D2D Thursday, 4 pm - The majestic monastic rock of Skellig Michael may be the austere epitome of a rugged and solitary Atlantic outpost, but this final turning point of the 270-mile Volvo Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race 2023 has been tending towards the pussy cat mode by serving up gentler east winds and slower speeds for the mixed flotilla of craft chasing the out-of-sight leading finisher, the Cookson 50 Privateer (Ron O’Hanley, New York YC).

The Cookson 50 Privateer (Ron O’Hanley, New York YC) under Code Zero in Killiney Bay during the opening hours of the Volvo Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race 2023 Photo: Afloat

Thus although the final 20 miles up Dingle Bay may be the most scenically spectacular of the entire course, as the wind eased the adrenalin pumped at a slower rate if it still pumped at all. The little Sunfast 3300 Cinnamon Girl from Kinsale, two-handed with Cian McCarthy and Sam Hunt and sailing in waters where they were on their way a year ago to being winners of Kinsale YC’s inaugural Inishtearaght Race, found themselves at one stage near the Skelligs looking at 6 knots, when this morning they’d been zinging along at twice that speed.

Frank Whelan’s big Elliott 57 Opal from Greystones has finished second in line honours in the Volvo Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race 2023 Photo: Afloat

Up ahead in Dingle, Frank Whelan’s big Elliott 57 Opal from Greystones crossed the finish line at 13:30, thereby becoming the only other boat which will beat the 24-hours for the course. But with a higher rating and a very clear shortfall on the water, they caused no bother to the crew of Privateer.

Robert Rendell’s Grand Soleil 44 Samatom from Howth Photo: Afloat

Paul O’Higgins JPK 10.80 Rockbill VI Photo: Afloat

This afternoon’s speeds only seem to be slow because, until the Skellig, everyone had been going so fast. Robert Rendell’s Grand Soleil 44 Samatom from Howth is going to be third to finish; she’s currently on course and on 7.9 knots in the middle of Dingle Bay, while the next in line, the Cullen/Biggs First 50 Checkmate XX (Howth YC) has pushed back up to 9 knots.

Searcher sailors, from left, Pete Smyth helming, Nick Smyth on mainsheet and Maurice O'Connell trimming the headsail Photo: Afloat

Astern off Valentia Island, Paul O’Higgins JPK 10.80 Rockbill VI is finding enough pressure for 8 knots, keeping her ahead of the astonishing Cinnamon Girl at 7.8 knots, while CG, in turn, stays clear of the Sunfast 36 Searcher (Pete Smyth, National YC), whose crew must be getting very fed up with contemplating Cinnamon Girl’s shapely hindquarters every time they look ahead.

The little Sunfast 3300 Cinnamon Girl from Kinsale, two-handed with Cian McCarthy and Sam Hunt onboard Photo: Afloat

D2D Wed, 730 pm -  Ron O’Hanley’s highy-tuned Cookson 50 Turbo Privateer from America flies on, and was past the Tuskar Rock by 18:40 hours with the last of the sluicing ebb helping her to 17 knots. Although boats with special offwind potential such as the newer Sunfast 3600s and 3300s, like John O’Gorman’s 3600 Hot Cookie from Dun Laoghaire (briefly the overall IRC leader) and the 3300 Cinnamon Girl (Cian McCarthy, Kinsale YC) have had their moments of glory, as the 270-mile Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race progresses, the conditions are tending to average out, thereby eliminating the effect of localised areas of less wind.

 John O’Gorman’s 3600 Hot Cookie from Dun Laoghaire, an early overall IRC leader with J125 Jackknife (inshore) in the Dublin Bay stage of the 2023 Volvo Dun Laoghaire Dingle Race Photo: Afloat

Cian McCarthy gets ready to set the spinnaker on the Sunfast 3300 Cinnamon Girl with Sam Hunt steering on Killiney Bay shortly after the start of the Volvo Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race 2023 Photo: Afloat

But in a sunny nor’easter Ireland’s southeast corner is usually a breeze place, and with the added element of the turn of the tide approaching, Privateer’s position strengthens by the minute.

Frank Whelan of Greystones sailing their relatively newly-arrived Elliott 57 Opal in the Volvo Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race 2023 Photo: Afloat

On down the fleet meanwhile, there have been intriguing changes in fortune. 

Andrew & Sam Hall's J/125 Jackknife from Pwllheli exits Dublin Bay in the opening minutes of the Volvo Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race 2023 Photo: Afloat

And while Frank Whelan of Greystones and his crew have become more confident in sailing their relatively newly-arrived Elliott 57 Opal, not so very far astern is Andrew & Sam Hall from Pwllheli’s attractive J/125 Jackknife, romping along to lie second overall on IRC, but with less of the remaining tidal advantage in prospect at Tuskar.

Paul O’Higgins’ JPK 10.80 Rockabill VI (RIYC) inshore in Killiney Bay (blue and yellow kite) and Pete Smyth’s Sunfast 3600 Searcher (NYC)  shortly after the start of the Volvo Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race 2023 Photo: Afloat

The two early race stars, Paul O’Higgins’ JPK 10.80 Rockabill VI (RIYC) and Pete Smyth’s Sunfast 3600 Searcher (NYC), are still very much in contention, with Searcher currently third, Rockabill VI fourth, Hot Cookie still going well at fifth, and Pwllheli’s Mojito the first of the J/109s at sixth.

Paul O’Higgins’ JPK 10.80 Rockabill VI (RIYC) reaching in the  Volvo Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race 2023 Photo: Afloat

But on current weather predictions, and with the first of the new flood tide going to hit the smaller boats at the Tuskar, Privateer is already looking like a done deal – she’s on course and on 18 knots south of the Saltees as we sign off this report at 19:30 hrs.

The Volvo Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race starts from the National Yacht Club on Wednesday, 7th June at 2 pm, and this year, the 43-strong fleet will include two entries from the North of Ireland.

Fresh from his second place in IRC in the recent Scottish Series is Shaun Douglas’s Beneteau 40.7, Game Changer, who will make the trip from Belfast Lough to take part in this 270-mile 30th Anniversary event.

Also there, via the Isle of Man, is Michael Eames’ Sunfast 3200.

The current race record of just over 24 hours (24 hours 48 minutes) is currently held by the 94ft Southern Wind, Windfall.

Since the 1940s, the Royal Ocean Racing Club has organised a season of multiple races and organised the first RORC Season’s Points Championship in 2000 using the IRC Rating System. The series quickly became, and still is, the largest racing series in the world of offshore racing.

This year's Championship includes the 240-mile Volvo Dun Laoghaire Dingle Race organised by the National Yacht Club, a race that has already attracted over 20 entries for the June 7 start on Dublin Bay.

For 2023, buoyed by the 50th edition of the Rolex Fastnet Race, also raced in Irish waters, over 600 boats from across the globe are expected to be racing with the Royal Ocean Racing Club. The competition for every race is fierce, and the trophies are part of the history of yachting, many dating back even further than the RORC, which was established in 1925.

Eric de Turckheim's French NMD 54 Teasing Machine Photo: Tim Wright/RORC

The 2023 RORC Season's Points Championship began with the Rolex Middle Sea Race in October 2022, followed by the RORC Transatlantic Race in January 2023 and the RORC Caribbean 600 in February 2023. RORC Vice Commodore Eric de Turckheim, racing his NMD 54 Teasing Machine, has two overall victories to lead the 2023 RORC Season’s Points Championship. From April, the focus moves back to Europe. The majority of the 12 remaining races will start from the Royal Yacht Squadron Line, Cowes, IOW.

The 2023 RORC Season Calendar that includes June's 240-mile Dun Laoghaire Dingle Race is here 

Ger O'Rourke's Cookson 50, Chieftain from Limerick  Photo: ROLEX/Carlo Borlenghi

Since 2000, only one boat 50ft or over has won the RORC Season’s Points Championship; Ger O'Rourke's Cookson 50, Chieftain in 2006. More often than not, a production yacht with a Corinthian Team wins the RORC Season's Points Championship, arguably the most competitive offshore series in the world.

Whilst the Rolex Fastnet Race is the showcase race of the 2023 series, there are 15 testing races that make up the championship. Trying to win the RORC Season's Points Championship is a real challenge, but every race has its own coveted prize for the overall winner under IRC and for class honours. Special prizes for the season include the Somerset Memorial Trophy for RORC Yacht of the Year and The Jazz Trophy for the Overall Winner under IRC of the RORC Season’s Points Championship.

RORC Rear Commodore Richard Palmer, racing JPK 1010 Jangada in IRC Two-Handed, won the 2022 RORC Season’s Points Championship and was RORC Yacht of the Year. Richard had been trying to win the competition since 2018.

Richard Palmer and Rupert Holmes JPK 1010 Jangada Photo: Paul Wyeth/RORC

“There is nothing like time on the water to get to know the race courses, especially the tides and headlands” commented Richard Palmer. “Reliability is also a key factor; good preparation eliminates points of failure. Some races work in your favour and others don’t so the more races that you do the better your five races that count towards the series trophies.” Having won overall last year, Richard Palmer has a different focus for Jangada for 2023. “It is a slightly different emphasis this time,” continued Palmer. “I will be racing two qualifying races and the Rolex Fastnet Race with my daughter Sophie and the IRC Double-Handed Europeans with Rupert Holmes: La Trinité – Cowes and then Cowes – St Malo. I raced with my daughter in the 2000 miles Azores and Back but she hasn’t raced with me since then, so it will be great fun to spend some time with Sophie on a Fastnet Campaign. The IRC Class that Jangada race in has such a great community spirit, especially with the Two-handed teams and the standard is just improving all the time. I am sure it will be a great experience with Rupert in the European Championship followed by a fantastic Rolex Fastnet Race. Sophie and I are both looking forward to the celebrations in Cherbourg.”

JPK 1010 Jangada Photo: Rick Tomlinson/RORC

Jangada will be racing in IRC Two-Handed, double-handed racing with the RORC has seen exponential growth over the last 20 years and that is set to continue. In 2022, 85 teams completed races in the double-handed discipline and this year IRC Two-Handed teams in the RORC Season’s Points Championship are likely to exceed 100.

Tim Goodhew & Kelvin Matthews racing Sun Fast 3200 Cora Photo: Rick Tomlinson/RORC

Second in the 2022 RORC Season’s Points Championship overall was Tim Goodhew & Kelvin Matthews racing Sun Fast 3200 Cora. The young team will be starting off this year’s championship by defending their overall win in the Cervantes Trophy Race. RORC member Tim Goodhew first raced double-handed with his father Nigel, on board Sigma 38 Persephone in the 2013 Rolex Fastnet Race. Tim is now serving on the RORC Committee and spoke about Cora’s goals for the season.

“For 2023, Kelvin and I are focussed on IRC 3 and IRC Two-Handed in the RORC Seasons Points,” confirmed Tim Goodhew. “We are also aiming to do the Offshore Double Handed Europeans from La Trinité - Cowes - St Malo, so that will be something new and interesting and it would be amazing to do well. The 50th Rolex Fastnet Race is going to be a huge experience and our final goal is to defend the UK Double-Handed Offshore Series, which we've been fortunate enough to win two times running.”

Jim & Ellie Driver Sun Fast 3300 Chilli Pepper Photo: James Tomlinson/RORC

Third for the 2022 RORC Season was Sun Fast 3300 Chilli Pepper raced two-handed by the father and daughter duo of Ellie and Jim Driver. The 20-year-old RORC Member Ellie Driver was voted Sailor of the Year at the 2022 British Yachting Awards. “Dad and I are really excited for the start of the season, working towards the Rolex Fastnet Race which looks like an epic double handed entry of 100+ boats,” commented Ellie Driver. "I’m looking forward to putting all our learnings from the past two years with the boat into another Fastnet campaign and then improving some more!"

Ino Noir Photo: Carkeek Design Partners

RORC Commodore James Neville has been racing with the RORC for over 30 years and joined the Club after completing the 1993 Fastnet Race. Neville’s former boat, HH42 Ino XXX, has won class in the championship on several occasions and was second overall under IRC for the 2021 Rolex Fastnet Race. This year, James Neville will be racing his new Carkeek 45 Ino Noir in IRC Zero for the RORC Season’s Points Championship.

“IRC Zero is looking super competitive this year with boats such as Rán and Teasing Machine at the larger end and Phosphorus II at the other, all getting their miles in prior to the Rolex Fastnet Race,” commented James Neville. “It is going to be an amazing season with classic Channel based races followed by the 50th Fastnet Race. Every race is going to be a real challenge with large fleets making any podium finishes a true test.”

RORC Cowes Clubhouse Photo: Paul Wyeth/RORC

RORC Racing Manager Steve Cole and his team are hard at work preparing and planning logistics for the world’s biggest offshore racing series.

“The RORC Season's Points Championship takes a huge amount of planning, especially as this year, we have several races that will attract well over 200 boats and close to 500 are expected for the Rolex Fastnet Race,” commented Steve Cole. “The Race Management team is just as excited about the championship as the competitors. RORC races have always attracted hi-tech boats, crewed by top professionals, but the vast majority of the sailors are passionate amateurs, and every boat and crew member is treated in the same way. Despite the challenges that the crews take on, all they want to know when they cross the finish line is their result. The new SailRaceHQ system updates as the boats cross the line, so every team knows if they have had a cracking race or there is room for improvement for the next one.”

In excess of 100 boats are expected for the next race in the RORC Season’s Points Championship; The Cervantes Trophy Race starts on 29th of April from the Royal Yacht Squadron Line Cowes, bound for Le Havre, France. 

Volvo Car Ireland has again stepped up to support the 2023 Volvo Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race in June. This will be the 30th anniversary of the race which has become a biennial fixture in the Irish sailing calendar.

As Afloat reported earlier, Denis and Annamarie Murphy's successful Grand Soleil 40 Nieulargo from Royal Cork Yacht Club will defend its race title with up to 50 yachts competing.

The race starts from Dun Laoghaire on June 7th and is scheduled to arrive in Dingle Harbour on June 9th and 10th.

Volvo Car Ireland is supported by the Tralee-based dealer Billy Naughton Motors, representing Volvo Cars in the Kerry region. The race also continues a long association with the local Dingle Skellig Hotel, where the prizegiving will take place on Saturday, June 10th.

The start of the 2021 Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race on Dublin Bay Photo: Afloat

As regular Afloat readers will recall, after an epic 14th edition of the 'D2D' that attracted a 38-boat fleet, the Murphy's lifted the trophy in Dingle, County Kerry.

The 2021 race was one of great success for Cork offshore sailing interests, and now, with the confirmation of Nieulargos' entry, SCORA's interest in the 270-miler shows no sign of letting up.

Competing yachts will vary between 30 and 100 feet in length, with crews of between 2 and 20 sailors on board.

The first D2D race took place in 1993 and the race has grown to become one of the great mini offshore sailing challenges in the UK and Irish waters. Underlining this growth in status is the fact that the D2D race now forms part of both the Royal Ocean Racing Club and the Irish Sea Offshore Racing Associations 2023 series.

Dublin boat Yoyo arrives into Dingle marina in Co Kerry after racing from Dun Laoghaire. A total of 38 boats took part in the 2021 270-mile race Photo: Domnick Walsh

The race will test crews’ skills in terms of fast sailing, accurate navigation and tactics and great teamwork. Crews include top male and female sailors, and there is a separate prize to encourage this growth of women in the race. “Volvo Car Ireland are proud to support activities that align with our brand pillars. Sustainability and electrification are a key focus for our business, and our oceans' long-term health is a core part of this. We wish all participating sailors safe sailing and encourage all supporters to visit Dingle and enjoy the great atmosphere surrounding the finish in the town.” David Thomas, Managing Director, Volvo Car Ireland.

The National Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire are the race organiser and provides 'world-class' starting and finishing teams for race management. The yachts can be tracked live online using the YB Tracking system, which can be found through www.d2drace.ie or through www.afloat.ie from the start on Wednesday, June 7th.

The Notice of Race is here and the entry form is now available here

Dun Laoghaire Harbour's Chris Power Smith, skipper of the J/122 Aurelia from the RStGYC, was presented with the Carmel Winkelmann Memorial Trophy (First Corinthian boat in the 2021 D2D Race) at a presentation in the Royal St George Yacht Club after DBSC Thursday racing on July 20th.

The perpetual trophy was presented by Adam Winkelmann (D2D Chairman) along with Con Murphy (D2D PRO), Richard O’Connor (Commodore RStGYC) and Conor O’ Regan (Commodore NYC)

The re-purposed Perpetual Trophy was kindly provided by the NYC and beautifully restored by Pat Shannon of Facet Jewellers, Dun Laoghaire.

As Afloat reported at the time, Carmel, a stalwart of Dun Laoghaire sailing, sadly passed away in St Vincent’s University Hospital at the same time as her son Adam was presenting the prizes in Dingle to the various Race Prizewinners on June 12th last year. As was her way, and despite her very brief but serious illness, she found the wherewithal to instruct her son Adam to go to Dingle to finish the yachts and complete the race administration and prizegiving along with the rest of the NYC team.

Fitting tribute - the Carmel Winkelmann Memorial Trophy is presented by her son Adam (right) to top Corinthian skipper Chris Power Smith for his 2021 performance in the offshore race. Photo: Michael Chester

"It is fitting that following a near lifetime of volunteer effort by the late Carmel Winkelmann a trophy recognising Corinthian values will be perpetually presented in her name", Adam told Afloat.

"Congratulations to Chris Power Smith and the Aurelia crew on a wonderful performance in the race where they finished first Corinthian and 4th Overall in IRC", he said. 

The 2023 D2D race will start from the NYC in Dun Laoghaire on Wednesday, June 7th 2023. More details are expected in due course from the National Yacht Club including event sponsorship.

Organisers expect a 40-boat fleet for the 14th edition of the biennial Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race in ten day's time. 

The 320-mile offshore race will be a season highlight for the Irish fleet and is organised by the National Yacht Club.

An 11 boat ISORA fleet took the last chance for a D2D warm-up yesterday but conditions were light and flukey over the 50-mile coastal race course from Dublin Bay. 

The Archambault 31 'A Plus' from the host club is contesting the 2021 D2D Race Photo: Afloat

Sailing Instructions for the Wednesday, June 9th D2D start at 1355 hours off Dun Laoghaire has been published (downloadable below as a PDF document) and show the course shall be from the starting line in Scotsman’s Bay, East of Dun Laoghaire Harbour, leaving the marks listed hereunder to starboard:

• (i) Muglins
• (ii) Wicklow Head
• (iii) Tuskar Rock
• (iv) Barrels Light Buoy
• (v) Bore Rocks Buoy
• (vi) Coningbeg Light Buoy
• (vii) Red Bank Buoy
• (viii) Old Head of Kinsale
• (ix) Fastnet Rock
• (x) Mizen Head
• (xi) Calf Rock
• (xii) Gull Rock (off Bull Rock) and
• (xiii) Washerwoman Rock (off Great Skellig)
• (xiv) Great Skellig and thence to the finishing line off the entrance to Dingle Harbour.

D2D competitors are required to leave the Muglins Rocks to starboard when exiting Dublin Bay on June 9th

Other race documents are now available from the D2D site here

Afloat will carry a full D2D race preview next Saturday (June 5)  by WM Nixon

Royal Cork Yacht Club's Alpaca, Paul and Deirdre Tingle's X-34 yacht is the latest entry into June's Volvo Dun Laoghaire Dingle Offshore Race.

The Cork Harbour entry brings to 42 the number of boats now entered for the 320-mile National Yacht Club fixture, edging the club closer to its 50-boat advertised limit.

The biennial Dun Laoghaire to Dingle race, which starts from Dun Laoghaire Harbour on June 9th, is a race down to the east coast of Ireland, across the south coast and into Dingle harbour in County Kerry.

The initial lineup includes defending champion Rockabill VI, Paul O’Higgins’ JPK 10.80 which was also first on her debut on 2017, so the O’Higgins team have set the stakes high in aiming for the “Threepeat” in this classic challenge which always provides competitors with a remarkable variety of sailing.

It's getting to be like a game of skittles in the planned lineup of high-profile 2021 events which everybody - way back in the dark depths of earlier pandemic lockdowns – thought would surely come to pass in the remote sunlit heights of what was then the distant future of supposedly plague-free 2021.

The skittles that have fallen this week have included the RORC Caribbean 600 scheduled for Monday, February 22nd off English Harbour, Antigua, and the 565-mile Rolex China Sea Race, which wasn't due to start until March 31st from the Royal Hong Kong YC. They're both gone, and gone so completely we've been given the 2022 dates already as consolation prizes. 

Start of the small class in the RORC Caribbean 600 in February 2020. The 2021 Race, scheduled for February 22nd, was cancelled this week.

So which skittles will still be standing as the pandemic moves away with glacial speed, and we begin to feel reassured that the vaccines are having a real effect? At the moment, with one viral surge piling on another like a feast-day down at Aileen's breaker off the Cliffs of Moher even as vax distribution tries to find the best way forward, the resumption of something remotely approaching normal life is anyone's guess.

Thus we might as well look back at our slightly chirpy preview of the possibilities for 2021, which we published here a mere four weeks ago, just as the ludicrous Christmas socialising was starting to weave its hyper-infectious wicked web. While very reasonably suggesting that the best plan was to keep planning - as followed and demonstrated in various extreme situations by General Dwight D Eisenhower - we did have enough savvy to suggest that though some events were already posted as preceding it, the National YC's 280-mile Volvo Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race on June 9th had the whiff of reality about it as an internationally-recognised classic that provided the ingredients for getting an inevitably still-limited season properly underway.

Ian Hickey's 38ft Cavatina from Cork – twice winner of the Round Ireland race – is on the entry list for the D2D in June

It seems a lot of other people thought the same way, for no sooner was the entry list opened recently than they were into double figures with boats of serious provenance – the largest of them Conor Doyle's xP50 Freya from Kinsale – and as of yesterday (Friday) the listing had gone up to 32, making it look as though Organising Committee Chairman Adam Winkelmann and his team will indeed have to invoke their fifty boat limit.

It's all good news, and we'll look at these early entries in more detail in a moment. But though there is this glimmer of light in the distance on June 9th (with Howth's Lambay Race a nice little possible programme starter on Saturday, June 5th), we're looking at things that might just happen nearly five months away, which seems like forever. But fortunately, any internationally-minded sailing fan will find happenings of interest in the meantime.

As it is, through the winter some events have taken place, though in very shrunken-numbers versions. However, enough boats took part in the ARC 2020 to St Lucia before Christmas to note that the most interesting class winner was the 59ft classic 1936 German yawl Peter von Seestermuhe (formerly Peter von Danzig). She was designed by Henry Gruber, who served his time in the Sparkman & Stephens office in New York in the early 1930s, and then returned for a successful if brief individual design career in his native Germany, a career which was going fine until World War II got in the way.

The classic 1936 Henry Gruber-designed yawl Peter von Seestermuhe crosses the line in St Lucia in December to win her class in the ARC 2020.

Gruber's extremely elegant yacht design oeuvre culminated in the handsome 88ft Nordwind (she's still going strong) for the Kriegsmarine – the German Navy - in 1939, when she took line honours in the Fastnet Race. In doing so, she toppled the 70ft Hallowe'en's course record which had stood since 1926. And yes, that's the classic Fife-designed-and-built Hallowe'en now owned by an Irish syndicate. At the prizegiving in Plymouth in 1939, Nordwind's German navy crew took everyone's breath away by turning up in their very smart Hugo Boss-designed dress uniforms, adding to the effect with a cascade of Heil Hitler salutes all round as they collected their trophies.

We can only hope that when the likewise under-the-radar RORC Transatlantic Race - currently underway from Lanzarote in the Canaries to Grenada in the Caribbean after being postponed from December – gets to the finish, and then on ashore to the mono-hull line honours winning crew collecting their trophies, that we'll see completely informal air-punching salutes. For it's possible that the first mono-hull across will be that gallant old warhorse, the Irish-Chinese Volvo 70 Green Dragon, a veteran of the 2008-2009 Volvo Round the World Race.

The old dog for the long road – the 2008 Irish Volvo World race entry Green Dragon – seen here at 30 knots – is currently vying for line honours in the RORC Transatlantic Race from the Canaries to Grenada.

Having graced the seafront at Salthill post-world-race for a while, the somewhat overweight Dragon was eventually sold to Austrian Johannes Schwarz in 2015 "for rather less than her building cost". As a result, the new owner got a bulletproof boat which has since given many people a lot of good sport afloat and much fun ashore.

So although Green Dragon's lead on the water is being challenged by two of the latest French Class 40s which feature the very fast downwind scow hull shape which was successfully pioneered some time ago by Ian Lipinsky in his Mini-transat Proto Griffon, let's hear it for the old Dragon hanging in there to give everyone the vicarious satisfaction of a line honours win.

Meanwhile, the Vendee Globe leading group has closed up off the east coast of Brazil to open up the possible final results, and while they may be talking in terms of a finish within a dozen days, the reality is that they still haven't even re-crossed the Equator yet, and the North Atlantic between there and the finish in the Bay of Biscay can be one very obtuse bit of wind and water as January morphs into February.

A boat transformed. While other America's Cup teams in New Zealand took a Christmas break, Ineos Britannia's technical staff worked night and day to transform the boat into a real contender for this week's resumption of racing.

For complementary entertainment, the America's Cup in New Zealand has suddenly leapt to life with Ben Ainslie's Ineos Britannia a boat transformed this week into a seeming potential winner. Her technical team had worked all hours on mods since the pre-Christmas series, when she had been usually found in the crabgrass. This new look has resulted in much excitement afloat, but it's as nothing compared to the kerfuffle in the back offices of the bookmakers of Auckland, where they'd been rating Ineos Britannia as the rank outsider in the betting until Friday of this week.

By the time the America's Cup is drawing to its conclusion in March, the pandemic picture will be much clearer, it's possible other events of a more pop-up nature will have emerged, and hopefully, we may be looking at some controlled sailing in May, with the arrival of June seeing a more positive scene afloat.

Thus a short and sweet Lambay Race on June 5th and a long and lovely Dingle Race on June 9th would be a neat combination, as both involve a real homage to the coasts of Ireland. Their basic course concepts are as simple as you can get, and yet as both are essentially coastal events in one jurisdiction, regulations are easily defined and complied with.

Two is better than one. For the D2D, Andrew Hall of Pwllheli has entered both his J/125 Jack Knife (above)……….

…… and the internationally successful Lombard 45 Pata Negra

That said, the list of entries for Dingle as seen here shows there's already an international element, none more so than through Andrew Hall of Pwllheli, who has done a Matt Allen in having two entries – his own J/125 Jack Knife, and the chartered Lombard 45 Pata Negra which has provided several Irish crews with high-grade international success in recent years.

Even as it stands with 18 places still available, it's a formidable list with most of the main Irish sailing centres well represented, and a truly formidable line-up of hotshot boats gearing themselves up to deny Paul O'Higgins JPK 10.80 Rockabill (RIYC) the satisfaction of making it three in a row.

The current benchmark performer – Nieulargo finishing at Roche's Point to win the 2020 Fastnet 450. Photo: Robert Bateman

For although Rockabill showed she'd lost none of her edge through retaining the admittedly restricted ISORA Championship in 2020, she has yet to race the Murphy family of Kinsale with their all-conquering Grand Soleil Nieulargo in her current very competitive form. Nieulargo was a competitor in the previous D2D in 2019, but the Nieulargo of 2020 and today has upped her game and is a very different machine.

Extra interest is added with a two-handed division in which Cian McCarthy's Sunfast 3300 from Kinsale is already entered, and Dingle interest is stepped up not only with added support at the finish port but also with one of the early entries in the form of Kenneth Cunnane's Dingle-based Swan 46 Mynx.

Cinnamon Girl from Kinsale has entered for the two-Handed Division:

Adam Winkelmann is particularly pleased with the very positive attitude towards the race down in Kerry:

"The ongoing support by Volvo and Billy Naughton Cars underlines the value of the partnership of the event over many years," he says. "The Dingle Skellig Hotel also continue as accommodation partner and long-term sponsor, and we are delighted to work with them again in 2021.

Billy Naughton of Volvo agents Billy Naughton Cars presenting the second overall prize to Aileen Kelleher, a crew member of the J/122 Aurelia (RStGYC) at the prizegiving in the Dingle Skellig Hotel after 2019's race

While we are optimistic for the race itself in terms of on the water activity, we will have to wait and see what the Covid-19 situation allows in terms of on-shore activity around the race at the time. As always, it is the participants and public health that will take priority in terms of gatherings or prizegiving.

We also continue with great support from ISORA and DBSC as on-the-water partners. The timing of the 2021 race is designed to accommodate boats participating in Sovereigns Week (23 – 26 June) in Kinsale, and of course with the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta (2-4 July One -Design and 9 -11 July Cruisers)

The Notice of Race is now available to download at www.d2drace.ie and entries can be made online via the website. Accommodation can be reserved directly with the Dingle Skellig Hotel www.dingleskellig.com"

It’s only a week since the listings opened for the National YC’s 2021 Volvo Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race scheduled for June 9th, and already 15 definite entries have arrived in with such speed that the organising committee - under chairman Adam Winkelmann – have said they may have to be prepared to look at an upper limit of 50 boats.

The initial lineup includes defending champion Rockabill VI, Paul O’Higgins’ JPK 10.80 which was also first on her debut on 2017, so the O’Higgins team have set the stakes high in aiming for the “Threepeat” in this classic 280-mile challenge which always provides competitors with a remarkable variety of sailing.

As this list shows, many of the great and the good in Irish offshore racing have led the way in putting themselves into the mix, including the star boat of 2020's two significant race, the Murphy family’s Grand Soleil 40 Nieulargo from Cork, victor in both the Kinsale-Fastnet-Kinsale Race, and the Fastnet 450 from Dublin Bay round the Fastnet and back to Cork Harbour.

And even at this early stage, there’s an international element, as Solent-based Royal Irish YC member Niall Dowling – overall winner of the 2018 Round Ireland with the Ker 43 Baraka GP – has entered with the Ker 40+ Arabella.

See race entries here

Niall Dowling’s Ker 43 Baraka GP at the start of her doubly-successful 2018 Round Ireland Race from Wicklow. Niall Dowling returns, this time for the D2D 2021, with the newer Ker 40+ Arabella. Photo: Afloat.ie/David O’Brien