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Displaying items by tag: First 40

The Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC) Cruiser Zero fleet will get a boost this week when its latest addition drops anchor in Dun Laoghaire Harbour at the Royal Irish Yacht Club.

The First 40 La Response, formerly known as Courier Zen and a veteran of several Commodore's Cup teams is Dublin Bay bound according to its former owner Andrew McIrvine, an ex Admiral and Commodore of the Royal Ocean Racing Club.

McIrvine wrote on social media: 'End of an era. Have been packing up Larry [La Response] to sail off to her new home in Dublin this weekend. Quite a decade. We took her over from Géry T in April 2010'.

Among other results, McIrvine was second in the 2016 RORC IRC National Championship in the cruiser-racer design.

McIrvine bought the boat from French offshore supremo Gery Trentesaux where she was previously known as Courier Zen.

Afloat understands that the new 40-footer is currently on its way from Cowes to new Dublin owners and will be based at the Royal Irish Yacht Club from Tuesday.

It will be a fillip to a seven-boat or more DBSC Cruiser Zero class racing that was in question only a couple of years ago.

Class Zero Yachts Dublin 0729Class Zero yachts competing at Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta in July 2019 - the class will have a second First 40 this season with the arrival of La Response from Cowes. Pictured from left Jump Juice from Cork, El Gran Senor from the Clyde, Forty Licks from East Down and Eleuthera from Greystones

According to insiders, the Trentesaux owned Beneteau's are all specially prepared. This particular boat has a twin skinned sandwich hull as against a standard single skin hull. It also has an IRC friendly fin keel rather than a fin and bulb. It also has a high spec carbon mast and keel.

Forty Licks First 40 2The successful Forty Licks from East Down is a sistership to La Response Photo: Afloat

As well as a great boost to the local fleet, it also means more competition for the successful Northern Ireland First 40, Forty Licks on the Irish Sea circuit in Dublin Bay, Belfast Lough, and the Clyde in Scotland.

As regular Afloat readers will know, the First 40, designed by Farr Yacht Design, is the heir to the hugely popular and successful Beneteau First 40.7 and something of a new benchmark for 40’ cruisers when introduced in 2009.

Tagged under
French Manufacturer Beneteau, the world's largest production yacht builder is celebrating success in December's Sydney-Hobart race.

Following the historic success of 2009 when two FIRSTs occupied the first two places in the overall IRC and ORC rankings, the 2010 race has seen another Beneteau double as two Firsts won their class in the 600-mile offshore fixture.

True to its reputation, the 2010 race took place in extreme conditions with winds reaching 45 knots and the suspense maintaine right to the end.

The well-named FIRST 45 Victoire won the race in IRC2. The FIRST 40 Paca was the winner in IRC3.

The Irish agent for Beneteau is BJ Marine.

Published in Offshore

Beneteau 31.7 sailing in Ireland

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.

At A Glance – Beneteau First 31.7 Specifications

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

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