#D2D Race – While Anthony O’Leary and his Antix crew may have home ground advantage in the waters of West Cork in the last stages of the Dun Laoghaire to Dingle race, the weather gods aren’t playing a supporting role as the veering and lightening breeze turns westward and then northwestward as the leaders rounded the Fastnet in the early hours of Sunday.

The Shanahan family's J109 Ruth took over the lead from Antix shortly after 3am and the likellihood is that other lower rated boats will push the early leaders down the pecking order. J109 Mojito (Peter Dunlop & Vicky Cox), JPK 9.60 Alchimiste (Mike Murphy) and DB1 Red Rhum (Jonathan Nicholson) are all making better speed than both Antix and Lee Overlay Partners (Adrian Lee).  Less than half-an-hour of corrected time separates 2nd to 6th and the forecast suggests that these boats will retain the breeze for a while longer than Antix, but that they will suffer the same fate along the Kerry coast leading to a corrected time battle among the smaller yachts.  In this case look to Alchimiste and Red Rhum to be the strongest challengers.

1. In the two handed division, Blue Eyes (Colm Buckley & Simon Knowles) have strengthened their lead, while Kerry’s own Amazing Grace (Brian O’Sullivan and Frances Clifford) have taken over the lead from Lady Rowena (David Bolger) in the Cruiser division.

Follow the race here

#D2D –  When the crew of Anthony O'Leary's Antix began collating weather predictions at mid-week for the approaching Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race writes W M Nixon, they found themselves in the happy position of being told on Thursday that when the wind expectations were combined with the boat's known performance capabilities, they might be looking at breaking the 24 hours for the dash to Dingle.

Quite. As of 1600 hours this afternoon (Saturday June 13th), we're looking at the dribble to Dingle. The two leaders – Lee Overlay Partners and Antix – are within a couple of miles of each other well seaward off Cork Harbour, and making a less-than-stellar two to four knots while turning slowly to windward in a local sou'westerly.

Antix continues to lead the fleet on handicap while Lee OP is eighth in IRC. But when things get as slow as this, the little guys somewhere astern are making hay just sitting still, so the lead which Antix has held virtually from the start could easily evaporate.

However, this year the boat has had her performance maximized for lighter conditions, so the slightest little bite to the breeze could see her getting ahead of Lee OP and holding on to her overall lead. That said, if the underlying northerly comes in again after the day's sea breeze effect has waned along the Cork coast, the Cookson 50 could be back in business.

Twenty-two miles astern, as of time of writing George Sisk's Farr 42 Wow is next in line, churning merrily along on course in a private breeze at better than 4 knots, while her closest contender, the Power Smiths' J/122 Aurelia, has lost most of her wind after an excellent race until now, and is headed off almost to a southerly course, while barely registering one knot.

Mike Murphy's characterful twin-ruddered JPK 9.60 Alchimiste continues to have a cracker of a race, lying second on IRC after Antix, but like the leader now obliged to turn to windward as the summer sou'wester works its way along the coast.

Colm Buckley and Simon Knowles have been putting in an impressive performance in the two-handed division which they lead by quite a margin with the Elan 340 Blue Eyes, on top of which they're lying eight overall in IRC, and have many larger fully crewed boats well astern of them on the water.

Captains Cool.....Colm Buckley and Simon Knowles with the Elan 340 Blue Eyes knew that it would be a mistake to mix it with the rest of the fleet in the thick of a potentially messy start, so they held back and started with room to spare........Photo: W M Nixon

.....but soon Blue Eyes was in perfect trim and going well, and already had closest two-handed rival Joker (David Gibbons) put in place astern. Photo: W M Nixon

They've done well sailing two-handed in the Dingle Race before, and at last night's inevitably messy running start, it was noted that the two guys stayed well out of the crowd to make a very conservative start. Yet they soon had themselves up and running in good order with spinnaker setting perfectly, picking off one boat after another until by the time the fleet was off the Wicklow coast, they were comfortably leading the two-handed division, and were even in the frame in the fully-crewed sector.

Signing off, it's noted that Lee OP and Antix are back on course for the Old Head of Kinsale and making better than four knots, but whether this is a temporary breeze or a return of the overall slack northerly remains to be seen. Either way, we won't be seeing a new course record with D2D 2015. But although tomorrow may seem some local southwest winds, the gradient is not expected to draw properly from the south until Monday afternoon, by which time everyone should be long since finished.

#D2DRace – It is the two highest rated boats that lead the Dun Laoghaire to Dingle fleet along the south coas this afternoont, Lee Overlay Partners (Adrian Lee) on the water and Antix (Anthony O'Leary) as IRC overall leader.

The leaders lie due south of Cork harbour, while the peloton is spread out over the Wexford and Waterford coasts, with every boat clear of the Tuskar and broad reaching westwards.

In the two handed division, HYC's Blue Eyes (Colm Buckley & Simon Knowles, Howth YC) are current leaders while Lady Rowena (David Bolger) of the Royal St George is first in the Cruiser division.

Current forecast suggests a dying breeze will be followed by a southwesterly veering as the fleet rounds the Fastnet meaning the probable end of spinnakers for a while.

Follow the race tracker here

#D2DRace – Rounding the Tuskar Rock after 7am this morning, the Royal Cork and Baltimore crew on Commodore's Cup winner Antix (Anthony O'Leary) is heading west at 7 knots to be first in IRC handicap and contiune to be 2015 Dun Laoghaire to Dingle race leaders. After a night at sea, the 30–boat National Yacht Club fleet is still tightly bunched off the Wexford coast with 190–miles to sail to the Dingle finish. The bulk of the fleet will round the Tuskar Rock by mid–morning with some early notable front runners including the Dublin Bay DB1 Red Rhum (Johnathan Nicholson), as high as fourth place. The vintage Dehler chose a shore side strategy from the Dun Laoghaire start heading directly to Wicklow Head. It was an inshore strategy, with a premium on downwind skills, that paid off with the leaders in three divisions (racing, two handed and cruiser) all picking that option.

The forecast until Sunday at 7am show only light northerly winds along the Cork coast.

 

Follow the race tracker here.

Read more on the 2015 D2D in this morning's Sailing on Saturday blog

#d2d – Last night's start of the 280-mile Dun Laoghaire-Dingle Race was a tricky business, with the ebb starting to sluice out of Dublin Bay, and a less-than-commanding breeze making for an inelegant beginning to this year's biggest offshore race in Irish waters. If anyone hoped to see a colourful spectacle reflecting top end sailing's supposedly glamorous image, they were woefully disappointed. Yet for offshore racing aficionados, it was vintage stuff. W M Nixon tries to explain why.

If you set out to pick a media-unfriendly time to stage a minority sports event, you really couldn't do better (or maybe that should be worse) than nine o'clock on a Friday night. All the regular lines of communication have pretty well closed up at the end of the working week, while the weekend itself is cordoned off for the big time spectator-friendly stadium or TV sports spectaculars.

Yet the National Yacht Club's biennial Dun Laoghaire to Dingle sailing race went off at precisely nine o'clock last night, and nobody thought it at all odd. In fact, the time was selected to suit various offshore racing owners who'd told organizer Martin Crotty that they'd find it much easier to get their amateur crew together if the start was timed to be comfortably after close of business on a Friday evening, the thinking being that it's better to seem to be busy about the workplace right through to the end of the week, but non-appearance first thing on a Monday morning can somehow be slipped under the radar.

It may be slightly crazy thinking, but that's the way the Corinthian sailing mind works. It means that the Dun Laoghaire to Dingle race is run entirely for the benefit and enjoyment of its many amateur participants. And if the media in any shape or form wants to cover it, then the media has to learn to play by the D2D's rules.

All of which makes the D2D uniquely attractive in an era when even the most historic and tradition-bound sporting events are distorted, and maybe even re-located in the calendar, in order to serve some arrogant media and publicity requirements.

So as with all the best sailing events, the Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race is most truly savoured by taking part. But if for some reason we can't take part ourselves, it's all part of this classic race's attraction that we will readily put the beginning of our own weekend on hold in order to give the D2D start the attention and respect it deserves.

It may not be a sight to stir the heart of the casual observer, yet for those involved the difficulties of a downwind down-tide start are all part of the game. Photo: W M Nixon

Jedi and Powder Monkey are two of the six J/109s taking part in the race to Dingle. Photo: W M Nixon

Admittedly the fact that the final starting lineup of 30 boats included craft of the calibre of the all-conquering Antix and the consistent and ever-more-attractive Cookson 50 Lee Overlay Partners added to the appeal. When the word came on the grapevine that Anthony O'Leary's Ker 40 Antix was making final preparations in the relative peace of the Royal Irish YC pontoon rather than at the George with its impressive and busy entry of nine boats, let alone at the National where the place was simply heaving, we made it our business to nip down to the RIYC. And there indeed was Antix and her crew of superstars, beavering away just like yachties anywhere and at every level simply in order to be ready for the start.

It was a chance to see the current superstar without her makeup on, as she'd recently been delivered from Cowes against headwinds all the way by young Robert O'Leary, and now the support van was parked in a convenient if unglitzy spot nearby while gear was transferred hither and yon. Yet there was time for a quick look below and a chance to experience the fact that this highly-tuned boat sings to anyone who is on the sailing wavelength – she really does.

Antix - a boat that really does sing to anyone on the sailing wavelength. Photo: W M Nixon

Crosshaven's Robert O'Leary and his father Anthony in Dun Laoghaire – the younger O'Leary brought Antix from Cowes with headwinds all the way. Photo: W M Nixon

dd6.jpgFunctional and hyper-light, but you would scarcely describe the arrangements below in Antix as "accommodation". Photo: W M Nixon

The brains of the boat – the Antix navstation is hidden away "somewhere down aft". Photo: W M Nixon

The Antix keel and mast are engineered together. Photo: W M Nixon

It's not quite a Learjet, but the Antix support van does what's needed. Photo: W M Nixon

"And now for something completely different". Amazing Grace from Tralee, the defending D2D winner of 2013, makes for a marked contrast with Antix. Photo: W M Nixon

Crazy night, crazy place, crazy prices – and great food. The service at the National YC lived up to the billing. Photo: W M Nixon

Then it was on into the melee at the National. How manager Tim O'Brien and his team managed to cope with the endless throughput of people and their food and drink and socializing requirements is beyond the imagination. And the start of the D2D was only one of several events taking place in a typically busy summer Friday evening. Yet somehow it was all done with the greatest good humour, and then out we went in the Dublin Bay Sailing Club's Committee Boat Mac Lir hoping to find a decent breeze outside the harbour, but the photos say it all.

So where's the sport in all this? Well believe me, it's all right there. Some of us may have gone away from the fleet as it trickled out of Dublin Bay thinking that there are surely more entertaining forms of sailing. But the reality is that there's something so utterly absorbing about a race like this - when you're actually doing it - that the thought of being anywhere else doing anything else simply doesn't occur. And far from being envious of the spectator boats peeling away and heading back to the bright lights in the warm places, on the contrary you're glad to see the back of them, leaving you undistracted in the sacred task of squeezing an extra tenth of a knot out of your beloved boat as she sails into the night. That's what amateur offshore racing is all about.

You can follow the race here on Aloat.ie - the final starting lineup was as follows, as the IMOCA 60 Kilcullen Voyager didn't race:

Dingle Skellig Hotel Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race 2015, start 2100hrs Friday June 12th. Entries listed by rating.

1 Lee Overlay Partners, (Cookson 50, Adrian Lee, Royal St George YC) - 1.340

2 Antix, (Ker 40, Anthony O'Leary, Royal Cork YC & Baltimore SC) - 1.210

3 WOW, (Farr 42, George Sisk, Royal Irish YC) - 1.124

4 Pogeen (Pogo 1050, John Gilmore, Strangford Lough YC) -1.096 (Cruiser)

5 Aquelina (J/122, James & Sheila Tyrrell, Arklow SC) – 1.078

6 Aurelia (J/122, Chris & Patanne Power Smith, RStGYC) – 1.077

7 Endgame (A 35, Frank Doyle, RCYC) – 1.027

8 Dear Prudence (J/109, Jonathan Bourke, ManhattanYC) – 1.021

9 Mojito (J109,Peter Dunlop & Vicky Cox, Pwllheli SC) – 1.018

10 Ruth (J/109, Shanahan family, National YC) – 1.017

11 Wakey Wakey (J/109, Roger Smith, Poolbeg Y & BC), - 1.015

12 Powder Monkey (J/109, Chris Moore, NYC) – 1.014

13 Jedi (J/109, J Treanor, A Sarratt, M McGuinness, RIYC, NYC, RStGYC) – 1.009

14 Exhale (X-Yachts 362 Sport, Derry & Hilda Good, RCYC) – 1.009

15 First of September (First 435, Jerry Whiston, PY&BC) – 1.003

16 Lula Belle (First 36.7, Liam Coyne, NYC) – 1.002

17 Alchimiste (JPK 9.60, Mike Murphy, National YC) – 0.998

18 Blue Eyes (Elan 340, Colm Buckley & Simon Knowles, Howth YC) – 0.987 (2-handed)

19 Joker (Sigma 38, David Gibbons, Kinsale YC) – 0.982 (2-handed)

20 Windshift (Jeanneau Sunfast 37, Brendan Coghlan, RStGYC) – 0.980

21 Persistance (Sigma 38, Jerry Collins, RStGYC) 0.978 (Cruiser)

22 Yahtzee (Beneteau Oceanis 411) Richard Mossop, Dun Laoghaire MYC – 0.978 (Cruiser)

23 Red Rhum (Dehler db1, Jonathan Nicholson, RStGYC) – 0.968

24 Desert Star (Jeanneau Sunfast 37, Ronan O Siochru, RStGYC) – 0.966

25 Ipanema (Dehler 37 CR, Martin Breen Galway Bay SC) – 0.959 (Cruiser)

26 Legally Blonde (Beneteau First 31.7, Cathal Drohan, RStGYC) 0.951

27 Amazing Grace (Oyster 37, Brian O'Sullivan & Frances Clifford, Tralee Bay SC) – 0.928

28 Big Deal (Dehler 34, Derek & Conor Dillon, Foynes YC) - 0.922 (2-handed)

29 Lady Rowena (Sadler 34, David Bolger, RStGYC) 0.911 (Cruiser)

30 Polished Manx (Sigma 33, Kuba Szymanski, Douglas Bay YC) – 0.899

John Gilmore's Pogo 1050 Pogeen from Strangford Lough looked like a boat which would have preferred more wind. Photo: W M Nixon

Shaping in for the start – George Disk's Farr 42 WOW and Mike Murphy's twin-ruddered JPK 9.60 Alchimiste. Photo: W M Nixon

On the start, Adrian Lee's Cookson 50 Lee Overlay Partners has found a gap to run through, while in the foreground Frank Doyle's A35 Endgame is cleanly away. Photo: W M Nixon

Last glimpse as they head into the night with Antix (left) leading the fleet into the Channel in search of stronger favourable tide and a better breeze. Photo: W M Nixon

Follow Afloat.ie's coverage of the race on these handy links below:

D2D Race tracker 

D2D News updates

#Dun Laoghaire to Dingle – Conditions in the early stages of this year's Dun Laoghaire to Dingle race are putting a premium on downwind skills, as the crews seek the best VMG through maximising gybing angles. The following ebb tide encourages the offshore trend, but the navigators will have their work cut out positioning for the next flood.

Antony O'Leary's Antix is the early on the water leader, but being chased seaward by James and Sheila Tyrell's J122 Aquelina and the top rated Lee Overlay Partners.

The forecast predicts lighter winds around the first corner at Tuskar, suggesting that tide will play a major factor in the eventual outcome.

 

 

#d2d –  Will he or won't he? D2D could mean dinner to dinner for enda's imoca 60 racing to dingle tonight, but only if he makes the start. The prospect of a new course record and the presence of top offshore racing boats has been giving an extra zing to tonight's 9.0pm start in Dublin Bay of the biennial 280–mile Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race writes W M Nixon.

With winds forecast to be between north and northeast, the underlying forecast pattern seems to favour the bigger boats. An area of softer breezes is expected to settle over the south coast tomorrow, but by that time the front runners will hope to be shaping up around the Fastnet Rock and Mizen Head to find stronger winds again off the Kerry coast.

The 31-strong fleet is a real quality turnout, as it includes the British IRC Champion 2015 in the form of Anthony O'Leary's Ker 40 Antix sailing for both Royal Cork and Baltimore SC. Also in with conditions which could be to her liking is Adrian Lee's Cookson 50 Lee Overlay Partners, whose CV includes overall win in the 2007 Fastnet when she was Ger O'Rourke's Chieftain, and overall win in the inaugural RORC Caribbean 600 in 2009 on the first major outing in the Lee ownership, which has since continued with other successes such as the outright win in the new Dubai-Muscat race.

But while the list of definite contenders is almost precisely as tabulated below with the fleet ranked by ratings, as of 1130hrs this morning it began to have the flavour of Hamlet without the Prince. News came through that Enda O Coineen's IMOCA 60 Kilcullen Voyager – which he acquired last Autumn – had taken eleven days instead of the expected seven to do the necessary Kilcullen voyaging up from Lanzarote in the Canaries. She only got into Dun Laoghaire some time during the night, and with four days gone from his usual hectic schedule, the busy Galwayman was seriously contemplating withdrawing from the race as other matters required his urgent attention, and the boat wasn't race ready.

As we aim this preview towards a noon Friday deadline, the word is that Dun Laoghaire's finest are working on the Kilcullen team to persuade them to go, for it's possible that all she needs is tomorrow's breakfast and lunch to be put on board. In the conditions expected for the next 30 hours, an IMOCA 60 should be able to get from Dublin Bay to Dingle in less than 24 hours, thereby holding out the attractive prospect for her crew of the pre-race dinner in the National YC this evening, and dinner tomorrow night in one of Dingle's deservedly renowned eateries.

The Lee Overlay crew are Kerry bound tonight on the canting keel Cookson 50

But enough of speculation. Of the real rather than virtual entries, for Anthony O'Leary the Dingle Race is unfinished business, as he looked to have it in the bag with the silver Antix two years ago, but then one of the lowest rated boats in the fleet, Brian O'Sullivan and Frances Clifford's Oyster 37 Amazing Grace, came ghosting in with a new breeze and took the title.

Probably the best racing of all will be among the J/109s, which muster an excellent turnout of six boats which fit into a rating band between 1.021 at the top for Jay Bourke's Dear Prudence (sailing for Manhatttan Yacht Club, no less) right down to the Treanor/Sarratt/McGuinness-owned Jedi which has somehow got herself down to 1.009.

Antix (ex Catapult) is entered jointly by Royal Cork Yacht Club and Baltimore Sailing Club. Photo: Rick Tomlinson/Rolex

Be that as it may, the smart money will be on the Shanahan family with Ruth rated at 1.017, as racing the big one to Dingle is a Shanahan tradition covering three generations. They're doing it for the hosting National Yacht Club, but oddly enough the club which is putting up most boats is the neighbouring Royal St George, which appears on nine of the entries, a very encouraging sign of underlying club health.

While most boats are straight racing, there's a cruiser division within the fleet, and there are three two-handed racers, though noted two-handed sailor Liam Coyne with the First 36.7 Lula Belle is doing it fully crewed with his shipmates from Malta with whom he has sailed to cut a mighty swathe through the Middle Sea race in recent years.

So now as we post this, the question is: Will Enda, or won't he? 

We will be continuing our coverage of the start with race updates after the start, there will be a piece in Sailing on Saturday first thing tomorrow morning, and you can of course follow the fleet on ISORA's Avery Crest Yellowbrick trackers through Afloat.ie. Follow Afloat.ie's coverage of the race on these handy links below:

D2D Race tracker 

D2D News updates

WM Nixon's D2D 2015 blog (from Saturday am)

Dingle Skellig Hotel Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race 2015, start 2100hrs Friday June 12th. Entries listed by rating.

1 Kilcullen Voyager, (IMOCA Open 60 - Owen Clarke Design, Enda O'Coineen, Royal Galway YC) - 1.694

2 Lee Overlay Partners, (Cookson 50, Adrian Lee, Royal St George YC) - 1.340

3 Antix, (Ker 40, Anthony O'Leary, Royal Cork YC & Baltimore SC) - 1.210

4 WOW, (Farr 42, George Sisk, Royal Irish YC) - 1.124

5 Pogeen (Pogo 1050, John Gilmore, Strangford Lough YC) -1.096 (Cruiser)

6 Aquelina (J/122, James & Sheila Tyrrell, Arklow SC) – 1.078

7 Aurelia (J/122, Chris & Patanne Power Smith, RStGYC) – 1.077

8 Endgame (A 35, Frank Doyle, RCYC) – 1.027

9 Dear Prudence (J/109, Jonathan Bourke, ManhattanYC) – 1.021

10 Mojito (J109,Peter Dunlop & Vicky Cox, Pwllheli SC) – 1.018

11 Ruth (J/109, Shanahan family, National YC) – 1.017

12 Wakey Wakey (J/109, Roger Smith, Poolbeg Y & BC), - 1.015

13 Powder Monkey (J/109, Chris Moore, NYC) – 1.014

14 Jedi (J/109, J Treanor, A Sarratt, M McGuinness, RIYC, NYC, RStGYC) – 1.009

15 Exhale (X-Yachts 362 Sport, Derry & Hilda Good, RCYC) – 1.009

16 First of September (First 435, Jerry Whiston, PY&BC) – 1.003

17 Lula Belle (First 36.7, Liam Coyne, NYC) – 1.002

18 Alchimiste (JPK 9.60, Mike Murphy, National YC) – 0.998

19 Blue Eyes (Elan 340, Colm Buckley & Simon Knowles, Howth YC) – 0.987 (2-handed)

20 Joker (Sigma 38, David Gibbons, Kinsale YC) – 0.982 (2-handed)

21 Windshift (Jeanneau Sunfast 37, Brendan Coghlan, RStGYC) – 0.980

22 Persistance (Sigma 38, Jerry Collins, RStGYC) 0.978 (Cruiser)

23 Yahtzee (Beneteau Oceanis 411) Richard Mossop, Dun Laoghaire MYC – 0.978 (Cruiser)

24 Red Rhum (Dehler db1, Jonathan Nicholson, RStGYC) – 0.968

25 Desert Star (Jeanneau Sunfast 37, Ronan O Siochru, RStGYC) – 0.966

26 Ipanema (Dehler 37 CR, Martin Breen Galway Bay SC) – 0.959 (Cruiser)

27 Legally Blonde (Beneteau First 31.7, Cathal Drohan, RStGYC) 0.951

28 Amazing Grace (Oyster 37, Brian O'Sullivan & Frances Clifford, Tralee Bay SC) – 0.928

29 Big Deal (Dehler 34, Derek & Conor Dillon, Foynes YC) - 0.922 (2-handed)

30 Lady Rowena (Sadler 34, David Bolger, RStGYC) 0.911 (Cruiser)

31 Polished Manx (Sigma 33, Kuba Szymanski, Douglas Bay YC) – 0.899

#d2d – A former Rolex Middle Sea Race winner will contest Friday's Dun Laoghaire to Dingle race that departs Dublin Bay at 9pm. Maltese sailor Aaron Gatt Floridia, the owner/skipper of Otra Vez, will race on board Liam Coyne's Round Britian and Ireland winning Lula Belle, a Beneteau 36.7. Floridia, who has won class 3 of Malta's biggest sailing event, will also be joined by his brother Edward for the Irish offshore highlight. Coyne has previously sailed with Otra Vez in the Mediterranean Sea.

#d2d – After two frustrating races on the Irish Sea this weekend the ISORA fleet now has under three weeks to prepare for the start of the Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race. The National Yacht Club has 27 confirmed entries and it is expecting another three for the biennial offshore, up seven from the 2013 edition.

Among the ISORA boats competing in the 'Round Ireland Lite'  is the on form J109 Ruth (Liam Shanahan), the Round Britain and Ireland winner, the Beneteau 36.7 Lula Belle (Liam Coyne). Other entries from around the coast inlcude the defending champion from Tralee Bay, Amazing Grace (Brian O'Sullivan) and Waterford Harbour's A35 Fools Gold (Rob McConnell) who is leading class 2 at the Scottish series.

 

#d2d – The canting-keel Cookson 50 Lee Overlay Partners skippered by Dun Laoghaire's Adrian Lee is the latest high profile entry into this June's Dun Laoghaire to Dingle race. The Royal St. George yacht is a proven offshore winner, taking the inaugural 2009 RORC Caribbean 600 race and overall victory (as Chieftain) in the 2007 Fastnet Race.

Most recently, in 2013, the globe trotting 50–footer set a course record of 2 days 53 minutes and 40 seconds and the overall win in the 360– mile race from Dubai to Muscat in Oman. In what is looking like a potent line-up for the 12th edition of the National Yacht Club race, this Dun Laoghaire entry joins the Commodore's Cup winning Ker 40, Catapult skippered by Anthony O'Leary of Cork, Afloat's 2014 Sailor of the Year.