Windfall’s Race Against The Clock Winds Up the Tension in Dun Laoghaire-Dingle Fixture

13th June 2019

Forget about the Emerald Isle, this is Forty Shades of Grey. .….The Fastnet Rock as seen from Windfall as she passed at 1000hrs this morning, when she still held some breeze Credit: Diarmaid Desmond

Day #2 - 2 pm Mick Cotter’s 94ft Windfall has to average “only” 11.25 knots over the shortest course from Dun Laoghaire to Dingle if she is to break the 24-hour barrier for this classic 270-mile race writes W M Nixon.

And as she passed the Fastnet Rock at 1000 hrs this morning, while it was scarcely looking its best under grey skies above a grey sea with a decidedly grey-green Cape Clear beyond, at least the big silver-grey boat was making a reasonable speed, and many hours of 13 knots and better during the night and early morning as she reached along the south coast were giving grounds for optimism.

Yet as soon as the Fastnet was astern, the wheels came off with the wind heading then fading and finally dying for a while as she lay virtually motionless off Mizen Head.

"Windfall has 37 miles to sail, and 4 hours and 20 minutes to sail it"

But now the breeze is back from the north, she’s laying the course to the next marker off the Bull Rock, and is showing 10.4 knots while the weather predictions are indicating a freshening – albeit northerly –wind for this afternoon.

This isn’t the headwind it might at first seem, as the course to the finish is a zig-zag with an almost 90-degree turn at Skellig Michael. But nevertheless with 40 miles still to go and 1800 hrs rolling remorselessly down the track, it’s a bit fraying for the nerves, and then some.

The rest of the fleet – with IRC leading boat Jackknife now 46 miles astern of Windfall as she reaches past Castlehaven at a modest 6.4 knots – know only too well that they will have a fresh set of problems to deal with off the southwestern seaboard as the afternoon northerly gives way to northwesterlies and then westerlies tonight, falling light in the morning.

Jackknife 2517 IRC leading boat Jackknife Photo: Afloat

So there could well be a lot of racing to do yet, after so many miles of knocking off the distance in a soldier’s wind. Astern of Jackknife, Conor Doyle’s Freya is on the pace – admittedly 15 miles astern – with 9 knots on the clock, but overall on IRC the stability of the leaderboard is maintained with Jackknife still first, Rockabill VI comfortably in second, and Outrajeous working it well in third.

Rockabill D2D Race start 2191 Rockabill VI lying second on IRC Photo: Afloat

Outrajeous J109 2840 Outrajeous is lying third on IRC

Aurelia J122 2893 Aurelia lies fourth on IRC

The inevitable duel between The Prof in Aurelia and Mark Mansfield in Hot Cookie has developed very satisfactorily, with Aurelia very close behind Outrajeous in fourth, and currently 17 minutes ahead of Hot Cookie in 5^th, the Sunfast 3600’s highest placing so far as Mono seems to have been finding new reserves of speed for Hot Cookie’s regular crew, and they’re currently making 8 knots well seaward of the Old head of Kinsale.

Hot Cookie 2301 Hot Cookie has moved up to fifth on IRC

Meanwhile, the attention inevitably swings back to the head of the fleet and Windfall’s battle with time – 37 miles to sail, and 4 hours and 20 minutes to sail it. It sounds eminently do-able. But don’t forget she’s now off the coast of Kerry, where normal circumstances no longer apply...

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Published in Dun Laoghaire Dingle

Dun Laoghaire Dingle Race Live Tracker 2023

Track the progress of the 2023 Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Yacht Race fleet on the live tracker above and the leaderboard below

Dun Laoghaire Dingle Race Live Leaderboard 2023

The 16th edition of the 280-mile race organised by the National Yacht Club starts at 2 pm on Wednesday, June 7th, on Dublin Bay.

Read the full 2023 race preview by WM Nixon here
Read all the D2D Race News in one handy link here
Listen to Lorna Siggins's interview with Race Chairman Adam Winkelmann on Afloat's Wavelengths here

WM Nixon will be posting regular race updates and analysis throughout the 2023 race here

Published in Dun Laoghaire Dingle

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Dun Laoghaire Dingle Race

About The Author

WM Nixon

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William M Nixon has been writing about sailing in Ireland for many years in print and online, and his work has appeared internationally in magazines and books. His own experience ranges from club sailing to international offshore events, and he has cruised extensively under sail, often in his own boats which have ranged in size from an 11ft dinghy to a 35ft cruiser-racer. He has also been involved in the administration of several sailing organisations.

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Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Yacht Race Information

The biennial Dun Laoghaire to Dingle race is a 320-miles race down to the east coast of Ireland, across the south coast and into Dingle harbour in County Kerry.

The race is organised by the National Yacht Club.

It never fails to offer a full range of weather, wind and tide to the intrepid entrants, ranging from a 32ft cruiser to a 79ft all-out racer.

Three divisions are available to enter: cruiser (boats equipped with furlers), racing (the bulk of the fleet) and also two-handed.

D2D Course change overruled

In 2019, the organisers considered changing the course to allow boats to select routes close to shore by removing the requirement to go outside Islands and Lighthouses en route, but following input from regular participants, the National Yacht Club decided to stick with the tried and tested course route in order to be fair to large and smaller boats and to keep race records intact.

D2D Course record time

Mick Cotter’s 78ft Whisper established the 1 day and 48 minutes course record for the Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race in 2009 and that time stood until 2019 when Cotter returned to beat his own record but only just, the Dun Laoghaire helmsman crossing the line in Kerry to shave just 20 seconds off his 2009 time.