Displaying items by tag: Irish National Sailing & Powerboat School

25th January 2023

Irish National Sailing & Powerboat School in Dun Laoghaire Launch February Special Offers

With the good weather finally starting to kick in, the team at the Irish National Sailing & Powerboat School are launching a series of special offers for the month of February across adult powerboating and yachting courses.

National Powerboat Certificate – February Bank Holiday Weekend Offer

To celebrate the new February Bank Holiday weekend, the school have a significant price reduction for anyone booking the National Powerboat Certificate course on Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th of February. You can save €100 with the course reduced to €250 per person. The course takes place in various powerboats, from tiller-steered boats, through the school fleet of 40hp and 50hp RIBs and their large 6.5m and 7.5m 150hp RIBs. More Information here

Intermediate Powerboat Course

The February Intermediate Powerboat Course is also discounted. Running on Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th of February, 9.30 am-5 pm each day, participants can avail of a reduced rate of €299, reduced from €370.

This offer is aimed at those needing a little extra encouragement to get back afloat this year. The course takes place in the larger RIB fleet and would call at Poolbeg, Howth, Malahide or Greystones. More Information here

An Irish National Sailing & Powerboat School Advanced Powerboat Course is running from Friday 10th February (6-9pm), Saturday 11th February (9.30am-9pm) and Sunday 12th February (12-5pm).

Advanced Powerboat Course

The final deal for powerboat training is for the upcoming Advanced Powerboat Course running Friday 10th February (6-9 pm), Saturday 11th February (9.30 am-9 pm) and Sunday 12th February (12-5 pm). This course is on sale for €325, reduced from €400. More details here

Yachtmaster Theory Course

Always wanted to do your Yachtmaster Theory? Well, here’s a little nudge – with €75 off the course fees!

This course technically isn’t in February, but the team wanted to encourage sailors who’ve put off the training over the pandemic years. The course runs on Saturdays 9.30 am-5 pm, Tuesday evenings 6-9.30 pm and Thursdays 6-9.30 pm in March:

Thursday 2nd, Saturday 4th, Tuesday 7th, Thursday 9th, Saturday 11th, Tuesday 14th, Thursday 16th, Saturday 18th, Tuesday 21st, Thursday 23rd. The assessment will take place on Saturday, 25th March.

Bookings are now open at the reduced price of €450 here

The full schedule of teaching is now underway and the team are looking forward to welcoming new and returning sailors and powerboaters in 2023. The office is also open Monday to Saturday and all are welcome to call up or drop in if they've any questions about any training.

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Irish National Sailing & Powerboat School

2nd April 2020

Irish National Sailing & Powerboat School Launches ‘Sailing School From Home’

Fiona Hederman explains the coming alongside manoeuvre in the second of INSS’ video lecture series

This past Monday (30 March), the Irish National Sailing & Powerboat School launched Sailing School from Home — a series of free short theory lecture videos on topics ranging from kids’ sailing to powerboating, yachting and shore-based programmes.

“We hope that those missing the water can get something from what we’ve got in store, and that they’ll help everyone once we’re all back afloat,” the Dun Laoghaire-based school said in its Facebook post introducing the initiative.

The first in the series, released on Monday, is an introduction to electronic navigation delivered by chief instructor Kenneth Rumball. This was followed yesterday (Wednesday 1 April) by dinghy instructor Fiona Hederman explaining the coming alongside manoeuvre.

Kenneth Rumball has also shared a wide range of his favourite sailing videos to tide you over until the next lesson.

And before the week’s end, the INSS intends to launch a full resource pack on INSS.ie mainly for Junior Club Saturday sailors, detailing the entire theory syllabus of the junior sailing scheme.

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15th February 2018

INSS Offers Discount For Last Places On Next Week’s Competent Crew Course

#INSS - Owing to a late cancellation, the Irish National Sailing & Powerboat School is overing a discounted rate for two remaining places on its Competent Crew course setting sail next Monday 19 February.

Normally priced at €699, the last two spots are available for only €499 for the five-fay course along the East Coast, paired with the parallel Coastal Skipper Course.

More details on the course can be found HERE, including how to book. But act fast as they won’t be available for long!

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16th January 2018

Irish National Sailing & Powerboat School to Run Yachting Courses from Malahide in 2018

The Irish National Sailing & Powerboat School will run a series of yachting programmes on a trial basis from Malahide in County Dublin this year. The schedule will include the introductory RYA Start Yachting Course, the 5-day RYA Competent Crew Course and the RYA Day Skipper, for aspiring skippers. Course will run from Malahide Marina, where we are also running a schedule of Irish Sailing Powerboat Programmes.

The expansion from Dun Laoghaire has been facilitated by the recent addition of the Elan 36, Dreamcatcher to the yacht training fleet and builds upon a significant increase in demand for this type of training.

Speaking about the new Malahide base, Alistair Rumball, originally from the area, having started his sailing on the estuary says “It’s a lifetime’s ambition realised. In my teaching opinion, Broad Meadows, the Estuary and the coastal area are most wonderful sailing areas and I’m delighted to be back!”

Alistair Rumball INSS Alistair Rumball of the INSS is back in Malahide Photo: Afloat.ie

INSS Malahide Sailing Course Information:

Start Yachting Course
Competent Crew Course
Day Skipper Course
Powerboat Courses

The Irish National Sailing & Powerboat School is Ireland’s largest sailing and powerboat training provider and has operated out of Dun Laoghaire Harbour for 40 years. RYA Cruising Courses, including Start Yachting, Competent Crew, Day Skipper, Coastal Skipper and Yachtmaster are conducted on board the school fleet of training yachts.
In addition to this training, the school runs a busy programme of adult introductory dinghy, yacht and powerboat courses, as well as children’s sailing course throughout school holidays and at weekends during the school year.

For more information: Irish National Sailing & Powerboat School Glyn Williams Ph: 01 2844195 [email protected]

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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.