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Little Fella Holds Narrow Lead After Day Two of South Coast Dragons

12th September 2026
Phantom Charge: Neil Hegarty’s Phantom moves into second overall at the Cantor Fitzgerald Irish South Coast Dragon Championships after winning Saturday’s fifth race at Kinsale. Photo: Robert Bateman
Phantom Charge: Neil Hegarty’s Phantom moves into second overall at the Cantor Fitzgerald Irish South Coast Dragon Championships after winning Saturday’s fifth race at Kinsale Credit: Bob Bateman

Kinsale Yacht Club’s Cameron Good has retained the overall lead in the Cantor Fitzgerald Irish South Coast Dragon Championships, but his advantage has been cut to just two points after Saturday’s racing at Kinsale.

Good’s Little Fella (IRL 211), crewed by Simon Furney and Donal Small, added a fourth and fifth to Friday’s impressive 1-2-1 opening scoreline.

With five races sailed and the first discard now applied, Little Fella leads on eight points, but three boats are now within three points of the championship leader going into Sunday’s finale.

Phantom Wins Race Five

Royal St George Yacht Club’s Neil Hegarty and Charlie Bolger made the biggest move of the day aboard Phantom (IRL 225).

After finishing third in Race 4, Phantom won Race 5 and, with its opening-day fourth discarded, climbed to second overall on 10 points.

Joey Bergin’s Royal Irish Yacht Club Ossis of the River (IRL 161) is also on 10 points after producing the most consistent Saturday performance among the leading contenders with two second places.

Daniel Murphy’s Kinsale YC Whisper (IRL 213) won Saturday’s opening Race 4 but followed that with a sixth. After discarding Friday’s sixth, Whisper lies fourth on 11 points.

That leaves just three points separating the top four after five races.

Championship Wide Open

James Matthews’ Kinsale YC TBD remains fifth on 16 points, while the Royal St George’s Vela is sixth on 18.

The results remain provisional as of 16:31 on Saturday.

The championship is organised by Kinsale Yacht Club in conjunction with the Irish Dragon Association and concludes on Sunday.

The Sailing Instructions schedule Race 5 for 11am on Sunday followed by Race 6 as soon as possible afterwards, although Saturday’s additional race means five races have already been completed. The race committee may sail one extra race per day, and the intention is that no warning signal will be made after 2pm on Sunday.

With four scores to count, Little Fella carries an 8-10-10-11 advantage over Phantom, Ossis of the River and Whisper respectively into the final day.

See our event photo gallery here 

Published in Dragon, Kinsale
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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.