When Pedro Andrade and his crew lifted the historic Dragon Gold Cup on the 14 June 2019, little did they know it would be more than two years before they would be called upon to defend their title.

Traditionally held annually, the 2020 Dragon Gold Cup, was just one of thousands of major international sporting events cancelled due to the COVID-19 crisis.

As regular Afloat readers know, the 2020 edition was bound for Kinsale Yacht Club before the West Cork was forced to cancel. Happily, however, Kinsale is already making plans to stage the 2024 Cup, an important international regatta for the Irish south coast.

After this unexpected hiatus and having received official approval from the Swedish Government, Marstrands Segelsällskap, Göteborgs Kungliga Segelsällskap, the Swedish Dragon Association, the International Dragon Association and the Clyde Yacht Clubs Association are delighted to announce that the 2021 Dragon Gold Cup by Yanmar will be raced off Marstrand, Sweden from 12 to 20 August 2021.

With over 80 entries from 17 nations already confirmed this will be a very special celebration for the 92-year young Dragon Class. International Dragon Association (IDA) Chairman Jens Rathsack summed up the feeling of the sailors in saying, “The past year and a half has been so frustrating for all sailors, and I want to pay tribute to all our Dragon friends worldwide who have tried to make racing happen wherever they are. It’s been especially hard to lose so many of our major championships, and that is why I am so delighted that the Swedish organisers have patiently worked to make this year’s Gold Cup happen. I know that it will be a fantastic event and I wish them and all competitors the very best.”

The Swedish organisers are truly pulling out all the stops to make this an event to remember. Afloat the race management team will be headed by Race Officer Mattias Dahlström, who’s experience includes the America’s Cup, Volvo Ocean Race, Olympics, World Match Racing Tour and multiple World and Continental events. He leads an experienced team used to delivering regattas of outstanding quality. Ashore the International Dragon Gold Cup 2021 by Yanmar competitors and their friends and family can look forward to a superb social programme in the elegantly relaxed Swedish style.

While Kinsale Yacht Club cruisers boats were racing around the Kowloon Bridge Buoy and the club also staged the Squib south coast championships, another West Cork Yacht Club was staging a Glandore Harbour race for Dragons and Squibs to Castletownshend.

11 Dragons and 11 Squibs sailed in the annual race in ideal sailing conditions of 10 to 12 knot breezes last Saturday.

In the Dragon fleet, Sonata, in her first major event since being relaunched by her new owners this week, was the winner, ahead of Aphrodite second and War Baby in third. 

Trojan was the first Squib home followed by Tequilla Chaser in second and Kingfisher in third place.

Fergus of Mary Ann’s Bar in Castletownsend provided bottles of wine for the prizewinners.

Diarmuid O’Donovan of Glenmar Shellfish donated lobsters for the winning boats in the race back to Glandore. The first Dragon was Aphrodite, the first Squib was again Trojan,

West Cork Dragon sailors dominated the podium of the Irish East Coast Dragon Championships 2021 at the Royal St. George Yacht Club today with Kinsale Yacht Club crews claiming first second and third overall in the 13-boat fleet.

Overall winner Cameron Good's 'Little Fella' ended the six-race series with three race wins and a five-point margin over clubmate James Matthews on 14 points.

Securing its position as the new force for Dragon sailing in Ireland, Kinsale yachts led from Friday's first day of racing with Matthews edged out by Good after Saturday's fourth race in 15-20 knot south easterlies on Dublin Bay.

From left - Joey Mason Dublin Bay Dragon Class Captain, Winning skipper Cameron Good with crew Henry Kingston and Matthias Hellstern and Royal St. George YC Commodore Richard O'Connor

One time leader James Matthews finished second overall Photo: Afloat

Third place was Tomas O'Brien's Scarlet Ribbons two points further back on 17 points. 

Tomas O'Brien's Scarlet Ribbons

The top Dublin boat was Peter Bowring and David Williams' Phantom of the host club in fourth place on 19 points. 

Peter Bowring and David Williams' Phantom of the host club

Kinsale will host the prestigious 2024 Dragon Gold Cup, a high point on the calendar after the disappointing cancellation of the 2020 Cup at that venue due to COVID. 

Results are here

Dragon East Coast Championships Photo Gallery

Kinsale entries continue to lead after five races sailed at the 2021 Irish East Coast Dragon Championships at the Royal St. George Yacht Club.

Friday's overall leader James Matthews from Kinsale Yacht Club has however been replaced at the top of the leaderboard by clubmate Cameron Good.

Good, who topped the first major Irish Dragon Championships since 2019 in June, now leads the 13-boat Dun Laoghaire event by three points. 

Cameron Good's Dragon 'Little Fella' leads on Dublin Bay Photo: Afloat

Good's scoresheet includes two race wins secured in yesterday's 12 to 18-knot breezes from the southeast with a mist and fine drizzle.

Testing championship conditions for the fleet were completed with a good chop in the north of the Bay. 

Racing continues on Sunday. 

Results are here.

Kinsale Yacht Club sailors dominate the top three places overall at the Irish East Coast Dragon Championships 2021 at the Royal St. George Yacht Club at Dun Laoghaire Harbour this evening. 

James Matthews leads by three points having scored 3,1 in sea breeze conditions on Dublin Bay. The Kinsale ace is followed by clubmate Tomas O'Brien in Scarlet Ribbons on seven points with Cameron Good's Little Fella in third place on 11 points.

The south-easterly breeze built from ten knots for the opening race up to 16-18 knots for the second race of the day.

IRL 201 Titan in her first race since refit wins the opening race of the Dragon East coast Championships. Photo: Adam Winkelmann

Host club hopes were high when former Royal St George Yacht Club Commodore Martin Byrne took the gun in the first race but retired in the stronger breeze of the second race.

Byrne, a former Edinburgh Cup winner, was sailing IRL 201 Titan in her first race since refit. Byrne is sailing with Ben Cooke and Rui Ferreira.

Racing continues over the weekend. Provisional results below.

The first major Irish Dragon Championships in Ireland since 2019 was hosted by Glandore Harbour Yacht Club with 19 Dragons on the racecourse under Principal Race Officer Ciaran McSweeney. 

Cameron Good's Little Fella from Kinsale and Neil Hegarty's Phantom from the Royal St. George Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire Harbour were the pacesetters and after six races sailed were tied on eight nett points each. 

A winners tie break was settled in favour of Little Fella with third overall going to Good's clubmate James Matthews. 

The Championship Trophy and lots more race prizes were presented on the Glandore Terrace by GHYC Commodore Eamon Timoney and Fleet Captain Kieran O’Donoghue.

While local Dragon veteran Don Street did not race Gypsy in the event, he sailed out to the race area on Friday & Sunday to inspect the fleet.

Full results here 

After two decades of printing hard copy yearbooks, the International Dragon Association has launched its first-ever digital edition. 

The bumper edition has 54 pages of entertaining and informative reading about one of the leading racing keelboats.

Despite many predictions over the years of the boat’s decline in the face of new technology, it has not just survived but prospered, and now numbers 1400 active registered Dragons.

The class will stage its 2024 Gold Cup in Kinsale following the cancellation of the 2020 Cup in the West Cork port due to COVID.

The new yearbook can be accessed from the Home Page of the International Dragon website here. It can be read on a tablet, phone or computer.

Just as Ireland's one-design keelboat classes were gearing up for the last blast of the season this weekend, anticipated COVID-19 restriction hikes are threatening the staging of the annual regatta at Dromineer in County Tipperary.

Flying Fifteens, Dragons, Squibs and SB20s are all scheduled to compete.

Organisers of the traditional end of season freshwater regatta at Lough Derg Yacht Club (9-11th October) will be watching out for COVID-19 level announcements today. The much-anticipated hike in restrictions aired on Sunday night (NPHET advice for a countrywide Level Five lockdown) would bring the curtain down on the popular autumn event that typically sees boats travelling from Northern Ireland, Dublin, Cork and other ports for the three-day event.

Some of Dublin's One Design keelboat classes are hoping that current Level 3 restrictions due to expire this Friday will allow travelling out of the county for the last sail of the season. All Dublin club racing has been cancelled over the last three weeks due to the county-wide restrictions.

Lough Derg Yacht Club has posted a Notice of Race with the rider that the 'Club reserves the right to cancel this event with short notice and all fees will be refunded' if it cannot go ahead.

In Kinsale, Squibs were hauled out at the weekend in anticipation of the Squib Inland Championships that are being held as part of the Lough Derg event.

After some disappointing cancellations for the Dragon class this season at Kinsale Yacht Club, local Dragon racing made a welcome return to the West Cork harbour at the weekend.

As regular readers will know both the International Dragon Gold Gup planned for this month at Kinsale and then its replacement Cantor Fitzgerald Dragon Week were both cancelled in the wake of COVID-19 restrictions.

However, a busy weekend on the water for KYC, saw local racing resume as well as KYC cruiser racing in the first race of the Mary P September Series, as Afloat reported earlier.

Afloat's Bob Bateman captured the Kinsale Dragon action in the slideshow below

Kinsale Yacht Club has announced that the Cantor Fitzgerald Dragon Week, which was scheduled to take place in lieu of the earlier Gold Cup event has now also been cancelled.

Speaking of the announcement, Matthias Hellstern, Rear Commodore of Kinsale Yacht Club stated "It's a real shame that we have to cancel another Dragon event in Kinsale, however, we looked closely at the new Government restrictions and felt that we really couldn't work within the guidelines and still provide an exceptional event, which Kinsale is noted for. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Cantor Fitzgerald for their support and of our decision. We very much look forward to working with them again in the near future".

Daniel Murphy of Cantor Fitzgerald added "As a Dragon sailor, I am really disappointed that Dragon Week is cancelled. I know Kinsale Yacht Club had put so much plans in place for the week and its volunteers had once again come to the fore, to ensure its success. However, given where we are with regard to this Covid-19 pandemic, we fully support Kinsale Yacht Club's decision".