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The Royal St. George Yacht Club's Adrian Lee of Dun Laoghaire has finished third overall in his Swan 60 Lee Overlay Partners II at Antigua Sailing Week in the Caribbean.

Lee, a previous winner of the Caribbean 600 Race, finished eight points behind Sir Hugh Bailey's local Farr 45 entry, Rebel, in second place in the CSA Racing 1 Division.

The winner was America's Woody Cullen in the Swan 58, Wavewalker.

The 55th edition of Antigua Sailing Week attracted 88 boats from 20 different countries and 750 crew from all over the world. Antigua Sailing Week is one of the most celebrated regattas in the sailing world; the 2024 edition added another great chapter. Light winds gave a gentle start to the regatta but that built to a full-on foam up by the final day.

The final prizegiving was held in the historic surroundings of Nelson’s Dockyard. Guests of Honour were the Governor-General of Antigua & Barbuda His Excellency Dr. Sir Rodney Williams & E.P Chet Greene, Minister of Parliament for St. Pauls.

The Lord Nelson Trophy is the biggest prize at Antigua Sailing Week and is adorned with the names of famous raceboats over seven decades. Two boats have won the famous trophy three times in previous editions: Larry Ellison’s Farr Maxi Sayonara and Sir Peter Harrison’s Farr 115 Sojana.

For the 55th edition of Antigua Sailing Week, the J/122 El Ocaso has joined that elite club. Chartered to British couple Tony & Sally Mack, McFly on El Ocaso lifted the Lord Nelson Trophy in Nelson’s Dockyard Antigua for the best performance at Antigua Sailing Week.

Published in RStGYC

Irish sailors held their nerve over the final two back-to-back races on Saturday to win ILCA 7 silver and bronze at the World Masters Championships in Adelaide, Australia.

Irish champion Colin Leonard of Ballyholme Yacht Club in Northern Ireland won silver in the ILCA 7 Apprentice fleet (age 30 to 44) after a consistent series saw the Belfast Lough sailor finish the 12 race series with a string of second place scores ((2.0 [6.0] 2.0 2.0 1.0 6.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 6.0 2.0) against overall winner Luke Deegan of New Zealand in a 12 boat fleet.

In the ILCA 7 Great Grand Masters division (age 55 to 64), 1996 Olympian Mark Lyttle of the National Yacht Club on Dublin Bay won bronze in his 35-boat fleet.

The National Yacht Club's Mark Lyttle won bronze at the ILCA 7 Great Grand Masters World Championship fleet in Adelaide, Australia Photo: Jack FletcherThe National Yacht Club's Mark Lyttle won bronze at the ILCA 7 Great Grand Masters World Championship fleet in Adelaide, Australia Photo: Jack Fletcher 

The 1996 Atlanta Olympian, who won the Grand Master title in 2018 on home waters, finished on 46 points and third overall, six points off silver won by New Zealand's Andrew Dellabarca.

With an incredible 11 race wins from 12 starts, Australia's Brett Beyer proved unstoppable in this fleet.

Belfast Lough's Conrad Simpson, competing in the same division, finished 29th but withdrew after race seven due to injury.

Royal St. George's Sean Craig of Dun Laoghaire Harbour competing in the ILCA 6 Grand Masters World Championships in Adelaide, Australia Credit: Jack FletcherRoyal St. George's Sean Craig of Dun Laoghaire Harbour competing on day five in the ILCA 6 Grand Masters World Championships in Adelaide, Australia Credit: Jack Fletcher

Royal St. George's Sean Craig of Dun Laoghaire Harbour finished sixth overall in the ILCA 6 Grand Masters category.

Scroll down the results sheet (below) to read the final scores.

Published in Laser

Two final back-to-back races on Saturday will decide if Ireland will be on the podium in the ILCA/Laser World Masters Championships in Adelaide, Australia, with Irish boats contesting medal places in two divisions.

In the ILCA 7 Great Grand Masters 35 boat fleet,1996 Olympian Mark Lyttle of the National Yacht Club lies third in Adelaide, Australia, after ten races sailed.

The 1996 Atlanta Olympian, who won the Grand Master title in 2018 on home waters, is on 27 points and third overall, five points off second held by New Zealand's Andrew Dellabarca.

With an incredible nine race wins from ten starts, Australia's Brett Beyer is unstoppable on nine points in this fleet.

Belfast Lough's Conrad Simpson, competing in the same division, is 25th.

Irish sailors are performing is both ILCA 6 and 7 divisions at the ILCA World Masters Championships, Australia Photo Jack FletcherIrish sailors are performing well in both ILCA 6 and 7 divisions at the 2024 ILCA World Masters Championships, Australia Photo Jack Fletcher

In the 12-boat ILCA 7 Apprentice fleet, Ireland's Colin Leonard of Ballyholme Yacht Club continues a consistent run in second overall.

In the ILCA 6, Royal St. George's Sean Craig of Dun Laoghaire Harbour lies sixth overall up one place from Thursday's seventh in the ILCA 6 Grand Masters category after ten races sailed but just four points off fifth.

The Irish champion took an early lead in last Sunday's opening two races, scoring two fourths, but is now on 54 points after ten races sailed, some 38 points off the lead held by Australia's Mark Tonner-Joyce.

Robert Jeffreys of Australia, who spends half his year in Cork Harbour and sails out of Monkstown and Royal Cork, dropped to sixth from fourth place in the ILCA6 Great Grand Masters division.

The competition concludes on Saturday (February 10th) with two final back-to-back races. 

Scroll down the results sheet (below) to read the latest scores.

Published in Laser

Ireland's assault on the ILCA/Laser World Masters Championships in Adelaide, Australia, continues into the penultimate day of competition, with Irish boats in podium places in two divisions.

In the ILCA 7 Great Grand Masters 35 boat fleet,1996 Olympian Mark Lyttle of Dun Laoghaire lies third in Adelaide, Australia, after eight races sailed.

The 1996 Atlanta Olympian, who won the Grand Master title in 2018 on home waters, is on 27 points and third overall, five points off second held by New Zealand's Andrew Dellabarca.

With seven race wins from eight starts, Australia's Brett Beyer appears unstoppable on seven points in this fleet.

Belfast Lough's Conrad Simpson, competing in the same division, is 25th.

Irish sailors are performing is both ILCA 6 and 7 divisions at the ILCA World Masters Championships, Australia Photo Jack FletcherIrish sailors are performing well in both ILCA 6 and 7 divisions at the 2024 ILCA World Masters Championships, Australia Photo Jack Fletcher

In the 12-boat ILCA 7 Apprentice fleet, Ireland's Colin Leonard of Ballyholme Yacht Club continues in second overall.

In the ILCA 6, Royal St. George's Sean Craig of Dun Laoghaire Harbour lies seventh in the ILCA 6 Grand Masters category after seven races sailed but just two points off fifth.

The Irish champion took an early lead in last Sunday's opening two races, scoring two fourths, but is now on 42 points after seven races sailed, some 29 points off the lead held by Australia's Mark Tonner-Joyce.

Robert Jeffreys of Australia, who spends half his year in Cork Harbour and sails out of Monkstown and Royal Cork, continues in fourth place in the ILCA6 Great Grand Masters division.

The competition continues until Saturday, February 10th. 

Scroll down the results sheet (below) to read the latest scores.

Published in Laser

In the ILCA 7 Great Grand Masters 35 boat fleet,1996 Olympian Mark Lyttle of Dun Laoghaire lies fifth in Adelaide, Australia after six races sailed.

The 1996 Atlanta Olympian, who won the Grand Master title in 2018 on home waters, counts 4 (12) 4 5 2 4 to be on the same 19 points as third overall, Christoph Marsano of Austria.

With five races wins from six starts, Australia's Brett Beyer appears unstoppable on five points in this fleet.

Belfast Lough's Conrad Simpson, competing in the same division, is 21st.

In the 12-boat ILCA 7 Apprentice fleet, Ireland's Colin Leonard of Ballyholme Yacht Club continues in second overall.

Royal St. George's Sean Craig of Dun Laoghaire Harbour competing in the ILCA 6 Grand Masters World Championships in in Adelaide, Australia Photo: Jack FletcherRoyal St. George's Sean Craig of Dun Laoghaire Harbour competing in the ILCA 6 Grand Masters World Championships in in Adelaide, Australia Photo: Jack Fletcher

Royal St. George's Sean Craig of Dun Laoghaire Harbour continues in fifth in the ILCA 6 Grand Masters category.

The Irish champion took an early lead in Sunday's opening two races, scoring two fourths, but is now on 287 points after six races sailed, some 18 points off the lead held by Australia's Mark Tonner-Joyce.

Robert Jeffreys of Australia, who spends half his year in Cork Harbour and sails out of Monkstown and Royal Cork, is in fourth in the ILCA6 Great Grand Masters division.

The competition continues until next Saturday, February 10th. 

Scroll down the results sheet (below) to read the latest scores.

Published in Laser

Royal St. George's Sean Craig of Dun Laoghaire Harbour has lost the overall lead in the ILCA 6 World Championships Grand Masters Fleet in Adelaide, Australia.

The Irish champion took an early lead in Sunday's opening two races, scoring two fourths, but a four and discarded nine scored on Monday has dropped the sole Irish contender to fifth overall on 12 points.

Australia's Mark Tonner-Joyce leads on seven points from America's  Andrew Holdsworth on eight, with Australian Bruce Savage third on 11.

Ballyholme Yacht Club's Colin Leonard in action in the Apprentice division of the ILCA 7 World Championships in Adelaide, AustraliaBallyholme Yacht Club's Colin Leonard in action in the Apprentice division of the ILCA 7 World Championships in Adelaide, Australia

Lyttle Lying Fifth in ILCA 7 Great Grand Masters

In the ILCA 7 Great Grand Masters 35 boat fleet,1996 Olympian Mark Lyttle of Dun Laoghaire lies fifth, and Belfast Lough's Conrad Simpson is 18th.

The competition continues until next Saturday, February 10th. 

In the 12-boat ILCA 7 Apprentice fleet, Ireland's Colin Leonard of Ballyholme Yacht Club lies second.

Scroll down the results sheet (below) to read the latest scores.

Published in Laser

The Royal St George Yacht Club in conjunction with Leinster Colleges and Schools are commencing a new team racing league to be held over three Saturdays in March and April.

The ethos behind the league is to provide youth sailors with a more regular schedule of racing in between their clinics, which in turn will enhance their team racing skills and sailing experiences.

It will provide an opportunity to hopefully encourage teenagers to remain in sailing and perhaps assist clubs in expanding their junior sailing programmes.

As part of the league, coaching is permitted between racing at the changeover area to enable competitors to improve on their team tactics.

The races will be umpired and at the end of racing there will be a debrief regarding calls made on the water and an explanation of the rules.

As there is a limited number of Irish Sailing-accredited umpires, the league will also provide opportunities for those that have completed the Local Umpires course to gain on-the-water experience.

The Royal St George hopes that by providing these opportunities, it will whet the appetite for people to come forward to qualify as Umpires and go forward to attaining Regional or National status. Anyone interested is invited to contact Eunice Kennedy at [email protected].

Going forward, plans are in place to roll out this type of event in the other provinces for five to eight racing days between autumn and spring in order to enhance the experience of college and school team racing programmes.

The debut league will race on 11 March, 25 March and 1 April. The Notice of Race and entry form are available HERE.

Published in Team Racing

Royal St George Yacht Club members are invited to join Peter Pearson as he takes a journey back in time with an engaging talk about the history of the Dun Laoghaire Waterfront club.

Peter is a native of Dun Laoghaire and has had a long association with the town and harbour, producing well-known local history books such as Dun Laoghaire: Kingstown and The Forty Foot: A Monument to Sea Bathing.

The special online talk will be hosted on the Zoom platform this Thursday evening 18 June from 7.30pm. Club members can register via the link on the Facebook post HERE.

Published in RStGYC

The Royal St. George Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire will host try-out sessions in the 29er youth skiff class this coming weekend.

There'll be one hour try–out slots available with experienced 29er sailors on hand to assist. There will also be land based information along with coaching and rigging sessions.

As Afloat.ie previously reported, the Royal St. George YC has been touting the idea of a new challenge for youth sailors for some time.

Ireland has some success in the 29er, most recently thanks to the exploits of Harry Durcan and Harry Crosbie of Royal Cork Yacht Club who became bronze medalists at the British UK youth sailing championships last April. Durcan has now teamed up with Royal St. George's own Tom Higgins to continue the campaign.

'There seems to be a lot of interest and we are hoping that building the class will help keep sailors in the sport at a time when all clubs are challenged to keep their ‘youths’, explains Royal St.George Yacht Club sailing manager, Ronan Adams.

This weekend's sailing sessions are from 10am to 4pm. If you want to get a spin, sign-up here is required.

Former Irish Sailing President Roger Bannon believes the class has a lot of potential previously posting the following comment of Afloat.ie's Facebook page: 'The 29er is a perfect youth sailors boat which regardless of the development path opportunities can provide the fun factor so deperately missing in Ireland for aspiring young sailors. The ISA has a poor track record in identifying and supporting development boats for young people so let the youngsters and the market make the real decision'.

Published in 29er
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Royal St. George's Sean Craig finished tenth at the Laser Masters World Championships in Split, Croatia. The Dublin Radial competitor is counting the cost of a U flag after he finished fifth in race four in his 37–boat division which meant he had to count a 17h place in his score tally. Craig ended the regatta with a solid third place today.

The regatta lost three fully days due to light winds, only getting seven races in six days. The hope is that winds will blow a little stronger when the Laser World Master Championships come to Dublin Bay next September. 

The Irish team competed in two divisions. Results are downloadable below.

Royal Cork's Nick Walsh was 24th overall from 69 in the Mens Standard division, Theo Lyttle was 35th and Ed Rice was 53rd. Paul Keane was 58th and Kevin Currier was 59th.

Published in Laser
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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

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

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

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.

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.

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

Up to 500 boats regularly compete.

Up to 70 different yacht clubs are represented.

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

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.

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.

 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

©Afloat 2020