Menu

Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

RBC Brewin Dolphin proudly supporting Afloat and Irish Boating

IDRA 14 Dinghy News
Former Royal Irish Yacht Club Commodore Henry Leonard, a longtime Dublin Bay sailor, race officer and sailing administrator, pictured at the RIYC
Tributes have been paid to former Royal Irish Yacht Club Commodore Henry Leonard, who died on 25 September after a sailing life spanning more than half a century on Dublin Bay. Leonard, who was Commodore of the Dun Laoghaire club…
Winter warriors: ILCA sailors race off Howth in the long-running HYC Dinghy Frostbites
For those undeterred by colder temperatures and the occasional icy spray, the Dinghy Frostbites return to Howth Yacht Club for their 51st year. The series began in 1974, when the first Lasers arrived in Howth, and at its peak attracted…
“Shadowfax
Last Weekend in Clontarf (26th-27th September) the IDRA 14 Class held a two day celebration to mark their 80th Anniversary. With a full schedule of events pencilled in which included a boat exhibition on land, a pop up IDRA 14…
Smokestack Sailors: IDRA 14s racing off Clontarf during the class’s 80th anniversary celebrations, with Dublin’s Poolbeg chimneys providing the familiar backdrop
The IDRA 14 class has switched to a shoreside programme for the second day of its 80th anniversary celebrations at Clontarf Yacht & Boat Club today (Sunday, 27 September) because of the forecast for lively weather. Saturday's opening day went…
Back in the day – IDRA 14s racing at Clontarf when trapezes and Terylene sails were still a novelty.
It doesn’t seem at all like ten years ago since the O’Brien Kennedy-designed Dragonfly Class of Waldringfield in Suffolk sent one of their boats to represent them at Clontarf in the 70th Anniversary festivities of their near sisters, the Irish…
Life Begins at 80: The 1946-founded IDRA 14s racing their 2026 Nationals at Enniskillen YC on Lower Lough Erne
Alan Carr and Orlaith Connolly racing Starfish (Sutton DC) have secured the 2026 IDRA 14 National Championship at Lough Erne Yacht Club after a closely fought six-race series was decided on countback. Sixteen boats of this 1946-founded lapstrake-built class travelled…
Women at the Helm — Boats race off Howth during last year's Women at the Helm regatta at Howth Yacht Club. The all-female helm event returns on July 3 with three races, visiting competitors and the Baltic Gold Trophy at stake.
Howth Yacht Club's Women at the Helm regatta returns on Friday, July 3, with organisers expecting another strong turnout for the all-female helm event. Now in its second year, the regatta will again put women at the forefront of racing…
Industrial Contrast — Pixie sails on Dublin Bay with the Poolbeg chimneys forming a distinctive backdrop during the Royal Irish Yacht Club Classic Boat Regatta.
The Irish 12 Foot Dinghy fleet enjoyed a rare reunion on Dublin Bay during the Royal Irish Yacht Club's 195th Birthday Drumshanbo Gunpowder Gin Classic Boat Regatta on 20 and 21 June. Four Irish 12 Foot Dinghies joined a mixed…
Prize Pace — Ryan Cairns and crew, winners of the IDRA class at the 2026 DMYC Dinghy Regatta, receive their award from DMYC Commodore Derek Gill following six races on Dublin Bay.
The 2026 DMYC Regatta introduced a new development for the Dun Laoghaire dinghy fraternity – a two-day regatta rather than just a single day. This was a consequence of the very early discussions between the four Dun Laoghaire clubs in…
Anniversary Winners — IDRA 14 Northern Champions 2026 Ryan Cairns and Finn O’Doherty of Howth Yacht Club sail to the first major title of the class’s 80th anniversary year on Carlingford Lough.
The IDRA 14 Northern Championships returned to Carlingford Lough Yacht Club on the northern shore at Killowen in County Down on 30th-31st May, attracting a fleet of 12 boats - the largest entry to date at this venue - and…
“No
It seems like only a couple of years ago that we were celebrating the 70th birthday of the Irish Dinghy Racing Association 14ft Dinghy Class, designed by our own O’Brien Kennedy with what was then thought of as clinker construction,…
Island Finale — Dinghies race around Ireland’s Eye as Howth Yacht Club’s Round the Island event returns on 7 March, closing the Frostbite Series with a tactical late-winter test.
The Howth Yacht Club (HYC) Round the Island Dinghy Race returns on 7 March 2026, bringing the curtain down on the club’s ever-popular Frostbite Series with one of the most anticipated events of the winter calendar. This iconic race challenges…
“IDRA
A miserably wet early morning on Sunday, Jan 18th, turned into a ‘must-do’ two hours of crisp racing with bright sunshine and 12 – 16 knots of wind laid on for the Howth YC Dinghy Frostbite fleet. The 24-boat fleet…
“European
A strong line-up is taking shape for the Howth Yacht Club Dinghy Frostbite Series, with entries spanning ILCA, Melges 15, RS Aero and IDRA 14 classes. European Masters Champion Daragh Sheridan will compete in the RS Aero fleet, using the…
“Last
Think of Carlingford Lough, and most people think of the bustling miniature mediaeval township on the Louth shore. But across on the County Down shore, the little beachside village of Killowen offers a different world where the welcoming Carlingford Lough…
The Clontarf Yacht & Boat Club base at Belvedere on the inner north shore of Dublin Bay is en fete this weekend with the two-day 150th Anniversary
They do things differently in Clontarf sailing. They have to, as half the time their immediate clubside sailing area in the north inner reaches of Dublin Bay is mud rather than good sailing water. But when the sailing water is…

About IDRA 14s

The Irish Dinghy Racing Association One Design or IDRA14 class is known for its convivial class association and affordable racing and great team spirit.

 

The IDRA14 class is 75 years old in 2021 with some original boats still racing but also entirely up to date with fibreglass boats, trapezes and spinnakers.

 

The races in summer and winter from three Dublin sailing clubs.

 

There are currently IDRA 14’s racing in Clontarf (CYBC), Sutton (SDC) and Dun Laoghaire (DMYC and RStGYC).

 

Boats are available in fibreglass and timber from approximately €1,500 ready to sail.

 

The IDRA 14s are working on plans to celebrate their 75th Anniversary in 2021.