Joe Smyth's Yikes from the Royal Irish Yacht Club won the breezy first race of the Beneteau 211 class of the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta on Dublin Bay, but the race was not without drama as one yacht was dismasted.

According to provisional results, only two boats finished the race (despite five being on the course), with Smyth's clubmate Pat Shannon's Beewswing second.

Joe Smyth's Yikes from the Royal Irish Yacht Club won the breezy first race of the Beneteau 211 class at Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta Photo: Bob Bateman

Over a trapezoid course, ultimately shortened by international Race Officer Peter Van Muyden, the Championship-winning Billy Whizz skippered by Jimmy Fischer of the Royal St George Yacht Club was dismasted.

 Championship-winning Billy Whizz skippered by Jimmy Fischer of the Royal St George Yacht Club, going well in the comparatively flat sea state of the Salthill course in the first race of the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta 2033 when disaster strikes (below) as Billy Whizz is dismasted in the strong southerly winds Photo: Bob Bateman

Scroll down for provisional results

The first day of the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta saw the cancellation of nearly all racing due to strong winds.

Five of the six courses at Ireland's largest sailing event were cancelled as the southerly breeze on Dublin Bay reached 38 knots.

Although around 400 boats and 2,000 sailors went to sea, the organisers had to cancel racing due to the gale force winds before the first warning signals.

Race Officer Michael Tyrrell of the Royal Irish Yacht Club hoists the cancellation flags on the first day of racing on the coastal course of Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta on Dublin Bay Photo: Bob Bateman

Only the Flying Fifteens (as Afloat reports here) and Beneteau 211s one-design yachts managed to complete the first race out of the 22 competing classes. However, even on the more sheltered Salthill Race area in the northwest of the bay, both fleets were significantly reduced in number, and one of the 211s was dismasted.

The strong winds are expected to continue until Saturday, and the regatta will continue until Sunday.

Despite the first-day cancellation of races, there was still plenty to smile about in the RS 21 class (above) and J109 (below) as the strong winds produced exciting sailing conditions at Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta Photo: Bob Bateman

The Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club, National Yacht Club, Royal Irish Yacht Club, and Royal St. George Yacht Club are organising the ninth Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta.

With the 2023 Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta starting for dinghies this Friday, the GP14 Ireland fleet will use the event as their 2023 Leinster Championships. This is not the first time the Leinsters have been run as part of Volvo, and former winners Ger Owens and Mel Morris will be on the start line to try and retain their Leinster crown, having won in Mullingar last year.

Last year's GP14 Worlds in Skerries with over 100 boats was a huge success, and many felt there might be a drop off in interest this season, but so far, the class has attracted 28 boats to the O' Tiarnaigh in Blessington, 35 to the Ulsters in Larne and 30 to the Munsters in Fenit. At the time of going to press, 25 GP14 have entered this weekend. The Volvo has not been everybody's Cup of tea but will still place the GP14 as one of the top class turnouts across 370 boat events, the largest in Ireland in 2023.

Sutton Dinghy Club's Alan Blay and Hugh McNally practising last Thursday in some good honking weather on Dublin Bay ahead of the GP14 Leinster Championship at this weekend's Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta

This is the class's third regional event of the season, with the Ulster Championship (East Down Boat Club) won by Ross Kearney and Daniel Nelson and the Munster Championships (Tralee Bay Sailing Club) won by Sean Craig and Stephen Boyle. Ger and Mel finished third in Fenit and have not had it aĺ their own way this season, but they should be favourites with Ross and Daniel absent this weekend.

The Class has seen some new boats and new blood over the last season or two. Rober Lee ( Greystones) has started to make his mark with a superb end to 2022 with 2nd in Munster Championship. Former Mirror World Champions Chris Clayton and Rory Higgins have a new boat and starting to find their feet. Both will be in Dun Laoghaire.

The GP14 Leinster Championship trophies up for grabs at Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta this weekend

Dublin Bay will not be new to a number of the Sutton Dinghy Club crews, with Alan Blay and Hugh McNally emerging as a force with consistent results over the last two seasons. A win in last season's Munster Championships and 3rd in a very competitive Ulster Championship in May sees them in good form. A new partnership sees Hugh Gill & Richard Street come to the line. Conditions might suit these pair. Katie Dwyer and Michelle Rowley and, Conor Twohig and Matthew Cotter also represent the Dublin Bay Club.

The emergence of the class in helping bring youth sailors on continues with the likes of Blessington's Sam Street, Josh Lloyd, Max Cully, Ollie Lloyd, Denis Cully and Tralee's Daithi & Arann Murphy looking to get the big regatta experience. Matteo Louden joins his dad, Keith, having had some great results last season.

Seasoned campaigners Norman Lee, John & Donal McGuinness will also be there, along with JP & Carolyn McCaldin back regularly in the fleet after a season campaigning their J24. Great to see Paddy O'Connor with his brand new Duffin boat back in a Leinster start line. Not forgetting Olympian and former National Champion Curly Morris. Curly will likely be crewed by local Dun Laoghaire Meg Tyrrell. Curly and Meg already had a race win this season in this competitive fleet.

The Class has developed a very active travelling fleet with representatives from Cullaun (Des McMahon & Pat Biesty), and Newtownards ( Jennifer Bryce & Lara Sunday) also joining Foyle, Moville and Tralee boats in Dun Laoghaire.

No overseas raiders this year, but expect some close and robust competition.

Within 24 hours of the first races of Ireland's biggest sailing event at Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta, Division One IRC gets hotter with the unconfirmed report that a Hong Kong crew skippered by Jamie McWilliam has entered the 24-boat fray on a J109.

As Afloat reported earlier, there will be only nine 'non-J109s' in Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta's buoyant IRC One fleet, but two new powerful campaigns are within those nine.

And, as crews arrive at the east coast port for today's Carlisle Pier registration, there is more information on some of the top sailors racing in IRC One.

In a repeat of his successful Sovereign's Cup campaign, defending champion John Maybury in Joker II will have Cork Harbour's Harry Durcan on tactics.  

Waterfront news says Jamie McWilliam from Hong Kong, a regular at Dun Laoghaire, will sail John and Suzie Murphy's Howth Yacht Club 'Outrajeous' at Dun Laoghaire with some of his best guys onboard. 

"We're a combo of Ireland/HK/UK of ex and new shipmates. All a bit last minute, but we’re really looking forward to it. I’m calling shots; Laurence Mead is driving, Dave Hassett, Andy Algeo, and Richard Knatchbull are trimming, and Jane McLelland is in the pit. Simon MacDonald, Rodney Hendy and Griff Kelleher are doing the real work!" McWilliam told Afloat.

John and Suzie Murphy's Howth Yacht Club J109 'Outrajeous' will be skippered by Jamie McWilliam

Half-tonner ace Johnny Swan is the tactician on Pat Kelly's J109 Storm.

Pat Kelly's J109 Storm Photo: Afloat

Former SB20 champion Ben Duncan is calling the tactics on Colly Byrne's Bon Exemple, and it looks like the wide-transomed XP 33 may get her preferred heavy air conditions. 

Likewise, as skipper John Minnis told Afloat, the fast downwind A35 Final Call will relish the forecasted big breeze, especially with multiple Irish Laser Champion and dinghy ace Gareth Flannigan driving.

John Minnis's A35 Final Call II Photo: Aquaventus

The Evans brothers' J99 Snapshot

Sailmakers are making their appearance in the class, too, with North Sails' Shane Hughes on board the Evans brothers' ICRA yacht of the year, J99 Snapshot (that has Laura Dillon on tactics) and North Sails Prof O'Connell onboard Barry Cunnigham's J109 Blast on Chimaera.

It turns out that next week's Quarter Ton World Championships in Cork Harbour may well have a bearing on the overall results of Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta's IRC Three division.

The reason is that at least three top Quarter Ton teams - including one visiting former world champion - are signed up in a 20-boat mix of eclectic designs. 

The stand-out entry is the presence of multiple dinghy and keelboat word champion Ian Southworth. The Hamble River Sailing Club skipper will use VDLR as a warm-up in his quarter-tonner Protis before the World Championships begin on July 13th.

Two other top Irish quarter tonn campaigns are also in the fleet, Martin Mahon's Snoopy from Wexford Harbour and Kieran Dorgan's Illegal from Cove Sailing Club.

Martin Mahon's Snoopy, a 1979 Joubert-Nivelt Quarter Tonner from Wexford Harbour was the 2021 ICRA Three National Champion Photo: Afloat

Three Solings are racing with GBR 144 'Gerda' being sailed by Andrew Riches. IRL 3, Romance II, is skippered by Paul Tully and coming from Tralee Bay in County Kerry is Soling IRL 2, Chinook, sailed by Cormac Murphy. 

Four J24s competed in this division in 2019, but only one is sailing this edition, with Jack McMahon skippering Kilcullen.

The Antrim-Based Limbo 6.6, FA 2

The successful Antrim-Based Limbo 6.6, FA Too, is the sole Northern Irish entry in the class. As regular Afloat readers will know, Jeff Harrison and Charlie McAllister's Limbo 6.6 FA2 dominated the Antrim Boat Club's Summer Series score sheet in the VDLR lead-up. 

IRC 3 will spend three days on VDLR's fixed mark south course and one day on the North course, which will see either a triangular or windward leeward course.

Michal Matulka's Trapper 300, an entry in this week's Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta IRC Division Three, is a former winner of Dublin Bay Sailing Club's Annual Winter Turkey Shoot Series Photo: Afloat

Early forecasts

With so much riding on the optimum setup for the prevailing conditions, an early peek at weather forecasts indicates there will be a breeze and plenty of it to produce a range of conditions over the four days. Medium to strong conditions with winds from a southerly quadrant will build from and provide some top-class conditions. Starting Thursday (July 6th), there will be medium conditions up to 13 mph with strong gusts for the first afternoon races. From there, the breeze is forecast to strengthen up to 20 mph with gusts up to 30 mph and with its southerly direction, the six courses on the Dublin Bay race track can anticipate a big sea state to boot. Sunday's last races, however, may see a drop in wind strength for a light to medium-air conclusion to the 2023 event. 

It may look like only half the size of the other IRC classes at Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta, but an 11-boat IRC Zero fleet is every bit as competitive as the other four and double the size of the 2019 entry.

And to add extra spice to an impressive line-up, this IRC Zero division – where five of the fleet will be visitors to Dublin Bay – has attracted a clear favourite for overall honours, the Royal Irish Yacht Club's Rockabill VI.

Rockabill, with an IRC rating of 1.054, comes into Zero with regular tactician Mark Pettit and Kieran Tarbert driving a well-proven JPK 10.80 for the forecasted breeze.

Having won last Saturday's Lyver Race, Paul O'Higgins's offshore supremos have elected to sail windward-leeward courses this week instead of sailing in their usual hunting ground of coastal racing. It means, as leaders, they take no further part in the five-race Royal Dee championships being sailed as part of VDLR. 

The attraction, in part, must be new competition in the shape of an optimised Beneteau First 40.7 from Northern Ireland, a Sunfast 3600, a J112e and a visiting J122 from Scotland.

New to Dublin Bay, J112e, Johnny Treanor's Valentina" from the National Yacht Club has already notched up some early success in 2023. As regular Afloat readers know, Treanor scored a debut win in Key Yachting's J Cup at Hamble in the UK and a second at last month's Sovereign's Cup in Kinsale. Dragon ace Adam Winkelmann is on tactics.

Johnny Treanor's new J112e Valentina competing at the Sovereign's Cup Photo: Bob Bateman

Game Changer from Northern Ireland is an optimised Beneteau First 40.7, ex "Philosophie", with former Laser ace John Simms driving. The Belfast Lough boat has a non-overlapping jib configuration, resulting in a low rating of 1.042. That's very low for a 40-footer, and if windy, as per the forecast, she could be a force to be reckoned with.

Shaun Douglas's First 40.7 Game Changer from Belfast Lough Photo: Afloat

The National Yacht Club's Pete Smyth, on the Jeanneau Sunfast 3600 "Searcher", recently won her class and finished third overall in the Dun Laoghaire Dingle Race. The distinctive black boat rates lower than Rockabill VI at 1.044 and carries a new symmetric spinnaker configuration. As with the D2D, Pete will be sailing shoulder to shoulder with his brother Nick as a tactician.

Pete Smyth's Jeanneau Sunfast 3600 Searcher Photo: Afloat

Jonathan Anderson's Irish J122 campaign from the Clyde continues in Dun Laoghaire this week.

Jonathan Anderson's J122 from the Clyde Photo: Bob Bateman

The one-time leader of last month's Sovereign's Cup, "El Gran Senor", is a very experienced campaigner and will seek to improve on her further overall from 2019.

Another new marque for the division will include Norbert Reilly's new J111 Ghost Raider from Howth Yacht Club, which is expected to be quick downwind.

Norbert Reilly's new J111 Ghost Raider from Howth Yacht Club Photo: Afloat

The Cruisers Zero division will spend Thursday, Friday and Sunday on VDLR's Collen course over windward-leeward courses, but on Saturday, they will race a fixed mark course in the South Racing area.

Early forecasts

With so much riding on the optimum setup for the prevailing conditions, an early peek at weather forecasts from Met Eireann indicates there will be a breeze and plenty to produce a range of conditions over the four days. Medium to strong conditions with winds from a southerly quadrant will build from and provide some top-class conditions. Starting Thursday (July 6th), there will be medium conditions up to 13 mph with strong gusts for the first afternoon races. From there, the breeze is forecast to strengthen up to 20 mph with gusts up to 30 mph and with its southerly direction, the six courses on the Dublin Bay race track can anticipate a big sea state to boot. Sunday's last races, however, may see a drop in wind strength for a light to medium-air conclusion to the 2023 event. 

Met Éireann is forecasting southerly to south-easterly winds for Dublin Bay during the Volvo Dun Laoghaire regatta this week.

However, it cautions that the forecast is “more uncertain than usual for later this week, so the probability for change is quite high”.

Over 370 boats have entered the largest regatta in Ireland, with competitors travelling from Britain, Northern Ireland and France.

Southerly force two to three winds, increasing to force four and gusting in the afternoon and evening, are predicted for the regatta’s opening day on Thursday, July 6th.

Patchy rain and drizzle will clear later in the afternoon, and the sea state is “slight, increasing to slight to moderate later” on Thursday.

For Friday, winds are predicted to be southerly force four or five and gusting, increasing to force six at times in the west of the bay, with a “moderate, possibly rough” sea state.

For Saturday, Met Éireann forecasts south-east force four, occasionally force five and gusting, winds for Dublin Bay.

For both Friday and Saturday, it will be cloudy with rain, heavy at times. Sea state on Saturday is predicted to be “slight to moderate”.

Winds may drop to force two to three southerly on Sunday, when it is predicted to become fair, with a “slight sea state”.

Extensive shore entertainment and access to watersports has been planned as part of “Coastival”, Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown’s festival which is running in tandem with the sailing event.

See also here

Two Irish hopes in this month's prestigious Rolex Fastnet Race from Cowes will compete first this week in a 20-boat Coastal Class at Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta (VDLR).

Pundits say the pre-event favourite must be the First 50 Checkmate XX, fresh from Sovereign's Cup victory (three wins from four races sailed).

Nigel Biggs is driving, and co-owner Dave Cullen is onboard for the Dublin Bay challenge. 

Insiders say Checkmate XX underwent some optimisation over the winter, and the boat has been lightened by some 276kg; she now has a new bigger A2 kite and is sailing with a lengthened bow sprit but Biggs told Afloat, "We don’t have high expectations in terms of race results for VDLR or the Fastnet, but if we continue to have as much fun with the great group of people we sail with, that is all the success we need". 

Biggs explained that when they bought Checkmate XX last year, we did so in the knowledge that she wasn’t a successful race boat but "more a platform for us to enjoy our sailing as age begins to catch up with us, whilst also trying to encourage more younger people into keelboat racing."

"The plan appears to be working, as we have already had some great times sailing with friends, both old and new", he added.

Also from Howth, Robert Rendell's Samatom will look to bounce back after fourth overall at the Sovereign's Cup as the Grand Soleil 44 also makes her final preparations for the Fastnet Race. 

Robert Rendell's Grand Soleil 44 Samatom Photo: Afloat

Outside of the two big Howth boats, VDLR coastal contenders include last weekend's line honours winners in a tough edition of the Lyver Trophy Race, Andrew and Sam Hall's Jackknife.

The J125 is expected to perform well if the forecasted strong conditions prevail.

Andrew and Sam Hall's J125 Jackknife is back on Dublin Bay to race in the 20-boat Coastal Division of the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta on Thursday Photo: Afloat

Current ISORA champion Vicky Cox and Peter Dunlop on J109 "Mojito" (who have already notched up two cross-channel offshores from Dun Laoghaire this season) should also be very strong, but, as in the Lyver Race, the 36-footer may struggle against the bigger competition in the forecasted breeze.

Vicky Cox and Peter Dunlop's J109 "Mojito" from North Wales is the current ISORA champion Photo: Afloat

The host port's John O'Gorman in the Sunfast 3600 Hot Cookie is looking to capitalise on further weight saving and optimisation and should relish stronger winds.  

The Royal Dee Offshore Championship series will use the four VDLR coastal races to complete its series that began with the Lyver. However, Lyver winner Rockabill VI has elected to race in Cruiser 0 this week, not Coastal, so that they won't be taking any further part in the RDYC championship series.

Four races and one discard for the coastal division will be under Race Officer Michael Tyrrell.

The course will be decided on the race day and communicated to each skipper via a dedicated Offshore WhatsApp group at least one hour before the start. 

The finish will be between the Pier Ends at the Dun Laoghaire Harbour entrance. The finishing time will be taken from the Yellowbrick tracker system.

The class will be the first to start on Thursday, with a warning signal at 1425 and 0955 on Friday. Coastal starts at 1055 on Saturday and 0955 on Sunday. 

The course will use DBSC Marks, Volvo Yellow inflatable Top Hat and Shipping Navigation Marks.

VDLR Coastal will use YB trackers

The races in the VDLR will be tracked using the YB trackers so boat race positions will be displayed constantly, and results will be immediate.

Using the trackers will allow race shortening and, importantly, prevent the non-results that happened during the last VDLR and have been a bone of contention ever since.

According to ISORA's Peter Ryan, it is also a first for YB to use the trackers for regattas.

"Courses have to be set up very shortly before races, and we can take times at every mark", he told Afloat.

Early forecasts

With so much riding on the optimum set-up for the prevailing conditions, an early peek at weather forecasts indicates there will be a breeze and plenty of it to produce a range of conditions over the four days. Medium to strong conditions with winds from a southerly quadrant will build from and provide some top-class conditions. Starting Thursday (July 6th), there will be medium conditions of up to 13 mph with strong gusts for the first afternoon races. From there, the breeze is forecast to strengthen up to 20 mph with gusts up to 30 mph and with its southerly direction, the six courses on the Dublin Bay race track can anticipate a big sea state to boot. Sunday's last races, however, may see a drop in wind strength for a light to medium-air conclusion to the 2023 event.

At 371 boats and still counting, next week's Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta (VDLR) 2023 is certainly living up to its pre-event billing as Ireland's largest sailing event.

With visiting entries already sailing into the great granite harbour for the four-day competition starting next Thursday, July 6th, the regatta's entry system will remain open until Friday at 5 pm to accommodate all-comers. So, if it's a Laser dinghy or an ocean-going 50-footer you're sailing, there's still time to be part of Dun Laoghaire's 2023 armada.

Sailing instructions are published, and class bands for the impressive IRC class entry are expected shortly.

This weekend, the action starts with the Lyver Race from Holyhead into Dun Laoghaire and brings up to 18 offshore racers across the Irish Sea who will race for Royal Dee honours as part of the VDLR programme.

Over 350 boats will prepare to race across 40 divisions in one week's time as Ireland's largest regatta on Dublin Bay gets underway.

The first Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta kicks off next Thursday (July 6th) for the first time since 2019, and organisers have published the Sailing Instructions (SIs) for the biennial regatta.

Registration for the event begins next Tuesday and will occur in a marquee area located on the town's Carlisle Pier, between the Royal St.George and National Yacht Clubs.

The just published SIs reveal racing across six different race courses across the capital's waters for four days of cruiser-racer, one-design keelboat and dinghy racing competition starting next Thursday.

The schedule of the six class race areas for the VDLR 2023 Sailing Instructions

As part of its sustainability drive, the SI's are not being printed for general distribution for the 2023 regatta and will not be in the skippers' packs. Instead, they are produced electronically, and competitors are being advised to print pages of the 28-page pdf document required or use their mobile device to consult the SIs. 

VDLR 2023 Registration Times

VDLR 2023 Registration Times at Dun Laoghaire Harbour

Despite the massive fleet of 350 entries, entry to the regatta is still open on the VDLR website.