#dragongoldcup – Kinsale Yacht Club Commodore Cameron Good is back as top Irish boat at the Dragon Gold Cup tonight after a day of snakes and ladders as the wind swung into the west at around 14-16 knots and became extremely shifty, putting the tacticians firmly in the hot seat. Good crewed by Simon Furney and Henry Kingston are ninth overall three places ahead of Dubliner Martin Byrne in 12th who scored a disappointing 33 today.

The UK's Graham Bailey was most certainly man of the match on day three of the event where he claimed both Overall and Corinthian victory in race three of the six race series.

The fleet was initially over eager but after a general recall they settled down and got away cleanly at the second attempt. The majority headed right for the cliffs but it was those who stayed centre left that got the best of the shifts and Graham Bailey sailed an absolute blinder of a first beat to lead the fleet by twice the distance of the spreader leg at the first weather mark. Behind him the pack was bunched with Ferenc Kis-Szölgyémi second closely followed by Tommy Mueller, Remy Arnaud, Dmitry Samokhin, Tim Pearson and Anatoly Loginov.

Bailey held his lead nicely on the first run whilst Mueller slid up into second with Arnaud now up to third and Kis-Szölgyémi down to fourth. The second beat brought a huge right-hander, which really shook up the fleet. Bailey's apparently unassailable lead disintegrated as Claire Hogan took full advantage of the shift, climbing from ninth to first to lead Bailey around the second weather mark. Kis-Szölgyémi had pulled back up into third with Loginov fourth, James Matthews fifth, Tanja Jacobsohn sixth, Simon Brien seventh and Andrew Craig eighth. Muller rounded ninth with Lawrie Smith in tenth.

Hogan, Bailey, Kis-Szölgyémi and Loginov held their places on the second run as Brien moved up into fifth with Jacobsohn sixth and Matthews seventh. The final beat was to feature an epic battle between Hogan and Bailey. Bailey takes up the story, "We took the left side of the beat and Claire took the right, so we split and the running boats came down through the middle separating us. Then all we could do was work with what we'd got. Sometimes they looked great - sometimes we looked OK. As we came toward the finished we just crossed ahead of them and had to decide do we tack or do we not. We didn't tack, but I didn't feel too good about that when they went to the left and the wind went 20 degrees their way and things didn't look too flash for a while. Coming into the finish we were bow to bow and we just managed to tack underneath them. The committee boat was favoured and we were on the right and just got it." While Bailey and Hogan were slugging it out Mueller was working hard to consolidate his overall lead in the regatta by sailing himself up from ninth to third, Kis-Szölgyémi crossed the line in fourth and Smith was fifth.

At the half way point in the regatta, Germany's Tommy Mueller, who won the Dragon Gold Cup in 2002 and is sailing with Michael Lipp and Vincent Hoesch, himself a five time Gold Cup Champion, now leads the no-discard series with eight points. Russia's Dmitry Samokhin, who is crewed by Russian Olympic Tornado sailor Andrey Kirilyuk and Aleksey Bushuev - has gone from fourth into second place on 21 points. British Olympic Bronze Medallist and reigning Dragon World Champion Lawrie Smith, who is nursing a serious knee injury sustained earlier in the week and is crewed by Tim Tavinor and Joost Houweling, has jumped from seventh to third overall on 24 points and Hungary's Ferenc Kis-Szölgyémi goes from ninth to fourth and is now just one point behind Smith. Overnight second placed Poul Richard Hoj-Jensen, a five time Dragon Gold Cup champion, and third placed Joergen Schoenherr, who has won it three times, both had decidedly mediocre days with Hoj-Jensen finishing 34th and Schoenherr 28th. As a result Schoenherr has slumped to seventh overall and Hoj-Jensen to eighth.

Race three winner Graham Bailey from Cowes, whose crew includes 11 year old Will Heritage - the youngest competitor in the regatta, also led the Corinthian fleet across the line with Frenchman Remy Arnaud second and Cork native James Matthews, who recently returned to sailing after a four year break, third. Overnight leader Reemt Reemtsma from the Netherlands, had a mediocre day adding a 13th to his score line whilst Kinsale Yacht Club Commodore Cameron Good, who went into the day second overall, took 7th. In the overall Corinthian standings Good now leads the regatta on 12 points whilst Reemstma, Bailey and Matthews are all counting 17 points and lie second to fourth respectively on count back.

Three races remain to be sailed and the regatta continues until Friday 14th September. With a forecast for more strong winds over the coming days the crews are bracing themselves for three more days of extremely challenging sailing.

Full results here

#dragon – Dublin's Martin Byrne is fifth overall after an action packed second day of the Brewin Dolphin sponsored Dragon Gold Cup in Kinsale gave the sixty strong fleet another tough work out as they completed race two of the series in big seas and winds of up to 28 knots from the West. Byrne is sailing with regular crew Adam Winkelmann and Pedro Andrade who last season lifted the Irish title and the 2011 Edinburgh Cup.

Byrne was more aggressive at the start today in order to stick to a plan to protect the right all day due to a micro analysis of the weather forecast.

'The port hand tack was faster as we crossed the waves easier before a tough starboard tack into monstrous waves to the weather mark' Byrne told Afloat.ie

After an initial general recall the fleet got away cleanly at the second time of asking. At the first mark those who had worked the centre left came out on top with Ferenc Kis-Szölgyémi, sailing HUN57 Bear, leading the fleet from Tommy Mueller, sailing GER1123 Sinewave, second and Frank Berg, sailing DEN266 My Way, third. Hard on their heels came a pack of boats led by Byrne, in IRL201 Jaguar, whose port tack approach fell foul of starboard tacker Joergen Schoenherr, sailing DEN406 African Queen. Although Byrne rounded the mark ahead he then had to do a pair of turns to exonerate himself and by the time he'd pirouetted his way down the spreader leg he had been passed by Jens Rathsack, in MON2 Jeanie, Klaus Diederichs, in GBR758 Fever and Dimitry Samokhin, in RUS76 Strange Little Girl.

Although Byrne opted to do a two turn penalty it was costly as it dropped the Irish boat into the high teens.

Kis-Szölgyémi did his best to defend on the first run but he was no match for the impressive speed of Mueller. By the first gate Mueller had the lead with Kis-Szölgyémi second, Schoenherr had moved up into third and Diederichs was fourth, just ahead of Berg. Having rounded the gate in eighth Byrne decided it was time to get his skates on and up the second beat he worked the shifts that came through under a heavy rain squall to best advantage. By the second weather mark he was up into third behind Mueller and Schoenherr and just ahead of Kis-Szölgyémi, Diederichs and Poul Richard Hoj-Jensen, sailing GBR775 Danish Blue.

Down the second run both the breeze and the wave height had increased and as the sun broke through the dark clouds the fleet made a spectacular sight surfing flat out against a backdrop of rolling Irish countryside. At the second gate Schoenherr had closed up on Mueller but it wasn't enough and on the final beat Mueller stretched out his lead again leaving Schoenherr to trail him across the line. The battle for third place was fraught and was only decided in the closing moments with Diederichs crossing the line just ahead of Byrne and Hoj-Jensen.

'Fourth today pulls Jaguar into fifth overall after two races but we were really happy with our speed and tactics against such an experienced international fleet Byrne' told Afloat.

In the overall standings overnight leader Lawrie Smith, sailing GBR763 Alfie, exacerbated a knee injury sustained yesterday and struggled to finish the race crossing the line in 18th place so drops down into seventh overall. Today's race win takes Tommy Mueller to the top of the league table with five points while Poul-Richard Hoj-Jensen's steady fifth means he remains in second overall on seven points. Joergen Schoenherr has jumped up into third place and is just a single point behind Hoj-Jensen with Dimitry Samokhin fourth on eleven points and Martin Byrne fifth on fifteen.

In the Corinthian Division for the all-amateur crews today's race winner was Reemt Reemtsma, sailing GER1121 Caroroo, who also claimed sixth place in the overall division. Second place went to Remy Arnaud, sailing FRA396 Legend, Frank Berg was third and local boy Cameron Good, sailing IRL211 Little Fella was fourth. In the overall Corinthian standings Reemtsma now leads the fleet on four points from Good on five with Berg third counting eight points and Arnaud fourth on nine points.

This evening the crews are enjoying a cocktail reception, supported by Kinsale Town Council and OPW, at the historic Charles Fort, which has guarded the entrance to Kinsale Harbour since the 17th century.

Four more races are scheduled and the regatta continues until Friday 14th September.

Dragon Gold Cup - Race One. Two Irish Yacht Club Commodores lead the home challenge at the Dragon Gold Cup in Kinsale with race one completed in a windy 20 knot south westerly breeze today. Cameron Good, Commodore of Kinsale YC finished in seventh while Dubliner Martin Byrne, Commodore of Royal St George YC finished 11th in the 70 boat international fleet.

The race was won by current Dragon world champion Lawrie Smith followed by double Olympic gold medalist Poul Rickard Hoj-Jensen. Racing continues until Friday.

Over 250 competitors, supporters and guests attended the Opening Ceremony for the Brewin Dolphin Dragon Gold Cup 2012 at a reception at Kinsale Yacht Club.

The Brewin Dolphin Dragon Gold Cup 2012 got underway in spectacular style as the 60 competitors from 16 nations and 4 continents completed their first race in strong winds and big seas off Kinsale.

The Dragon Gold Cup is legendary for being one of the toughest championships in keelboat racing as it is raced over huge 12+ mile windward leeward courses and there is no discard in the six race series. Today's rough seas and winds of up to 25 knots from the south certainly ensured it was also a test of stamina as well as skill and there were incidents aplenty with a number of spectacular broaches and some exciting mark roundings as the sailors contended with the confused seas and blustery conditions.

The fleet got away cleanly at the first time of asking by PRO Alan Crosbie, and the first beat saw the boats spread out very evenly across the course. At the first weather mark those who had opted to go right had the advantage and it was reigning Dragon World Champion Lawrie Smith, sailing GBR763 Alfie, who led the fleet from double Olympic Gold Medallist Poul Richard Hoj-Jensen, sailing GBR775 Danish Blue; Dimitry Samokhin sailing RUS76 Strange Little Girl; 2010 Gold Cup winner Anatoly Loginov sailing RUS27 Annapurna; and Cameron Good, sailing IRL211 Little Fella.

Whilst Smith and Hoj-Jensen then held their positions around the course the battle behind them for third place was fierce. By the start of the final beat Tommy Mueller, sailing GER1123 Sinewave, had pulled up into third just ahead of Samokhin, Good was fifth and Loginov sixth with Lars Hendriksen, sailing UKR7 Bunker Boys, moving up into seventh.

Hoj-Jensen pushed Smith hard on the final beat but both boats also had to defend their positions on the chasing pack. At the line Smith won from Hoj-Jensen whilst Samokhin pulled back up into third with Mueller fourth. Hendriksen, who has claimed the Gold Cup on two previous occasions, sailed a wonderful final leg to cross the line in fifth. Joergen Schoenherr, sailing DEN406 African Queen, also showed blistering pace to go from 11th to sixth on the last beat, just pipping Good on the line.

Cameron Good, Commodore of the Kinsale Yacht Club, also claimed victory in the Corinthian Division, for the all-amateur crews. Dublin's Gary Treacy, sailing IRL198 Dublin Bay, took second place in the Corinthians with Reemt Reemtsma, sailing GBR1121 Caroroo, in third and IDA Chairman Richard Blickman, sailing NED393 Cobweb, fourth.

One of the most impressive stories of the day came from the Australian team aboard AUS222 Puff III. They were running very deep in sixth place on the second run when a rogue wave caught the transom and span them into a Chinese jybe. Helmsman Richard Lynn found himself being swept out of the boat as his crew, Ian Olson and Aussie sailing legend Roger Hickman, battled to get their spinnaker, which was now doing a very good job of trawling for supper, back under control. Fortunately Richard just managed to grab the spinnaker sheet on his way out of the boat and by the time the boys had the kite under control he was back on board. They had lost a number of places but they dug in on the final lap and managed to pull back up into ninth place, keeping themselves firmly in contention.

Five more races are scheduled and the regatta continues until Friday 14th September. Lighter airs are forecast for the next couple of days but strong airs are expected to return later in the week.

The Dragon Gold Cup is considered the open World Cup of Dragon Sailing with 60 boats from 16 countries and several world champions and ex-olympians competing for this prestigious trophy, hosted by Kinsale Yacht Club from 8th-14th September.

Cameron Good, Commodore, Kinsale Yacht Club welcomed all the competitors and supporters and introduced Guest of Honour, Simon Coveney TD, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, who congratulated Kinsale Yacht Club for hosting this international sailing event and wished everyone good sailing for the week ahead.

Also in attendance were Lieutenant Commander Brian Sweeney, Captain of the LE Ciara Naval Vessel, that docked in Kinsale on Saturday, together with Lieutenant Ronan McLoughlin.

Additional guests included Billy Lynch, Mayor of Kinsale, Conor Grimley from Tilman Brewin Dolphin, Dublin who is participating in the Dragon Gold Cup and Niamh McCutcheon, President of the Irish Sailing Association.

Some of the top sailors competing for the Brewin Dolphin Dragon Gold Cup include British Olympic Bronze Medallist and reigning Dragon World Champion Lawrie Smith, Danish double Olympic Gold Medallist and five time Dragon Gold Cup winner Poul Richard Hoj-Jensen, past Dragon Gold Cup and World Champion Tommy Mueller from Germany, double Dragon Gold Cup and European Champion Lars Hendriksen from Denmark, three time Dragon Gold Cup winner Joergen Schoenherr, also from Denmark and Russia's Anatoly Loginov who won the Gold Cup in 2010.

With teams from sixteen nations competing including visitors from across Europe and as far afield as Australia, Hong Kong, Russia and the Ukraine competition is expected to be fierce.

Two of the top female Dragon helms will also be competing in the form of Britain's Gavia Wilkinson-Cox and Germany's Tanja Jacobsohn, both of whom are more than capable of putting in winning performances.

The Irish Dragon Fleet is well represented by current Edinburgh Cup holder Simon Brien from the Royal North of Ireland YC, Martin Byrne from the Royal St George YC and Andrew Craig, also from the Royal St George YC and recent Irish South Coast Champion, Cameron Good from Kinsale

Regatta Director is Julie Silfverberg; the Race Management team is headed up by Alan Crosbie and the M.Yves Léglise is Chairman of the International Jury.

#dragon – Kinsale Yacht Club Commodore Cameron Good won the 15-boat Dragon South Coast Championships hosted by his own club in sunny conditions at the weekend. Full results below to download as a jpeg file.

Five races were held over two days with the overall results down to the final race in the warm up series for next week's staging of the Gold Cup at the South coast venue.

The home team of Cameron Good, Simon Furney and Henry Kingston fought off stiff competition to win the trophy from Dublin and British entries.

Photo gallery from a sunny Kinsale by Bob Bateman here

#dragon – As a signal of his intent for a home result at next week's Dragon Gold Cup Andrew Craig's 'Chimaera' crewed by Brian Mathews and Mark Pettiit holds a slender one point lead over Neil Hegarty's 'Phantom' crewed by Arthur Mehigan and Kevin O'Boyle, both boats from the Royal St. George Yacht Club, following the first three races of the Dragon South Coast Championship at Kinsale today.

Lying third is Kinsale Yacht Yacht Club's Commodore, Cameron Good, sailing 'Little Fella' crewed by Simon Furney and Henry Kingston.

The winds were 13 to 20 knots West South West and provided exhilarating competition for these exciting classic design.

This event is a warm up for the Brewin Dolphin sponsored Dragon Gold Cup that at Kinsale from September 8th.

Racing in the South Coast Championship will continue with a further two races tomorrow followed by the prizegiving.

#dragon – This year's event saw 24 entries with a large contingent from the UK and further afield. The numbers were boosted by generous sponsorship from Brewin Dolphin and the creation of a Grand Slam comprising the Edinburgh Cup, the Nationals and the Gold Cup, plus two regional championships.

2011 National Champion, Martin Byrne, mounted a strong challenge to defend his title with two firsts on day 2, which saw him in pole position to lift the magnificent silver trophy again. The weather was sparkling with sunshine and an oscillating and gusty westerly breeze which gave ample opportunity for snakes and ladders on the course. The local challenge evaporated on Saturday as Byrne carded a 16 and a 15.

Indeed, it was a characteristic of this event that almost all the sailors were carrying at least one score in the teens, indicative of the challenging conditions. All the sailors that is except one. In a remarkable display of consistent brilliance, Danish Olympic gold medallist Poul-Ricard Hoj-Jensen discarded a fourth place to win the event with a race in hand. The visitors dominated the event, with Martin Payne in second place and third was Chris Hunt. Best of the Irish (and the first Corinthian boat) was Simon Brien in fourth.

The fleet now moves to Kinsale at the end of August for the South Coasts and finally the Brewin Dolphin Gold Cup, which is an Open World Championship for the class.

#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.