Chris Johnston's Prospect from the host Club leads the Beneteau 31.7 National Championships at the Royal Irish Yacht Club.
After two light air races on Dublin Bay, Johnston has a three-point lead over Extreme Reality on 6 points. Michael Blaney's After You Too from the RStGYC is third, also on six points.
Racing for the ten-boat fleet continues on Saturday.
You may need to scroll vertically and horizontally within the box to view the full results
Afloat.ie is Ireland's dedicated marine journalism team.
Have you got a story for our reporters? Email us here.
More people are reading Afloat.ie than ever thanks to the power of the internet but we're in stormy seas because advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. Unlike many news sites, we haven't put up a paywall because we want to keep our marine journalism open.
Afloat.ie is Ireland's only full-time marine journalism team and it takes time, money and hard work to produce our content.
So you can see why we need to ask for your help.
If everyone chipped in, we can enhance our coverage and our future would be more secure. You can help us through a small donation. Thank you.
In Ireland, the Beneteau First 31.7 Ireland One Design Class Association encourages and develop the use of the Beneteau First 31.7 yacht as a one-design keelboat, mainly for racing.
Each year the association stages national championships with boats coming from different sailing across Ireland. The main centre is Dun Laoghaire Harbour where the bulk of the fleet (15 boats) are based at the National Yacht club but are moored at Dun Laoghaire Marina.
The Beneteau 31.7 boat is not new to Dublin Bay, as boats of this size and type have competed in DBSC in the Cruiser 2 class for some years.
However during the 2006 season, due to their increased numbers, DBSC granted the class its own racing start, thereby facilitating one-design racing for this cruiser/racer.
Since then it has become one of the biggest one-design keelboat classes on the Bay.
One-design rules were drawn up to discourage modifications, maintain a level playing field and set a generally ‘Corinthian’ ethos.
To preserve the cruising dimension, the boat races with cushions aboard.
Numbers entered in DBSC have settled down to approx 15-18 boats, and regular Thursday and Saturday attendances over the season are usually of the order of 14 to 16 boats, reflecting good participation by members. Racing is close and competitive.
In addition to scratch results, ECHO results are also posted. This combines the best of both worlds, providing one-design racing which the members like, while also providing an incentive and interest in turning out for those boats who may not always approach podium position on scratch.
L.O.A 9.61 m
Hull length 9.50 m
L.W.L. 8.80 m
Beam 3.23 m
Draught min (Deep draught keel) Cast iron 1.90 m
Ballast weight (Deep draught keel) 1 025 kg
Air draught (max) 13.90 m
Light displacement (EC) 3 750 kg
Fuel capacity 30 l
Freshwater capacity 160 l
Engine power 21 HP
ARCHITECT
• Finot Conq et Associés
Ireland's Sailing and Boating Magazine
