Cotter set for course record

7th June 2009

Michael Cotter's Whisper (photos here) looks set to establish a new course record in the Dun Laoghaire to Dingle race, and be the first yacht in the history of the race to complete the course in 24 hours, if he crosses the Dingle line before 10.05 am this morning. National Yacht Club organisers are celebrating the biggest ever outing in the 18–year history of the race, with a bumper fleet of 37–boats. Track the progress of the yachts here.

Cotter, of the Royal St.George YC, is within 30 miles of the finish line in Dingle after a 24–hour dash from Dublin in strong and gusty winds and big seas on the East coast. There have been no reported retirals in the fleet, a positive outcome in such conditions.

The current course record was set by current Green Dragon skipper Ian Walker sailing the TP52 yacht Patches in 2005 in a time of 32 hours, 33 minutes, and 49 seconds.

Although Cotter's 90–foot Whisper, twice the size of any other competitor, dwarfed the fleet over the 320–mile course, it is still more than likely that the overall handicap win will go to a smaller boat.

At 6am Cotter was west of the Skellig rock, the final turning point for Dingle. Next on the water was Orix Aviation at Mizen Head with Tim Costello's Tiamat and Prof O'Connell on the helm of Legally Brunette next in line. The bulk of the fleet are heading for the Fastnet rock at 8am. Handicap resuilts for the overall prize will be known when all the boats have crossed the line.

The race is continuing under a small craft warning and Met Eireann have advised that Northeasterly winds will reach force 6 again today on coasts from Valentia to Hook Head to Belfast Lough.

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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.

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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.