Tim Costello’s Dublin based Mills 43, Tiamat and Allan Hogg’s, Plymouth based Mills 40,Argie Bargie, should have quite a contest but Cathal Drohan & Paul Egan’s X 41, Legally Brunette, are in fine form, having won the recent Dun Laoghaire-Dingle Race in a time that smashed the old record by some margin.
Anthony O’Leary’s Dubois 37, Antix Dubh, has made the trip up from the Royal Cork Yacht Club and will be racing in a very competitive class, including Peter Rutter’s Corby 37, Quokka 7, the current holder of the Rolex Commodore’s Cup.
Peter Beamish’s extremely well sailed A35, Aztec, will have a great tussle with Daragh Cafferky’s A35, Another Adventure, whose crew will be bolstered by the considerable talents of Royal Irish YC Commodore, Tim Goodbody.
One of the biggest classes competing at the Volvo Dun Laoghaire regatta is the Laser SB3 Fleet. 35 pocket rockets will be battling in Dublin Bay including the top ranked Irish SB3, Ben Duncan & Brian Moran’s Shark Bait, from Howth YC. A fleet of 15 J 109s will be racing in their own class, including Tino Hyland & Nigel Biggs’s, Christie Cancer Care, overall winners of the 2009 Scottish Series.
That's just a taster of the 450 boats at the regatta including stacked dinghy classes and a range of classic designs such as Mermaids, Water Wags and the Howth 17s, the oldest one design fleet in the world. The Fireballs and the Flying Fifteens are also competing in numbers and the Squibs and International 14s make up a fleet of dinghies which should enjoy some tight racing just outside the marina walls.
Dun Laoghaire town will provide plenty of atmospheren and there is some fantastic shore-side entertainment to be had; carousels, fun fair, street entertainment, even comedic circus acts. To kick off the end of regatta party, the official homecoming of Green Dragon, Ireland’s entry in the Volvo Ocean Race, will take place on Sunday.
A programme of all the waterfront events and daily regatta news and results will be available on www.dlregatta.org
