Volvo D2D: Winds And Speeds Soften At Skellig Michael

8th June 2023

The little Sunfast 3300 Cinnamon Girl from Kinsale, two-handed with Cian McCarthy and Sam Hunt Credit: Afloat

D2D Thursday, 4 pm - The majestic monastic rock of Skellig Michael may be the austere epitome of a rugged and solitary Atlantic outpost, but this final turning point of the 270-mile Volvo Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race 2023 has been tending towards the pussy cat mode by serving up gentler east winds and slower speeds for the mixed flotilla of craft chasing the out-of-sight leading finisher, the Cookson 50 Privateer (Ron O’Hanley, New York YC).

The Cookson 50 Privateer (Ron O’Hanley, New York YC) under Code Zero in Killiney Bay during the opening hours of the Volvo Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race 2023 Photo: Afloat

Thus although the final 20 miles up Dingle Bay may be the most scenically spectacular of the entire course, as the wind eased the adrenalin pumped at a slower rate if it still pumped at all. The little Sunfast 3300 Cinnamon Girl from Kinsale, two-handed with Cian McCarthy and Sam Hunt and sailing in waters where they were on their way a year ago to being winners of Kinsale YC’s inaugural Inishtearaght Race, found themselves at one stage near the Skelligs looking at 6 knots, when this morning they’d been zinging along at twice that speed.

Frank Whelan’s big Elliott 57 Opal from Greystones has finished second in line honours in the Volvo Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race 2023 Photo: Afloat

Up ahead in Dingle, Frank Whelan’s big Elliott 57 Opal from Greystones crossed the finish line at 13:30, thereby becoming the only other boat which will beat the 24-hours for the course. But with a higher rating and a very clear shortfall on the water, they caused no bother to the crew of Privateer.

Robert Rendell’s Grand Soleil 44 Samatom from Howth Photo: Afloat

Paul O’Higgins JPK 10.80 Rockbill VI Photo: Afloat

This afternoon’s speeds only seem to be slow because, until the Skellig, everyone had been going so fast. Robert Rendell’s Grand Soleil 44 Samatom from Howth is going to be third to finish; she’s currently on course and on 7.9 knots in the middle of Dingle Bay, while the next in line, the Cullen/Biggs First 50 Checkmate XX (Howth YC) has pushed back up to 9 knots.

Searcher sailors, from left, Pete Smyth helming, Nick Smyth on mainsheet and Maurice O'Connell trimming the headsail Photo: Afloat

Astern off Valentia Island, Paul O’Higgins JPK 10.80 Rockbill VI is finding enough pressure for 8 knots, keeping her ahead of the astonishing Cinnamon Girl at 7.8 knots, while CG, in turn, stays clear of the Sunfast 36 Searcher (Pete Smyth, National YC), whose crew must be getting very fed up with contemplating Cinnamon Girl’s shapely hindquarters every time they look ahead.

The little Sunfast 3300 Cinnamon Girl from Kinsale, two-handed with Cian McCarthy and Sam Hunt onboard Photo: Afloat

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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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.