The Dragon Eastern Championships witnessed a first for host club Kinsale Yacht Club on Friday (June 7th), when the club deployed robotic marks for the first time for the three-day event.
The move to the new marks follows their success at a rejuvenated Scotland Series last month, which was overseen by senior Irish Race Officer Con Murphy and robotic buoy agent Kenny Rumball.
Murphy is in charge in Kinsale this weekend, and using the high-tech marks will serve as a useful trial for when the West Cork club stages the prestigious 2024 Dragon Gold Cup on the same waters in September. Murphy will also be the Principal Race Officer then, so admits to having a vested interest in getting the best use out of the new technology that eliminates a lot of manpower in race course management.
"It’s about 40 metres deep where the Dragons will be racing off Kinsale, and having robotic marks should make course setting and changing much easier than at present!" he told Afloat.
13 boats will contest the East Coasts, with four boats entered from Dublin Bay, gaining valuable practice time on the Gold Cup race track into the bargain.
