In many ways, the competition on the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta offshore race series was the most interesting of all even with only three races, as the limited number of contests was more than offset by the variety in size and type of boats racing. And in the end with today's (Sunday’s) final three-hours-plus race, Nigel Biggs and Dave Cullen of Howth with the hefty First 50 Checkmate XX took it overall by clinching Race 3 by just 21 seconds from Jonathan Anderson’s J/122 El Gran Senor, which in turn was just 41 seconds ahead of Andrew Hall’s J/125 Jackknife which then was a mere 31 seconds ahead of the Pwllheli/Royal Dee J/109 Mojito (Vicky Cox & Peter Dunlop).

The J/109 Mojito (Vicky Cox & Peter Dunlop) Photo: Michael Chester

Overall, Checkmate XX has it in 6 points to the 8 of El Gran Senor, and the 10 of Mojito, which tied with John O’Gorman’s Sunfast 3600 Hot Cookie (NYC), but took the place using “The System”. Secret systems or not, the Offshore Class gave some of the best racing of all.

Jonathan Anderson’s J/122 El Gran Senor with Nobert Reilly's new J111 Ghost Raider following with red kite Photo: Michael Chester

In Saturday's 30-mile offshore race J125 Jackknife leads the Grand Soleil 44 Samatom back into Dublin Bay Photo: Afloat

The final 2023 Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta coastal race started in a rain squall in Scotsman's Bay and headed out from Sandycove Point (below) on a 22-mile course

The final two-race day of Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta 2023 went through with increasing speed as slowly brightening skies were matched by a steadily rising southerly - a sou’easter to seaward of the harbour, but distinct overtones of a sou’wester up the bay.

Paul O’Higgins’ JPK 10.80 Rockabill (RIYC) and a the VDLR Prizegiving below. Skipper Paul O'Higgins is pictured standing second from right with cap Photo: Michael Chester

Cruiser 0 was one of the classes to take it right to the wire for the final contests, but by winning the first of today's (Sunday’s) two races by 46 seconds from closest contender Pete Smyth with the Sunfast 36000 Searcher (NYC), Paul O’Higgins’ JPK 10.80 Rockabill (RIYC) could live with a discarded third in the final race, when Brian Dixon’s Corby 36 Gelert from Pwllheli was first across the line ahead of Searcher.

Pete Smyth with the Sunfast 36000 Searcher (NYC)  Photo: Michael Chester

The Smyth boat corrected into the race lead with Gelert up in lights in second, but with Rockabill keeping strategic tabs in that dumped third, it was already settled.

Final points were Rockabill VI on 8, Searcher (NYC) on 10, Patrick Burke’s First 40 Prima Forte (RIYC) third on 23, and Johnny Treanor’s J112eGP ValenTina (NYC) fourth on 24.

Johnny Treanor’s J112eGP ValenTina Photo: Michael Chester

The ultra-veteran Farr Classic Half-Tonner Swuzzlebubble from Crosshaven (James Dwyer, Royal Cork YC) had the turbo boost of Olympian and World Dragon Champion Andy Beadsworth in the cockpit to help continue a string of firsts into the final day of Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta in IRC 2, and a points total of only 9 – less than half that of the scoring by the second-placed Lambay Rules. This was Stephen Quinn’s J/97 from Howth on 19, with clubmate and sister-ship Jeneral Lee (Colin Kavanagh) on third at 23.

Brendan Foley (RStGYC)with his First Class 8 ALLIG8TR Photo: Michael Chester

Local honour was maintained by Brendan Foley (RStGYC), taking fourth on 25 points with his First Class 8 ALLIG8TR, which confused those who read the “8” as a “B”, but then that’s Show Business.

With thirty offshore miles to race and the finishers ranging in size from 30ft to 50ft, it was no surprise that the finish times between the Dun Laoghaire pierheads for the Offshore Class were spread over an hour in Saturday's Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta race.

Line honours were taken by the First 50 Checkmate XX (Nigel Biggs & Dave Cullen, HYC) in race two of the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta Offshore class Photo: Michael Chester

Line honours were taken by the First 50 Checkmate XX (Nigel Biggs & Dave Cullen, HYC) close ahead of clubmate Robert Rendell's Grand Soleil 44 Samatom, but when the numbers were crunched, it was that hyper-keen J/109 Mojito (Vicky Cox & Peter Dunlop, Pwllheli SC) which emerged in front as to the manner born, and they did it by more than three minutes ahead of Checkmate.

Robert Rendell's Grand Soleil 44 Samatom (left) and Andrew Hall's J124 Jacckknife approach the pier head finish at Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta Photo: Michael Chester

John O'Gorman's Sunfast 3600 Hot Cookie (National YC) continued to have a good regatta with a third, and with one race to sail, she jointly leads overall level on 6 points with Checkmate, which shimmies in ahead on countback.

James Tyrrell's J112E Aquelina (left) and John O'Gorman's Sunfast 3200 Hot Cookie (red spinnaker leave Dalkey Island behind them as they approach the finish of the second race in the offshore class of Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta Photo: Afloat

Mojito has leapt into third OA on 6, but overnight leader El Gran Senor from Scotland (Jonathan Anderson, RIYC) found that today's fifth was not enough to keep her above fourth OA (again on countback), but with the tied leaders on 4 points and the fourth-placed on 6, there's all to race for on Sunday in an impressive turnout of 24 boats

Overnight VDLR offshore leader El Gran Senor from Scotland (Jonathan Anderson, RIYC) Photo: Michael Chester

The 22 mile course for the final race on Sunday is: Start at Omega, Muglins (S), Bray (P), Killiney (P), Bray (P), North Burford (P) and S90 (S) and Finish at Dun Laoghaire's pier heads.

With its formidable lineup of J/109s inter-mingled with the RC35 group, this IRC 1 Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta class was Hotstown-plus. Yet the John Minnis team with the super-souped A35 Final Call II (RUYC) emerged out of sight ahead, on just 10 points to the 20 of second-placed J/99 Snapshot (Mike & Richie Evans, Howth).

The John Minnis team in the super-souped A35 Final Call II (RUYC) above and below at the VDLR prizegiving (Skipper John Minnis is standing second from right) Photo: Afloat

This suggests a total on-water dominance by the Gareth Flannigan-helmed Minnis boat, but some of the final race placings were very close, yet usually Final Call ended up on the right side of all the number crunching.

The J/99 Snapshot (Mike & Richie Evans, Howth) finished second in IRC One of Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta 2023 Photo: Michael Chester

First of the J/109s is the Goodbody family’s White Mischief on 22pts, followed by sister ships Joker 2 (John Maybury, RIYC) on 25.5, and Blast on Chimaera (Barry Cunningham, RIYC) scoring 34.

The Goodbody family’s J109 White Mischief

Finishing on nine points overall, Jerry Dowling's Bád/Kilcullen from the Royal Irish Yacht Club kept a margin of two points after Sunday's seventh race to take the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta crown in the 12-boat SB20 fleet. 

Colin Galavan added a final race win to his two wins scored on Saturday afternoon to finish on 11 points in second place overall.

James Gorman from the National Yacht Club took third with 25 points.

The SB20s made great speeds on the downwind legs under asymmetric spinnakers in the strong wind 2023 Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta Photo: Michael Chester

There was praise for the organisers of Ireland's largest sailing event, who managed racing for a fleet of 400 boats on three of the four days of the regatta despite being in the full grip of the northern jetstream. Winds from a southerly quadrant blew hard again on Sunday to bring a blustery ninth edition of the biennial event to a successful close at lunchtime.

Below is footage from Thursday's first day of the regatta showing Colin Galavan's second overall 'Carpe Diem', 'sending it' before nearly all racing was cancelled due to the gale force winds.

After three days of hectic racing, Rush Sailing Club's Tom Fox won by a single point in the ILCA 6 class of Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta on Sunday, beating Afloat's pre-regatta tip of Darren Griffin as the Malahide sailor was top three at the Masters' Nationals in the last two years. 

Fox got off to a great start with two race wins on Friday, but Griffin countered with wins in races five, six and seven on Sunday in the 17-boat fleet. 

Racing took place on the relatively more sheltered Salthill course on Dublin Bay but there were severe gusts off the Blackrock shore.

Only a point separated the pair by Sunday's closing race eight, with Fox on 18 and Griffin 19. 

Hugh Delap, who heads to the Master European Championships in September, took third.

The 2023 regatta, the ninth edition of Ireland's largest regatta, concluded on Sunday with final races for most classes and a great festival of sailing across the waterfront and Dun Laoghaire town as four sailing clubs come together for the biennial event; Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club, Royal Irish Yacht Club, Royal St. George Yacht Club and National Yacht Club.

Perfect summer sailing conditions on Dublin Bay brought changes to the leaderboard in several classes on the penultimate day of Ireland's biggest sailing regatta, the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta on Saturday.

One contender for tomorrow's (Sunday) top prize of the 'Volvo Boat of the Regatta Trophy' is the Royal Ulster yacht 'Final Call II', which held on to her overnight lead this afternoon. After six races sailed, John Minnis's A35 stayed on top of IRC One.
 
A promising 15-knot southwesterly wind got racing for all 400 boats in 22 classes off to a solid start this morning after a one-hour postponement. The gusty offshore breeze held all day to keep the ambitious programme of more than 290 races on target for tomorrow's final rounds.

One or Two races tomorrow will decide the Class One title as well as 34 other class prizes and the overall regatta winner to boot, a result that can still come from several key classes.

Canny offshore exponents Nigel Biggs and Dave Cullen of Howth in the Beneteau 50 Checkmate XX have taken the overall lead in the offshore class. John O'Gorman's Sunfast 3200 Hot Cookie and the Welsh ISORA champion Mojito co-skippered by Vicky Cox and Peter Dunlop, share the same five points in second and third place, respectively, going into tomorrow's final offshore race.

Paul O'Higgins's Rockabill VI from the Royal Irish Yacht Club maintains the overall lead of the nine-boat Class Zero fleet and has a three-point cushion over the Sunfast 3600, Searcher skippered by Pete Smyth of the National Yacht Club.

Likewise, in class 2 IRC, overnight leader Dave Dwyer's Half-Tonner Checkmate XX continues to lead and is now nine points clear at the top of the 17-boat fleet. Howth's Lambay Rules (Stephen Quinn) is second, with Colin Kavanagh's sistership Jeneral Lee in third place.

The top of IRC three is the battle of the Quarter Tonners as Ian Southworth's Protis leads from Martin Mahon's Snoopy from Courtown Sailing Club.

In selected results from the one-design classes, only three points after seven races separate clubmates Jerry Dowling from Colin Galavan in the SB20 class

North Dublin GP14 pair Alan Blay and Hugh McNally have a three-point advantage over defending champions Ger Owens and Mel Morris of the Royal St. George Yacht Club in the 25–boat fleet racing for Leinster Championship honours.

The 2023 regatta concludes tomorrow (Sunday) with two final races for most classes and a great festival of sailing across the waterfront and Dun Laoghaire town as four sailing clubs come together for the biennial event; Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club, Royal Irish Yacht Club, Royal St. George Yacht Club and National Yacht Club.

Results are provisional and subject to protest. 

John Masterson's Curraglas of the National Yacht Club leads the Shipman 28 class of the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta after six races sailed on Dublin Bay. 

The Masterson family count six results in the top three of the seven-boat fleet, including three race wins to be a comfortable six points ahead of John Clarke's Jo-Slim.

Lying third is RStGYC's Viking (Fergus Mason and Colm Duggan). 

Racing was postponed for one hour on the penultimate day to allow strong winds to abate, a decision that proved correct as Dublin Bay yielded perfect summer sailing conditions in the afternoon.

The breeze was south-westerly at 15 knots, with some strong gusts and big wind shifts off the Blackrock shoreline to make for some exciting racing.

The 2023 regatta, the ninth edition of Ireland's largest regatta, concludes on Sunday with two final races for most classes and a great festival of sailing across the waterfront and Dun Laoghaire town as four sailing clubs come together for the biennial event; Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club, Royal Irish Yacht Club, Royal St. George Yacht Club and National Yacht Club.

Despite Jerry Dowling's Bád/Kilcullen having four race wins from seven races sailed, the Royal Irish crew can't quite shake off the opposition in the 12-boat SB20 fleet of Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta.

Colin Galavan used his recent World Championship exposure in the Netherlands last month by taking two Saturday afternoon wins to ruin his clubmates' perfect score and close the gap to three points with two races left to sail on Sunday.

Moving up into third place is James Gorman from the National Yacht Club.

Racing was postponed for one hour on the penultimate day to allow strong winds to abate, a decision that proved correct as Dublin Bay yielded perfect summer sailing conditions in the afternoon.

The breeze was south-westerly at 15 knots, with some strong gusts and big wind shifts off the Blackrock shoreline to make for some exciting racing.

The 2023 regatta, the ninth edition of Ireland's largest regatta, concludes on Sunday with two final races for most classes and a great festival of sailing across the waterfront and Dun Laoghaire town as four sailing clubs come together for the biennial event; Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club, Royal Irish Yacht Club, Royal St. George Yacht Club and National Yacht Club.