National Yacht Club's Galvin and Bradley Win First Flying Fifteen Race of Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta

7th July 2023

Royal St. George's Phil Lawton and Neil O'Hagan finished third in a blustery first race of the Flying Fifteen class at Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta Credit: Bob Bateman

The National Yacht Club's Tom Galvin and Cormac Bradley were the winners of Thursday's first Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta race in the Flying Fifteen class.

As southerly winds topped 30 knots, only five starters from a fleet of 22 came to the startline of the Salthill course area in the northwest of Dublin Bay.

Where nearly every other Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta class was cancelled, five hardy 20-foot Flying Fifteeens battled it out on the Salthill course with Lee Statham and Andrew Paul to windward and race winners Tom Galvin and Cormac Bradley furthest left Photo: Bob Bateman

Over a trapezoid course, shortened by international Race Officer Peter Van Muyden, one of the favourites, Shane McCarthy and Alan Green were second, with Royal St. George's Phil Lawton and Neil O'Hagan finishing third.

Shane McCarthy and Alan Green go downwind in 30 knots of breeze in the first race of Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta Photo: Bob Bateman

Lee Statham and Andrew Paul (closest to camera) chase Shane McCarthy and Alan Green downwind Photo: Bob Bateman

A race protest is pending, however, as one skipper says that en route to the race area, he was asked by a race committee RIB to "return to shore as all racing was cancelled".

In a protest against the race committee, Conor Cronin, skipper of the Flying Fifteen 'Fast Idiots' from Waterford Harbour Sailing Club, in his protest description, claims he "confirmed this with a committee boat and another rib vessel, and we're confirmed as n/a [racing cancelled] for all fleets".

RACE REPORT

Perseverance pays off for five Flying Fifteens at VDLR

An “alleged declaration” that the Race Officers would set courses for Day 1 of the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta and allow competitors to make their own decision on racing did nothing to dispel the pessimism ashore that racing would be possible writes Cormac Bradley. The Volvo flags flying at the bandstand on the East Pier were flying “stiff as a board” all morning and the tricolour at the end of East Pier was also advising that there was lots of wind further out as were the numbers from the Dublin Bay Buoy.

Despite all these signs there was a sense that boats wanted to sail, and a collection of boats across all the classes exited the harbour. Included in this expression of enthusiasm for racing were five Flying Fifteens – Shane McCarthy & Alan Green (4085), Tom Galvin & Cormac Bradley (3757), Chris Arrowsmith (he of ILCA 7 pedigree) & Conor O’Leary (3753), Lee Statham & Andy Paul (4070) and Phil Lawton & Neil O’Hagan (3803). Galvin & Bradley flew the spinnaker to the start area but, in the squally conditions, broke the end of the pole at the inboard end. It limited their options for the race, which, it turned out, wasn’t the end of the world.

Phil Lawton and Neil O’Hagan go downwind Phil Lawton and Neil O’Hagan are well in control under spinnaker in the big breeze of the first day of Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta Photo: Bob Bateman

The start was not contested between the boats, Galvin had a loose hold on the pin, Arrowsmith was halfway between the pin end and the committee boat and the remaining three boats were closer to the committee boat.

Arrowsmith powered over Galvin but wasn’t sailing with the same height as the latter and when they crossed tacks, Galvin had the starboard rights. At this stage Statham was looking good but McCarthy wasn’t a million miles away and Lawton was showing his pedigree by staying in close company. Conditions inshore were slightly flatter and the three boats that had chosen this side of the course seemed to have gained an advantage. Given the very blustery conditions, it was quite surprising that the fleet was as condensed as it was at the first weather mark, where the order was (I hope) Statham, McCarthy, Galvin, Lawton and Arrowsmith.

Statham and McCarthy flew spinnaker and looked very comfortable doing so until Mother Nature intervened and both crews found themselves in dinghy mode, but rather than standing on a centreboard, they were standing on a keel. Lawton too had spinnaker issues while Arrowsmith gybed early and sailed down the inshore side of the run and appeared to be rewarded for doing so. Galvin sailed the early part of the run goose-winged but when the gybe was called, this configuration no longer worked.

Shane McCarthy and Alan Green going well upwind in 30-knot gusts on the Salthill course Photo: Bob Bateman

At the leeward mark, three boats headed inshore, Statham, Arrowsmith and Galvin. Arrowsmith was first to “bail” and followed by Statham shortly thereafter. Taking the advice of a prominent Flying Fifteener to go to land when the wind is South or South-East, Galvin persisted with a port tack to shore before putting in a starboard tack to get up to the windward mark. At this stage, Lawton and Arrowsmith were closest to Galvin but both were to leeward of him. The other two then came inshore, having pursued a starboard tack-biased beat. Galvin tacked just short of the port lay-line with Lawton and Arrowsmith sailing a parallel course but to leeward. The question then was whether McCarthy & Statham had done enough to get ahead of Galvin? The answer was No! Galvin’s last tack for the weather mark alerted him to the fact that a shortened course signal was flying, and he crossed the line with McCarthy a very short distance behind, followed by Lawton, Statham and Arrowsmith. Simultaneously, the weather mark rib signalled that racing for the day was finished.

Wind strengths were recorded at 34 knots by the windward mark rib and a severe rain-induced squall on the second beat certainly rattled the rigging, which was rattling quite readily already and as the fleet sailed through the harbour on the way home, another severe squall offered a final test of endurance for the returning fleet.

Results are provisional

Scroll down for 2023 Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta results class by class

Read all the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta Race News in one handy link here
Click links to read more on VDLR IRC divisions Coastal, IRC Zero, IRC One, IRC Two and IRC Three
Listen to Lorna Siggins's interview with Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta Race Director Paddy Boyd here
Read more on the Coastival Festival here
See live Dublin Bay webcams covering here

Afloat will be posting regular race updates throughout the 2023 Regatta. Send your photos, tips and stories by email to [email protected]

Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta 2023 Race Results

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Race Results

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Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta

From the Baily lighthouse to Dalkey island, the bay accommodates six separate courses for 21 different classes racing every two years for the Dun Laoghaire Regatta.

In assembling its record-breaking armada, Volvo Dun Laoghaire regatta (VDLR) became, at its second staging, not only the country's biggest sailing event, with 3,500 sailors competing, but also one of Ireland's largest participant sporting events.

One of the reasons for this, ironically, is that competitors across Europe have become jaded by well-worn venue claims attempting to replicate Cowes and Cork Week.'Never mind the quality, feel the width' has been a criticism of modern-day regattas where organisers mistakenly focus on being the biggest to be the best. Dun Laoghaire, with its local fleet of 300 boats, never set out to be the biggest. Its priority focussed instead on quality racing even after it got off to a spectacularly wrong start when the event was becalmed for four days at its first attempt.

The idea to rekindle a combined Dublin bay event resurfaced after an absence of almost 40 years, mostly because of the persistence of a passionate race officer Brian Craig who believed that Dun Laoghaire could become the Cowes of the Irish Sea if the town and the local clubs worked together. Although fickle winds conspired against him in 2005, the support of all four Dun Laoghaire waterfront yacht clubs since then (made up of Dun Laoghaire Motor YC, National YC, Royal Irish YC and Royal St GYC), in association with the two racing clubs of Dublin Bay SC and Royal Alfred YC, gave him the momentum to carry on.

There is no doubt that sailors have also responded with their support from all four coasts. Running for four days, the regatta is (after the large mini-marathons) the single most significant participant sports event in the country, requiring the services of 280 volunteers on and off the water, as well as top international race officers and an international jury, to resolve racing disputes representing five countries. A flotilla of 25 boats regularly races from the Royal Dee near Liverpool to Dublin for the Lyver Trophy to coincide with the event. The race also doubles as a RORC qualifying race for the Fastnet.

Sailors from the Ribble, Mersey, the Menai Straits, Anglesey, Cardigan Bay and the Isle of Man have to travel three times the distance to the Solent as they do to Dublin Bay. This, claims Craig, is one of the major selling points of the Irish event and explains the range of entries from marinas as far away as Yorkshire's Whitby YC and the Isle of Wight.

No other regatta in the Irish Sea area can claim to have such a reach. Dublin Bay Weeks such as this petered out in the 1960s, and it has taken almost four decades for the waterfront clubs to come together to produce a spectacle on and off the water to rival Cowes."The fact that we are getting such numbers means it is inevitable that it is compared with Cowes," said Craig. However, there the comparison ends."We're doing our own thing here. Dun Laoghaire is unique, and we are making an extraordinary effort to welcome visitors from abroad," he added. The busiest shipping lane in the country – across the bay to Dublin port – closes temporarily to facilitate the regatta and the placing of six separate courses each day.

A fleet total of this size represents something of an unknown quantity on the bay as it is more than double the size of any other regatta ever held there.

Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta FAQs

What is Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Dun Laoghaire Regatta is Ireland's biggest sailing event. It is held every second Summer at Dun Laoghaire Harbour on Dublin Bay.

When is Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Dun Laoghaire Regatta is held every two years, typically in the first weekend of July.

Where is Dun Laoghaire Regatta held?

As its name suggests, the event is based at Dun Laoghaire Harbour. Racing is held on Dublin Bay over as many as six different courses with a coastal route that extends out into the Irish Sea. Ashore, the festivities are held across the town but mostly in the four organising yacht clubs.

How big is Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Dun Laoghaire Regatta is the largest sailing regatta in Ireland and on the Irish Sea and the second largest in the British Isles. It has a fleet of 500 competing boats and up to 3,000 sailors. Scotland's biggest regatta on the Clyde is less than half the size of the Dun Laoghaire event. After the Dublin city marathon, the regatta is one of the most significant single participant sporting events in the country in terms of Irish sporting events.

How old is Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

The modern Dublin Bay Regatta began in 2005, but it owes its roots to earlier combined Dublin Bay Regattas of the 1960s.

How many boats compete at Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Up to 500 boats regularly compete.

How many yacht clubs are represented at Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Up to 70 different yacht clubs are represented.

Where do the yachts come from to compete at Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

The Channel Islands, Isle of Man, England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Ireland countrywide, and Dublin clubs.

How many boats are visiting boats at Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Nearly half the sailors, over 1,000, travel to participate from outside of Dun Laoghaire and from overseas to race and socialise in Dun Laoghaire.

What type of yachts race in Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

21 different classes are competing at Dun Laoghaire Regatta. As well as four IRC Divisions from 50-footers down to 20-foot day boats and White Sails, there are also extensive one-design keelboat and dinghy fleets to include all the fleets that regularly race on the Bay such as Beneteau 31.7s, Ruffian 23s, Sigma 33s as well as Flying Fifteens, Laser SB20s plus some visiting fleets such as the RS Elites from Belfast Lough to name by one.

What famous sailors race in Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Some sailing household names are regular competitors at the biennial Dun Laoghaire event including Dun Laoghaire Olympic silver medalist, Annalise Murphy. International sailing stars are competing too such as Mike McIntyre, a British Olympic Gold medalist and a raft of World and European class champions.

How much does it cost to enter Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

There are different entry fees for different size boats. A 40-foot yacht will pay up to €550, but a 14-foot dinghy such as Laser will pay €95. Full entry fee details are contained in the Regatta Notice of Race document.

Where can spectators view Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Spectators can see the boats racing on six courses from any vantage point on the southern shore of Dublin Bay. As well as from the Harbour walls itself, it is also possible to see the boats from Sandycove, Dalkey and Killiney, especially when the boats compete over inshore coastal courses or have in-harbour finishes.

How does Dun Laoghaire regatta compare to international regattas?

Very favourably. It is often compared to Cowes, Britain's biggest regatta on the Isle of Wight that has 1,000 entries. However, sailors based in the north of England have to travel three times the distance to get to Cowes as they do to Dun Laoghaire.

Why is Dun Laoghaire Regatta so unique?

Dun Laoghaire Regatta is unique because of its compact site offering four different yacht clubs within the harbour and the race tracks' proximity, just a five-minute sail from shore. International sailors also speak of its international travel connections and being so close to Dublin city. The regatta also prides itself on balancing excellent competition with good fun ashore.

Who organises Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

The Organising Authority (OA) of Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta is Dublin Bay Regattas Ltd, a not-for-profit company, beneficially owned by Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club (DMYC), National Yacht Club (NYC), Royal Irish Yacht Club (RIYC) and Royal St George Yacht Club (RSGYC).

What does Dun Laoghaire Regatta contribute to the local economy?

The Irish Marine Federation launched a case study on the 2009 Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta's socio-economic significance. Over four days, the study (carried out by Irish Sea Marine Leisure Knowledge Network) found the event was worth nearly €3million to the local economy over the four days of the event. Typically the Royal Marine Hotel and Haddington Hotel and other local providers are fully booked for the event.