#dragon – The local challenge for the Brewin Dolphin Irish National Dragon Championship evaporated this afternoon, the penultimate day of racing on Dublin Bay, as defending champion Martin Byrne carded a 16 and a 15.

In shifty and gusty conditions Poul-Ricard Hoj-Jensen, the visiting Danish Olympic Gold medallist, continued his display of superbly consistent sailing to put the title beyond anyone's reach.

With one race left tomorrow. The fight for second place will be between last month's Edinburgh cup winner Simon Brien, Martin Payne (GBR) and Chris Hunt. Simon's is the leading Corinthian boat, followed by Cameron Good (Kinsale).

#dragon – On day 2 of the Brewin Dolphin Dragon national championships the current champion Martin Byrne found his form with two firsts and a third. The conditions were ideal with sunshine and an oscillating westerly breeze which gave ample oppprtunity for snakes and ladders. Overall after discard visiting Danish Olympic gold medallist Poul hoj jensen leads with ten points. Byrne is second on 20 and the UK's Chris Hunt is third on 28.  Kinsale's Cameron Good is fourth. Belfast Lough's Simon Brien is 5th. The event continues tomorrow and Sunday with three more races scheduled.

#dragon - There were light breezes for the first race of the Dragon national championships off Dun Laoghaire today. Early leader Rob Campbell, former chairman Int Dragon Association saw his substantial lead evaporate after a 30 degree shift on the last beat. Eventual winner Chris Hunt from Cowes was followed by local Don O'Donoghue of the RSGYC and Danish Olympic Gold medallist Poul Hoj Jensen. Next best of  the Irish was Clare Hogan and recent Edinburgh Cup winner Simon Brien from Belfast. Racing in the 21 boat fleet continues tomorrow.

#dragons – No sooner was the Dunlaoghaire waterfront cleared of ISAF Youth Worlds dinghies than it began to fill up with the classic hulls of the former Olympic class – the International Dragon.

And fresh from duty on the ISAF Youth Worlds race course, International Race Officer, David Lovegrove, is out again on the testing waters of Dublin Bay, controlling this fleet of high ranking international and local sailors as the Brewin Dolphin-sponsored Irish National Championship kicks off Thursday morning.

While this premier event on the Irish calendar will be hotly contested it is of course another opportunity for domestic and overseas sailors to attune their boats and crews to Irish conditions as they prepare for the main event of the Dragon season, the justly famous Dragon Gold Cup, which is the open World Championship for Dragons, and takes place in Kinsale Yacht Club from 8th-14th September.

Investment Managers Brewin Dolphin are not only sponsoring the Nationals and Gold Cup, but have put their support behind an innovative Grand Slam series comprising the Northerns, the Edinburgh Cup, the Nationals, the South Coasts and the Gold Cup. Brewin Dolphin are not newcomers to the world of sailing, having successfully sponsored the Scottish Series for the past 13 years and more recently the Commodores' Cup.

Ray Tilson, Managing Director Tilman Brewin Dolphin in Ireland said, "We are delighted to be marking our 250th Anniversary by sponsoring the Dragon Grand Slam and we look forward to a great event. Brewin Dolphin is notoriously passionate about sailing and we have an established history of supporting the sport and we look forward to working closely with the Irish Dragon fleet. Sailing has provided us with an excellent platform to increase awareness of our brand to a wider audience and we are confident that the Grand Slam will develop this."

While international participants will include Olympic gold medallist Poul Ricard Hoj Jensen, former International Dragon Association Chairman Rob Campbell, and the on form Jens Rathsack from Monaco, the Irish Dragon Fleet will be well represented by current Irish National Champion Martin Byrne, recent winner of the Edinburgh Cup Simon Brien as well as established successful campaigners Don O'Donoghue, Neil Hegarty and Cameron Good.

#dragon – Poor visibility on Belfast lough cut short the 2012 Edinburgh Cup regatta this morning giving Irish boats first and second overall. Britain's World Dragon Champion Lawrie Smith took third in the 45-boat fleet. The last race was cancelled leaving last night's results to count. Simon Brien's local entry Kin takes the title ahead of last year's winner,  fellow Irish sailor Martin Byrne of Dublin by nine points. The impressive Irish results bode well for the home fleet in September when the Dragon Gold Cup will be sailed in Kinsale.

The day three results therefore stood with five of the six possible races being completed and the champions declared as Brien, brother Mark and David Gomes all from Cultra , the second time they have lifted this historic trophy. In second place was Byrne from Dublin sailing IRL201 Jaguar with Pedro Andrade and Adam Winkelmann, and in third was Smith from Lymington, sailing GBR763 Alfie with Ossie Stewart and Tim Tavinor. Monaco's Jens Rathsack, sailing MON2 with Stefan Waak and Mario Wagner finished fourth with the Solent Fleet's Julia Bailey, Graham Bailey, Dylan Potter and Will Heritage in GBR720 Aimee fifth, and Gavia Wilkinson-Cox also of Cowes, sailing GBR761 Jerboa with Martin Payne and Rui Boya sixth.

Local boys all, the KIN team's performance is all the more remarkable when you bear in mind that Simon was also the regatta's organiser so he had to contend with both tough competition and the water and a very considerable organisational challenge ashore. Their win also stands out because KIN is an all-amateur Corinthian team in a fleet that includes many of the world's top professional sailors including 7 Olympians, several America's Cup veterans and multiple World and Continental Champions.

At the prize giving Simon Brien paid tribute to his fellow competitors and his crew. "What can I say - we're just absolutely so dumb struck that we've won it. Winning in 2000 was great with 22 or 23 boats and we had quite a few of the good guys. This year we have all of our friends from Ireland and England all over the world here and a lot of the really good guys that we look up to so much. To be in there mixing it with them has been just fantastic for us and we've had to pinched ourselves a little bit to be sitting there racing alongside Lawrie Smith and Paul Richard [Hoj-Jensen] and everybody else. I just have to say thanks to Mark and Davey who are my best friends. We have raced Dragons together for 20 years and we just have fun from the minute we step on the boat to the minute we step off, into the bar, what ever, and I just love sailing with you guys so thanks very much."

In the Corinthian Division for the all-amateur sailors second place behind Simon Brien went to Julia Bailey in Aimee and third place was claimed by Owen Pay of the Solent Fleet sailing IRL204 Seabird with Jon Mortimer and Steve Richardson, who were 11th overall.

Simon Brien also praised the way that the class brings together the professional and amateur sailors. "The Corinthian spirit and the professional mix throughout the class is just superb. I think without the professionals we wouldn't have the standard of racing that we have. Keeping that balance and keeping the Corinthians on our toes just makes for the right thing. I know there has been lots of debate about this over the years, but I really think the class made the right decision to keep welcoming professionals into the class."

Alongside the main prizes the Edinburgh Cup also has a number of additional perpetual awards. The Jordan Bell is presented to the highest placed team in the competition who did not finish a race in the top five and this year it goes to Ron and Julia James and Nigel Young in GBR633 Fei-Lin's Flirtation who finished the regatta in 13th overall. The Puffin Plate for boats over 25 years old was presented to GBR436 Sou'wester sailed by John Simms, John Gunning and Alan Morrison. Sou'wester was built in 1967 and finished 3rd in that year's Edinburgh Cup and the entire fleet was delighted to see her racing once again and putting in some very credible results, even leading the fleet at times during the racing.  The Travellers Trophy for the boat travelling the furthest distance was jointly awarded to Bocci Aayama from Japan and to Gordon Ingate and Sandy Anderson from their crews who between them will have clocked up over 30,000 miles to attend the regatta.

When collecting the Jordan Bell Ron James took the opportunity to thank sponsors Belfast Harbour, Brewin Dolphin, Petticrows, North Down Borough Council, Sebago and Stena Line for their most generous support noting "We wouldn't have half as much fun without them!"

Special prizes were also presented to two young men who represent the next generation of Dragon sailors, 11-year-old Will Heritage sailing with Julia Bailey aboard Aimee and 12-year-old Harry Strauss sailing with his parents Quentin and Nikki aboard GBR708 Rumours who finished in 14th. It was great to see such young crews not just sailing in such a strong international fleet, but having the skills and expertise to truly contribute to their teams and finish so well in the regatta. Harry and Will would without doubt jointly have won the keenest hiker award if there was such a thing and the sight of both boys reveling in yesterday's windy conditions was a joy. We look forward to following their progress and welcoming many other youngsters to the class in years to come.

At the prize giving Martin Makey, Chairman of the British Dragon Association, thanked the Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club for their hospitality saying, "I lasted visited Belfast 32 years ago in 1980 when I worked for a short while at Harland and Wolff Shipbuilders and it was a very different place then than it is today. But one thing has remained and that is the warmth of the welcome that the people from this part of our country gave me and have given us. So I'd like to say a very big thank you to all the members of this club and to everybody who has been helping us from Northern Ireland for the warmth of the welcome they have given to our members of the British Dragon Association and our visitors over the last two weeks.  Its been a great championship, we've had an outstanding turnout and we're going home very happy sailors."

The Northern Area Championship and Edinburgh Cup in Cultra formed the first two events in the 2012 Brewin Dolphin Irish Grand Slam. From here to crews move onto the Irish Championships in Dun Laoghaire, Dublin from 4-7 June, then the Irish South Coast Championship in Kinsale from 1-2 September and the final event in the series is the Dragon Gold Cup, also in Kinsale, from 8-14 October.

The 2013 Edinburgh Cup will take place from Portland and Weymouth Sailing Academy from 26-30 June and the 2013 Dragon World Championship will also be raced there from 5-13 September.

Top Five Overall

1.  IRL214 - KIN - Simon Brien - 4, (26), 3, 1, 3 = 11

2.  IRL201 - Jaguar - Martin Byrne - 8, 3, 1, (39), 8 = 20

3.  GBR763 - Alfie - Lawrie Smith - 11, 2, 5, (26), 4 = 22

4.  MON2 - Jeanie - Jens Rathsack - 2, 6, (46 OCS), 9, 6 - 23

5.  GBR720 - Aimee - Julia Bailey -  1, 1, 20, 2, (22) = 24

#dragon – A third in yesterday's race on home waters gives Simon Brien a nine point lead going into the final race of the Dragon Edinburgh Cup on Belfast lough this morning.

After a shocking start where an Australian competitor, Gordon Ingate, with an Americas Cup pedigree, forced the defending champion Martin Byrne into the pin end boat.  The Dun Laoghaire boat rounded the top mark in 26th position in a fresh 20knot + breeze and played catch up all round the race course to eventually finish eighth.

Byrne has moved up to second overall just two points ahead of current world champion Lawrie Smith with several others snapping at their heels.

Technically any of the top eight could still win in the single title race decider tomorrow.

The penultimate day of the 2012 Dragon Edinburgh Cup sponsored by Belfast Harbour brought big winds and big changes in the overall leader board.

There was just one race to complete so the committee set a full two-mile beat and with the wind gusting up into the high 20s it was to be a day that would truly sort the men from the boys. This fifth race in the series also brought the single discard into play and as a result there were major gains and losses with several of the early favourites dropping out of serious contention whilst others jumped up the rankings.

The man who made the biggest gain of the day was Simon Brien who went from second overall, ten points behind Julia Bailey, to first overall with a nice but not unassailable nine point lead over fellow Irishman Martin Byrne, who discarded a 39th place in favour of today's eighth to scoot up from ninth into second. Tonight reigning Edinburgh Cup Champion Brien was relieved to still be in contention to defend his title at all. On the start line he was caught up in a major incident caused by another boat and ended up rounding the first mark back in 25th place before fighting his way back up through the fleet.

There are now only four points separating second to fifth and technically any of the top eight boats could still win the regatta. Lawrie Smith finished the race in fourth and moves up into third overall, just two points behind Byrne. A single point behind him is Jens Rathsack who makes an even bigger leap up the scoreboard from 12th to fourth thanks to adding a sixth and discarding an OCS.

For Julia Bailey it was definitely not a good day. She did her best to recover from a lousy start but ended up getting her worst result of the series at 22nd place and drops down from first to fifth overall, one point behind Rathsack. Gavia Wilkinson-Cox put in another very solid performance to finish fifth, but the discards did not work in her favour so she drops from third to sixth overall.

Today's race winner was double Olympic Gold Medallist Poul Richard Hoj-Jensen who took control off the line and never gave a moment's though to relinquishing it as he delighted in the stronger conditions. His win puts him in seventh place overall, four points behind Wilkinson-Cox, and still in with a slim chance of claiming a record equalling sixth Edinburgh Cup title. Andrew Craig is the final player still in with a long shot at the laurels. His ninth place in race five leaves him four points behind Hoj-Jensen but 24 points behind Brien. Rounding out the top ten are Cameron Good and Klaus Diederichs who clearly loved the stronger winds and crossed the line in second place after a spectacular tousle amongst the leading pack.

One final race remains to be sailed tomorrow and with a forecast for lighter winds it remains anyone's championship.

With the championship race completed it was the turn of the crews to take the helm in the traditional Edinburgh Cup crews race which proved to be every bit as cut throat and exciting. One or two of the regular helms found themselves a bit disconcerted to be on the bow in well over 20 knots of breeze but the crews showed no mercy. Henry Kingston sailing Cameron Good's Little Fella was the ultimate victor although he was challenged hard by 11-year-old Will Heritage sailing Julia and Graham Bailey's Aimee. Ross Vaughan sailing Gordon Patterson's Bear took third with Guy Clarabut in Jono Ratnage's Fit Chick hard on his heels. Will Heritage was declared the very deserving winner of the special prize for young helms Under 30.

#dragon –Belfast hosts were the top performing boat of the day as Simon Brien's IRL214 KIN, crewed by Mark Brien and David Gomes took third in race three before going on to win race four in style by leading the fleet the entire length of the course. As a result Brien leaps up the scoreboard from 13th to second place overall counting 34 points.

Defending champion Martin Byrne won race three but slipped in race four to count a 39th and be ninth overall after four races.

Day two of the Dragon Edinburgh Cup sponsored by Belfast Harbour brought just about every possible weather condition bar snow. The day started and ended with rain, there was thick fog for several hours followed by a spell of lovely hot sun and the wind came from almost every direction possible at some point in the day. Despite the delays for fog and the very shifty and mainly light conditions the race committee was able to run two further races, races three and four of the six race series. For the competitors it was an extremely challenging day's racing with a number of boats having decidedly mixed results on only three boats managing an all top ten score.

Also very consistent was Gavia Wilkinson-Cox, sailing GBR716 Jerboa with Martin Payne and Rui Boia, who placed ninth then fourth to move up from ninth to third overall, four points behind Brien.

Julia Bailey, Graham Bailey, Dylan Potter and Will Heritage sailing GBR720 Aimee retain their overall lead of the regatta despite a wobble in race three which saw them finish twentieth. Fortunately they came back hard in race four fighting their way out of the pack to finish second and secure a ten point overall lead.

Owen Pay, sailing IRL204 Seabird with Jon Mortimer and Steve Richardson proved that consistency pays with a tenth and 15th to move up a place in the ranking from fifth to fourth, just one point behind Wilkinson-Cox.  Ron James, Julia Walsh and Nigel Young sailing GBR633 Fei-Lin's Flirtation have moved up from 11th to fifth and also provided the closest finish of the day when they crossed the line in race for absolutely neck and neck with Mick Cotter's IRL213 Whisper crewed by John Driscoll and Kenny McCullough.  Lawrie Smith, crewed by Tim Tavinor and Ossie Stewart in GBR763 Alfie took a fifth in race three but then a 26th in the day's second race moved him down the leader board from fourth to sixth.

Another boat that reveled in the conditions today was Andrew Craig's Chimera, crewed by Brian Matthews and Mark Pettitt, who were the only other team to finish in the top ten in both races with a second in race three and a sixth in race four. Sadly for them they are still carrying a Black Flag disqualification from yesterday's race two so they currently lie in 16th place overall and will be very happy to see the discard come into play after the fifth race.

Whilst some made the most of the conditions others struggled including Jens Rathsack, sailing MON2 with Stefan Waak and Mario Wagner. Having gone into the day second overall they were over eager on the start line in race three but failed to return when the individual recall flag was hoisted. Things improved for them in race four where they finished ninth, but they now lie 12th overall and will also be very glad to see the discard kick in.

Martin Byrne and his crew Pedro Andrade and Adam Winkleman aboard IRL201 got their day of to a fantastic start by winning race three. Sadly they could not get the measure of race four and were bitterly disappointed to finish 39th, ruining a previously all top ten score card and moving them down the overall rankings from second to ninth.

In the Corinthian Division for the all amateur crews Julia Bailey again continues to lead the fleet, Simon Brien has moved up into second place and Owen Pay has dropped down into third.

At the post racing prize giving at Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club Brewin Dolphin's Executive Chairman Jamie Matheson presented the daily awards and also presented a truly unique prize to the overall leader Julia Bailey and her Aimee team of beautifully engraved sterling silver cufflinks.  Today's special Sebago prize of footwear for the entire crew went to Mark and Mandy Wade and Simon Cash of GBR722 Avalanche.

This evening the crews are getting all dressed up in best bib and tucker for the Edinburgh Cup Gala Dinner, hosted by the Belfast Harbour Commissioners at the historic Harbour Office and sponsored by Brewin Dolphin. For more than 150 years the Harbour Office has been the headquarters of the Belfast Harbour Commission and its elegant public rooms house many fascinating and unusual works of art and artifacts connected with Belfast's maritime history.

The Edinburgh Cup sponsored by Belfast Harbour continues until Saturday 7 July with two further races still to be completed. The single discard will come inot play once race five has been raced. One championship race is scheduled for tomorrow and in addition the traditional and highly competitive Crews Race will also be run tomorrow with contenders for this prestigious title including 11 year old Will Heritage from Aimee and teenager Harry Strauss who is crewing for his parents Quentin and Nikki aboard GBR708 Rumours.

Top Five After Four Races

1.  GBR720 - Aimee - Julia Bailey -  1, 1, 20, 2 = 24

2.  IRL214 - KIN - Simon Brien - 4, 26, 3, 1 = 34

3.  GBR716 - Jerboa - Gavia Wilkinson-Cox - 12, 13, 9, 4 = 38

4.  IRL204 - Seabird - Own Pay - 10, 4. 10, 15 = 39

5.  GBR633 - Fei-Lin's Flirtation - 16, 10, 7, 10.5 RDG = 43.5

#dragon – Dublin's defending champion Martin Byrne scored an eighth and a third at the Edinburgh Cup yesterday to lie third overall just two points in front of the World Champion, Lawrie Smith. Top British lady helm Julia Bailey Leads the fleet after a spectacular double victory scored in the opening races.

The Edinburgh Cup, awarded to the winner of the Open British Dragon Championship, is one of the most prestigious and historic trophies in British yachting having been presented to the class by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh in 1949 and sailed for annually since.  It is also notoriously difficult to win and the 45 strong fleet assembled in Cultra on Belfast Lough for this year's Edinburgh Cup, sponsored by Belfast Harbour, is considered to be one of the most competitive ever.

All the more remarkable then that today's opening two races were both won by the same boat in a bravura sailing performance which produced one relatively comfortable win followed by a last moment seat of the pants victory.  Pundits in the class have been scratching their heads to remember the last time one boat won both opening Edinburgh Cup races and so far a comparable situation cannot be recalled.  As if the achievement wasn't already impressive enough it should also be noted that the winning crew includes the youngest sailor in the fleet at just 11 years old.  The boat that claimed those victories is GBR720 Aimee of Cowes helmed by Julia Bailey with husband Graham Bailey, Dylan Potter and youngster Will Heritage crewing.

No one else came close to matching Julia Bailey's consistency and tonight its Monaco's Jens Rathsack, sailing MON2 Jeanie with Stefan Waak and Mario Wagner, who claims second overall with a 2, 6 score to count eight points, six behind Bailey.   With an 8 in race one followed by a 3 in race two defending Edinburgh Cup Champion Martin Byrne sailing IRL201 Jaguar with Pedro Andrade and Adam Winkleman lies third overall on 11 points and reigning Dragon World Champion Lawrie Smith, sailing Alfie with Ossie Stewart and Tim Tavinor is fourth on 13 points thanks to an 11, 2 score line.

Julia Bailey also leads the Corinthian Division for the all amateur crews with Owen Pay, sailing IRL204 Seabird with Steve Richardson and Jon Mortimer, second and Patrick Gifford, sailing GBR717 Nereid with Paul Springett and Andrew Vaughn, third.

Alongside the formal daily prizes awarded each evening there is also a very special draw to win a set of Sebago sailing shoes for your crew.  Today's very popular Sebago prizewinners were Sunderland's Dave Atkinson, Michael Matthews and John Outhwaite of GBR690 Blue Movie, who were delighted recipients of this fun award.

Two further races are scheduled for tomorrow and the six race series continues until Saturday with a single discard being applied after the fifth race has been sailed.

Race by Race

The fleet, whose crews represent some 11 different nations including Japan, Australia, Monaco, Portugal, Germany, Denmark, the UK and Ireland faced some extremely difficult conditions with light and shifty winds in both races.  Race Officer Nigel Kerney and his team faced a tough day in the office as they shifted start lines and marks almost constantly trying to keep the courses fair.  Initially the day was overcast with showers, but during the second race the sun came out and the North Down countryside was revealed proving that this truly is a stunningly beautiful place to sail and visit.

In race one Patrick Gifford led the fleet at the first mark with Bailey a reasonable distance back in second and the pack some lengths back again.  By the leeward mark Bailey and the pack had closed the gap although Gifford still rounded a few seconds ahead with the two boats choosing opposite sides of the beat.  Gifford did his best to hold everyone at bay for as long as he could but the onslaught eventually overwhelmed him and he finished the race in sixth.  Meanwhile Bailey took the lead and despite various challenges defended confidently to the finish taking victory from Rathsack.  Third place went to Kinsale's Cameron Good sailing IRL211 Little Fella with Maurice O"Connell and Henry Kingston while Simon Brien took fourth

The second race was an altogether different affair and initially things looked far from good for Bailey as she rounded the weather mark in 18th place.  They'd had a reasonable start at the pin end and then got a nice left shift but couldn't tack on it as they couldn't cross the fleet.  By the time they could tack they had over stood the mark and were forced to take a lot of sterns as they tried to find space in the packed starboard layline.  They immediately gybe set whilst the rest of fleet headed right, taking each other up in the process, and with the benefit of the tide Bailey managed to lay the leeward mark in one gybe gaining a lot of places.  Two more good legs saw them pull up into second behind race leader Smith.

Julia takes up the story of the final beat.  "We went just behind Lawrie at the last bottom mark with one beat to go.  We were quite happy second to Lawrie.  We could see they were moving the finish line boat to the right and we weren't quite sure how far they would go so we went quite a long way. When it obviously became time that we should be tacking [for the line] we said to Lawrie 'Don't worry Lawrie, we'll follow you in if you want to go, but if we go now don't tack on us please.' but I'm not sure he heard that so we tacked and he tacked on us.  We then tacked immediately off and just as we were going through the tack we got a 5 degree lift and by the time Lawrie came back at us he couldn't cross us and got stuck underneath and we just managed to hold him out."  Crossing the line behind Bailey and Smith were Byrne, and Owen Pay.

Top Five After Two Races

1.  GBR720 - Aimee - Julia Bailey -  1, 1 = 2

2.  MON2 - Jeanie - Jens Rathsack - 2, 6 = 8

3.  IRL210 - Jaguar - Martin Byrne - 8, 3 = 11

4.  GBR763 - Alfie - Lawrie Smith - 11, 2 = 13

5.  IRL204 - Seabird - Own Pay - 10, 4 = 14

#dragon – After seven incredibly tough races over three days it all went down to a tie-breaker to decide the winner of the 2012 Dragon Northern Area Championship. Sponsored by Belfast Harbour and hosted by the Royal North Of Ireland Yacht Club on Belfast Lough from 30 June to 3 July, the event had attracted 32 competitors - the best entry in many years - including teams from Monaco and Australia as well as from across the UK and Ireland.

The quality of competition at the regatta was incredibly high with every mark rounding action packed and the difference between a podium place and mid fleet being just a matter of seconds in almost every race. The Race Committee was at the top of its game as they brought seven great races to the fleet despite some very shifty and variable conditions. Those seven races featured six different race winners and going into the final day the top four boats were separated by only five points.

As they went into the final race it was still anyone's regatta with Julia Bailey, crewed in Aimee by husband Graham, Dylan Potter and eleven year old Will Heritage holding a narrow lead on 19 points. A single point behind in second was Klaus Diederichs, sailing Fever with Andy Beadsworth and Jamie Lee. In third was Gavia Wilkinson-Cox, sailing Jerboa with Martin Payne and Rui Boia counting 23 points and in fourth was Chris Hunt, sailing Dark and Stormy with Mark Hart and Mark Daly, on 25 points. The overall points however were not fully known to the competitors as the class has a no VHF communication rule at its major championships and therefore did not know the identity of a single boat called over the start line (OCS) in the penultimate race. All four knew they had been close to the line and that no boat had returned across the line so almost any of them could be the disqualified boat.

With the wind constantly varying in both velocity and direction as rain showers rolled down across the hills from the south it was to be the toughest race of the series. For Diederichs and Bailey tricky starts were compounded by missed shifts and both boats scored their worst results of the regatta to put them out of the overall running. So it was down to Wilkinson-Cox and Hunt to fight it out for the laurels and what a fight it was with the two boats within yards of each other throughout the race. On the line Hunt just got the better of the situation finishing the race in second place with Wilkinson-Cox in fourth. Looking back down the fleet Wilkinson-Cox knew the points were tight but feared that her fourth place hadn't been sufficient and in fact was worried about whether she'd made the podium at all. It wasn't until she arrived back at the club house sometime later that she discovered that the OCS boat had been Simon Brien and that she had just snatched the 2012 Dragon Northern Area Championship on count-back from Hunt with Diederichs third and Bailey fourth.

At the prize giving dinner Gavia Wilkinson-Cox paid tribute to the regatta organisers led by Simon Brien, to her crew and to the quality of the competition saying. "Simon has already very eloquently thanked all those involved with running this event, but on behalf of everybody here I want to say the hugest thank to Simon. Nobody could have done more than he has to get everybody here. The other thank you of course goes to my crew Stavros and Rui - two fantastic sailors. And finally thank you all for being fantastic competitors and for the tough racing."

The Corinthian Trophy, for the first all amateur crew, went to Julia Bailey in Aimee, while Mark and Mandy Wade, sailing Avalanche with Simon Cash were Corinthian runners up and fifth overall. The Old Boat Trophy, for the top performance by one of the classic boats in the fleet, went to Sou'wester which was recently brought back to life after 16 years in storage by her crew of owner John Simms, John Gunning and Alan Morrison, who proved that there's plenty of life in the old girl yet by finishing 13th overall.  Special mention must also go to Monaco's Jens Rathsack sailing Jeanie with Stefan Waak and Mario Wagner for being the only team to win two races in the regatta and who finished sixth overall.

Tomorrow the Edinburgh Cup - the Dragon British Open Championship - sponsored by Belfast Harbour gets underway and with the fleet growing to 46 teams with the addition of reigning World Champion and Olympic Bronze Medallist Lawrie Smith, reigning Edinburgh Cup Champion Martin Byrne, Double Olympic Gold Medallist and five time Edinburgh Cup Champion Poul Richard Hoj-Jensen and 2008 Edinburgh Cup Champion Don O'Donoghue, to name but a few, it will not only be the biggest Edinburgh Cup fleet in more than quarter of a century but also one of the toughest ever assembled.

The 2012 Edinburgh Cup sponsored by Belfast Harbour runs from Wednesday 4 to Saturday 7 July with up to six races scheduled. Racing will continue on Belfast Lough but the fleet will move seawards down the lough to allow for a much larger championship race course with beats of up to 2 miles.  Once five races have been completed a single discard will be allowed.

#DRAGON – Dublin's Martin Byrne is taking on a double Olympic gold medal winner and former world champion to defend his Dragon Edinburgh Cup title in the first week of July. Byrne, the Commodore of the Royal St. George Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire, leads a strong international field of sailors travelling to Belfast to take part in what is set to be one of the largest Dragon Class yachting events of its kind. Sponsored by Belfast Harbour, Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club is hosting the 2012 Edinburgh Cup, the UK Dragon Championships, which will take place on Belfast Lough from 4th July-7th July.

Forty-six boats from 10 different countries, including Australia, Japan and Monaco, will compete in what is the largest field in 25 years as the international race returns to Northern Ireland for the first time since 2000. The event will see Denmark's Poul Ricard Hoj Jensen, who struck sailing gold in the Soling class at the 1976 and 1980 Olympics, pit his wits against Byrne and a strong Irish fleet including current Miss Northern Ireland Tiffany Brien, an experienced sailor who was ranked number one in Ireland in the single handed Laser Radial Class last year. Tiffany is crewing for Julian Sowry, one of the top UK competitors.

A former Edinburgh Cup winner, in addition to his world and Olympic successes, Jensen is excited about returning to a race course he rates very highly, saying:

"I am very much looking forward to taking part in the Edinburgh Cup in Belfast, I have sailed there numerous times before and the sailing area and race course are outstanding – in fact, it would be difficult to find a better race track anywhere in the UK.

"I have not yet seen the new marina constructed by Belfast Harbour and look forward to seeing the facility. I am also very well acquainted with the hospitality of the Royal North of Ireland Yacht club and I am excited about meeting up with 'old friends' and enjoying the social activities during the event."

The Edinburgh Cup will be preceded by the British Northern Area Championships from 1st July-3rd July, also hosted by Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club. A parade of sail involving over 30 competing Dragon class yachts will take place from Belfast Harbour's new marina facility at Abercorn Basin to the finish line at Royal North on Saturday evening (6pm) to launch both sailing competitions.

Simon Brien, of Royal North of Ireland and father of Tiffany Brien, commented:

"The calibre of entries for the Edinburgh Cup is truly exceptional and, given that we will have up to 10 different nationalities represented, I don't think there has ever been a sailing event in Northern Ireland with such a high quality international fleet. Challenging Poul Ricard Hoj Jensen for the title is a real who's who from the international yachting elite, with current world champion, Lawrie Smith, and Edinburgh Cup holder, Martin Byrne, also coming to take part.

"It's a real coup for Royal North to have such a stellar line-up and we would like to thank principal sponsor Belfast Harbour, whose support has been invaluable in ensuring we are able to host an event befitting the high calibre of participants. As ever, there is a varied programme of entertaining social events to accompany the competitive action and I would encourage people to come along and watch some world-class international Dragon class yacht racing."

In 2010, Royal North hosted the Irish Dragon Championships, also sponsored by Belfast Harbour, which attracted boats from throughout the UK and Europe. Looking forward to the Edinburgh Cup and British Northern Area Championships, Roy Adair, CEO of Belfast Harbour, commented:

"Belfast Harbour has strong historical links with the Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club and, following the great success of the Irish Dragon Boat Championships both on and off the water in 2010, we are delighted to once again form a partnership in hosting one of the most prestigious Dragon yacht racing events in the world.

"Just last month over 60 yachts from across Ireland enjoyed the new marina facilities at Belfast Harbour during our Lough to Lagan Floatilla and we are looking forward to welcoming international competitors and their families to Belfast once again. Tourism has been a major driver of the Northern Ireland economy – sailing, and the Edinburgh Cup in particular, adds another layer to Northern Ireland's tourism offering."