The first radio sailing event in the Dublin area for many years will be sailed on the 4th and 5th June. The event will take place at a new venue for radio sailing on Lough Ramor and is organised by the newly established radio sailing section of the Ramor Watersports Club.

There is a long tradition of radio sailing in the Dublin area. Many have fond memories of the time a group would meet to sail on the pond in the UCD campus. The group later moved to Howth and also organised events in Clontarf. Dublin radio sailors also competed events abroad including World and European championships. Activities centred on the International One Metre class, but there is still an enthusiastic group, mainly FF15 sailors, who meet during the winter in the National Yacht Club to sail RC Lasers.

The Ramor Open is the inaugural event for the radio sailing section of the Ramor Watersports Club. Dublin radio sailors had been searching for a suitable venue, preferably non-tidal, to run radio sailing events. The Ramor Watersports Club, supported by the Lakeside Manor Hotel, provides good sailing from the marina pontoons, easy access, waterside parking and all the facilities of the hotel. At first view, Virginia may seem a long way to travel. However, thanks to the uncongested M3 journey times are not an issue. For instance, travel from Bray or even Cork to Lough Ramor takes much the same time as driving to Howth, with little risk of getting caught up in a traffic jam on the way home.

Entries have already been received from Dublin, Carrickfergus and Cork. The event organisation will be supported by members of Ramor Watersports Club. There will be a competitor’s briefing on Saturday the 4th of June at 09:30. Sailing will start at 10.00 on both Saturday and Sunday and will continue until 16.00.

Members of the radio sailing section variety of classes including One Metres, Marbleheads and RG65s. However, in order to provide an entry-level class to allow both beginners and experienced sailors to discover the joys of radio sailing the club has decided to adopt the DF65. This low-cost boat is a one design now sailed all over the world, with a fast-growing fleet developing in Northern Ireland. With boats ready to sail available for around €250, this must surely be the cheapest way to compete in both club and international sailing.

Racing between radio controlled sailing boats continues to develop as an important part of world sailing and now thanks to ten years of work by Ireland's Gordon Davies and others this branch of the sport now has its own dedicated 'Call Book'.

Download a pdf of the book below

Radio-controlled racing attracts competitors of all ages and experience, from school and junior sailors to experienced sailors who may have retired from racing dinghies or keelboats. Racing can take place on small ponds or large lakes or, occasionally, on open water.

International Judge Gordon Davies who hails from Bray Sailing Club in County Wicklow Photo: Afloat

Davies, a former Racing Rules Chairman of the International Radio Sailing Association, with input from many sailors and officials, led the development that resulted in the publication of the first case book (as it was then titled) in 2015. 

Since then the interpretations have been developed and refined to resolve problems arising at events and to address some practices that had grown over time and were not consistent with the RRS and authoritative WS publications.

In 2020 the copyright of the Call Book was transferred by the original authors to World Sailing (WS). This is the first edition approved by World Sailing.

This edition updates the calls to ensure compliance with the Racing Rules of Sailing for 2021 – 2024; it also introduces new calls and fine-tunes the existing text.

#radiosailing – The International Radio Sailing Association (IRSA) Case Book for Radio Sailing has been published in online form. This document is undergoing a process similar to the development of the Team Racing Call Book (indeed some of the same people were involved). Naturally the IRSA Cases are not authoritative interpretations but it is expected that they will become widely accepted in the radio sailing community. In time it is hoped that this document will evolve in to an authoritative ISAF Case Book for Radio Sailing.

A procedure for modifying cases and accepting new cases is currently being set up. When this happens the authors will transfer copyright to IRSA.

IRSA is the world wide organisation for radio sailing, representing 33 national radio sailing organisations.

There is, of course, an Irish connection to this news story. the authors of the Case Book are Peter Johnson, International Judge and Umpire,well known to generations of Irish team racers as Chief Umpire at West Kirby's Wilson Trophy, and Gordon Davies, Bray SC and Royal Alfred YC, an International Judge who was recently appointed Chairman of the Racing Committee of IRSA.

The International Radio Sailing Association (IRSA) Case Book for Radio Sailing can now be downloaded here