Seven boats from Northern Ireland made the trip to Dun Laoghaire for the Volvo Regatta, one of which, FA 2, trailed from Antrim and craned in off the town's Carlisle Pier.

John Minnis’s first place in the 22-strong Cruisers One division was impressive, 10 points ahead of Michael Evans J99 Snapshot, but he says, “The result belies the very close contest in the fleet, with very close racing in very challenging conditions. The J109s, too, gave us as expected, a real battle.” John went on to praise the organisation. “Dun Laoghaire never disappoints. Run expertly on and off the water with expert race management and marshalling by Dave Lovegrove. My thanks to our great team, including the brilliant Gareth Flannigan on the helm, and mention too of bowman Tom Finlay, who scaled the mast several times!

"Dun Laoghaire never disappoints. Run expertly on and off the water"

It would seem that this is the first time that a Northern boat has won Cruisers 1. Final Call II represented Royal Ulster and Royal North. The next venture for John and his team will probably be the ICRA National Championships in Howth in early September.

John Minnis and his Final Call II celebrate their overall win in IRC One at Ireland's biggest regatta at Dun Laoghaire Harbour Photo: Michael Chester
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Shaun Douglas reckoned his Beneteau 40.7 Game Changer from Royal Ulster would have finished third overall in Cruiser 0 had they not had to retire from Race 3. One of the crew was taken to hospital because of a serious head injury, and that crew member is now recovering. As it was, they won Race 4 and counted a first, a third, two fourths and a fifth.

Shaun Douglas's Beneteau 40.7 Game Changer from Royal Ulster on Dublin Bay for the Volvo Dun Laoghaire regatta Photo: Afloat

F A 2 is a Limbo 6.6. owned by Charlie McAllister and Jeff Harrison of Antrim Boat Club on Lough Neagh. The first time Antrim BC was represented was in 2015 with Noel Young in his J80  Jawesome.

At 6.8 m FA 2 was the smallest boat in the 13-boat Cruisers 3 class. For Jeff, this was his fifth Dun Laoghaire Regatta, the first having been in 2011 with the J35 Bengal Magic when they finished 3rd in IRC 1, and Charlie McAllister first took part in 2017 with his previous boat Fait Accompli.

For the crew of F A 2 it was worth the 120-mile tow from Antrim to Dun Laoghaire. Jeff said “This was probably the windiest DL Regatta that I had ever participated in; Friday’s conditions were tough with the high winds and big seas. We were the smallest boat in our class, which was a challenge, but it made for great sailing - surfing some waves, we nearly hit 11knots. Saturday started in more manageable conditions but by the third race it had built up again and the lessons we learnt on Friday paid off, especially on Sunday, our best result (fifth) of the regatta. We were based at the Royal St George. The shore staff there were so friendly and helpful, each day helping boats dock, and getting the mast down and the boat lifted out after the event was pretty seamless”.

The Limbo 6.6 F A 2, owned by Charlie McAllister and Jeff Harrison of Antrim Boat Club on Lough Neagh at the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta Photo: Afloat

Carrickfergus SC on Belfast Lough was represented by Brian and Ryan Wilson in their Corby 29 Elixir in the 17-strong Cruisers 2. Elixir is often seen racing in Belfast Lough. In Dun Laoghaire, they had a consistent set of results, always under 10, with the best score of 4th in the 17-boat fleet.

The Doig family have always been great supporters of East Antrim Boat Club at Larne on the Antrim coast. Gavin and Peter Doig sailed for 16 hours to reach Dun Laoghaire and then raced the 30-foot J/92s in the same class as Elixir - Cruisers 2 in six of the seven races and finished in the 10th slot out of 17 starters.

The Sigma 33 class racing at Volvo Dun Laoghaire regatta Photo: Afloat

Paul and Emma Prentice from Ballyholme and Royal Ulster, had a consistent set of results, never less than in the first six. They finished third overall in the 10-boat Sigma 33 class.

Terry Fair’s 31.7 Scotia from Ballyholme was somewhat too lightly crewed for the challenging conditions of Races 1 and 3 in the large offshore class, but he said that conditions were more manageable for the second race and they enjoyed that.

In relative terms, Sunday’s conclusion to the Volvo Dun Laoghaire regatta in the Flying Fifteen class was probably the best day on the water – the wind had abated somewhat, after some initial rain, the sun came out, a single race was scheduled, and we had the best turnout of competitors on the day.

As the regatta leaders from Day 2 onwards, Shane McCarthy & Alan Green (4085) were safe in the knowledge that they couldn’t lose the regatta, and probably Phil Lawton & Neil O’Hagan (3803) were in a similar position with respect to second overall, so the only potential place changes in the pecking order were further down the fleet. Lee Statham & Andy Paul (4070) and Tom Galvin & Cormac Bradley (3757) were tied after three days, so they were in a winner takes all situation, and Neil Colin & Margaret Casey (4028) were also in a position to move up the order with a good final race.

A clean start for the three-lap Windward-Leeward race was achieved by the fleet, and the majority went right to the shore before making their way towards the weather mark on the right-hand side of the course. Leading the charge up the right-hand side was Colin & Casey, who were rewarded by being 1st at the weather mark. Others to feature at this stage were Peter Murphy & Ciara Mulvey (3774) and Alastair Court & Conor O’Leary (3753), and the four boats holding the first three places overall.

At this stage, Galvin had a boat between himself and Statham. The run saw Murphy & Mulvey go wide while others sailed inside them and used a couple of gybes to get to the leeward gate. My recall is that Murphy may have rounded the leeward gate first but with Colin not far behind. The recipe for the subsequent beats was the same as before - go right initially and then fine-tune the approach to the weather mark. Statham was still behind Galvin at the latter stage of the beat, and the overlapping Dragons, who were on the same course, forced him into a couple of extra tacks that I’m sure he could have done without. At the weather mark for the second time, the regatta leaders were at the front of the fleet and Lawton had also moved up. However, Murphy, Court and Colin were still hanging in and Galvin was still ahead of Statham, though there was no boat between them anymore.

On the third beat, the running order had settled and rounding the weather mark for the last time, the order was McCarthy, Lawton, Colin, Murphy, Court. Galvin and Statham. A hiccup on Galvin’s spinnaker hoist allowed Statham to close the distance between the two boats, but importantly for Galvin, he remained ahead. However, about 100m from the leeward gate, Statham got past and went on to finish 6th to Galvin’s 7th, thus taking 3rd overall.

The regatta showed just how competitive the Flying Fifteen class is! In an eight-race series, we had three different race winners – Shane McCarthy & Alan Green (5), Tom Galvin & Cormac Bradley (2) David Gorman & Chris Doorly (1). The top five boats overall came from four different clubs. On Friday, 5 boats started a race in very high wind conditions, and all five finished, albeit with some spectacular spinnaker broaches and capsizes. Phil Lawton & Neil O’Hagan announced their presence on the scene with seconds and thirds in all but two races, and a competitive debut for Galvin & Bradley saw them win two races. And for the mixed-gender crews, there was ample evidence that they can be competitive when the breeze is up.

Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta Flying Fifteen Results - Top Five

The Dublin Bay Mermaids only sailed two races at Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta, with Skerries visitors Paul, Frank and Chloe Browne in Cara II coming out on top in the eight-boat fleet. 

The Royal Irish's Jill, sailed by Paul Smith, Patrick Mangan, and Ailbhe Smith, was second, scoring 2, 3. Dermot O'Neill's Aideen with crew John and Andrew Redmond from the National Yacht Club was third. 

Mermaid VDLR winner - Paul, Frank and Chloe Browne in Cara II Photo: Afloat

Skerries visitors Paul, Frank and Chloe Browne in Cara II were the Dublin Bay Mermaid class winners at Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta Photo: Michael Chester

The 2023 regatta, the ninth edition of Ireland's largest regatta, concluded on Sunday with final races for most classes and a great festival of sailing across the waterfront and Dun Laoghaire town as four sailing clubs come together for the biennial event; Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club, Royal Irish Yacht Club, Royal St. George Yacht Club and National Yacht Club.

Fireballs enjoyed spectacular sailing at the Volvo Dun Laoghaire regatta over the last three days. Sixteen Fireballs entered the event, and only injury and family commitments prevented a full turnout.

Especially impressive was the number of youth teams competing, and especially rewarding was to watch these teams manage very well in sometimes hair-raising conditions. With winds occasionally reaching 30 knots, the high-performance dinghy lived up to its pedigree as racers zoomed around the courses over the long weekend.

In the days before the event, it is fair to say sailors from all fleets were watching the rather ominous forecasts and were concerned the whole event could be in jeopardy, but by the Thursday the more worrying forecasts had softened, and confidence grew that a few days of great racing was on the agenda. On Thursday itself, racing was cancelled for the vast majority of classes as extreme gusts swept in.

A handful of Flying Fifteens managed to get one race in, but even those keelboats suffered several dinghy-style capsizes, which saw crews standing on keels. Friday dawned breezy but very sailable and Fireballers sped out to the start to be greeted by an AP as the race committee settled a fairly complicated trapezoid course into position. When racing got underway, the Fireballs screamed off the line in winds of around twenty knots. Jon Evans & Aidan Caulfield got to the weather mark first followed closely by Frank Miller & Ed Butler. As they roared down the run in big winds seeking the leeward marks, both made the error of heading to the inner rather than the outer trapezoid gate, and although they finished first and second they took a retirement giving Stephen Oram and Neil Cramer the race win.

The youngest team of David Evans & William Draper, took 2nd place in that race, a fantastic achievement given that they were probably also the lightest team at the event.

The youngest Fireball team of David Evans and crew William Draper at the Volvo Dun Laoghaire regatta Photo: Michael Chester

Josh Porter and Cara McDowell were 3rd. This was to be their worst result of the regatta which they went on to discard. There was a wind shift after this race which led the race team to abandon the trapezoid course with it’s total of eight marks and two committee boats in favour of a windward—leeward course which is much more manageable in a shifting breeze. Given that the dinghy racing area for the event was Salthill and offshore winds were forecast for the entire event the race team set windward-leeward courses for the rest of the regatta. Having settled in Josh & Cara went on to win the next two races in similar breezes, taking the overnight lead for the event. Saturday dawned with good breezes but distinctly more shifty conditions. While it was breezy, it was a tad less windy than the Friday and warmer, and possibly there might have been an element of a thermal breeze playing with the offshore gradient.

This was a day when those keeping their speed up and their heads out of the boat were rewarded, and once again Josh & Cara prevailed with two wins and a second while Adrian Lee & Ossian Geraghty took the win in race 5. There were several close finishes on the Friday, with a surprise shortened course at a gate catching several sailors out while providing an opening to those paying closest attention. By Saturday night it was clear that after six races and with two to go Josh & Cara had a fairly unassailable lead. Next were Adrian & Ossian, with Frank & Ed Snr lying third and Jon & Aidan fourth on equal points. Two points adrift were Stephen & Neil in 5th.

Frank Miller and Ed Butler lead a group of Fireballs downwind at the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta Photo: Afloat

Sunday dawned with initially light winds but a slightly ominous forecast showing possible thunderstorms and lightning. Sure enough, while sailors rigged, the wind picked up considerably, and the race office decided to postpone by an hour, allowing a squall to blow through. By the time competitors were sailing out the wind was softening, and a few were caught out as race seven started bang on time and in quite light winds. The start line was strongly pin biased, but the sensible ones started at the committee boat where there was more pressure. Most headed inshore to escape the incoming tide but this approach wasn’t always rewarded as there were big variations in pressure around the course. Louise McKenna & Hermine O’Keeffe led to the weather mark by taking the inshore course but on round two, lost their lead by the same approach and fell to fourth, managing to get back to 2nd on the final run. Unsurprisingly at this stage, Josh & Cara triumphed in boat races. In the final race the wind had picked up somewhat, and most sailors changed settings to medium. With Adrian & Ossian fairly secure in 2nd place, the main battle was for the 3rd prize. Frank & Ed had a good battle with Jon & Aidan on the run, and with Stephen & Neil on the beat but ultimately made the fatal decision of losing contact with their main rivals and going offshore into what looked like better breeze only for it to fade and for the breeze inside to fill. When the final sums were done Josh & Cara took the overall, Adrian & Ossian were 2nd with Jon & Aidan 3rd. Stephen and Neil were 4th on equal points with Frank and Ed who fell to 5th overall.

It would be fair to say that for Fireballs this was one of the most successful Volvo DL Regattas in recent memory. The conditions were spectacular, providing the class with an opportunity to showcase its brilliant design and especially its fantastic and fearless young competitors.

From left overall winners Cara McDowell and Josh Porter, 2nd Ossian Geraghty and Adrian Lee and 3rd Jon Evans and Aidan Caulfield Photo: Frank Miller

The next event for Fireballs is the Munster Championship at Killaloe SC on the weekend of 22nd & 23rd July, shared with the 420 class. Sailors are really looking forward to a different kind of racing, most likely in more gentle breezes, at a very welcoming host club with a spanking new clubhouse and locally available food and camping.

The Royal Irish's Austin Kenny, Simon Redden and Austin Burke were the overall winners of the J80 class at Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta.

In an all-star Irish fleet, that included Clontarf's Pat O'Neill, the 2021 J80 World Bronze medalist, 12 boats came to the line for the seven-race series.

The Kenny crew finished the blustery four-day event on ten points with a scoresheet that included three race wins to be two points clear of Royal St George's Owen Laverty. 

Third was Laverty's clubmate Hugh Blaney on 15.

The 2023 regatta, the ninth edition of Ireland's largest regatta, concluded on Sunday with final races for most classes and a great festival of sailing across the waterfront and Dun Laoghaire town as four sailing clubs come together for the biennial event; Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club, Royal Irish Yacht Club, Royal St. George Yacht Club and National Yacht Club.

The bulk of the silverware stayed in Dublin after the curtain came down on an epic four days of sailing at Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta on Sunday evening. 

Ireland’s largest sailing event came to a breezy close this afternoon after an exciting four days of racing in Dublin Bay with 400 boats and almost 2,000 sailors competing.

Another strong southerly breeze light saw organisers complete nearly all 250 scheduled races, with many class titles hanging on the outcome of today's final race.

Some of the 400-boat fleet (with IRC Zero winner Rockabill VI in the foreground) gathered at the Royal Irish Yacht Club at the end of a breezy ninth edition of Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta. July 10-13th 2025 has been set as the date for the tenth edition Photo: Afloat

Afloat's pre-regatta predictions for the IRC classes came good in the breezy conditions, with the Offshore prize going to Checkmate XX, Rockabill VI taking IRC Zero, Final Call outwitting the J109s to take IRC One and vintage Half and Quarter Tonners taking IRC Two and Three respectively. 

Dublin Yacht Club's shared the bulk of the overall prizes awarded this afternoon at the official prize giving at the National Yacht Club, winning 26 of the 34 classes but not the coveted 'Boat of the Week' Trophy. 

Quarter Tonner Protis crewman John Begg from Hamble River Sailing Club (left) receives the Volvo Trophy, for the best IRC performance of the regatta, presented by Alan Cowley of Volvo Car Ireland at the VDLR Prizegiving hosted by the National Yacht Club Photo: Michael Chester

Ian Southworth's Quarter Tonner 'Protis' from the Hamble River Sailing Club in England was named the top IRC boat after leading 13-boat IRC 3 with six race wins in a seven-race series.

Royal Irish JPK 10.80 Rockabill VI (Paul O'Higgins) was a decisive winner in a nine-boat IRC Zero.

Paul O’Higgins’ (pictured standing second from right with cap) and his JPK 10.80 Rockabill (RIYC) winning IRC Zero crew at the VDLR Prizegiving below. Photo: Michael Chester

A final challenge by a pack of J109s on Sunday in the single race sailed could not stop John Minnis's march to victory in his A35 Final Call II, taking the IRC One crown in a highly competitive 22-boat fleet.

The IRC Two title was won by the Royal Cork Half-Tonner Swuzzlebubble, skippered by Dave Dwyer. 

The 25-boat IRC offshore prize was won by Nigel Biggs and Dave Cullen's First 50, Checkmate XX, from Howth Yacht Club.

The Cape 31 class used the regatta to decide its Irish national championship, with Royal Cork's Anthony O'Leary successfully defending in the six-boat fleet.

Anthony O'Leary, (pictured left with Race Officer David Lovegrove in blue shirt) and some of his Royal Cork Antix crew with the Irish Cape 31 Irish trophy at the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta prizegiving Photo: Michael Chester

The GP14 Leinster Trophy was retained by holders Ger Owens and Mel Morris of the Royal St. George Yacht Club, a result that also handed them the best dinghy small keelboat award of the regatta.

In the 22-boat Flying Fifteen class, Mr Potato Head, sailed by Shane McCarthy and Alan Green, was the overall winner in a class that was one of only two that raced on all four days of the regatta.

Flying Fifteen class winners Shane McCarthy (left) and Alan Green Photo: Michael Chester

Sean Craig and Heather King took the Water Wag Collen Cup after an in-harbour series for the vintage dinghy class.

Pamela Collen (left) presents Water Wag class winners Sean Craig and Heather King with The Collen Cup, a perpetual trophy which has been in the Collen family since 1907 Photo: Michael Chester

The biennial event is being hailed an enormous success both afloat and ashore for a combined fleet of almost 400 boats, the biggest on the Irish Sea.

Over 250 races on six different courses were staged in a range of medium to heavy conditions since racing began last Thursday in near-gale conditions.

Trophies were awarded in each of the 34 competing classes this afternoon, bringing the curtain down on one of the most successful stagings of Ireland's biggest sailing event.

The Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta is Ireland’s biggest sailing event and a great festival of sailing across the waterfront and Dun Laoghaire town as four sailing clubs come together for the biennial event; Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club, Royal Irish Yacht Club, Royal St. George Yacht Club and National Yacht Club. 

Read all of Afloat's VDLR 2023 coverage in on handy link here. See all prizegiving photos here.

The date of the VDLR 2025 event has been set as July 10-13. 

The Elan marque maintained a primary placing to the end, with Johnny Philips Elan 33 Playtime (NYC) making a thing of it in Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta Non-Spinnaker 1 with nothing but firsts after taking his discard on his single second. Thus he ended up with just 5 points to the 12 of Michael Murphy’s Sigma 38 State O’Chassis (RIYC), while third place saw a reversion to Elans with David Greene’s Elan 333 White Pearl (Malahide YC) winning third OA on countback after tieing on 17 points with John Roberts’ big Elan 431 Percy from Pwllheli.

Another biggie, veteran Michael O’Leary’s DuFour 425 Act Two (RIYC), had two races in the frame to place her next on 22 pts.

Non-Spin 2 Sees Sigma Keep Clear Of Ufos

With extra-terrestrial sightings all the news these days, UFOs have to be kept in their place. The Howth-based Sigma 33 Leeuwin (Burke Murray) didn’t have the personnel to race full on with the Sigma 33 class, so she found herself in Non-Spin Class 2 successfully fighting off the overall second-placed UFO 31 Menapia (J McSweeney RStGYC & P Madigan NYC), and the Whitehaven-based UFO34 Kon Tiki (Derek O’Reilly).

As sailing events go, Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta is big by any measure, so there is no surprise that this year's National Yacht Club hosted VDLR prizegiving on Sunday evening was an equally big affair with hundreds of sailors gathered to salute the winners at Ireland's largest sailing event.

The ceremony brought the curtain down on four days of thrilling sailing where almost 2,000 sailors in 400 boats took on heavy weather conditions on Dublin Bay.

Check out the gathering below held on the platform at the east pier club and click through the photo gallery of the 2023 VDLR winners below.

Photographer Michael Chester's Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta 2023 Prizewinners Photo Gallery

Quarter Tonning is up in lights these days, and Dublin Bay had an illuminating intro to it in its hottest form with the Hamble River’s Ian Southworth in Protis happily discarding a 9th from the harsh first race of Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta, as thereafter he had won all the way, to leave him on 5 points, as IRC 3 class sailed six races in all.

Courtown SC’s Martin Mahon with the Joubert-Nivelt Quarter Tonner Snoopy was likewise consistent, albeit with a string of seconds, to finish on 11 points, while Kieran Dorgan of Cove SC with the Ceccarelli Quarter Tonner Illegal was imprinted with thirds to take that overall on 15.

Courtown SC’s Joubert-Nivelt Quarter Tonner Snoopy skippered by Martin Mahon

The top overall prize in IRC for the regatta's Volvo Trophy went to Southworth for his IRC 3 performance, but the weekend has been an important warm-up for all three, no doubt, for next week's Quarter Ton World Championships being staged in Ireland by Royal Cork Yacht Club.

Kieran Dorgan's Ceccarelli Quarter Tonner Illegal Photo: Afloat

Frank Bradley's Ripples from the DMYC had seven results in the top two to take the Ruffian 23 Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta prize on Sunday afternoon.

Bradley had three race wins on his scoresheet to be five points clear of clubmate Brendan Duffy's Carmen in second on 13 points.

One point behind, National Champion Ann Kirwan's Bandit took third. 

There was praise for the organisers of Ireland's largest sailing event, who managed racing for a fleet of 400 boats on three of the four days of the regatta despite being in the full grip of the northern jetstream. Winds from a southerly quadrant blew hard again on Sunday to bring a blustery ninth edition of the biennial event to a successful close at lunchtime.