Dun Laoghaire Harbour's Viking Marine Chandlery Team are taking a well-earned break together on Tuesday afternoon. Viking will close the shop at noon and actually get out on the water themselves with a tailored team day from a local yacht charter firm 'Go Sailing' based at the town marina.

Despite the lunchtime departure, they're not going hungry either.

Viking Marine's Antonia O'Rourke has put together a gorgeous selection of antipasti/tapas prepared by local harbour fave, Gourmet Food Parlour- what a treat!

And the weather's looking good on Dublin Bay (sneak peek via Afloat's live webcam) for an Autumn sail too! 

It's back to normal for Viking Marine on Wednesday doors opening to the busy marine store at 09.30 am

DMYC at Dun Laoghaire Harbour is reporting 19 registered entries for its traditional Dinghy Frostbite Series that this year sets sail under the Viking Marine burgee.

The Notice of Race has been published on the club website, and the online entry system is now live.

Racing commences on Sunday, 7th of November.

After the loss of the series for winter 2020/21 due to the Covid restrictions, DMYC is looking to host a jam-packed series.

The West Pier club plans to build on the surge of interest in ILCA (Laser) training and racing, growth of the RS Aero class and revival of the Fireball Class ahead of its World Championships to be sailed on Lough Derg in 2022.

"We anticipate racing format will be as before with starts for the PY Fleet, ICLA 6's (Radial fleet), and ILCA 7's (full rigs) and 5's (4.7's) starting together, all racing for separate class honours," says DMYC's Neil Colin.

The race management will be in the capable hands of Cormac Bradley, supplemented by a team of guest PRO's throughout the series.

The series is open to youth and senior sailors alike with discounted entry fees for the under 18's.

Entry can be made online here

At Viking Marine, we are always looking for ways to help our sailors out with their innovative ideas.

As we know sailors are a resourceful bunch, none more so than Derek De Jong of #designconcepts, a local graphic design company.

Check out the idea he came up with for a ' Cleatcatcher' following a conversation with the team in Viking Marine at Dun Laoghaire Harbour

Some Allen Brothers spring clips and an extendable boat hook handle... such great thinking outside the box and design concepts from all concerned.

Happy sailing, Derek!

ISORA has a potent cruiser-racer fleet of 14 entries and possibly more for Saturday's first training event of the 2021 season from Dublin Bay.

In an exciting development for Irish offshore crews, the ISORA fleet will be joined for the first time by Frank Whelan's new Greystones Sailing Club J-boat, Kaya.

It's a sister ship of the top performing Royal St. George J/122 Aurelia skippered by Chris Power Smith that is also slated for training on Saturday. 

The J/122 design is a 40-foot sloop conceived as a versatile, stable and simple-to-sail modern cruiser and racer.

Training as part of the Viking Marine Coastal Series will see a Dun Laoghaire to Dun Laoghaire Coastal route of 35 miles, representing the first training for next month's 320-mile Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race from the National Yacht Club on June 9th.

JPK 10.80 Rockabill VI

The new Wicklow J122 will meet defending Royal Irish ISORA champion, the JPK 10.80 of Rockabill VI (Paul O'Higgins) for the first time along with Andrew Algeo's J99, George Sisk's XP44 WOW and two Howth Yacht Club J109s Outrajeous of ICRA Commodore Richard Colwell and Simon Knowles' Indian.

J122 Kaya is prepared for Saturday's ISORA debut at Greystones Harbour

See the entry list to date below.

ISORA Chief Peter Ryan told Afloat that he expects the Dun Laoghaire Harbour start could reach 20 boats but admits 'everything is running very late' as a result of the COVID delayed start to the 2021 sailing season.

 J/99 Juggerknot II

The final training course will be made at midday on Friday and, as Afloat previously reported, Figaro offshore campaigner Kenny Rumball is providing a tactical Zoom briefing on the course tomorrow evening. More here.

Provisional Dublin Bay ISORA fleet  - race training begins on Dublin Bay on Saturday, May 15th

Viking Marine is currently recruiting dynamic marine leisure enthusiasts to join its Retail Team in the Dun Laoghaire shop.

Both full time and part-time positions are available as Viking Marine embarks on a very busy summer season both in our shop and online.

To learn more about the roles click here.

To apply for the position simply forward your CV by email to our Retail Manager Dean Brien at [email protected].

Under current restrictions, we request that all applications are made by email only.

Catching a small hole or tear now may save a lot of time and money down the line.

Drying your wetsuit inside and out after rinsing it with fresh water is the best way to keep it fresh and make it last longer.

In the latest in its Product Care video series, Viking Marine staff member, Antonia, from Dun Laoghaire Harbour on Dublin Bay explains how salt is the natural enemy of sailing wear and gives some tips on how to prevent salt from destroying your suit.

We've all been there, forgetting to wash a sailing jacket only to discover the next time you pull it out of the bag, the zip is corroded. It's normally due to not being washed out thoroughly with fresh water that expensive marine clothing gets destroyed.

There are multiple tactics you can use to remove salt from zippers and keep your items in working condition.

Salt buildup often occurs on the zippers of sailing jackets and trousers, boots and bags. Zippers should be cleaned of salt buildup so that they don’t stick or corrode. 

In his latest product care video, Viking Marine's Ian O'Meara from Dun Laoghaire Harbour on Dublin Bay explains how salt is the natural enemy of sailing wear. Ian gives some tips on how to prevent salt from destroying your zips.

Dun Laoghaire Harbour's Viking Marine has launched a series of short videos on how to care for your technical kit and tips and checks on safety kit to do in advance of any sailing season.

In the first of its Viking Marine product series on youtube, Dean Brien looks at the best ways of looking after and storing your sailing footwear.

If you're a dinghy sailor or yacht sailor check out the tips below on how best to care for your boots.

Viking Marine in Dun Laoghaire Harbour are offering 15% discount off its 2020 Helly Hansen and Crew clothing range.

Large selection of Jackets, Mid-layers, fleeces and tops are included in the Black Friday Sale.

Shop now for nationwide delivery or click and collect in our shop in Dun Laoghaire.

For the Christmas Gift that is sure to please, click here

T & C's apply

Dun Laoghaire Harbour marine retailer Viking Marine has made The Irish Times Irish retailers online Christmas shopping list edited by Consumer Affairs Correspondent, Conor Pope.

Viking Marine say they are delighted to be included in this list of top online retailers. Online sales continue to grow since the launch of the new website in August, according to Viking's Ian O'Meara. 

O'Meara and the team are delighted with the growth in sales and positive customer feedback and he says 'The growth in numbers of people taking to sea swimming, kayaking and paddleboarding has introduced a whole new community of shoppers to Viking Marine who enjoy both the on-line and the click and collect service, as we are located on the doorstep of some of Ireland's greatest swimming locations'.  And whilst we may be somewhat out of season for sailing more and more of our young dinghy sailors are still getting out on the water'.

As regular Afloat readers will recall from W M Nixon's piece about Viking from September, the re-shaping of the business has been noted for retaining customer loyalty while being a highly respected element in the development of Dun Laoghaire' commercial, civic and watersports life.