The officers of the 4 combined clubs of Dun Laoghaire are delighted to announce that the Dun Laoghaire Regatta will have a new committee for the event in 2011 (July 7 - 10). Adam Winkelmann will be the new Chairman of the regatta committee taking over from Philip Smith who headed up the various committees and teams that organised the extremely successful 2009 event.
Running an event of this size involves the efforts of a huge team of volunteers from all the Dun Laoghaire waterfront clubs with assistance from Howth Yacht Club, now that the event involves courses and a race area north of the Bailey. These volunteers are organised through a number of committees that co-ordinate both the shore and on water activities
Con Murphy who recently achieved International Race Officer status with ISAF will take responsibility for the sailing committee for the 2011 event. Con takes over from Brian Craig who has been a key officer and instigator of the event since its inception and who is stepping down to focus on the 2012 ISAF Youth Worlds event destined for Dun Laoghaire.
"I am delighted and honoured to take over as Chairman of the DL Regatta Committee for 2011" commented Adam. "Phil and Brian are a tough act to follow but myself and Con will do our utmost to pick up on their hard work and deliver an event of the same quality and scale in 2011. As always the quality is more important than the scale and neither will happen without the great support we continue to get from our fellow volunteers and professionals across the waterfronts of Dun Laoghaire and Howth and of course our event sponsors. We look forward to welcoming back our many friends and fellow sailors from all over the British Isles and further afield. We intend to put on great racing and one hell of a party to go with it. This is the ethos of the event irrespective of who runs it."
Adam Winkelmann comes from a Dun Laoghaire sailing family and has an extremely broad sailing experience from dingies through tens of thousands of miles of offshore sailing and more recently a keen interest in one design keelboats including the 1720, SB3 and Dragon fleets. Adam was previously chairman of the 1720 class association and is a committee member of the National Yacht Club. Adams mother Carmel is a legend in Dun Laoghaire also known as the voice of Dublin Bay Sailing Club with more than 35 years of volunteer effort. Adams parents Carmel and Franz are both honorary life members of a number of the Dun Laoghaire clubs so he has a connection that spans the waterfront and is therefore an excellent choice for Chairman of the Dun Laoghaire Regatta Committee. His brother Paul is well known internationally for his various Swan Yachts and TP52 Island Fling.
The Dun Laoghaire Regatta event is hosted by the Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club, the National Yacht Club, the Royal Irish Yacht Club and the Royal St George Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire with support from Howth Yacht Club. The 2009 event attracted circa 450 entries and more than 3,000 sailors. The event has been generously supported by Volvo Car Ireland as primary sponsors with associated sponsors including Dublin Port, Discover Ireland, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, the Royal Marine Hotel, Butlers Pantry and Dun Laoghaire Harbour Company.