Gusty north-westerly winds of up to 15 knots and a flooding tide set the stage for a challenging day's racing as the Frank Keane BMW Royal St George Yacht Club Regatta brought cruiser and one-design fleets together on Dublin Bay on Saturday (4 July).
Accoirding to the provisonal results, the annual regatta attracted strong fleets across IRC, ECHO, VPRS and one-design classes, with close contests throughout the day. The 12-boat Cruiser 4a/5a ECHO division was the largest handicap fleet, while the Flying Fifteens headed the one-design turnout with 14 entries. The two-boat Cruiser 0 IRC fleet was smaller than usual, with several larger offshore yachts already committed to next week's Cork Week regatta in Crosshaven or competing in the Kingstown to Queenstown Race, which was still underway off the south coast.
Cruiser Racing
Bow Power: Tim Kane's Xp 38 Wow charges through Dublin Bay under full pressure during IRC racing at the Frank Keane BMW Royal St George Regatta. Photo: Afloat.ie
In Cruiser 0 IRC, Peter Ryan's First 40.7 Tsunami completed a clean sweep with two race wins to finish ahead of Tim Kane's Extreme 37 Wow.
The eight-boat Cruiser 1 IRC fleet was dominated by J109s and John and Brian Hall's Something Else recorded two race victories. Tim and Richard Goodbody's White Mischief secured second overall on countback from Chris Moore's Powder Monkey after both crews finished level on points.
Committee End: Four J/109s launch off the IRC Cruiser 1 start line, with overall winner Something Else closest to the committee boat and edging clear at the gun. Photo: Afloat.ie
Another unbeaten performance came in Cruiser 2 IRC, where Howth X302 visitor No Excuse (Johnathan Wormald) won both races ahead of J97 clubmate Jeneral Lee, with a third Howth boat Insider again completing the podium.
Pink Pace: Jonathan Wormald's Howth Yacht Club X-302 No Excuse powers downwind under a bright pink spinnaker on her way to overall victory in IRC Cruiser 2 at the Royal St George Regatta. Photo: Afloat.ie
The four-boat Cruiser 3 ECHO fleet went to Michael Ryan's Saki, which edged Wyn McCormack's First 27 Wynward on countback after both boats finished level on five points. Gecko finished third.
The largest handicap fleet, Cruiser 4a/5a ECHO, was won by Karukera after consistent second and first-place finishes. Vivid claimed second on countback from Just Jasmin.
In the ten-boat Cruiser 4b/5b ECHO fleet, Tough Nut secured overall honours on countback from Santé, while Boojum completed the top three.
Under the VPRS handicap system, Splashdance won Cruiser 4a/5a VPRS ahead of Playtime and Vivid.
Cevantes completed an unbeaten day in Cruiser 4b/5b VPRS, finishing ahead of Gemini and Calypso.
ORC Results
The regatta also counted towards the 2026 ORC Ireland championship, with strong turnouts across five cruiser divisions.
In Cruiser 0, Wow, Tim Kane's X-Treme 37, completed a clean sweep of both races to win on two points ahead of Aurelia and El Pocko.
Cruiser 1 produced the closest racing of the day. The J/109 Something Else won with two race victories, followed by fellow J/109s Powder Monkey and White Mischief, underlining the class's dominance in the division.
Top Marks: Paul Keelan's new J/92 Cojones powers across Dublin Bay on her way to overall victory in the ORC Cruiser 2 division at the Frank Keane BMW Royal St George Regatta. Photo: Afloat.ie
Cruiser 2 ended in a three-way tie on four points. Cojones took overall honours on countback ahead of Rupert, with Springer completing the podium.
In the combined Cruiser 4B/5B fleet, Toughnut claimed victory with two race wins. Menapia finished second, while Cevantes was third overall and the leading 5B entry.
The combined Cruiser 4A/5A division was won by Splashdance, whose 1-2 scoreline secured overall honours. Playtime finished second, with Shearwater taking third.
ORC results are here.
One-Design Fleets
The Flying Fifteen class was the largest one-design fleet of the regatta with 14 entries. Phil Lawton's Puffling dominated with two race wins to finish ahead of Alan Green's Mach FFive, while Alastair Court's Ffinisterre completed the podium.
Mark Round: Neil Colin's Flying Fifteen FFuzzy rounds the leeward gate before the sprint to the finish during the Frank Keane BMW Royal St George Regatta on Dublin Bay. Photo: Afloat.ie
The eight-boat Dragon fleet produced one of the closest contests of the day. Ronan Murphy's Serafina claimed overall victory on countback from Denis Bergin's Sir Ossis of the River, with Martin Byrne's Jaguar Sailing Team third.
In the nine-boat Sportboats fleet, Nobby Reilly's Ghost Raider won both races to take overall honours ahead of George V and StarJay.
Podium Push: Mark Nolan helms the J/80 George V during Sportsboat racing on Dublin Bay. The crew finished third overall at the Frank Keane BMW Royal St George Regatta. Photo: Afloat.ie
The SB20 fleet also saw an unbeaten winner as Michael O'Connor's TED claimed victory from Sea Biscuit and Zephyr.
A countback decided the Beneteau 31.7 class after Chris Johnston's Prospect and Camira finished level on three points. Prospect's Race Two victory secured the regatta win, while Levante finished third.
Champion's Course: National champion Chris Johnson steers Prospect to overall victory in the Beneteau 31.7 class at the Frank Keane BMW Royal St George Regatta on Dublin Bay. Photo: Afloat.ie
Several fleets completed only one race after earlier abandonments. Glenluce won the Glen class from Pterodactyl and Glencree.
In the Ruffian 23 fleet, Frank Bradley's Ripples finished ahead of Ian Cutliffe's Ruffles and Brendan Duffy's Scéal Eile.
The Shipman class was won by Poppy, with Viking second and Invader third.
The Beneteau 211 fleet also completed a single race, with Peter O'Carroll's Yikes taking victory ahead of Pat Shannon's Beeswing and Vincent Mulvey's Plan B.
No overall results were recorded in the DB21, Fireball or Squib/Mermaid classes after racing was abandoned or cancelled.
