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Irish Sailing Classes. Yacht, One Design & Dinghy Racing News, Class by Class
The Open Dutch Championships ORC 1, 2 and 3 were scheduled to be held during the now cancelled North Sea Regatta
To mark the 50th anniversary of the death of Uffa Fox, one of the most highly regarded naval architects and enthusiast of all aspects of sailing, the Royal London Yacht Club, together with the Cowes Classic Boat Museum, and supported…
World Sailing needs new proposals for sailing's tenth medal in three year's time
World Sailing's Council has unanimously approved a regulatory amendment to enable alternative event(s) to the Mixed Two Person Offshore Keelboat, for sailing's 10th medal at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games to be proposed. As Afloat reported previously, following a request…
Ewan McMahon from Howth YC improved to 48th overall
Ireland can only look to the future and Paris 2024 - just three years away - for its next chance to compete in the men's singlehanded Laser class following Finn Lynch's failure to qualify Ireland in the Laser event for Tokyo 2020…
Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta has received 94 entries so far for the Open Cruiser Championship (8th – 11th July 2021) on Dublin Bay
Entries for Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta (VDLR) are beyond expectations for July's event giving organisers the opportunity to close the entry system at the end of April to review the 320 boats received so far. Ireland's biggest regatta on Dublin…
Howth's Ewan McMahon racing in day three of the ILCA 7 Vilamoura Championships
Irish hopes of landing one of the Olympic country spots at the 2021 ILCA Vilamoura European Continental qualifier for the Olympic single-handed dinghy men faded considerably following disappointing results on day three of the competition. Sailed in 18 to 20…
15 1720 sportsboats have registered for Cork Week 2022
Cork Week Regatta at Royal Cork Yacht Club in Cork Harbour has received a 57 boat registration for its 2022 Regatta just a week after the booking system went live for its 300th-anniversary regatta rerun. Royal Cork's Alex Barry says there…
RCYC has added a J24 keelboat (above) to widen its fleet of club boats
The Royal Cork Yacht Club at Crosshaven in Cork Harbour is buying a J24 keelboat to widen its fleet of club boats. Funding for this is coming from the sale of two of its existing fleet of four 1720 sportsboats.…
When looking for results from the final European selection event for the one-person dinghy men, to give its official Olympic name, then
As Ireland embarks on its last chance to qualify for the Tokyo Olympic regatta today, there is a new lexicon when it comes to talking about Lasers - the full rig is now known as the ILCA 7, the Radial…
The National Yacht Club's Finn Lynch was Ireland’s youngest Olympic helmsman when he competed at the Rio Games in 2016 at the age of 20 and, along with four other Irish sailors, is seeking a second Olympics at the final qualifier in Vilamoura
Ireland is hoping a five-man team in Portugal can take one of two final nation places in the final men's Laser Olympic qualifier in Vilamoura starting on Monday. Vilamoura International Regatta is the last chance for the Laser sailors to…
Susan Glenny and Conor Fogerty raced at the Eurosaf Mixed Offshore event in Italy in 2020
With World Sailing having apparently lost the proposed mixed offshore keelboat discipline for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, one of three of the declared Irish skippers has spoken of his 'disappointment' over the last-minute change of direction. As Afloat reported previously, speculation is…
Clare Hogan at Cork Week 1976
Clare Hogan, who sadly died on 10th April 2021, taken from us so prematurely, will be sorely missed by her sailing friends, particularly those of us in the Irish Dragon Class. She sailed from the Royal St George Yacht Club…
Mercedes-Benz has renewed its ongoing support for Irish sailing star Aoife Hopkins. Aoife will continue to drive a Vito Mixto which she uses to transport her team, herself and her equipment to events, here in Ireland and overseas
Olympic ambition runs deep for Howth Radial sailor Aoife Hopkins. After the controversially cut short Olympic trial last year, the 22-year-old is back in her ILCA 6 dinghy and en route this weekend to the Vilamoura International Regatta in Portugal.  Her ongoing efforts…
Cover girls….The International Dragon Class on an evening race in 1969 at Royal North of Ireland YC on Belfast Lough. RNIYC introduced the class to Ireland in the late 1930s, and for many years had the largest fleet, sending forth the 1948 Olympic helmsman Eric Strain
The Olympic Flame is now well into its progression through Japan, on a Marathon of Marathons which is seeing runners of every shape and size and type carry it into all of the 47 Prefectures which make up that most…
The Mixed Offshore Event was democratically selected by World Sailing members and remains its first-choice event for Paris 2024
As Afloat reported earlier, World Sailing has received an update from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) regarding the proposed Mixed Two Person Offshore Keelboat Event at the Paris 2024 Olympic Sailing Competition. In December 2020, World Sailing were informed by…
Dun Laoghaire and Greystones campaigners Kenny Rumball and Pamela Lee in the first leg of the Sardinha Cup
Irish mixed offshore keelboat duo Kenny Rumball and Pamela Lee finished 17th in the gruelling second leg of the 775 miles Sardinha Cup last night. The sole Irish duo in the offshore race were racing a Figaro 3 foiling keelboat, a…
There were many teams across the sailing world preparing for the introduction of a new Olympic mixed offshore keelboat that now looks on hold for Paris 2024
At an online meeting of Member National Authorities (MNAs), World Sailing (WS) today (April 16th) will convey the news that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had requested WS to provide details of an alternative event should the IOC not endorse…

Irish Sailing Classes and Association – There’s no shortage of one-design classes from which to choose and each gives its enthusiasts great competition, fun and camaraderie, writes Graham Smith in this review of the classes. 

One-design racing is where it all starts. It is, after all, where all the top sailors earned their stripes, battling away for line honours without a thought for a handicapper’s calculator wiping away a hard-fought victory!

Indeed, you could count on less than one hand the number of top Irish sailors who didn’t cut their teeth in a one-design dinghy! Just think of Cudmore, Barrington, Watson, Wilkins, Hennessy and Dix to name a few and you realise that they honed their skills in everything from Enterprises to Lasers and a lot in between.

At present count, there are a little over 30 one-design classes in Ireland, split almost evenly between dinghies and keelboats, a statistic which might raise a few eyebrows. They range from the long-established Mermaids, IDRA14s and Dragons to the newer additions like Fevas, Topaz and RS Elite. They all fill a particular need and give their owners and crews considerable enjoyment.

Many have attracted their World or European Championships to Irish waters over the years and while 2009 is notable for a lack of such events here, the following year will see the Etchells Worlds at Howth and perhaps a few other international regattas too.

In addition to the review, we asked each class to complete a questionnaire giving details of their fleet numbers, whether they were on a growth pattern or holding their own, so we could highlight those ‘on the up’ and those remaining static in terms of numbers. The older traditional designs, as you might imagine, fall into the latter category, although that’s not a negative!

CLASS REVIEW  The State of the Classes – League Table (as at February 2009)

S = Static; U = Up/growing

275     Optimist   U

200+   Laser   S

189     Mermaid   S

160     Flying Fifteen   S

130     RS Feva   U

115     Shannon One Design    U

100+   Mirror   S

100+   Topper   U

99       Topaz   U

94       Laser SB3   U

87       GP14   U

85       Squib   S

70       Fireball   S

70       Ruffian   S

60       J24   S

60       Shipman   S

52       Dragon   S

50       RS400/200   S

50       420    U

43       Multihulls    U

42       Dragon    S

40       Water Wags    U

40       Wayfarer    S

34       IDRA14    U

33       Puppeteer    U

28       Etchells    S

27       E-Boat    U

26       Glen    S

25       Enterprise    S

18       Sigma 33    S

18       Howth 17    U

13       RS Elite    U