Press Coverage

Some decidedly rugged racing yesterday (Friday), though with rapidly improving conditions, managed brilliantly to pull the wind-battered VDLR2023 back into line. But there’s no doubting the fact that it is all being achieved with weather that is a little bit too interesting for many folk.

Winds gusting up 20 knots put Ireland’s biggest sailing event back on schedule at Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta on Friday, with Dublin Bayu dishing up a full programme of testing racing for nearly 400 competing boats.

“Rewarded” is used judiciously as the fleet gathered in the National Yacht Club to initiate the recovery process! Nobody offered to “get the party going”, such was the physical challenge on the water. As one very experienced Fifteener said, that was like a day at a World Championship, and I should know!

The O’Leary Antix crew defending their Irish crown in style after the first day of racing in tough Dublin Bay conditions at the Cape 31 Irish Nationals at Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta. Antix, who were the UK’s top Corinthian Cape 31 crew at Royal Lymington in June, are counting a 2,2,1 to be on five points and three points clear of Howth’s Dan O’Grady sailing Aja.

Royal Irish Yacht Club Commodore Jerry Dowling leads the SB20 fleet at the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta with three straight wins scored in blustery conditions on Friday.

Royal St. George’s Sean and Heather King sailing Puffin have three wins from three races in the Water Wag class of the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta. Racing inside Dun Laoghaire Harbour, the husband and wife duo are six points clear of Guy and Jackie Gilroy in Swift in the 13-boat fleet.

Sailing on the North Course, the national champion commanded the nine-boat fleet from the off in the strong wind conditions. His only slip from a perfect scoreline was in this afternoon’s third race when clubmate Michael Bryson took the gun and moved into third overall. Johnston’s arch-rival Levante (Power/Leahy) is four points off the lead in second place.

Scotland’s leading offshore skipper Jonathan Anderson seems to have gone native in Dun Laoghaire, as he registers himself and his J/122 El Gran Senor as racing for the Royal Irish YC in the crack Offshore Class of the 2023 Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta with 25 top-level boats battling for the honours.

Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta organisers released a bird’s eye view film of an action-packed day two of sailing on Dublin Bay. Ireland’s largest yacht racing event was captured by drone by Dun Laoghaire sailor Mark Nolan of Lotus Media when southerly breezes topped 20 knots.

The local crew of Hegarty with David, Hillary and Emma Williams scored 2,1,1 in the three races on the Salthill course to lead the national champions Cameron Good, Henry Kingston and Simon Furney sailing Little Fella from Kinsale overall by four points.

You’ll sometimes hear complaints that the impressive JPK range from France are marginally under-canvassed boats, but what’s not to like about that when racing on Friday’s slowly easing rough and tumble?

Mike & Richie Evans’s well-starred J/99 Snapshot (Howth YC) got the best of it in today’s first race ahead of John Maybury’s frequently-winning J/109 Joker (RIYC), with northern star Final Call II, John Minnis’s A35 helmed by Gareth Flannigan (RUYC & RNIYC) in third.

The tough first race of IRC Two at Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta saw the rugged veteran X-302 Dux (Gore-Grimes family, HYC) loving it, but as things settled down a bit, Olympian Andy Beadsworth in James Dwyer’s legendary Half Tonner c (Royal Cork YC) found his mojo to record 4,4,1 against Dux’s 1,7,3, while Stephen Quinn’s J/97 Lambay Rules (HYC) lies third on 2,1,10.

With the 2023 Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta starting for dinghies this Friday, the GP14 Ireland fleet will use the event as their 2023 Leinster Championships. This is not the first time the Leinsters have been run as part of Volvo, and former winners Ger Owens and Mel Morris will be on the start line to try and retain their Leinster crown, having won in Mullingar last year.

Dublin Port Harbour Master Capt. Michael McKenna, Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta Events Director Paddy Boyd and Dun Laoghaire Harbour Master Capt. Harry Duggan were at the opening of the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta today ahead of the first races of the biennial event.

Sixteen Fireball dinghies are lined up to compete in the Volvo Dun Laoghaire regatta this long weekend. The relatively large Fireball entry has taken even the class committee by surprise. It is clear now that the resurgence spurred on by last year’s Worlds in LDYC Dromineer is here to stay.

The National Yacht Club takes the lion’s share of representation, understandably as this is where the bulk of the DL fleet is situated, but four boats (from seven) hail from the Royal St George and the DMYC has a solitary representative, which translates to a 100% turnout for them.

Double British Olympic keelboat sailor Andy Beadsworth is on board Dave Dwyer’s Royal Cork Half Tonner Swuzzlebubble for an IRC Two contest in this week’s Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta, where strong winds are forecasted to get the four-day regatta off to an exciting start on Thursday afternoon.