After some disappointing cancellations for the Dragon class this season at Kinsale Yacht Club, local Dragon racing made a welcome return to the West Cork harbour at the weekend.

As regular readers will know both the International Dragon Gold Gup planned for this month at Kinsale and then its replacement Cantor Fitzgerald Dragon Week were both cancelled in the wake of COVID-19 restrictions.

However, a busy weekend on the water for KYC, saw local racing resume as well as KYC cruiser racing in the first race of the Mary P September Series, as Afloat reported earlier.

Afloat's Bob Bateman captured the Kinsale Dragon action in the slideshow below

Kinsale Yacht Club has announced that the Cantor Fitzgerald Dragon Week, which was scheduled to take place in lieu of the earlier Gold Cup event has now also been cancelled.

Speaking of the announcement, Matthias Hellstern, Rear Commodore of Kinsale Yacht Club stated "It's a real shame that we have to cancel another Dragon event in Kinsale, however, we looked closely at the new Government restrictions and felt that we really couldn't work within the guidelines and still provide an exceptional event, which Kinsale is noted for. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Cantor Fitzgerald for their support and of our decision. We very much look forward to working with them again in the near future".

Daniel Murphy of Cantor Fitzgerald added "As a Dragon sailor, I am really disappointed that Dragon Week is cancelled. I know Kinsale Yacht Club had put so much plans in place for the week and its volunteers had once again come to the fore, to ensure its success. However, given where we are with regard to this Covid-19 pandemic, we fully support Kinsale Yacht Club's decision".

Cameron Good's Dragon 'Little Fella' was the overall winner of Kinsale Yacht Club's one day Dragon keelboat Regatta on Saturday (August 1).

Good, who also won KYC's Pery Knox Gore 2020 Trophy in late July, sailed with Henry Kingston and Simon Good.

The Race officer for the one-day event was former KYC Commodore, Dave O'Sullivan. The event is part of the build-up for next month's Cantor Fitzgerald sponsored Dragon Week at the club. As Afloat reported previously, interest is building for the event that will include racing for National Championship honours.

Following the recent announcement of the Cantor Fitzgerald Dragon Week, enquires and interest has steadily been making their way back to the Kinsale fleet in West Cork.

Kinsale Yacht Club is hopeful that the “green list” will allow UK travel by September as several UK teams have indicated their intention to travel.

Kinsale Yacht Club dragon sailors should have seven boats competing with long time Dragon campaigner Cameron Good along with his crew on “Little Fella” will be hoping to lift the National title, the one championship that has eluded this team over their illustrious career

Other Kinsale hopefuls will be the Goggin/ Murphy team on “Serafina” along with “TBD” made up of experienced campaigners James Matthews, Dave Good and Fergal O’Hanlon.

Glandore Harbour has indicated that five teams are hopeful of making the short journey down the coast and no doubt multiple national championship winners “Phanton” from Dublin will be in Kinsale to defend their crown. The class rumour mill has also been in overdrive recently with suggestions that Royal St. George's Michael Cotter together with Belfast Lough's Simon Brien and Davy Gomes are to sail the Dragon, “Whisper” for the week!

The “Cantor Fitzgerald Dragon Week” will run in the following format:

• South Coat Championships - Saturday 5th – Monday 7th September
• Lay Day – Tuesday 8th September
• National Championships – Wednesday 9th – Saturday 12th September

Much of the rest of the sailing world may be whirling in coronavirus confusion, but in serene and elegant Glandore in West Cork. the strong local division of classic and modern International Dragons went smoothly into their 14-race Dragon Derby at the weekend. And last Saturday’s racing had a very special flavour, as it marked the 90th birthday of international super-sailor Don Street, who must have done more sailing his time in a greater variety of boats – inshore, offshore and oceanic – than possibly all of his fellow-members of Glandore Harbour Yacht Club combined.

……but as start time approaches, a youthful crew appears from below decks

Don’s classic Dragon Gypsy – IRL 15 – is of much the same vintage as himself, and is undoubtedly the oldest actively raced Dragon in Ireland, one of a very elite group of seniors worldwide - as is her owner-skipper. It says much for the profound qualities of the 91-year-old Dragon design that Don Street and his colleagues in Glandore should put so much enthusiasm in keeping this very special division of the class actively alive. Happy birthday, Don……

Glandore Dragons closing in on the mark

A very special birthday party in Glandore – at 90, Don Street (second left) enjoys his post-race parties as much as ever.

Kinsale Yacht Club has announced Cantor Fitzgerald is the headline sponsor for Dragon Week 2020 which will be held in Kinsale from the 5th to 12th of September 2020

After the unfortunate cancellation of September's Gold Cup, the Kinsale fleet got together and the idea of Dragon Week was born.

“We had huge interest in the Gold Cup this year and were expecting over 80 entries”, commented Kinsale Dragon stalwart Cameron Good. “However we know that there are many very keen Dragon sailors out there looking to get sailing and the idea with Dragon Week was to maintain the enthusiasm within the Irish fleet. We are using the same dates as the Gold Cup and will run a weeklong series, incorporating the South Coast and National Championships, but with an open invitation to sailors from any nation to come and race if they can”.

The “Cantor Fitzgerald Dragon Week” will run in the following format:

• South Coat Championships - Saturday 5th – Monday 7th September
• Lay Day – Tuesday 8th September
• National Championships – Wednesday 9th – Saturday 12th September

Reacting to the announcement that Cantor Fitzgerald were to headline sponsor this unique event, Daniel Murphy, Head of Cantor Fitzgerald’s Cork office stated that “With the disappointment associated with the cancellation of the Gold Cup, we were immediately attracted to the proactive nature of how Kinsale Yacht Club went about redesigning the calendar by being creative and coming up with the concept of Dragon Week.

Cantor Fitzgerald Ireland is part of leading global financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald. With a proud history of stockbroking and servicing our private clients and financial advisors in Ireland since 1995, we provide a full suite of investment services, primarily in personalised share dealing, pensions, wealth management, fund management, debt capital markets and corporate finance. We are proud to be working in tandem with the Irish Dragon fleet and Kinsale Yacht Club in these exceptional times and look forward to a great week.”

During a “COVID 19” garage clean out recently, a box of unclaimed prizes was found for the Irish Dragon keelboat class.

These, according to the inscriptions thereon, were to be awarded at the prize-giving for the East Coast Dragon Championships 1985 to the 3rd, 5th and 6th places overall. Apparently, as 1st, 2nd and 4th were presented, there was no one there to receive the others. In fact, no one has any idea how they came to be.

After some debate, it was decided to try and find who the recipients might have been.

By delving through the Dragon Class records, the Dublin Bay Dragon Fleet Captain’s Report Season 1985 revealed the following relevant information:- “Congratulations to the East Coast Dragon Championships winner Conor Doyle and his crew in Alphida and runner-up Alan Crosbie and his crew in Isolde. Other placings were 3rd John Kidney (Hikari), 4th Gerry Owens (Titan), 5th Peter & Susan Gray (Andromeda) and 6th Dan O’Connor (Leprechaun).

It was then decided to arrange a belated prize giving, albeit 35 years late, for the rediscovered prizes. This took place in accordance with COVID 19 protocol on Thursday 25th June.

Prizes were presented by the owner of the garage in question, former Dragon ace Michael Cotter.

Kinsale Yacht Club have today confirmed that the 2020 Dragon Gold Cup, due to be sailed from the 5 to 11 September, has been cancelled.

“Clearly the global COVID-19 crisis has already impacted many events and our thoughts and prayers are with those personally affected by the crisis.” commented Regatta Director Tony Kingston whilst adding “We had sought consultation with all of our stakeholders, including the International Dragon Association, Irish Sailing and of course our wonderful sponsors. With up to 500 visitors expected to travel to Kinsale from all corners of the world, we needed to be sure that our borders will be open without quarantine restrictions and unfortunately, we simply do not have the clarity we need at this stage to be able to pursue our goal of running a world-class event”.

"We simply do not have the clarity we need"

Headline Sponsor for the Gold Cup, Ciaran Fitzgerald of the Blue Haven Collection added “The Blue Haven Collection were honoured to be headline sponsor for the Gold Cup and was excited to welcome everyone to Kinsale this September. We were supported by Heineken Ireland and the Kinsale Good Food Circle and had looked forward to showing everyone why Kinsale is the Gourmet Capital of Ireland. As a hotel located in the heart of our town, I have seen first-hand how difficult local businesses have found this lockdown, but Kinsale has overcome many battles over the years, will come back stronger than ever and we would be delighted to welcome the Dragon Class to Kinsale at any stage in the future”.

Speaking of the announcement, Kinsale Yacht Club’s Commodore Michael Walsh said “We are obviously disappointed to have to cancel this prestigious event. We believe it is the correct decision based on the information we currently have, and people’s health is to the forefront of our minds. Kinsale Yacht Club was privileged to be selected to host the Gold Cup for 2020 building on the success of the 2012 event, an event I personally participated in. I have seen first-hand the hard work that Tony and his entire team have put in behind the scenes and whilst it saddens us all to cancel, we would be hopeful of hosting another major Dragon event at Kinsale Yacht club in the near future”.

Chairman of the International Dragon Association, Jens Rathsack, concluded by saying “On behalf of all Dragon sailors who were eagerly anticipating a return to Kinsale - one of the class’s best-loved venues - we would like to thank Kinsale Yacht Club’s Gold Cup 2020 organising team for their herculean efforts to make the event possible. Sadly, the likely restrictions on international travel have made it impossible to proceed, but we will return to this beautiful venue again soon and when we do I am quite certain that we will enjoy another superb regatta with famous Irish hospitality!”

The Kinsale Dragon class are now working towards “Irish Dragon Week” which would be a South Coast and National Championships combined into the same week scheduled for the Gold Cup, however news of the viability of this event will be announced in July.

Kinsale Yacht club and the organising committee would like to take this opportunity to thank our Gold Cup 2020 sponsors:

• Blue Haven Collection – Headline Sponsor
• Heineken Ireland - Drinks Partner
• Cork County Council & Pure Cork
• Brendan O’Regan of Zenith Technologies
• Kinsale Good Food Circle
• Dubarry Ireland
• Brewin Dolphin
• Glebe Country House
• Trident Hotel
• Actons Hotel
• Perryville House

Full refunds of all entry fees will be processed over the coming weeks

Kinsale Yacht Club (KYC) and the International Dragon Association (IDA) have today confirmed that planning for the 2020 Dragon Gold Cup, to be raced off Kinsale from 5 to 11 September, is still progressing as normal at the current time.

Speaking on behalf of the club and the Irish Dragon Class, Regatta Director Tony Kingston said, “Clearly the global COVID-19 crisis has already impacted many events and our thoughts and prayers are with those personally affected by the crisis. However, we are doing all we can to remain positive and be prepared for when we can once again come together to enjoy the sport we love. Although by no means certain, there are signs of hope that by September the current restrictions may have been relaxed. We, therefore, continue to work towards delivering a truly outstanding Dragon Gold Cup 2020 and to welcoming friends from across the globe for what I am sure will be a very special reunion.”

IDA Secretary Tim Pearson added, “We would ask all Dragon sailors to continue making arrangements to attend the 2020 Gold Cup at this time. We are of course mindful that teams will be travelling internationally to attend and so this decision is being kept under regular review as further advice in regard to the international travel situation and from the Irish Government becomes available. We anticipate that a final decision to confirm the event will be made in early June, however, should a change be forced upon us prior to this we will, of course, keep competitors fully updated.”

The 2020 Dragon Gold Cup will be raced from Sunday 6 to Friday 11 September with six races scheduled. Onsite registration for the event will open on Thursday 3 September with a practice race scheduled for Saturday 5 September. A Warmup Regatta is planned for the weekend of 29 and 30 August. Online entry for the Dragon Gold Cup is already open at www.dragongoldcup2020.com where the Notice of Race and additional information can also be found.

KYC confirms that in the event it becomes necessary to cancel the regatta all entry fees will be refunded.

For further information about the Dragon Gold Cup 2020 contact [email protected].

In the light of the latest UK Government announcement, the British Dragon Association (BDA) along with the Royal Forth Yacht Club (RFYC) has taken the decision to cancel this year's Scottish Dragon Championship and Edinburgh Cup event on the Forth scheduled for July. It's a scenario that means competition at Kinsale Yacht Club's staging of the Dragon Gold Cup in September will be even more intense

BDA Chairman Simon Barter said: "After hearing the latest public health instruction about COVID-19 we have made the inevitable decision to cancel the 2020 Scottish Championship and Edinburgh Cup. This has been done to secure the safety and health of our members, competitors, volunteers and spectators.

"This year's event was to feature the famous International Dragon Bluebottle previously owned by HRH Prince Philip and currently undergoing a full restoration on the Isle of Wight. But while this would have been a historic event for the national Dragon fleet it would not be responsible for us to continue when we must all need to be complying with Government instructions.

"I would like to take this opportunity to thank the RFYC team and the Scottish Dragon fleet who have put so much time and effort into planning for a great event this year. We now look to focus on 2021 for an outstanding national event.

The provisional plan is to hold the event on the Forth in 2021.

The 2020 Dragon Gold Cup is planned for September in Kinsale. More details here