Displaying items by tag: Mel Collins

16th May 2011

SB3 Worlds Day One: Collins Leads Irish Hopes at Torbay Worlds

Royal Cork Yacht Club's Mel Collins is top Irish boat in 24th place after the first days racing of the 2011 SB3 World Championships in Torbay. Scroll down for pics and Video.

Collins Finishes 11th Overall. Results here

Collins scored 18, 8, 21 to be in the top quarter of the fleet, two points ahead of Irish East Coast Champion Ben Duncan who is sailing for his native New Zealand. The next Irish boat is Howth's Paul McMahon in 46th with Irish placings also in 47th, 48th and 49th. Full Results below.

The 103 boat fleet of Laser SB3's left Torquay Harbour this morning for the first three races. Split into 2 fleets, Orange and Yellow, the fleet lined up for the first scheduled race at 11.00 am. The Race Committee, on both courses, managed to get both fleets underway exactly to schedule. Impressive.

SB3-Worldsday1jpg

On the Yellow course, Robert Greenhalgh (GBR) showed his talent early on. Notching up a 1, 2, 1 on day one of a World Championships is a score card anyone would be proud of. Peter Saxton (GBR) won the first race on the Orange course and followed up with a 5, 2 placing him second overall overnight on day 1.

Nathan Outteridge (AUS) collected bowman Tom Slingsby (AUS) from the airport at 1am this morning, but lack of sleep and time on the water as a crew did little to dampen his crew's performance. "This is my first day on bow ever! There's a bit on when you get to the bottom mark" smiled Slingsby after completing the first race of the Championships, and their first race ever as a team with fellow Aussie Ian Brown.

The Orange course suffered 2 general recalls as the Race Committee tried to get the second race of the day away. Not deterred by the delay, Glenn Bourke (AUS) dominated the race, extending his lead on each leg. Chatting to Glenn last night he claimed to be "rusty", but today he posted 5, 1, 11 on the score sheet. "More time in the boat will help us iron out some of our creases, but to take a win on the first day of an event like this always makes you feel good!"

2010 Laser SB3 World Champion Jerry Hill (GBR) had a difficult day to start the event. Sailing on the Orange course the 3 Sad Old Blokes struggled in the first race, finishing in 25th position. After starting deep in the second race, they picked their way back to a respectable 9th and despite damage, finished 6th in the third race of the day. "It was hard today, really hard," explained Hill before disappearing to repair his boat.

Joe Llewellyn (GBR) grew up sailing in Tor Bay, and finished the first day of the Zhik SB3 World Championships with a win on the Orange course. Chatting to Joe in the bar of the Royal Torbay Yacht Club after racing he explained, "It was hard conditions today and we had a bad second race. We had some luck in the third race, we benefitted from some of the shifts and we won!" Joe recently became a father again, this time to twins, "I'm looking forward to another sleepless night tonight, and another day on the water tomorrow!"

Three further races are scheduled for Tuesday 17th May. The fleet is slit again, simply by their odd or even overall position at the end of the first day of racing, for the final day of qualifying races.

Series Place	Sail No	Bow No	Boat	Helm	Series Points	Race 1A	Race 1B	Race 2A	Race 2B	Race 3A	Race 3B
1	GBR3489	19	Red	Robert Greenhalgh	4	1		2		1
2	GBR3065	65	Rola-Trac	Peter Saxton	8		1		5		2
3	GBR3042	54	Gill Racing Team	Craig Burton	9	4		3		2
4	AUS3063	32	One Design Sailing	Nathan Outteridge	13	6		4		3
5	GBR3053	111	Geoff Carveth	15		4		2		9
6	GBR3032	92	David Cummins	16	3		8		5
7	AUS3108	70	Club Marine	Glenn Bourke	17		5		1		11
8	RSA3469	49	Asenaithi Jim	17		3		4		10
9	GBR3082	68	Joe Llewellyn	20		6		13		1
10	GBR3058	15	John Pollard	22	2		6		14
11	NED3441	17	Rivium	Paul Gast	22	9		5		8
12	GBR3475	57	Perky III	Jez Entwistle	23		12		6		5
13	ITA3073	39	Stenghele	Roberto Caresani	24		2		3		19
14	GER3561	86	Razzmatazz	Sebastian Dohrendorf	26	12		7		7
15	GBR3462	58	Underground Toys	Andrew Oddie	30	19		1		10
16	GBR3134	84	Marilyn	Dom Ford	32	5		18		9
17	GBR3198	80	Magic Marine	Hugh Styles	34		15		12		7
18	GBR3047	95	Parkway Pirates	Rob Gullan	35		9		14		12
19	GBR3546	98	Orthteam	Richard Catchpole	38		7		18		13
20	GBR3149	16	Poor Buoy	Mark Gillett	39	17		16		6
21	GBR3465	26	3 Sad Old Blokes	Jerry Hill	40		25		9		6
22	GBR3336	8	Uber 3	Adrian Peach	41		8		15		18
23	GBR3027	63	Darling Associates	Chris Darling	44		10		11		23
24	IRL3324	22	Sibelus	Mel Collins	46		17		8		21
25	NZL3287	36	Sailing West - Sharkbait	Ben Duncan	48		16		28		4
26	GBR3029	44	3-Some	Niall Peelo	49		11		16		22
27	GBR3517	75	Doolalli	Colin Simonds	49	18		19		12
28	GBR3276	89	Trouble & Strife	Ian Armstrong	50	11		20		19
29	GBR3464	5	Eric	Martin Wedge	50	15		13		22
30	GBR3556	69	Herbie	Phil Tilley	51	7		29		15
31	GER3402	21	Norah	Daniel Spaenle	51	14		17		20
32	ITA3543	101	Bravi Thytronic	Giovanni Meloni	52	23		12		17
33	GBR3305	55	Rigging Gurus	Mark Richards	54		26		25		3
34	GBR3575	56	Sailboat Deliveries	Sarah Allan	54	29		9		16
35	UKR3443	78	Transbunker	Polovy Valeriy	54	27		14		13
36	GBR3510	52	Hutton's	Richard Wharram	56	21		10		25
37	GBR3041	67	Robina	Dan Goodman	58	16		24		18
38	AUS3607	104	Wysiwyg VI	Stephen Fries	63		22		10		31
39	RUS373	106	Alissa	Vladislav Ivanovski	63		29		20		14
40	GBR3079	116	Excuse Me Gents	Ann Jackson	64		19		37		8
41	RUS3554	109	Team Russia	Rodion Luka	65	8		53		4
42	GBR3183	30	Respect	John Danby	67	33		11		23
43	GBR3014	61	Sponge Bob	Steve McLean	69	13		22		34
44	FRA3078	115	Tad Minus	Vincent Biarnes	69		28		17		24
45	BEL3472	35	Los Zaparteros	Alex Schoenmakers	71		14		21		36
46	IRL3226	112	Quantitative Easing	Paul McMahon	76	35		30		11
47	IRL3312	91	Bomchickawahwah	John O'Driscoll	77		32		30		15
48	IRL3338	59	Milvus Milvus	Robert Howe	77	30		21		26
49	IRL3298	64	Toucan 3	Ross Vaughan	79		43		19		17
50	GBR3084	1	Eau No!	Mark Sotkes	80		20		34		26
51	ITA3596	99	Briefing	Luca Bacci	83		39		24		20
52	GBR3468	60	Fully Badgered	Paul Lovejoy	84	10		32		42
53	GBR3126	102	Geronimo	Simon Hume	86	28		23		35
54	GBR3106	37		Tom Clay	87		21		29		37
55	ITA3606	114	Lunatico XS	Aurelio Bini	88	20		15		53
56	GBR3292	93	Chill Pill	Tich Summers	89		41		7		41
57	GBR3060	73	Finitor 7	Stewart Reed	89		35		26		28
58	NED3511	29		Marco van Driel	90	32		26		32
59	GBR3362	47	Polar Bear	Tim Newton	92		34		42		16
60	GBR3379	27	Joyride	Nick Andrews	92		18		23		51
61	IRL3307	31	Bad/Kilcullen	Stephan Hyde	92		36		22		34
62	GBR3545	71	Savage Sailing Team	Chris Savage	92		31		32		29
63	FRA3423	76	Morpheus	Edward Russo	93		37		31		25
64	GBR3038	119	TeamB4Ego,com2	Will Brooks	95		13		40		42
65	GBR3021	51	Here Comes Bod	Charlie Whelan	95	44		27		24
66	GBR3074	3	Tonic	Douglas Paton	95		27		33		35
67	FRA3609	2	Marcon Yachting	Louis Marcon	97	34		25		38
68	GBR3516	14	TeamB4Ego.com	Geoff Gritton	97	25		36		36
69	GBR3515	108	The Young Pretender	Callum Calder	98	24		53		21
70	GBR3215	79	Sail Navy	Darren Roach	98		24		27		47
71	GBR3267	77	Neilson Heart of Gold	Tom Hayhoe	99	22		47		30
72	GER3600	13	Isabella III	Reinhard Schroeder	99		23		46		30
73	IRL3484	33	Seriously Bonkers x 3	Martin Cuppage	103	26		44		33
74	GBR3319	12	Devils Advocate	Tony Jaffa	103	43		33		27
75	GBR3081	9	Prostate Cancer Charity	Ross Lang	107	36		28		43
76	GBR3335	24	Royal Signals	Stu Southan	108	31		38		39
77	POR3103	48	Viero	Piedade Colaco	110		38		45		27
78	GBR3069	66	Not just a number	Paul Hine	110	42		37		31
79	GBR3104	74	Retail Therapy	Charles Sheppard	111		40		38		33
80	GBR3056	100	Woohoo	Tom Davidson	114	45		41		28
81	GBR3088	6	Healthy1.co.uk	Ray Davies	114	40		34		40
82	ITA3598	96	Alghero Giorico Hotels	Alessandro Balzani	115	38		35		42
83	GBR3096	72	Red Kite	Roger Harford	116		30		47		39
84	AUS3224	28	Jester 3	Dave Bull	118	50		31		37
85	GBR3048	23	Control-Alt-Delete	Ann Ashworth	120		33		44		43
86	GBR3094	20	Xceptable	Ian Lievesley	123		52		39		32
87	UKR3522	41	Stemcor	Valentin Klymentyev	125		46		35		44
88	ITA3437	53	Lupi D'irlanda	Marco Sorgassi	125	39		42		44
89	IRL3062	40		Ronan Downing	131	37		49		45
90	GBR3531	87	Carnage	Nick Over	132		44		50		38
91	GBR3077	88	Skallywag	Rob Day	132	46		40		46
92	GBR3519	107	May contain nuts	John Greenaway	133	41		43		49
93	NED3470	82	Cube	Martijn Buitenhuis	134		42		43		49
94	GBR3309	43	Narwhal	David Bates	135		51		36		48
95	IRL3297	90	Sunday Brunch	Richard Tate	136	49		46		41
96	GBR3473	85	Sceptre	Nathan Bailey	138		50		48		40
97	GBR3366	11	Hooligan	Guy Broom	138		47		41		50
98	IRL3033	34	Blue Bird	Cathy MacAleavey	139	47		39		53
99	GRE3251	105	SailingHolidays.com	Ruairi Bradley	140		45		49		46
100	GBR3540	46	Water Music viii	Jonny Foot	143	51		45		47
101	GBR3368	45	Kapow	Nick Barnett	144	48		48		48
102	GBR3123	4	Mini Mayhem	Paul Craft	146		48		53		45
103	IRL3315	42	Sirius Black	Ken Hudson	152		49		51		52

Published in SB20

Tagged under

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.