Overall Titles Awarded at Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta as Home Boats Make Ireland's Biggest Sailing Event a Local Success

10th July 2023

Afloat.ie Team

Ireland’s largest sailing event ended on Sunday after four exciting days of racing in Dublin Bay, with 400 boats and almost 2,000 sailors competing Credit: Michael Chester

The bulk of the silverware stayed in Dublin after the curtain came down on an epic four days of sailing at Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta on Sunday evening.

Ireland’s largest sailing event came to a breezy close this afternoon after an exciting four days of racing in Dublin Bay with 400 boats and almost 2,000 sailors competing.

Another strong southerly breeze light saw organisers complete nearly all 250 scheduled races, with many class titles hanging on the outcome of today's final race.

Some of the 400-boat fleet gathered at the Royal Irish Yacht Club at the end of a breezy ninth edition of Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta. July 10-13th 2025 has been set as the date for the tenth edition Photo: Afloat Some of the 400-boat fleet (with IRC Zero winner Rockabill VI in the foreground) gathered at the Royal Irish Yacht Club at the end of a breezy ninth edition of Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta. July 10-13th 2025 has been set as the date for the tenth edition Photo: Afloat

Afloat's pre-regatta predictions for the IRC classes came good in the breezy conditions, with the Offshore prize going to Checkmate XX, Rockabill VI taking IRC Zero, Final Call outwitting the J109s to take IRC One and vintage Half and Quarter Tonners taking IRC Two and Three respectively.

Dublin Yacht Club's shared the bulk of the overall prizes awarded this afternoon at the official prize giving at the National Yacht Club, winning 26 of the 34 classes but not the coveted 'Boat of the Week' Trophy.

Quarter Tonner Protis crewman John Begg from Hamble River Sailing Club (left) receives the Volvo Trophy, for the best IRC performance of the regatta, presented by Alan Cowley of Volvo Car Ireland at the VDLR Prizegiving hosted by the National Yacht Club Photo: Michael Chester

Ian Southworth's Quarter Tonner 'Protis' from the Hamble River Sailing Club in England was named the top IRC boat after leading 13-boat IRC 3 with six race wins in a seven-race series.

Royal Irish JPK 10.80 Rockabill VI (Paul O'Higgins) was a decisive winner in a nine-boat IRC Zero.

Paul O’Higgins’ (pictured standing second from right with cap) and his JPK 10.80 Rockabill (RIYC) winning IRC Zero crew at the VDLR Prizegiving below. Photo: Michael Chester

A final challenge by a pack of J109s on Sunday in the single race sailed could not stop John Minnis's march to victory in his A35 Final Call II, taking the IRC One crown in a highly competitive 22-boat fleet.

The IRC Two title was won by the Royal Cork Half-Tonner Swuzzlebubble, skippered by Dave Dwyer.

The 25-boat IRC offshore prize was won by Nigel Biggs and Dave Cullen's First 50, Checkmate XX, from Howth Yacht Club.

The Cape 31 class used the regatta to decide its Irish national championship, with Royal Cork's Anthony O'Leary successfully defending in the six-boat fleet.

Anthony O'Leary (left) and some of his Royal Cork Antix crew with the Irish Cape 31 trophy at the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta priegiving Photo: Michael Chester Anthony O'Leary, (pictured left with Race Officer David Lovegrove in blue shirt) and some of his Royal Cork Antix crew with the Irish Cape 31 Irish trophy at the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta prizegiving Photo: Michael Chester

The GP14 Leinster Trophy was retained by holders Ger Owens and Mel Morris of the Royal St. George Yacht Club, a result that also handed them the best dinghy small keelboat award of the regatta.

In the 22-boat Flying Fifteen class, Mr Potato Head, sailed by Shane McCarthy and Alan Green, was the overall winner in a class that was one of only two that raced on all four days of the regatta.

Flying Fifteen class winners Shane McCarthy (left) and Alan Green Photo: Michael Chester

Sean Craig and Heather King took the Water Wag Collen Cup after an in-harbour series for the vintage dinghy class.

Pamela Collen (left) presents, Sean Craig and Heather King were presented with The Collen Cup, a perpetual trophy which has been in the Collen family since 1907 Photo: Michael Chester Pamela Collen (left) presents Water Wag class winners Sean Craig and Heather King with The Collen Cup, a perpetual trophy which has been in the Collen family since 1907 Photo: Michael Chester

The biennial event is being hailed an enormous success both afloat and ashore for a combined fleet of almost 400 boats, the biggest on the Irish Sea.

Over 250 races on six different courses were staged in a range of medium to heavy conditions since racing began last Thursday in near-gale conditions.

Trophies were awarded in each of the 34 competing classes this afternoon, bringing the curtain down on one of the most successful stagings of Ireland's biggest sailing event.

The Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta is Ireland’s biggest sailing event and a great festival of sailing across the waterfront and Dun Laoghaire town as four sailing clubs come together for the biennial event; Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club, Royal Irish Yacht Club, Royal St. George Yacht Club and National Yacht Club.

Read all of Afloat's VDLR 2023 coverage in on handy link here. See all prizegiving photos here.

The date of the VDLR 2025 event has been set as July 10-13.

Published in Volvo Regatta

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Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta

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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.