Displaying items by tag: Dublin Bay Saiing Club

21st July 2022

Kirwan Family's Boomerang Leads DBSC Cruisers 4/5a on Dublin Bay

The Royal St. George Yacht Club Kirwan family won the Cruisers 4/5a Thursday evening AIB DBSC Summer Series race on Dublin Bay on July 21st.

Skippered by Paul Kirwan, the Beneteau 36.7, Boomerang beat Charles Broadhead's RIYC Sigma 38 Persistence.

In third place in the six-boat fleet was Johnnie Phillips Elan 333, Playtime from the National Yacht Club.

After 13 races sailed, Boomerang leads overall by seven points from Playtime.

A special presentation was made last night at the Royal St. George YC (Thursday, July 21) after Dublin Bay Sailing Club racing in memory of DBSC stalwart, the late Carmel Winklemann, with the presentation of a new perpetual trophy in her name for the top Corinthian boat in the National YC's Dun Laoghaire Dingle Race. More on that story here

Full results for all divisions are below.

Published in DBSC

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12th April 2022

DBSC Yearbook Published as 2022 Dublin Bay Summer Racing Begins on April 23rd

After a successful lift in of yachts at Dun Laoghaire Harbour on April 9th the first Dublin Bay Sailing Club race for the 2022 summer season starts in ten days' time on Saturday, April 23rd.

Details of the extent of the changes have been recently published in DBSC's 2022 yearbook that is, as usual, packed with vital information for the Dublin Bay racing sailor.

DBSC provides racing for upwards of 300 yachts and dinghies on a 12-month basis drawn from all four Dun Laoghaire waterfront yacht clubs.

As regular Afloat readers will know, Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC) unveiled some of its plans for the 2022 AIB DBSC racing programme in March here.

DBSC provides nine race courses on four days a week

The DBSC AIB race programme this year has been extended into September for mid-week racing and October for weekend racing. The new season will run from April 23 to October 1 and will include new Saturday courses.

Its 52-page publication available on the DBSC website (and below) is published in an online format and takes into account all the latest changes to the 2022 courses.

Writing in the yearbook, Club Commodore Ann Kirwan makes a special point of thanking 'the many talented people, on and off the water, who have devoted their energies to helping the club'.

Kirwan says 'Our aim is to provide top-quality racing over nine race courses on four days a week. We could not achieve this without our great committee, and a fantastic band of race management teams, race officers and patrol crew organisers'.

Published in DBSC

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7th July 2020

Revised Sailing Instructions & Course Cards For All DBSC Fleets

As reported yesterday on Afloat.ie, revised Sailing Instructions and Course Cards for all fleets have been issued by Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC).

Documents are available from the DBSC website HERE, including the revised Notice of Race and cards pertaining to each individual class.

Club racers are reminded that boats sailed on Thursdays and Saturdays can now also sail on Tuesdays with the same format.

Tuesday racing is from Committee vessel(s) as the West Pier starter’s hut has not been installed, due to the difficulty of maintaining the current coronavirus safety rules.

Published in DBSC

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20th April 2020

Dun Laoghaire Combined Clubs 'Solidarity Regatta' Planned for July 31-August 3

Yachts racing on Dublin Bay - a new solidarity regatta of all Dun Laoghaire yacht clubs has been announced for July 31st

A new Dublin Bay regatta involving the whole Dun Laoghaire sailing waterfront has been announced for July 31st to August 3rd.

The 'Dun Laoghaire Combined Clubs Solidarity Regatta 2020' is an initiative of all five of Dun Laoghaire's yacht clubs as a response to the COVID-19 interrupted season.

"The event is a joint effort of the DMYC, RIYC, RStGYC, NYC and DBSC", according to Mark McGibney, the sailing manager of the Royal Irish Yacht Club.

We plan to run this regatta from Friday 31st July to the 3rd August.

In these uncertain times, the clubs have also decided to 'book' the weekend of the 5th/6th September as reserve dates if the August dates fall through.

More details as we have them.

Published in Dun Laoghaire Harbour News

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24th February 2020

DBSC Squibs & Mermaids to Race Together in 2020 Summer Season

Dublin Bay Sailing Club's forthcoming 2020 summer season will feature Squibs and Mermaids will racing together on both Tuesdays (Dinghy Course), and Saturdays (Green Fleet course).

It's a change to existing arrangements as the club, announces its schedule for the season that begins on Saturday, April 25th.

As Afloat previously reported, Squibs and Mermaids will be scored as one class under PY handicap on Tuesdays and Saturdays, according to DBSC Hon Sec Chris Moore in DBSC amendment notice number 2.

First DBSC Races

Saturday 25th April: Tuesday: 28th April: Wednesday (Water Wags) 29th April: Thursday 30th April:

Last DBSC Races

Tuesday 25th August: Wednesday (Water Wags) 16th September. Thursday: 27th August: Saturday 26th September:

Weekly Racing

Tuesdays: Dinghies: PY, Squibs, Mermaids, IDRAs, Fireballs, Laser Std, Laser 4.7, Laser Radial

Wednesdays: Harbour racing: Water Wags

Thursdays: Committee Boats: All Classes Keelboats

Saturdays: West Pier Hut and two Committee Boats: All Classes Keelboats and Mermaids.

Saturdays: Harbour Fleet: Dinghies: PYs, IDRA, Lasers Standard, Radial, 4.7 and Fireballs.

Published in DBSC

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31st January 2020

47 Boat Fleet Ready for DBSC Spring Chicken First Race

Pastiche, a Sigma 33, will start in the second of four starts of Sunday's DBSC Spring Chicken Race

A 47 boat fleet has been assembled for Sunday's first race of the Dublin Bay Sailing Club 'Spring Chicken' Series.

Four potent J109s will start as favourites in the handicap series along with a new Dublin Bay arrival 'La Response', a First 40, is also entered.

As Afloat previously reported, racing, sponsored by Citroen South, will be held on Sunday mornings at 10 am from February 2nd to March 8th.

Download handicaps and starts for Sunday's first race below.

Published in DBSC

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26th April 2012

DBSC Boats Asked Not to 'Crash' into Marine Data Buoy

#DUBLIN BAY – Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC) Racing yachts have been asked by race organisers to give a marine data buoy stationed in Scotsman's Bay (Latitude: 53 17.51 N Longitude 006 07.00) a wide berth even though it may be on some DBSC race courses this season.

The buoy carries a lot of expensive research equipment and It's on the periphery of the Red fleet's Thursday courses and also the dinghy Tuesday evening courses.

A combined fleet of 300 boats race under the DBSC burgee on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sundays making the yachts the biggest leisure users of bay waters.

Competing boats might possibly meet the yellow buoy if on a port-hand tack when sailing a beat from 40 ft. mark to Bay Mark and vice versa.

Published in DBSC

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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.