America’s Privateer Clinches Course Record And Multiple Wins In 30th Anniversary Volvo Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race

8th June 2023

Ron O’Hanley’s New York Yacht Club Cookson 50 Privateer crosses the 2023 Dun Laoghaire-Dingle Race finish line on the County Kerry coast at 09.19 am this morning, smashing multiple records in her race debut Credit: Dominick Walsh

D2D, Thursday 0930 am - At 09.19 hrs this morning, a deceptively straightforward-looking 50ft sloop (she’s straightforward above water) came smoothly across the finish line at Dingle to finish first in every way in the National Yacht Club’s 16th staging and 30th Anniversary of the 270-mile Volvo Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race. It may have happened in record time, but the canting-keel Privateer’s extraordinary achievement will be lovingly examined and analysed in detail for years to come, as it has all happened so quickly that some cool dissection will be required in the fullness of time.

This drone photo of Privateer at the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Dingle finish line reveals the Cookson 50's canting keel Photo: Dominick Walsh

Since then, the 270-mile course has seen the fleet making good speed in always fair east nor’east winds, and though at times conditions have been brisk enough to cause five withdrawals (two of them with serious rudder problems), Privateer has speeded ahead of the fleet with such confidence and competence that it was only briefly, while she was going through a soft patch on the East Coast, that the numbers showed she was no longer both the Line Honours and Corrected Time leader.

Privateer finished the 2023 Volvo Dun Laoghaire Dingle Race at 09.19 am - and in terms of results on the water, the tracker said it all...

It took her only five hours to get from Dublin Bay to Ireland’s southeast corner at Tuskar Rock, which meant she carried a favourable and strong ebb tide all the way and beyond at this tidal gate, whereas those astern were very quickly dealing with the new and adverse flood tide as Privateer lengthened away, tacking to lee along the South Coast with 18 knots at times on the dial.

Disappointed for the highly placed Welsh J125 Jackknife in the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Dingle Race as she is escorted into Crosshaven by the RNLI Disappointment for the highly placed Welsh J125 Jackknife in the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Dingle Race as she is escorted into Crosshaven by the RNLI after her retiral from the biennial race

Making down toward the next major turn at the Fastnet Rock, her closest contender was Andrew & Sam Hall's J/125 Jacknkife from Pwlheli in North Wales, but Jacknife became the fifth retiral off Kinsale at 03:37 this (Thursday) morning, and while Frank Whelan’s Elliott 57 Opal from Greystones continued as Privateer’s closest challenger on the water, on corrected time the battle for second focused on Paul O’Higgins’ JPK 10.80 (RIYC, and a previous D2D overall winner), Pete Smyth’s Sunfast 3600 Searcher (National YC), and the gallant little Sunfast 3300 Cinnamon Girl (Cian McCarthy, Kinsale YC), with less than an hour between them in fluid positioning.

Paul O'Higgins's JPK 10.80 Rockabill VI is lying second overall on IRC handicap in the Volvo Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race 2023 Photo: Afloat

Pete Smyth's Sunfast 3600 Searcher is lying third overall on IRC handicap in the Volvo Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race 2023 and in the vid below Photo: Afloat

Double handed Cian McCarthy and Sam Hunt in the Sunfast 3300 Cinnamon Girl in the Volvo Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race 2023 Photo: Afloat

But by this time, Privateer was really in a world of her own, hurtling past the Fastnet Rock at 03:48 hrs at 19.4 knots in the dawn’s early light. And though progress on along Ireland’s majestic southwestern seaboard had been slightly more sedate, she is now (08:40 hrs) well past the final turn at the mighty monastic rock of Skellig Michael, and almost able to lay the course for the finish now within five miles at Dingle Harbour, with every prospect of taking a massive chunk out of the 24 hours 24 minutes course record.

Ron O’Hanley’s New York Yacht Club Cookson 50 Privateer closes in on the 2023 Dun Laoghaire-Dingle Race finish line at 8am Thursday with County Kerry's Skelligs Islands to windward Photo: Privateer

Astern, meanwhile, only the larger Opal has as yet come past the Fastnet, putting the Rock of Rocks behind her at 07:32 hrs.

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

Tagged under

Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race

About The Author

WM Nixon

Email The Author

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.

We've got a favour to ask

More people are reading Afloat.ie than ever thanks to the power of the internet but we're in stormy seas because advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. Unlike many news sites, we haven’t put up a paywall because we want to keep our marine journalism open.

Afloat.ie is Ireland's only full–time marine journalism team and it takes time, money and hard work to produce our content.

So you can see why we need to ask for your help.

If everyone chipped in, we can enhance our coverage and our future would be more secure. You can help us through a small donation. Thank you.

You might also want to read...

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.