Menu

Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Gilmour Still Leads at Halfway Stage of Dragon Gold Cup in Kinsale, Ireland's James Matthews is 13th

10th September 2024
Australia's Peter Gilmour, sailing a Japanese entry, continues to lead with his crew of Yasuhiro Yaji and Sam Gilmour by two points at the Dragon Gold Cup off Kinsale
Australia's Peter Gilmour, sailing a Japanese entry, continues to lead with his crew of Yasuhiro Yaji and Sam Gilmour by two points at the Dragon Gold Cup off Kinsale Credit: Bob Bateman

After three races of six sailed at the no-discard Dragon Gold Cup in Kinsale, Australia's early leader Peter Gilmour, sailing a Japanese entry, continues to lead with his crew of Yasuhiro Yaji and Sam Gilmour by two points from Britain's Lawrie Smith on 14.

Lying in third place is Portugal's Michael Zankel on 19. Results are below.

Britain's Lawrie Smith leads Peter Gilmour into a weather mark at a so far windy edition of the Dragon Gold Cup in Kinsale Photo: Bob BatemanBritain's Lawrie Smith leads Peter Gilmour into a weather mark at a so far windy edition of the Dragon Gold Cup in Kinsale Photo: Bob Bateman

A 62-boat fleet representing 14 countries and four continents has gathered in Kinsale for the world-renowned sailing event.

Protests after race three delayed the publication of provisional results on Tuesday night (below).

Kinsale's Matthews is top Irish

The top Irish boat is the Corinthian entry of James Mathews, David Good, and Fergal O'Hanlon, which is in 13th place, but the top Irish sailor is Harry Durcan, who is sailing on Peter Cooke's Royal Forth entry in fourth place.

James Mathews, David Good, and Fergal O'Hanlon from Kinsale are 13th after three races sailed at the Dragon Gold Cup in Kinsale Photo: Bob BatemanJames Mathews, David Good, and Fergal O'Hanlon from Kinsale are 13th after three races sailed at the Dragon Gold Cup in Kinsale Photo: Bob Bateman

Race schedule

Initially, the forecast for Wednesday led organisers to make an early cancellation of Wedneday's racing and to schedule two for Thursday but last night the International Race Officer Con Murphy then told competitors, "on review, we now plan to have a race tomorrow [Wednesday] with a warning signal at 11:25. Scheduled competitors briefing in KYC is cancelled. Apologies for the change of plan, see you in the morning".

Race four has a 11:25 warning signal and the Race Officer told competitors on Wednesday morning that wind is 300 [degrees and wind of] 16 with gusts up to the mid 20s. Temperature are also considerably lower than Tuesday.

Squally race three

Race three was held in a strong and squally north-westerly that at times pushed both the sailors and their boats to their limits. The fleet was initially held ashore to allow the wind to drop a little, but racing eventually got underway around 16:00.

For the first time in the series a full five leg windward leeward course of 2.5 mile legs was completed in conditions that certainly challenged the fleet, with some dramatic place changes as a result. After a lacklustre start and a mediocre first beat Portugal’s Pedro Rebelo de Andrade, sailing POR89 with Jose Leitmann and Jamie Lea, began picking up places on each leg, but on the final beat to the finish he played a blinder, roaring through from eighth at the last gate to a resounding victory on the line. He was followed home by Lawrie Smith in GBR815, with Michael Zankel’s POR90 third.

Overnight series leader Peter Gilmour, sailing JAP56 with Yasuhiro Yaji and Sam Gilmour, finished the race in fourth place, which means they continues to lead the series by two points from Lawrie Smith, while Michael Zankel moves up into third overall at the halfway point in the championship. Peter Cook's GBR402 drops from third to fourth, with Pedro Andrade now rounding out the top five, but on equal points with sixth placed Grant Gordon's GBR833.

After racing Pedro Andrade was still coming to terms with their race win, saying; “It's still hard to believe that we managed to win this race. Yesterday on the second race we went from fifth to twenty-one and I have to say I was a bit depressed last night. But I was with a fighting spirit today. Off the start we were in the front pack, but we pushed a little bit to the right and we dropped again, and we were twenty-second around the top mark. Somehow, I don’t know how, we just kept fighting. I don’t think I have ever won a race having been so far back at the first mark. And this is what the Gold Cup is about, it’s long races that give us a chance to come back.”

Taking a top ten finish for the first time this week was Xavier Vanneste sailing BEL82, who led the fleet for the first lap of the race, but he got the wrong side of a right shift on the final beat and ended the day in eighth. “We started well, we led at the first mark. We took the wrong side on the last beat when we thought it was going to happen on the left, but it shifted to the right and we lost a couple of places there. They are nice courses with long beats. After a long day of waiting, we were happy to have a nice race.” Explained Vanneste.

In the Corinthian Division the top performer of the day was the Kinsale Yacht Club’s own James Matthews, sailing IRL219 with David Good and Fergal O’Hanlon. They’d rounded the first mark in third place and by the second weather mark were heading the entire fleet. They held the lead down the final run, but on the gruelling last beat they dropped back into fifth place. Second Corinthian finisher was Graham Bailey’s GBR192 with Jono Brown in GBR753 third.

In the overall Corinthian standings James Mattews moves up from fourth into the lead, with Cameron Good’s IRL211 second and Jono Brown now third.

On the dock James Matthews was generally delighted with how his team had performed. “We’d have been very pleased if we thought we’d be fifth before the start of the race. But at the end I suppose we were a bit disappointed because we went from one to five. But we’re still very pleased because we are racing against the best and we’re absolute amateurs, so we’re delighted with ourselves. On the final beat it became very windy and there was a shift to the right, we were on the left, I probably felt we were going a little bit slower and obviously the right being favoured with that little flick didn’t do us any favours. But all in all, what a super day!”

A planned cocktail party hosted by event sponsor Astra Construction at the historic Charles Fort, which guards the entrance to Kinsale Harbour, had to be relocated to the Kinsale Yacht Club because of the late return to the dock, but despite this the free drinks and delicious canapes flowed, and a great evening was enjoyed by all.

Three races remain to be sailed in the six-race, no discard series which continues until Friday 13 September. Tomorrow’s forecast indicates the potential for more strong winds.

PROVISIONAL OVERALL TOP FIVE AFTER THREE RACES

1st - JPN56 – Yred – Peter Gilmour – 7, 1, 4 = 12

2nd - GBR815 – Alfie – Lawrie Smith – 4, 8, 2 = 14

3rd - POR90 - Easy - Michael Zankel - 13, 3, 3 - 19

4th - GBR402 – Meteor – Peter Cooke – 1, 12, 10 = 23

5th - POR89 – First Things First – Pedro Rebelo de Andrade – 2, 21, 1 - 24

PROVISIONAL CORINTHIAN TOP FIVE AFTER THREE RACES

1st - IRL219 – TBD – James Matthews – 26, 16, 5 = 50

2nd - IRL211 – Little Fella – Cameron Good – 20, 17, 18 = 55

3rd - GBR753 - Fit Chick - Jono Brown - 37, 10, 11 = 58

4th - NED309 – Furie – Guus de Groot – 10, 25, 25 = 60

5th - GBR192 - Bluebottle - Graham Bailey - 21, 37, 9 = 67

Race Results

You may need to scroll vertically and horizontally within the box to view the full results

Published in Dragon, Kinsale
Afloat.ie Team

About The Author

Afloat.ie Team

Email The Author

Afloat.ie is Ireland's dedicated marine journalism team.

Have you got a story for our reporters? Email us here.

We've got a favour to ask

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.

Direct Donation to Afloat button

The Dragon was designed by Johan Anker in 1929 as an entry for a competition run by the Royal Yacht Club of Gothenburg, to find a small keel-boat that could be used for simple weekend cruising among the islands and fjords of the Scandinavian seaboard. The original design had two berths and was ideally suited for cruising in his home waters of Norway. The boat quickly attracted owners and within ten years it had spread all over Europe.

The Dragon's long keel and elegant metre-boat lines remain unchanged, but today Dragons are constructed using the latest technology to make the boat durable and easy to maintain. GRP is the most popular material, but both new and old wooden boats regularly win major competitions while looking as beautiful as any craft afloat. Exotic materials are banned throughout the boat, and strict rules are applied to all areas of construction to avoid sacrificing value for a fractional increase in speed.

The key to the Dragon's enduring appeal lies in the careful development of its rig. Its well-balanced sail plan makes boat handling easy for lightweights, while a controlled process of development has produced one of the most flexible and controllable rigs of any racing boat.