Tide Important Factor in First Hours of Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race as Forecasted Headwinds to Prevail

9th June 2021

If the wind is as predicted, the need to get the tide right comes into sharper focus as the yachts head down the Irish Sea to the first turning mark, the Tuskar Rock lighthouse (above), which guards the southeast corner of Ireland Credit: Wikipedia

"Time and tide will wait for no man, saith the adage. But all men have to wait for time and tide." Charles Dickens

As Dun Laoghaire Dingle Race day dawns, the skippers and navigators check the forecast for the umpteenth time. Predictions have been relatively steady for a few days, suggesting that there may be no change to the forecasted headwinds that will prevail, at least as far as the Fastnet. If the wind is as predicted, the need to get the tide right comes into sharper focus as the yachts head down the Irish Sea to the first turning mark, the Tuskar Rock lighthouse, which guards the southeast corner of Ireland.

These first 70 nautical miles will probably influence the eventual outcome as it has done before both in D2Ds and Round Ireland races. The importance of this stretch of the race is due to the strong tidal currents that define the area, squeezing the water between the offshore banks and the coast at rates that can exceed 4 knots at spring tides. Although not the highest spring tide of the month, the streams that the fleet will encounter are stronger than average. Starting two hours into the ebb, the navigators will want to stay out in the stronger stream, but will need to choose carefully when to head inshore as the flood tide starts to build. The bigger boats will likely be past Wicklow head when the flood starts, possibly rock dodging along the coast. It gets complicated inshore not only due to the presence of the Rusk, Glassgorman and Blackwater Banks, but also because Met Eireann's wind barb forecast suggests the breeze lightens closer to the coast.

"Met Eireann's wind barb forecast suggests the breeze lightens closer to the coast"

As the leading boats emerge from the Irish Sea around midnight Wednesday and settle for a long beat to Fastnet, it could well be that the winner will emerge from amongst those who have best timed their move inshore to dodge the flood tide along the Wicklow and Wexford coasts. This doesn't mean the end of the race for the smaller craft, indeed those who manage to round the Tuskar on the second ebb could well save their time on the big boats.

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 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.