Weymouth finally showed herself at her best for day three of the Gazprom International Dragon World Championship where the fleet enjoyed two stunning races, races two and three of the eight race series.

Sole Irish trio competing Garry Treacy, Don O'Dowd and Paul Maguire are lying 6th in the Corinthian classification. Results here.

With a north westerly wind ranging from as little as 6 knots all the way up to around 18 knots and constantly shifting, the race committee rose to the occasion and produced spot on courses. The Dragons like to sail long legs for their World Championships and typically run with a 2.2 to 2.5 mile first beat. Despite this the fleet was still rounding the first mark tightly packed and the jury had a number of customers this evening following mark rounding incidents.
The quality of the fleet is truly exceptional and contains multiple Olympic medalists, America's Cup veterans and World and Continental Champions and it is clear from the results that there is a huge depth of talent as some very big names are to be found well down the rankings tonight.

Boat of the day was without any doubt Poul Richard Hoj-Jensen's Danish Blue crewed by Hamish Mackay and Andrew Norden. Having won Sunday's opening race they consolidated their lead by taking a good steady fifth in race two, then going on to win race three in exceptional style. A double Olympic Gold Medallist, Poul is also the winner of five Dragon Gold Cups, four European Championships and is one of only two helms to have won the Worlds twice, first in 1989 and again in 2009. Known to the Dragon fleet as simply "The Man", Hoj-Jensen proved today that his physical and mental strength are in no way diminished as he approaches his 70th year and he is still more than able to give the young pretenders a good whipping. He led from the first mark and by the time he rounded the last gate for the beat home he had a comfortable lead. The fleet split evenly port and starboard for the final leg making it impossible to cover everyone, but Poul's final beat was a master class in how to defend a position and was the talk of the regatta village post racing.
The only man who came close to Hoj-Jensen's performance was Russia's Andrey Kirilyuc who is sailing with Aleksey Bushuev and Alina Dotsenko. Kirilyuc is another Olympian who raced for Russia in the Laser in '96, in the Soling in 2000 and in the Tornado in 2004. Better known in the Dragon fleet as one of the top tacticians this has been Aleksey's first chance to show his skills as a helm. He only discovered he would helm the boat late last week when owner and regular helm Dmitry Samokhin was forced to pull out. A quick phone call brought Russian match racer Alina Dotsenko into the team and despite having no practice time they rapidly found their feet taking fourth in the opening race. Today they came off the port end of the start of race two like the proverbial scalded cat and never looked back winning by a comfortable margin. This afternoon they again sailed very consistently finishing in seventh place to put them into second overall.
In the overall standings Poul Richard Hoj-Jensen now leads the regatta on 7 points with Andrey Kirilyuk second on 12 points. Third place overall is held by Hendrik Witzmann, Michael Koch and Markus Koy sailing for the United Arab Emirates, who added a seventh and third to Sunday's ninth place to give them 19 points overall and an eight point margin on fourth placed Inna Shternberg of Russia. Places fifth to eighth are all held by Brits with Martin Payne fifth, Klaus Diederich's sixth, Quentin Strauss seventh and defending champion Lawrie Smith eighth. After his crew Tim Tavinor sustained a nasty hand injury when fending off another boat on the dock after racing on day one Lawrie was left one man short and facing the prospect of having to withdraw from the regatta. Fortunately good friend Bill Masterman, who has sailed with Lawrie and third man Ossie Stewart in the past, was able to drop everything and rush down to Weymouth to step in.
In the Corinthian Division for amateur crews Poul Richard Hoj-Jensen also leads the way with Mark Wade in second, Peter Froschel third, Remy Arnaud fourth and Rob Campbell fifth. One Corinthian team who got more than they bargained for today was Julia Bailey's Aimee. Going up the first beat of race two they were looking very nice on the left hand side. They went to tack and Julia's husband Graham, who calls tactics in the boat, pulled on the runner. He'd just put his full weight into the final adjustment when a block gave way and he effectively threw himself out of the boat. Fortunately he managed to remain in contact and within less than a minute fellow crew members Richard Powell and Will Heritage had fished him out and they were on their way again. Sadly though the advantage was lost and they finished the race in 63rd place.
As always at the post racing prize giving there were some special lucky draw presentations with Tommy Mueller's team taking home three sets of Maui Jim sunglasses and Julian Sowery claiming goodies from Zhik.
Later in the evening the teams enjoyed a wonderful cocktail party at Portland Castle where guests could take a guided tour of this 16th century Tudor Castle, built by Henry VIII to protect against French and Spanish invasion and now owned by English Heritage and open to the public. As well as delicious canapes and English sparkling wine the guests also enjoyed a traditional Morris Dancing display - an entertainment all too familiar to the British competitors but baffling and entertaining in equal measure to the international visitors. All together a thoroughly British evening.
Tomorrow's two further races are planned and the forecast is for 10+ knots, again from the north west. You can keep up with the latest from the race course via the Pantaenius Live Tracking, where you can also replay past races. News, results and further information will be posted at the event website. The regatta will continue until Friday 13 September with a maximum of eight races scheduled and a single discard coming into play after the completion of race six.

#dragon – Peter Bowring's Phantom was the winner of the ten-boat Irish Dragon nationals at the Royal Irish Yacht Club at the weekend. Second was Royal North's Simon Brien with Bowring's Royal St. George club mate Andrew Craig third in Chimaera.  Download full results as a jpeg file below.

Meanwhile, Glandore Harbour Yacht Club has issued a Notice of Race for the South Coast Dragon Championships to be held from August 30th to September 1st and it is available to download below as a word file. 

#dragon – Phantom skipered Peter Bowring holds a one point lead over Martin Byrne after day two of the Irish Dragon National Championships hosted by the Royal Irish Yacht Club at Dun Laoghaire writes Aidan Tarbett. Andrew Craig's Chimera lies third. The situation going into today's first race in the ten boat fleet is: 1. Phantom - Peter Bowring 11 points, 2. Jaguar - Martin Byrne 12 points and 3. Chimera - Andrew Craig 14 points

#dragon – The Dragon keelboat National Championships at the Royal Irish Yacht Club will be held from Thursday 8th – Sunday 11th August 2013, a change from an earlier venue due to lack of numbers. The Notice of Race and entry form are downloadable below as an MS Word file.  The class aim to improve on the number of participating boats from its last big event, the 12 boats at the East Coasts on 8-9 June.

#dragon – The Irish Dragon class has been unable to commit to 'more than a handful of boats' travelling to Bangor in County Down for the 2013 Irish National Championships in August.

As a result, the class has been forced in to a change of venue and the championships will now take place at the Royal Irish Yacht Club on Dublin Bay from August 8-11. The class has an entry of nine for this week's Volvo Dun Laoghaire regatta.

It was all change on day three of the 2013 Dragon Edinburgh Cup supported by Aberdeen Asset Management in Weymouth, where today's fifth race brought high tension on the race course and the introduction of the discard. As a result the leader board has been well and truly shuffled and it will be all to play for in tomorrow's final race.

Today's race winner was fleet newcomer Grant Gordon, sailing with Ruaridh Scott and Joost Houweling, who enjoyed a spectacular dog fight with Poul Richard Hoj-Jensen, sailing with Andrew Norden and Hamish McKay. Initially Hoj-Jensen just had the upper hand, but on the second run Gordon got through to take control for the remainder of the race. Behind them the chasing pack was vying for position with constant place changing and some nail biting mark roundings. Ultimately Gavia Wilkinson-Cox, sailing with Jean Sebastien Ponce and Vicente Pinheiro de Melo, got the best of the situation and led Simon Brien, sailing with Mark Brien and David Gomes, Mick Cotter, sailing with Simon Fry and Tim Goodbody, Mark Dicker, sailing with James Campbell, and Drummond Sydenham and Klaus Diederichs, sailing with Andy Beadsworth and Jamie Lea, across the line.
The race also produced some big upsets with several of the leading boats being black flagged including overnight leader Lawrie Smith, sailing with Ossie Stewart and Tim Tavinor, and leading Corinthian Julia Bailey, sailing with Graham Bailey, Keith Tippell and Will Heritage.
In the overall standings Hoj-Jensen now leads the regatta on twenty points, a single point ahead of Diederichs with Wilkinson-Cox third on 22 and Smith fourth on 24. Gordon has jumped up the leaderboard from ninth to fifth, seven points behind Smith and one point ahead of Bailey.
In the Corinthian Division Julia Bailey hangs onto her lead by four points despite today's black flag. Simon Brien, sailing with Mark Brien and David Gomes, is in second and Julian Sowry, sailing with Claire Sowry and Neil O'Hagan is eight points back in third.
Today's other big excitement was the traditional Edinburgh Cup Crews Race, which is normally a fairly relaxed affair. But this year the crews were clearly in fighting form and it took two general recalls and the introduction of the black flag to get the race underway. Even with the black flag deterrent the fleet was still over eager and three of the teams, including German Star saillor Marc Pickel, sailing Marcus Brennecke's boat with Thomas Auracher, were sent home for the early bath.
For the sixteen teams remaining on the course it was action all the way. Guy Clarabut, sailing with owner Jono Ratnage and Ross McKissock, led on the first lap but a couple of big shifts turned the fleet inside out and ultimately it was James Campbell sailing with owner Mark Dicker and Drummond Sydenham who took the winner's laurels, with Justin Waples sailing with owner Rob Campbell and Tom Waples second, Jon Mortimer sailing with co-owner Owen Pay and Matt Walker third, and Katie Cole sailing with Peter Marchant and Andy Biddle fourth. Although a little disappointed with his eventual fifth place in the race Guy Clarabut was none the less delighted to accept the prize for the first helm 30 years old or under, which he just managed to snatch on the line from Will Heritage.
The Edinburgh Cup supported by Aberdeen Asset Management concludes tomorrow with just one final race to sail, a forecast of north-westerly backing westerly at 10 to 18 knots and a latest start cut off time of 13.00. With only twelve points separating the top six boats and Hoj-Jensen currently discarding a fourteenth place the championship remains wide open.

You can keep up with all the news from the event via the 2013 Dragon Edinburgh Cup Website, at the British Dragon Association Facebook page and through the Edinburgh Cup Live Tracking.

Overall Top Six After Five Races

1. Poul Richard Hoj-Jensen, GBR775 Danish Blue - 5,(14),10,3,2 = 20
2. Klaus Diederichs, GBR758 Fever - 1,(15),7,6,7 = 21
3. Gavia Wilkinson-Cox, GBR761 Jerboa - 10,8,(12),1,3 = 22
4. Lawrie Smith, GBR785 Alfie - 8,6,8,2,(42bfd) = 24
5. Grant Gordon, GBR780 Louise - 7,7,16,(19),1 = 31
6. Julia Bailey, GBR720 Aimee - 3,2,2,25,(42bfd) = 32 (Corinthian)

The International Dragon fleet's weeklong festival of sailing in Weymouth got off to a great, if slightly delayed, start today with the South Coast Championship. Originally scheduled to be sailed over two days, strong winds on Sunday had forced the Race Committee to keep the boats in harbour. Fortunately today the weather gods were smiling and the 37 strong fleet enjoyed three tightly fought races in shifty westerly winds of 15-20 knots.

Overall Klaus Diederichs, crewed by Andy Beadsworth and Jamie Lea, was top performer of the regatta with a neat 1, 3, 2 score line which gave them a 9 point overall lead and the South Coast Championship Trophy. Taking second place overall and claiming the Corinthian Trophy for amateur teams was Julia Bailey, crewed by Graham Bailey, Will Heritage and Keith Tippell, and the podium was completed by Rob Campbell, sailing with Justin and Tom Waples, who also took second place in the Corinthian division.

The opening race was to be a good indicator of things to come as Klaus Diederichs put their mark on the fleet leading Julia Bailey across the line with Gavia Wilkinson-Cox, crewed by Jean Sebastien Ponce and Vicente Pinheiro De Melo third and the Australian team of Marcus Blackmore, Terry Wetton and Don Cowie fourth.

Race two initially looked to be more of the same until the race committee responded to a right shift on the first run by moving the second weather mark correspondingly right. Unfortunately, just as the boats came round the leeward gate and the time window for further mark changes closed, the sea breeze kicked taking the wind hard left and leaving the second beat completely one sided. A number of boats lost out massively with some even having to crack off for the mark. Whilst others struggled to regain ground, Germany's Marcus Brennecke, crewed by Marc Pickel and Thomas Auracher, went on to win the race in style from Rob Campbell with Klaus Diederichs third, Julia Bailey fourth and David Atkinson, crewed by Ian Turnbull and John Outhwaite fifth.

With the sea breeze now firmly established the race committee set up for the third and final race which was to be a four beat marathon testing the sailors stamina as much as their sailing skills. After a somewhat lackluster performance in the opening two races of the event where he had finished 25 and 28, reigning European Champion Jose Matoso and his team of Gustavo Lima and Frederico Melo, finally found some form and led the fleet from the first mark to the finish. Behind him the battle for the remaining top five places was fierce with Klaus Diederichs eventually claiming second from Poul Richard Hoj-Jensen, crewed by Hamish McKay and Andrew Norden, with Gavia Wilkinson-Cox fourth and Grant Gordon, sailing with Ruaridh Scott and Joost Houweling, fifth.

At the prize giving there were a number of fun awards presented alongside the main trophies including awards for the top performance by a helm under 30 which went to Jono Brown, for the furthest travelled crew which was presented by Petticrows and won by Bocci Aoyama and his team from Japan, plus some special draw prizes present by event sponsor Zhik whose happy recipients went home with new shoes, sailing smocks and salopettes.

With the South Coast Championship completed the fleet now moves into the Edinburgh Cup, for the open British Championship, which will feature up to six races over the next four days. Weymouth will also play host to the 2013 Gazprom International Dragon World Championship from 5-13 September, and so the fleet will grow to 39 teams for the Edinburgh Cup as extra boats take advantage of this opportunity to not only challenge for the prestigious Edinburgh Cup, but also to train on the World Championship race area. Among those joining the fleet for the Edinburgh Cup are defending champion Simon Brien from Northern Ireland and reigning Dragon World Champion Lawrie Smith.

Overall Top Five

1 Klaus Diederichs, GBR758, Fever - 1,3,2 = 6pts
2 Julia Bailey, GBR720, Aimee - 2,4,9 = 15pts
3 Rob Campbell, GBR766, Quicksilver - 5,2,12 = 20pts
4 Marcus Blackmore, AUS227, Hooligan - 4,11,6 = 21pts
5 Chris Hunt, GBR768, Dark and Stormy - 7,7,8 = 22pts

#dragon – Next week sees the Dragon Fleet descend on the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy for the Dragon South Coast Championship on the 23 and 24 June, immediately followed by the Edinburgh Cup. Many teams will be using these events as a warm up for the highly anticipated Gazprom International Dragon World Championship in September, where the best of the fleet will be competing in the wake of Olympic Sailors.
The Dragon World Championship will attract the elite of international yacht racing; teams from 14 nationalities will be arriving at the National Sailing Academy, including many America's Cup, Olympic, World, Continental and National Champions. With a strict selection process, through a series of qualifying stages, only the very best crews will take part ensuring high competition for all.
The Sailing Academy will see one of the most beautiful and prestigious keelboat classes in the world with a fleet of more than 1400 boats in 26 countries, using the outstanding sailing facilities the area has to offer.
The Dragon fleet are ensured successful delivery of a world class event, with unrivalled shore side facilities, a dedicated event marina and race management teams fresh from the Olympic and Paralympic Games; the venue is truly world class.
Martin Makey, Chairman of the British Dragon Association commented, "Our international colleagues and our event supporter Gazprom International are convinced of the potential of the venue as well as the renowned reputation of Weymouth Bay to provide great racing. On many visits to WPNSA I have been most impressed with the development of the facilities and the quality of race management."
The Academy looks forward to welcoming the International Dragon Class for the Gazprom International Dragon World Championship, which will take place from the 5 -13th September at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy.

#dragon – Royal St. George yacht Chimaera skippered by Andrew Craig was the winner of the weekend's East Coast Dragon Championship on Dublin Bay staged by the Royal Irish Yacht Club.

There were 12 entries with six races sailed and one discard. Scroll down for full results.

#dragon – The Notice of Race has been published and online entry is now open for the 2013 Dragon World Championship to be hosted by the Portland and Weymouth Sailing Academy from 5 to 13 September 2013. The event is open to teams who have qualified, either through the International Dragon World Ranking list or via qualification series held by each Dragon sailing nation.  Full details of the qualification process are available form  www.intdragon.net.  As a result only the top Dragon sailors from each country are eligible to race ensuring competition of the very highest level.

The International Dragon fleet recently tested its metal at the 2013 BMW Cascais Dragon European Championship in Portugal where more than 60 Dragon sailors battled it out.  Many of the teams from that regatta are also expected to compete in Weymouth including newly crowned Dragon European Champion Jose Matoso, German America's Cup star Markus Wieser, who came second, and Denmark's Jens Christensen who finished third.  Teams will come from across the globe for the event and already Australia's Marcus Blackmore, sailing with Terry Wetton and Don Cowie, has confirmed his entry with several other Australian boats expected to join them.

As always the British will field a strong home team led by defending World Champion Lawrie Smith.  Other names to watch out for from the British contingent are Klaus Diederichs, who just finished fourth at the Europeans; husband and wife team Graham and Julia Bailey, who finished sixth at the Europeans and will have their sights set on both overall and Corinthian (all amateur) victory; current Edinburgh Cup (British Open) Champion Simon Brien from Northern Ireland; and all round sailing legend Poul Richard Hoj-Jensen.

For those looking to train on the Worlds race area in advance of the event, the British Dragon Association will also be holding the 2013 South Coast Championship and the Edinburgh Cup, for the British Open Championship, at Weymouth. The South Coasts will run from 23 to 24 June and will be immediately followed by the Edinburgh Cup from 25 to 30 June 2013.  The Edinburgh Cup is one of the most prestigious trophies in the International Dragon Class and always attracts a strong international entry as well as teams from across the UK and Ireland.