#D2D – Finishing shortly after 3am, a County Kerry entry, Amazing Grace, won the 2013 Dun Laoghaire to Dingle race, the first Kerry yacht to win in the 20–year history of the race. The Tralee Bay Sailing Club entry, one of the slowest, oldest and heaviest boats in the race was sailed impressively by a Fenit crew and skippered by Brian O'Sullivan to beat some of Ireland's top offshore racers.

Overall results for the 2013 Dun Laoghaire to Dingle race are here. Full race report in Summer Afloat magazine published late June. 

While a few boats in the 22–boat fleet have yet to finish this morning, only two of them have lower ratings and are now too far behind to affect Amazing Grace.  Official confirmation of the result is expected by the race organisers later this morning.

Second overall looks likely to go to Spindrift, a Hallberg Rassy 34 under the command of David Kelly of Waterford Harbour Sailing Club, which should correct to about an hour behind Amazing Grace, while Lulla Belle, Liam Coyne and Brian Flahive's First 36.7 from the National Yacht Club, will be about an hour further back in third place.

Lulla Belle is also the winner of the double-handed division.

This was a race that favoured lower rating boats as the light winds experienced for all but the latter stages didn't allow the higher handicappers to generate the necessary distance to save their time. Additionally, the wind continued to build after the first finishers, allowing the smaller boats to cover the last 60 to 70 miles at speeds equalling or exceeding that of their faster competitors.

The south coast turned out to be a turning point for Amazing Grace, skipper Brian O'Sullivan informing Afloat.ie:

"Most of fleet sitting off south coast, looking for wind pockets! Excellent day/night to be out on the water. All to play for, with half the race more or less completed! Moved south a little to get the first break in the wind, keeping fingers crossed! Wouldn't be any place else, other than the snoring from down below, all is good!

Once again D2D, a half Round Ireland, has thrown up an interesting set of conditions resulting in an outsider's victory that will not only entice many of the entrants to return in 2015, but should also attract first timers.

Celebrating in the early hours at Dingle Harbour the winning Amazing Grace crew are back row (left to right) Finbarr O'Connell, skipper Brian O'Sullivan, Fergus Kelliher, Pearse Boyland, Tim Kelliher, Cian O'Donnell. Front row Brendan Culloty and Michael McCormack. Photo: Frances Clifford

Amazing Grace, an Oyster 37 was built from a kit by Cork sailor Jim Fegan on a farmyard in the 1980s.

A past Round Ireland and Fastnet race competitor this offshore campaigner previously sustained damage to her rudder in heavy weather off Wexford.

Little was heard of this Oyster until she was bought by former owner Gary Horgan and raced out of Kinsale for a number of years before moving to Fenit in County Kerry under Gerard O'Donnell.

O'Sullivan bought the boat in March this year from O'Donnell and this morning's result is a highlight of her 30–year career.

O'Sullivan is a well known boat builder producing among others the 1720 sportsboat. He is managing director of O'Sullivan Marine, a leading Irish boat builder based in Tralee.

This afternoon the Tralee Bay Sailing Club Commodore Pat Daly congratulated O'Sullivan and the crew of Amazing Grace on their 'historic' win.

'This victory, by Amazing Grace, a first for a local boat, will further boost this week's ICRA National Cruiser Championship & WIORA Regional West Coast Championships, to be hosted by the club'

The club expect 500 sailors and over 60 boats to hit Fenit for four days of racing from Wednesday to Saturday, June 12-15th in Tralee Bay'.

#D2D – As the crews of Antix and Wow enjoy the hospitality in Dingle tonight the lowest rated boats are enjoying the limelight of podium potential as they close on the finish line. See D2D race tracker here

Tralee Sailing Club's Amazing Grace is in pole position with a little bit to spare and will be hoping that the wind remains steady in strength and direction over the remaining thirty miles so that they can maintain their advantage over David Kelly's Spindrift (Halberg Rassy 34).

Meanwhile Spindrift has to watch over her shoulder, but the real battle seems to be for third place between Lula Belle (Beneteau First 36.7), Polished Manx (Sigma 38) and Mojito (J109).

While the result might be seen as a testament to the durability of older designs, once the wind died mid-race it was always going to be a low handicap benefit. Mojito and Lula Belle have done well to stick with the leaders.

All things going well over the last few hours, Dingle will be feting a Kerry win in the small hours.

#d2d – As the leaders approach the final mark on the Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race course, the Washerwoman Rocks, it looks like game set and match to the low handicappers.

View D2D Race Tracker Here.

Afloat.ie's current prediction is line honours for O'Leary father and son on Antix, followed by Georges Sisk's WOW, but there is going to be a close battle for the overall prize between the veteran Oyster 37 Amazing Grace under the command of Brian O'Sullivan, and Blue Eyes, the Elan 340 entered by Simon Knowles and Colm Buckley, with the double-handers Liam Coyne and Brian Flahive on Lula Belle rounding off the top 3.

The Amazing Grace crew from Tralee Bay will be hoping that their slightly longer waterline can see off the Howth challenger and deliver a Kerry win when they cross the finish line just before dawn on Monday.

Brian O'Sullivan texting Afloat.ie this evening: 'Still going well enough inspite of the relatively calm conditions. A greay day to be at sea! Praying for that freshening breeze on our own turf up along the west coast'. 

Pre-race favourites Antix, will do well to finish in the top ten as the wind continues to build giving the slower boats still on the water an increasingly favourable following breeze that will see a lively spinnaker run into Dingle.

Of course, we all know that predictions can be notoriously fickle, like the weather itself, and this is all based on error free final watches aboard our nominees.

Afloat.ie will stay with the fleet and will bring the next update around midnight.

#d2d – The first 24 hours of this year's Dun Laoghaire to Dingle have been atypical as the fleet juggled with the complexities of a building springtide, and relatively light north easterly winds. See live Tracker here

Most opted for the port gybe offshore option down the Irish Sea, taking them away from the stronger tides around Wicklow Head,
before gybing back inshore. Antix led the fleet around the Tuskar shortly before 4am in a relatively fresh 16 knots, but are now running downwind in a more modest 8 knot north easterly.

While Antix leads on the water, they are trading places for the overall IRC lead with Liam Coyne and Brian Flahive in Lulabelle. This is impressive going by the duo, keeping ahead of most of the fully crewed yachts. These pair are being closely followed by Liam Shanahan's J109 Ruth and Brian Carroll's Elan 40 Chancer.

With 130 miles to go the current rate of 7 knots should see Antix get to Dingle at about 10am Sunday, however, maintaining that progress may be difficult with the current forecast predicting even light winds ahead.

So all to play for over the next 24 hours, and plenty of sunshine and spinnaker work for the crews as they approach the iconic Fastnet Rock.

One time leader the J109 Mojito is stll chasing sistership Ruth. ISORA commodore Peter Ryan on board Mojito texted - 'Chasing Ruth! Hard to stick with her. Hard work. Gybing not paying. We have another plan if the wind holds'.

Brian O'Sullivan of Tralee's Amazing Grace text to say: 'We took a chance and ran the rhumb line from the kish bank and that has paid off! We' re now back in this race after a sluggish start'.

Text updates to Afloat.ie: 0n 086 7290901

#D2D – Third out of Dublin bay, ISORA commodore Peter Ryan and ISORA champion Stephen Tudor on board Peter Dunlop's J109 Mojito are the early IRC leaders an hour into the Dun Laoghaire to Dingle race this evening.  See D2D race tracker here.

Scroll down for race start photos by Michael Chester. 

As forecasted, it was slow progress after the start at 4pm. Some of the 22–boat fleet were still negotiating Dalkey Sound, hugging the Dublin coast to avoid the worst of the last of an adverse tide at 5pm.

Spinnakers barely filled as back markers sailed perilously close to the Bulloch harbour shore while on the water leaders Antix, Aquelina and Mojio enjoyed a few knots more from the north easterly breeze on port gybe in Killiney Bay.  

The fleet was reduced by one with the withdrawal of the double-handed Blackjack but a very late entry 'Desert Star' of the Irish Offshore Sailing School based in Dun Laoghaire has taken her place.

By 6pm those still in Dalkey Sound elected to anchor such was the strength of the north going tide pushing them backwards not forwards on their 320-mile voyage.

Follow the progress of the fleet on the live D2D race tracker here and this handy link to all Afloat's D2D race coverage. We're using #d2d on race tweets.

Check back regularly for D2D race updates on Afloat.ie

Anthony and Peter O'Leary ready for the off in Scotsman's Bay this afternoon. Photo: Michael Chester.

Scroll down for more photos below in the gallery

 Just 320 miles to go! The fleet leave Dublin Bay bound for Dingle on the D2D race. Photo: Michael Chester.  

Scroll down for more photos below in the gallery

 Discover Ireland, the defending D2D champions, in race mode. Photo: Michael Chester. 

Scroll down for more photos below in the gallery

#d2d – Boosted by a late entry the 23-boat Dun Laoghaire to Dingle fleet are assembling this morning at the National Yacht Club pontoon in Dun Laoghaire readying for this afternoon's 4pm start. The tenth anniversary edition of the offshore race looks like it will be off to a slow start with light winds forecast to the Tuskar at least.

Pundits are backing Rockabill, the Corby 33, as a front runner but there's a varied fleet and some tested offshore campaigns all heading west this evening too.  Read WM Nixon's race preview here.

The National Yacht Club race start is viewable from the East Pier in Dun Laoghaire. Follow the progress of the fleet on the live D2D race tracker here and this handy link to all Afloat's D2D race coverage. We're using #d2d on race tweets. 

#D2D –  The Round Ireland Race of 1992, like all stagings of the classic circuit, was one of mixed memories. It started in sunshine with a fair wind which carried us all the way to the Fastnet. But that wind stayed very determinedly between north and northeast, so we knew there'd be windward work round the Kerry coast.

In fact, we were on the wind until Mayo. Then it drew eventually from the southwest and there was the usual scamper across Donegal Bay and around Tory Island. Then the breeze was all over the place down the Irish Sea until we were sitting nicely, breeze off the land, aroma of the Wicklow countryside to be savoured and all that, finish line nicely in sight......and suddenly we were in a flat spot which lasted just long enough to turn a close class win into second in class by 17 minutes.

So all we really remember of the race of '92 is that sweetness of the summer evening made sour by the breeze turning off. It takes a real effort to remember that, three day earlier, we'd actually been having a right pasting off the Kerry coast. For sure, we'd known we'd have headwinds past the Blaskets. But the forecast had missed out on a deepening low to the east. So much so, in fact, that the Irish Sailing Association subsequently launched an informal enquiry into why the severe rise in the wind strength had gone largely unanticipated, as there were wholesale retirals, with much damage.

With hindsight, of course, it was there to be seen - we just didn't want to see it. We may have approached the Fastnet on a reach in sunshine. But there was a harshness to the evening, and any God's amount of warning clouds at a high level, to tell us that this wasn't going to be a straightforward bit of windward work on a summer's night. And even on a gentle summer's night, the Atlantic off Kerry can be a rumbly place. So when it came in a real stinker between north and northeast, it was boat-breaking stuff, with several ports in West Cork and Kerry acquiring their quota of retirals.

South Pacific? No, just Dingle as it can be when, as was happening in this case, most of the rest of Ireland was in heavy rain. Photo: W M Nixon

One such was the Sigma 41 Koala (Peter Cullen and Martin Crotty), which split her mainsail and did well to get to Dingle. As they put themselves together again and breathed in that Dingle air with its unmistakable sense of being in the far west and everything well with the world, they got to thinking how it would just be perfect if the race had just been to Dingle, instead of battering all the way round Ireland simply to end up back where they started from.

That's what it is with Dingle. It's one of those places that everybody thinks they're really the first ever to discover properly and understand and appreciate. It is unique, there's no doubt of that. But when you sail in there and get enveloped in its hospitable warmth, you soon think it's uniquely unique. So naturally the crew of Koala got to thinking about a sort of Round Ireland Lite, a race from the east coast finishing at Dingle.

It took Dingle to show just how effective a combined fishing/sailing port can be. It's a favoured destination for cruising boats, yet it continues to have an impressive tally of fish landings. Photo: W M Nixon

It would have been a grand thing to talk about in the convenient first stop at Flahive's before moving on to one of the excellent Dingle restaurants. And for most crews, that would have been the end of it. But the crew of Koala were made of sterner stuff. They sailed home eventually, and they just wouldn't let go of the idea of a biennial race to Dingle alternating with the round Ireland. If they were going to do it, 'twas best 'twere done soonest. So 20 years ago, in 1993, Martin Crotty on behalf of the National YC organised the first 280 mile Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race, Peter Cullen with his jelly bean manufacturing company put up the sponsorship, and one of the best events in the Irish sailing calendar became an instant success.

It's on again next Friday, June 7th, the 11th D2D, starting before the weekend to facilitate the boats using it to get to the ICRA Nationals in Tralee Bay from June 13th. And there's an excellent line-up, an interesting balance of 22 good boats which – considering the times we live in – is a fine turnout, particularly when we look at the calibre of the boats involved.

Fond memories of the great Denis Doyle and his enthusiasm for every offshore race going are evoked by the Cork presence of Anthony and Peter O'Leary's Ker 39 Antix, briskly back to Ireland from the RORC Vice Commodore's campaigning in the English Channel series in order to race to Kerry, and make the lineup in Tralee Bay.

Anthony O'Leary (Royal Cork) and Peter O'Leary (Baltimore SC) will be racing the busy Antix in the biennial D2D next Friday. Photo: Paul Wyeth

Antix has been in the frame if not on the podium in this year's RORC racing, so her presence sets a benchmark. Defending champion in the D2D is the Galway Reflex 38, curently sailing as Discover Ireland/The Gathering. She didn't exactly cover herself in glory at last weekend's Scottish series, but then she'd all the disadvantage of being the highest rated boat in IRC 2, which made her an easy target, and the offshore scene seems to suit her better.

Certainly the Dingle Race is important to Aodhan Fitzgerald's crew as a Fastnet qualifier. With the absence of any seriously large biggy to challenge the course record set by Mick Cotter's 77ft Whisper two races ago, there's a possibility that Antix and Discover Ireland will be battling for line honours, though that is an outcome which could well be upturned by the presence of boats like the Farr 42 Wow (George Sisk RIYC), and the three Beneteau First 44.7s - Adelie (Peter Hall NYC), Legally Blonde (Cathal Drohan & Paul Egan RStGYC), and White Tiger (Anthony O'Brien, Kinsale).

Mick Cotter's 77ft Whisper almost broke the 24-hour barrier for the record for the Dingle Race in the race of 2009. Photo: David O'Brien

Although the Irish Sea's champion J/109 Sgrech (Stephen Tudor) won't be involved, there are four of these useful all-rounders taking part, and Liam Shanahan's Ruth from the National YC was showing promising speed in the Scottish Series.

And a seriously interesting entry from further down the size scale is Paul O'Higgins' Corby 33 Rockabill V from Dun Laoghaire, which has an enviable racing record. The Corby 33 is more than sparse enough for most folk for a night or two at sea. Add in the increasing demands of the seaways as you get further west, and you have a challenging proposition which nevertheless could serve up a race win if conditions fall the right way. The smart money might just be on Rockabill V.

Paul O'Higgins' Corby 33 Rockabill V offers only the most austere comfort for offshore sailing, but in the right conditions her proven racing record might find itself augmented by the Dingle title.

National YC/Skellig Hotel Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race 2013 Entry List

Comment on this story?

We'd like to hear from you!  Leave a message in the box below or email William Nixon directly on [email protected]

WM Nixon's Saturday Sailing blog appears every Saturday on Afloat.ie

Follow us on twitter @afloatmagazine and on our Afloat facebook page

22 offshore yachts are confirmed for the start of the National YC's Dingle Skellig Hotel Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race 2013 on Friday 7th June.  See entry list below and also downloadable as an attached excel file.

As well as a large proportion of Dun Laoghaire's ISORA crews this year's race benefits from having Royal Cork's Antix on the startline. The former Commododre's Cup winner will use the race as a feeder for June 13th's ICRA Nationals in Fenit, Co. Kerry.

2011 winner Martin Breen's Reflex 38 is back as well as ISORA's potent J109 trio, Joker II, Jedi and newcomer Ruth of the host club.

There are four double handed entries in the two-handed division. 

All boats will be equipped with GPS trackers for the race.

Matt Davis was at the helm of the Sigma 400 'Raging Bull' that successfully defended the ISORA Title in September. Here the Skerries Sailor describes how he and his crew parepared for the defence of the coveted Wolf's Head Trophy

To retain our title as ISORA champions I knew there was going to be a lot of work involved as some of the ISORA fleet would be upgrading their boats over the winter months. I held a crew meeting early in 2011 to discuss with the crew what steps we would take and how we would go about defending our title. The meeting proved useful and we even got new crew members! The 2011 ISORA Series was to include the Dun Laoghaire to Dingle race – with the new scoring and this race being rated the highest it was important to plan to do well in this race. The season started off eventful with the craning-in in Skerries - we broke one of the lower spreaders and this was one week before the first race. So within a week we had the spreader replaced and were on the start line for the first race in the ISORA calendar.

The first race was the Dun Laoghaire to Holyhead race, which was to take in the M2 buoy. The wind was east to south-east, there was a lumpy sea with light winds in Dublin Bay and at times it was difficult to keep the boat going. The crew kept a watchful eye on sail trim and we worked our way out of the bay into a more-steady breeze. The wind kept building and top out in the 30 plus knots true. For an opening race it was tough going but the Sigma 400 liked the conditions. We tacked about five miles north of the M2 buoy and held that tack all the way to the finish at Holyhead. We started the season with a win, but in the back of my mind I knew that the weather had a lot to play in our victory and it was only matter of time when Stephen Tudor would get his new J109 up to speed.

We missed the second race, to the North Arklow buoy due to a faulty starter motor. Pwllheli to Wicklow was the next race that we got to the starting line. Dave Jackson and some of the crew delivered to boat to Pwllheli. On the week leading up to the race I had been tracking the weather and Peter Ryan was promising his famous 'weather window'. On the morning of the race the wind was whistling through the rigging and I knew it was going to be tough going to Bardsley. We got a good start and were one of the first boats off the line. About 20mins into the race we noticed the fleet were all rounding a mark way inshore of us, we had to bare off and reach for the mark, we lost a good 10mins to the leading boats. As we reached the halfway point we had climbed back up the leaderboard. English Mick was charging out in front and Tsunami was in second place on the water followed by Aztec, Jedi and Sgrech. One by one we passed Sgrech, Jedi and Aztec but there was no catching English Mick or Tsunami. We finished 3rd on the water and later found out we won overall on corrected time. We were delighted as it was such a close race.

Dun Laoghaire to Dingle was the next race. There were a lot of points going for this race and we had to do well. For most of the race I knew I wouldn't know where the competition was so I had to be sure of my tactics. Dave Jackson had been looking at weather and tides while Paul Ruigrok was getting the boat through its safety check. The D2D was a cold tough race. We got second over all but won the ISORA division. This now put us in good contention to retain the series.

A good result in the Lyver race would see us cement our position on the ISORA series. It was a tough race with the wind very light not getting above 5 knots. It was too light for the Sigma to pull away from the J109 of Stephen Tudor. Stephen won the Lyver race and we had to settle for second.

The night race to North India was another light race, which saw us hugging the shoreline with depths recorded under the keel of less than a meter, to try and stay out of the stronger tides. Once again we were not successful in getting a good result; our decision to go inshore did not pay off and when we rounded the buoy we found ourselves way down the fleet trying to work our way back into the race. The next day race was around Rockabill, again another poor result, this time not the weather gods but the crew gods did not help us, as we were a few people short. It was a great race with Lively Lady winning and only 3 min between the first 5 boats!

So the last race of the season - Pwllheli to Howth, this race was shortened due to bad weather and the race was to finish in Dun Laoghaire. We got a great start and were lying in second place until about halfway when we blew out our headsail. We lost a lot of time and had to sail in the wrong direction to help get the sail down. We were now fourth on the water and chasing Tsunami, Sgrech and Jedi. We fought hard to finish second on the water and were very happy to finish 3rd on corrected time. We had successfully defended our ISORA title! To win the ISORA Wolfs Head Trophy once is great but to do it again is something very special and I am delighted to thank the hard working crew of Raging Bull for all there support: Dave Jackson, Ross McMahon, Tracey Carey, David Boyle, Paul Ruigrok, Clodagh Whelan, Ben Malone, Paddy Dillon, Derek Fitzpatrick, Gavin Laverty, Donal Ryan and Emma Wilson.

It's a credit to the crew that have fought hard to help me retain the title and to anyone out there looking to try their hand in ISORA next season all I can say is please join the fun and come sailing! It's very competitive with a real family feel to it. Barry Hurley is trying hard to get the two-handed division going so ISORA has something for everyone. I'd like to say a huge thank you to Peter Ryan for reviving ISORA and bring it back to its former glory.