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Irish Dragon Class Sailing News and Regatta Results
Craig Aims for Top Ten Finish in Final of Dragon Gold Cup
#dragongoldcup – Dun Laoghaire's Andrew Craig took a stunning win in the penultimate race off Kinsale yesterday to be 11th overall and top Irish boat at the Dragon Gold Cup. Scroll down for video interview with Andrew Craig below. There…
Byrne Sails Back into Top Ten at Dragon Gold Cup
#dragongoldcup – The Royal St. George's Martin Byrne, Adam Winkelmann and Pedro Andrades are in ninth overall tonight after a strong race four today at the Dragon Gold Cup in Kinsale. Local challenger Cameron Good is now 13th overall and…
Good Leads Irish Dragon Hopes in Kinsale
#dragongoldcup – Kinsale Yacht Club Commodore Cameron Good is back as top Irish boat at the Dragon Gold Cup tonight after a day of snakes and ladders as the wind swung into the west at around 14-16 knots and became…
Byrne Moves into Contention at Kinsale's Dragon Gold Cup
#dragon – Dublin's Martin Byrne is fifth overall after an action packed second day of the Brewin Dolphin sponsored Dragon Gold Cup in Kinsale gave the sixty strong fleet another tough work out as they completed race two of the…
British Lead Dragon Gold Cup & Local Challenger Lies Seventh
Dragon Gold Cup - Race One. Two Irish Yacht Club Commodores lead the home challenge at the Dragon Gold Cup in Kinsale with race one completed in a windy 20 knot south westerly breeze today. Cameron Good, Commodore of Kinsale…
Kinsale Yacht Club Commodore Wins South Coast Title
#dragon – Kinsale Yacht Club Commodore Cameron Good won the 15-boat Dragon South Coast Championships hosted by his own club in sunny conditions at the weekend. Full results below to download as a jpeg file. Five races were held over…
Craig Holds Slender Lead as Kinsale Dragons Prepare for Gold Cup
#dragon – As a signal of his intent for a home result at next week's Dragon Gold Cup Andrew Craig's 'Chimaera' crewed by Brian Mathews and Mark Pettiit holds a slender one point lead over Neil Hegarty's 'Phantom' crewed by…
Kinsale Yacht Club Gears Up For Dragon Gold Cup
#DRAGON - Following on from the recent successes of the Volvo Ocean Race in Galway and the Tall Ships Races in Dublin, Kinsale Yacht Club is set to host another major international sailing event in the Brewin Dolphin Dragon Gold…
Dragon Grand Slam Moves to Kinsale for Gold Cup Event
#dragon – This year's event saw 24 entries with a large contingent from the UK and further afield. The numbers were boosted by generous sponsorship from Brewin Dolphin and the creation of a Grand Slam comprising the Edinburgh Cup, the…
Visiting Gold Medallist Wins Irish Dragon Nationals with Race to Spare
#dragon – The local challenge for the Brewin Dolphin Irish National Dragon Championship evaporated this afternoon, the penultimate day of racing on Dublin Bay, as defending champion Martin Byrne carded a 16 and a 15. In shifty and gusty conditions…
Byrne Finds Form on Home Waters with Two Wins at Dragon Nationals
#dragon – On day 2 of the Brewin Dolphin Dragon national championships the current champion Martin Byrne found his form with two firsts and a third. The conditions were ideal with sunshine and an oscillating westerly breeze which gave ample…
Irish Dragon Fleet Champs Get off to Light Air Start on Dublin Bay
#dragon - There were light breezes for the first race of the Dragon national championships off Dun Laoghaire today. Early leader Rob Campbell, former chairman Int Dragon Association saw his substantial lead evaporate after a 30 degree shift on the…
Olympic Gold Medallists Head for Dun Laoghaire Dragon Event
#dragons – No sooner was the Dunlaoghaire waterfront cleared of ISAF Youth Worlds dinghies than it began to fill up with the classic hulls of the former Olympic class – the International Dragon. And fresh from duty on the ISAF…
Simon Brien Crowned Dragon Edinburgh Cup Champion on Home Waters
#dragon – Poor visibility on Belfast lough cut short the 2012 Edinburgh Cup regatta this morning giving Irish boats first and second overall. Britain's World Dragon Champion Lawrie Smith took third in the 45-boat fleet. The last race was cancelled…
Brien Takes Nine Point Cushion into Edinburgh Cup Decider
#dragon – A third in yesterday's race on home waters gives Simon Brien a nine point lead going into the final race of the Dragon Edinburgh Cup on Belfast lough this morning. After a shocking start where an Australian competitor,…
Belfast Trio Make Good in Day Two of Dragon Edinburgh Cup
#dragon –Belfast hosts were the top performing boat of the day as Simon Brien's IRL214 KIN, crewed by Mark Brien and David Gomes took third in race three before going on to win race four in style by leading the…

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.