Adam Winkelmann and Doug Smith, sailing Water Wag No. 46 Mademoiselle, clinched a late win in the beat to the finish of Wednesday evening's DBSC Water Wag Captain’s Prize Race. 

Race Officer Tadgh Donnelly set a three-round windward/leeward course, and the 24-boat fleet got off to a clear start after a brief postponement, as the line needed to be reset following a 20-degree wind shift in Dun Laoghaire Harbour.

Royal St. George's Sean and Heather Craig, sailing No.52 Puffin, led from the start but were hotly pursued by Mademoiselle.

Sean and Heather Craig, sailing No.52 Puffin in close competition with eventual winners Adam Winkelmann & Doug Smith sailing No. 46 Mademoiselle in tonight's DBSC Water Wag Captain’s Prize Race at Dun Laoghaire Harbour Photo: Brendan Briscoe

On the approach to the final gate, Mademoiselle pulled up level with Puffin and went for the port gate, so Puffin went for the starboard gate.

Mademoiselle crossed ahead of Puffin on the final short beat to get the gun in a very close finish.

Water Wag Class captain David Williams (left), winning helmsman Adam Winkelmann and Berna Williams Photo: Ann Kirwan

Results were:

1. No. 46 Mademoiselle Adam Winkelmann & Doug Smith
2. No. 52 Puffin Sean & Heather Craig
3. No. 15 Moosmie John O’Driscoll & Sarah Dwyer

Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC) Race Officer Chris Moore was forced to cancel Wednesday night's weekly Water Wag racing due to a lack of wind on the Dun Laoghaire Harbour race course. 

Racing continues next Wednesday, with just four races left to sail in the 2023 season.

Dublin Bay Sailing Club Race Officer Tadgh Donnelly set a three-round windward leeward course for the Water Wags race on Wednesday, August 16th.

Twenty-three boats competed in a 5-7kt SE breeze inside Dun Laoghaire Harbour.

Seán and Heather Craig’s Puffin from the Royal St. George Yacht Club just pipped clubmates Tim and Gillian Pearson’s Little Tern on the finish line. Little Tern had led the race from the start.

Results were:

1. No. 52 Puffin, Seán and Heather Craig
2. No. 36 Little Tern, Tim and Gillian Pearson
3. No. 47 Peggy, David & Patricia Corcoran

Royal St. George's Tim and Gillian Pearson sailing Little Tern took the gun out of 18 starters in a nice 6 to 8 breeze in Wednesday night's DBSC Water Wag race staged inside Dun Laoghaire Harbour. 

Overall, Puffin, sailed by Sean and Heather Craig, lead the DBSC Water Wag Summer Series on 30 points from Guy Kilroy on 44 in Swift. John O'Driscoll's Moosmie on 57.

A 2,1 scored in Wednesday night's DBSC Water Wag races in Dun Laoghaire Harbour has put Royal St. George's Sean and Heather Craig in Puffin 14 points clear at the top of the Summer Series. 

Second overall is Guy Kilroy's Swift on 44 points, with John O'Driscoll's Moosmie third on 57.

The results for Wednesday's races are below:

Race 18 2 Aug 2023

1 Number 42 William Prentice
2 Number 52 Puffin Sean Craig 
3 Number 45 Mariposa Cathy Mac Aleavey

Race 19 2 Aug 2023

1 Number 52 Puffin Sean Craig 
2 Number 45 Mariposa Cathy Mac Aleave
3 Number 3 Pansy Vincent Delany

Royal St. George's Seán and Heather Craig – the winners of this month's Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta Water Wag Regatta – were in top form again on Wednesday evening when they sailed Puffin to victory in Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC) Water Wag Series race.

Guy & Jackie Kilroy of the Royal Irish were second in Swift in the in-harbour Dun Laoghaire race.

Race Officer Tadgh Donnelly observes the Wednesday Water Wag racing st Dun Laoghaire Harbour from the deck of DBSC Committee Vessel, Freebird Photo: Ann Kirwan

DBSC Race Officer Tadgh Donnelly set a three-round windward leeward course for the single Wag race.

The wind was SE 10kts, and 20 boats competed.

Guy and Jackie Kilroy of the Royal Irish were second in the DBSC Water Wag Race in Number 38 Swift Photo: Brendan Briscoe

Results were:

1. No. 52 Puffin, Seán & Heather Craig
2. No. 38 Swift, Guy & Jackie Kilroy
3. No. 33 Eva, David Sommerville & crew

David Sommerville and his crew were third in the DBSC Water Wag Race in  No. 33 Eva,  Photo: Brendan Briscoe

Every effort was made to get a light-air Dublin Bay Sailing Club Water Wag race underway at Dun Laoghaire Harbour on Wednesday evening. 

Race Officer Tadgh Donnelly cancelled racing at 7.15 pm following a postponement (AP) to see if the wind would fill in, but unfortunately, it didn’t.

Many of the Wags rowed back to their respective yacht clubs such was the lack of wind.

Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC) Race Officer Tadgh Donnelly set a two-round windward-leeward course for the first of two races for the DBSC Water Wags on Wednesday evening, July 12th.

The 23-boat fleet got off to a clear start in Dun Laoghaire Harbour in a brisk 13-19kt WNW breeze.

Results were:

1. No. 45 Mariposa, Cathy MacAleavey & Con Murphy
2. No. 41 Mollie, Claudine Murphy & Cian Bailey
3. No. 6 Mary Kate, Mike & Ian McGowan

One boat retired.

The leaders in the DBSC Water Wags second at Dun Laoghaire Harbour Photo: Ann Kirwan 

The Race Officer got the second two-round race underway with a reduced fleet of 21 boats.

Two boats were OCS in a hotly contested start, and both failed to return to restart correctly.

Results were:

1. No. 6 Mary Kate, Mike & Ian McGowan
2. No. 52 Puffin, Seán & Heather Craig
3. No. 41 Mollie, Claudine Murphy & Cian Bailey

Royal St. George's Sean Craig and Heather King sailing number 52 Puffin continued their winning form from Friday in the Water Wag class of the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta and completed the series with five wins from eight races to be easy winners with a cushion of some 12 points on Sunday afternoon.

Saturday afternoon was their only blip when they retired from race six in the 14-boat fleet.

A 14-boat clinker Water Wag fleet raced inside Dun Laoghaire Harbour for Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta honours Photo: Afloat

Racing inside Dun Laoghaire Harbour, the husband and wife duo were clear ahead of Tralee Bay Sailing Club's Mike and Ian McGowan sailing, number six, Mary Kate in second on 23 points, two points ahead of Cathy MacAleavey's number 45, Mariposa.

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. 

The next Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta will be sailed from July 10th–13th, 2025.

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.

13 Water Wags are competing at the 2023 Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta Photo: Bob Bateman

In an eventful week for Water Wag number 48, which capsized in Wednesday evening's DBSC race, as Afloat reported here, aptly named Dipper lost her crewman overboard in Friday afternoon's VDLR race. Happily, he was promptly retrieved over the transom by his helmsman, as Michael Chester's photos show (below)

After rounding the leeward mark, Water Wag Dipper crew is going well upwind, until......her crew goes overboard..... but is safely recovered over the stern Photos by Michael Chester