellent timing.

In the race itself, McCarthy's Solo sailed off to a solid win, with Galavan taking Des Fortune's Finn to another second place. Long was 3rd (pending protest) with Hamilton unusually far back in 4th.

As in the Laser race there were gains in the corners - but big losses too. In race 1 Hamilton threaded his way through every shift correctly and was clearly the fastest boat out there. In race 2 McCarthy did the same, avoiding big losses and sailing fast and clean to the win.

Published in Dublin Bay

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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.