There’s more than a few of us around who well remember the launching of the new 280 nautical miles Dun Laoghaire to Dingle race by the ideas-filled duo of Martin Crotty and Peter Cullen of the National Yacht Club. It was back in the Spring of 1993 that their notion became reality, at a festive round table lunch which they hosted in Dun Laoghaire in the NYC Clubhouse. The attendance included the sailor-friendly Laird of Inishvickillaune, whose steep Blasket Island would oversee the finishers as they shaped their course towards Dingle from the final turn at Skellig Michael.
Following that, to show the totality of our support, we journeyed on overland to Dingle under the amiable but efficient guidance of Harbour Master Brian Farrell. And there, he introduced us to people who would ensure that there’d be nothing lacking in the scale and warmth of welcome for those who completed the extraordinary course, which was to take competitors from the stately waterfront of Dun Laoghaire to the rugged headlands and waters of Kerry, over seas rough and smooth, and along coastlines of heroic magnificence.
FASCINATING D2D COURSE PROVIDES EVERYTHING
That first race of 1993 had everything we have since learned to expect as par for this fascinating course. The winner was Richard Burrows with a crew of all the talents aboard his Sigma 36 Black Pepper, that boat of extraordinarily versatile achievement under Malahide skippers. His star helms included Peter Wilson and Robert Dix, and at the extremely boisterous prize-giving – a festivity repeated biennially ever since - Dixie received with acclamation a very special new award, The Order of the Golden Blanket.
Malahide men can do it – just two years after winning the first Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race for Richard Burrows in 1993, the versatile Sigma 36 Black Pepper was in the ice in Prinz Christiansund in Greenland in 1995 under fellow Malahide sailor Peter Killen’s ownership. Photo: Joe Phelan
D2D BECOMING MAINSTREAM
Thirty years have now elapsed since The Order of the Golden Blanket moved from fringe to mainstream, as did the Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race, and next Wednesday, June 7th at 14:00 hrs, the sixteenth Volvo Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race gets started off the Dun Laoghaire pierheads. Time was when the start was in-harbour, but that became just a little bit too dangerously exciting as the fleet grew in size, both in boat numbers and boat size. And there’s certainly no way it could be contemplated with the 2023 turnout of 42 boats, in which the smallest is 32ft, and most are well up in the 40ft to 50ft range.
Adam Winkelmann chairs the Race Committee, and is himself a veteran of several Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Races
Alas, Martin Crotty is no longer with us to see this latest extremely healthy demonstration of his vision and powers of quiet persuasion. But Race Chairman Adam Winkelmann and his team are as ever determined to show that the most meaningful way to honour Martin’s memory is to stage yet again one of the very best offshore races in Europe.
And even though the Volvo 70 provisional entry Wizard has had to withdraw in order for Boat Captain Johnny Mordaunt of Dublin and his team to focus all her preparatory programme on having everything in perfect order to defend her Rolex Fastnet Race title in July, there is one very serious American heavy hitter lined up in the form of the New York Yacht Club’s Ron O’Hanley with his “turbo-charged” Cookson 50 Privateer.
COOKSON 50, THE TIMELESS “SUPER-BOAT”
Those who think you need a new boat every second or third year to be competitive would do well to ponder the Cookson 50. Mick Cookson in New Zealand was well into sketching out the concept by 2000. He got the Farr Company to design the beamiest TP52 hull allowed under the TP52 box rule, then chopped two feet off the stern, installed a furthest limit canting keel, and by 2004 they were rolling off the limited production line and on to enduring success.
One of the earliest was Chieftain for Ger O’Rourke of Limerick, who won - or was in the frame - in majors in both hemispheres, and then hit the heights with overall victory in the 2007 Fastnet Race, putting O’Rourke comfortably in the top five Irish sailing achievers of the 21st Century.
Currently, Privateer is the Cookson 50 making the most impact in the international success stakes, so naturally in Ireland we get interested as to how best to frame the undoubtedly Irish name of her owner Ron O’Hanley. I was discussing this the other day with one of our leading movers and shakers in the international business scene, and we both had to admit that while we knew O’Hanlons and we knew Hanleys, neither of us had previously come across an O’Hanley. So there was no demurral at my suggestion that he was obviously from some special family of distinguished Irish descent in the Wall Street Gaeltacht.
Sailing for the Wall Street Gaeltacht? Ron O’Hanley’s multi-success Cookson 50 Privateer (NYYC) is based on design ideas that were first sketched out nearly a quarter of a century ago
Preliminary expressions of interest suggested that there might be three or even four or canting keel boats racing to Dingle. But now, although the total entries moved up to 42 this week, the canting keelers are down to two, with Privateer up against Frank Whelan of Greystones’ German-built Elliott 57 Opal, which is the highest-rated boat in the fleet with an IRC figure of 1.432.
D2D RATINGS 0.871 TO 1.432
The lowest-rated are Robert Marchant’s 32ft Westerly Fulmar from Dunmore East at 0.871, and the gallant Pat Lawless from Limerick with his much-travelled Saltram Saga 36 Green Rebel. Pat is awaiting his IRC Rating as we write, but as the D2D has remained loyal to the IRC through thick and thin, we can expect it to be all right on the night, and in the case of Green Rebel’s rating, it will be a small figure.
Definitely at the cruiser end of the cruiser-racer spectrum – Pat Lawless’s Saltram Saga 36 Green Rebel
In fact, in view of the developing rivalry in some regions between the IRC and the ORC rating systems, in the D2D context it’s worth noting that this week the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, organisers since 1945 of the annual Sydney-Hobart Race, have come down very firmly in favour of IRC, and the core sections of their statement are worth quoting:
SYDNEY-HOBART RACE ORGANISERS BACK IRC
CYCA Statement:
“Over the years, IRC and ORCi rating rules have diverged. The complexity and workload for owners and crews in maintaining adherence to both is significant.
“IRC, as the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia's (CYCA) primary rating rule, has good compliance. ORCi, as the Club's secondary rating rule, is witnessing increasing compliance and data errors. This undermines the integrity of the sport of sailing, races and the Club.
“The reputational risk of continuing with two rating rules and having further compliance issues is too great. Action is required to protect competitors, the Club and its races.
“The CYCA is moving to a single rating rule because:
- It's too complicated and time-consuming for owners to stay on top of two rules.
- The only way to mitigate future compliance issues and the associated negative press is to move to a single rule.
- The one rule has to be IRC
“As the CYCA's current blue water fleet is optimized for IRC, (the rating rule used for the Tattersall Cup), IRC has to be the rule that it consolidates with at this point in time
Consolidating to a single rating rule simplifies the administration, cost and compliance burden on competitors.
It improves the spectator experience with clarity on winners. And it significantly reduces the risk of reputational damage for competitors, the Club and its races”.
Early stages of the annual Rolex Sydney Hobart Race – the organisers’ total commitment this week to the IRC rating system will have wide repercussions
Although some Irish boats have achieved success overseas racing with ORCi, the interface between the two systems has not as yet impinged here in any significant way, and the lead given by the CYCA will be generally welcomed as a simplification of future developments.
Meanwhile, with IRC more clearly than ever defined as the benchmark for the D2D, where would the smart money be going next Tuesday evening as that very special pre-race atmosphere builds up in the National Yacht Club compound. For although the expected nor’easter would be good news for the canting keelers if there was going to be any real power in it, it’s possible the slack wind strength of recent days will persist, though it remains a fact that you’re often in a very different world once you get down the coast beyond the Fastnet Rock, and it looks like there will be a sharpening of the breeze the further west you get.
2023 DUN LAOGHAIRE DINGLE RACE ENTRY LIST
•Entries correct on June 1st 2023
Nevertheless, boats that provide a good all-round performance in all wind strengths have to be favoured, and with five J/109s racing – including previous top performers Ruth and Mojito – there has to be a high expectation that at least one of them will be in the frame.
In fact, previous showings seem to be of exceptional significance, and former winners such as Paul O’Higgins’ JPK 10.80 Rockabill VI (RIYC) and the defending champion, the Grand Soleil 40 Nieulargo (RCYC) with the Murphy family crew from Crosshaven, are boats that will always be there or thereabouts.
Overall winner Rockabill VI (Paul O’Higgins RIYC) and course record setter Windfall (Mick Cottter, RStGYC) at the start of the 2019 D2D. Photo: Afloat.ie
Indeed, Nieulargo’s showing will be followed with special interest, as her win in 2021 as some pandemic limits were eased was able to provide the sailing community with some very welcome good cheer. Despite social distancing still setting the style, Royal Cork YC Admiral Colin Morehead provided a lock-down-limited revival of an old Royal Cork Welcome Home gesture.
In the old days, if a Royal Cork yacht that had achieved major success elsewhere and was seen returning through the entrance to Cork Harbour, the clubhouse in Cobh would be signalled, and as the returning heroes sailed through the club line, they would receive a 45-gun salute.
In the more constrained semi-pandemic times, Colin Morehead was obliged to be unassisted in providing Nieulargo with a nine-guns salute back in June 2021 as she sailed up to Crosshaven. But as such activities can arguably provide a fire risk, a certain element of extra ceremonial was provided by RCYC Vice Admiral Kieran O’Connell, in his capacity as one of Crosshaven’s volunteer fireman, being there in full uniform with his team in case of any unplanned conflagration.
The sheer variety of the fleet naturally includes George Radley’s legendary 1977 Ron Holland design Imp from Cobh
Quite where the welcome home guns and the assembly of the Volunteer Firemen will be needed in June 2023 is anyone’s guess, as that entry list reveals many boats with the potential to pull off a win if conditions suit. Next Tuesday and Wednesday morning’s work at the NYC will include the distribution of the Yellowbrick trackers, and if the wind stays in the northeast but sharpens significantly, we’ve suggested that Adam Winkelmann and his team should have their Race Officers’ transport fitted with its own tracker so that all can be reassured they’ll be well placed in Dingle if any boat manages to challenge the course record of 24 hours and 28 minutes set by Mick Cotter’s 93ft Windfall in 2019.
WHO WAS THERE IN 1993?
Meanwhile, a bit of research between now and Wednesday suggests itself. How many sailors will be crossing that line at 14:00 hrs on Wednesday who started and finished the first race in 1993?
The 15th edition of the 280-mile race organised by the National Yacht Club starts at 2 pm on Wednesday, June 7th, on Dublin Bay.
- Read all the D2D Race News in one handy link here
WM Nixon will be posting regular race updates and analysis throughout the 2023 race
