There will be only nine 'non-J109s' in this week's Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta's buoyant 26-boat IRC One fleet, but two new powerful campaigns are within those nine.
At least a Northern Ireland A35 and a Howth J99 campaign must be added to the contenders' list for the class one prize and, maybe, the overall Volvo Trophy for the best performance in IRC over the four days of racing on Dublin Bay starting on Thursday afternoon.
With the top three boats from 2019 all competing again, the outcome of this contest depends mainly on what conditions will prevail. Six days out, it looks like the Bay will serve strong to medium-strength southerly breezes, which could upset the pecking order in the regatta's most significant class.
26-boat fleet
The impressive gathering of IRC One interests on Dublin Bay represents the biggest turnout of the 35-footers this season in Ireland and the UK, rivalled only by Cowes Week.
Scotland's Scottish Series mustered only 12 boats in May. June 24th's inaugural RC35 event on Belfast Lough launched with five. Kinsale's Sovereign's Cup on the same weekend had 11. Surprisingly, a comparable class at RORC's GB IRC Championships on the Solent last weekend saw just ten entries.
There is a buoyant turnout of 17 J109s in a 26-boat IRC One of Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta Photo: Afloat
These comparisons are valid because they reveal that VDLR 2023 has achieved the same fleet size as VDLR 2019, even though the regatta fleet number is down overall this year compared to four years ago. It's a sign of the strength of what the four Dun Laoghaire clubs have achieved for IRC racers, not least the turnout of 17 J109s in the rebuild post covid. Perhaps, more importantly, with double – or even triple – the competition available on the Bay than elsewhere, it also underlines that whoever finishes on top in Dun Laoghaire Harbour next Sunday is justifiably the IRC One champion of these islands.
Ten UK visitors
Ten boats are visiting from Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Five members of Scotland's RC35 class are in Dun Laoghaire, and three boats are coming from Northern Ireland; two from Strangford Lough and one from Royal Ulster on Belfast Lough. The rest of the fleet comprises Dublin Bay interests but, disappointingly, no IRC One entry from Cork.
Four Howth boats are competing, and from the home port, there are seven turning out from the Royal Irish and three from the National Yacht Club.
Past performances
In 2019, J109s took the top three places with five times National Champion John Maybury in Joker II, winning from Royal Irish club mates Timothy & Richard Goodbody in White Mishief. Third was Pat Kelly's Storm from Rush and Howth. Already this season, Maybury has scooped the class win at Kinsale Yacht Club's Sovereign's Cup this month, so the RIYC's skipper continues his excellent form but asked if a repeat performance is on the cards, Maybury told Afloat, "Haven't a clue! There are a lot of good boats out there, including some that weren't in Kinsale. But we'll give it our best shot!"
He's right on that score, as some new challengers have arrived over the past two seasons. Moreover, Maybury only narrowly took the Sovereign's title by two points after six races, pressed by ICRA Boat of the Year for 2022, the J99 Snapshot skippered by Howth brothers Mike and Ritche Evans.
If Maybury succeeds, however, it would mean a sixth VDLR class win in a row, winning first in 2011.
Mike and Ritche Evans J99 Snapshot competing at the 2023 Sovereign's Cup Photo: Bob Bateman
Another new campaign at VDLR is John Minnis's Archambault 35 Final Call II, the sole Belfast Lough visitor in this class. As regular Afloat readers know, Minnis beat Maybury overall at their only previous meeting at Howth's Wave Regatta in 2022.
However, Minnis knows the dominance of the J109 designs, especially if winds are below eight knots. But that is not the forecast. In a signal of his intent, "We're not coming down to make up the numbers", he told Afloat.
John Minnis's Archambault 35 Final Call II
One of the strengths of the A35 is its ability to perform well downwind using a symmetric spinnaker on windward-leeward courses, which allows them to sail dead downwind compared to the asymmetric setup of the J109s. At least six windward-leeward races are scheduled on VDLR's Collen course this week.
Pat Kelly's J109 Storm from Rush and Howth Photo: Afloat
And as regular Afloat readers will recall, Kelly's Storm is one of few J109s that is IRC-optimised with symmetric and asymmetric spinnaker setups and has been doing so successfully since 2018. This season Kelly has already had success at Kip Regatta in Scotland in May and, more recently, was the IRC winner a the smaller Belfast Lough RC 35 event.
DBSC Thursday Series leader, Richard and Timothy Goodbody's J109 White Mischief Photo: Afloat
Other campaigns that can be part of the mix on home waters this week will be Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC) top performer Colin Byrne's XP33, Bon Exemple, which is the current DBSC Saturday Summer Series leader, both he and his clubmates, the Goodbody's White Mischief (the DBSC Thursday Series leader) come with plenty of local knowledge.
Colin Byrne's XP33, Bon Exemple Photo: Afloat
Early forecasts
With so much riding on the optimum setup for the prevailing conditions, an early peek at weather forecasts indicates there will be a breeze and plenty of it to produce a range of conditions over the four days. Medium to strong conditions with winds from a southerly quadrant will build from and provide some top-class conditions. Starting Thursday (July 6th), there will be medium conditions up to 13 mph with strong gusts for the first afternoon races. From there, the breeze is forecast to strengthen up to 20 mph with gusts up to 30 mph and with its southerly direction, the six courses on the Dublin Bay race track can anticipate a big sea state to boot. Sunday's last races, however, may see a drop in wind strength for a light to medium-air conclusion to the 2023 event.
