South-easterly winds of 135–150 degrees at 8–14 knots delivered excellent racing for the opening day of the 2026 DMYC Regatta on Dublin Bay on Saturday.
Competitors enjoyed bright conditions and flat-water racing for the first races of the day before mist and rain swept across the bay during the afternoon programme.
Racing was conducted across multiple courses under race officers Mairead Ní C, Brian Matthews, John McNeilly and Cormac Bradley.
Two races were completed for the cruiser fleets and counted towards the final regatta standings. The dinghy fleets completed between one and three races, with further championship races scheduled for Sunday.
Bay Gathering: A mixed fleet of Dragons, Flying Fifteens, SB20s and traditional keelboats converge around the DBSC committee vessel during the opening day of the 2026 DMYC Regatta on Dublin Bay. Light south-easterly winds and later mist tested crews across 16 classes. Photo: Afloat.ie
Over 100 boats competed across 16 classes on the opening day of the regatta. The Flying Fifteen fleet, with 12 entries, was the largest class on Dublin Bay, followed by the 11-boat ILCA 6 fleet and the eight-boat Fireball class. Competitors represented clubs from across Dublin Bay, including DMYC, the National Yacht Club, Royal Irish Yacht Club, Royal St George Yacht Club, Howth Yacht Club, Sutton Dinghy Club and Clontarf Yacht & Boat Club, while several visitors travelled from further afield to compete.
The breadth of participation, from Dragons and Flying Fifteens to ILCAs, Fireballs and cruiser classes, marked a strong start to Dun Laoghaire's summer regatta season. The National Yacht Club Regatta follows on 13 June, ahead of the Royal Irish Yacht Club Regatta on 27 June and the Royal St George Yacht Club Regatta on 4 July, completing a busy early-summer programme on Dublin Bay.
El Syd Perfect In Cruiser Zero
Four boats contested Cruiser Zero IRC and Frank Whelan's Ker 43 El Syd proved untouchable.
The Greystones Sailing Club campaign scored two wins from two starts to finish comfortably ahead of Sean Lemass's First 40 Prima Forte from the Royal Irish. John Treanor's NMD 43 Cristina from the National Yacht Club completed the podium after a pair of third-place finishes.
Three-Way Deadlock In Cruiser One
Cruiser One IRC produced the tightest contest among the cruiser fleets.
All four entries remained in contention throughout the day, with J109s dominating proceeedings. Barry Cunningham's Chimaera, Brian and John Hall's Something Else and Richard and Tim Goodbody's White Mischief all finishing level on four points.
A victory in the second race proved decisive for Chimaera, which secured overall honours on countback.
BlackSheep Battles Back
Cruiser Two IRC attracted a single entry, William Despard's BlackSheep.
Papytoo Sweeps Cruiser Three
Frank Guilfoyle's Papytoo dominated the two-boat Cruiser Three Echo fleet.
Two race wins from two starts gave Guilfoyle a perfect scoreline ahead of Melvin Heney's Ceol Na Mara.
Dehliverence Delivers In Cruiser Five A
Seven boats lined up in Cruiser Five A Echo and produced some of the most competitive handicap racing of the day.
David Greer's Vivid won the opening race but Peter Richardson's Dehliverence struck back with victory in Race Two to claim overall honours.
Tim Costello's Just Jasmin was the model of consistency, posting two third-place finishes to secure the final podium position.
Calypso Prevails In Cruiser Five B
Five boats contested Cruiser Five B Echo.
Howard Knott's Calypso used a Race Two victory to secure overall success after finishing third in the opener. Bruce Carswell's Sweet Martini and Rodney Martin's Gemini were separated only on countback after both finished on five points overall.
Sir Ossis Leads Dragon Charge
Five Dragons took to the water and Joseph Bergin's Sir Ossis of the River delivered one of the standout performances of the day.
The boat won both races to finish unbeaten. Nicola Halloran's Zinzan edged John O'Connor's Vela for second overall after both crews finished on five points.
Consistency Pays For FFuzzy
In one of the regatta's most competitive fleets, Neil Colin's FFuzzy secured overall victory in the 12-boat Flying Fifteen class.
While Peter Murphy's Hera and John Lavry's ffmf each won a race, Colin's pair of second-place finishes proved enough to secure the title by a single point. Just three points separated the leading trio overall.
Ruffians Too Close To Call
The five-boat Ruffian fleet delivered another extraordinary leaderboard.
Ian Cutliffe's Ruffles, Frank Bradley's Ripples and Brendan Duffy's Scéal Eile all finished tied on four points after two races.
A Race Two victory gave Ruffles the overnight advantage, but the fleet remains finely balanced.
Carpe Diem Tops SB20 Fleet
Five SB20s completed two races in conditions that suited close tactical racing.
Colin Galavan's Carpe Diem emerged on top after finishing second and first. Barry Glavin's SeaBiscuit and Juliet Ryan's Turbulence Too remain within touching distance after finishing tied on five points.
Invader Maintains Perfect Record
Three Shipmans competed on Saturday and Gerard Glynn's Invader maintained a flawless record.
Back-to-back race wins placed Glynn comfortably ahead of Aisling Costello's The Den and BJ Maher's Jo Slim.
Jambiya Dominates Sportsboats
The two-boat Sportsboat contest developed into a straight duel between Martin Ryan's Jambiya and Mark Kane's Jambon.
Jambiya claimed both race wins to take overall honours.
Glenluce takes two wins
The Glen class saw Ailbe Millerick's Glenluce defeat Ross Cahill-O'Brien's Osiris in both races sailed.
Garavogue tops Dublin Bay Twenty Ones
In the five-boat DB21 fleet, Rupert Bowen's Garavogue leads after the fleet completed a single race.
Dinghy Titles Still To Be Decided
Several dinghy championships remain very much alive heading into Sunday's racing.
The eight-boat Fireball fleet completed three races, with Frank Miller's Balderdash establishing a useful advantage over Jack McNaughton's License To Thrill.
Ryan Cairns was the dominant performer in the four-boat IDRA fleet. Sailing Doctor JP Frog, Cairns recorded three wins from three starts to open a commanding lead over Pierre Long's DART and Alan Carr's Starfish.
The largest dinghy fleet on the water was the 11-boat ILCA 6 class, where Darren Griffin produced another flawless performance. Griffin won all three races to lead Hugh Delap and Michael Norman, who finished level on points in the battle for second.
The ILCA 7 fleet remains the closest of the dinghy classes. Gary O'Hare's Buster III holds a slender one-point lead over Sam Wilkinson's The Silkie Wilkie, with Sunday's races set to decide the title.
Noel Butler's Orion completed a clean sweep in the six-boat RS Aero fleet, winning all three races sailed. Daragh Sheridan's Shaero and Sarah Dwyer's Tikka occupy the remaining podium positions.
With several fleets separated by countback and a number of dinghy championships still unresolved, Sunday's concluding races promise an intriguing finish to the 2026 DMYC Regatta.
