After two days of racing at the Dragon Marblehead Trophy in Vilamoura, Portugal Martin Byrne’s Jaguar Sailing Team lie in fourth place overall.

The Royal St George sailor is crewed by Adam Winkelmann and John Simms.

A 7th & 4th on day 1 was followed up by a second place in the only race today in light breezes.

There was some drama ashore yesterday after five competitors were called OCS at the start by the Race Officer and subsequently, three skippers challenged his judgement with protests for redress. Pedro Andrade from Portugal (often a crew on Byrne’s Jaguar Team) was the only one to win his case and was subsequently reinstated in first place today to lie second overall.

Royal St George's Jaguar (blue spinnaker on left) races downwind at the Marblehead Trophy

Byrne’s result today keeps his Irish team in touch with the leaders in fourth overall with two days of racing remaining.

“We have been conservative in our approach to date but we are very happy to be, in touch with, or ahead of the elite teams on the international Dragon circuit this season all of whom have way more race time than we have had in 2021”, he told Afloat.

The small but very competitive fleet is led by former European Champion Jens Christensen from Denmark who launched a brand new Dragon for this event. He is followed by the holder of the Marblehead Trophy and current European Champion Pedro Andrade from Portugal. While the recent Gold Cup winner and Vendee Globe competitor Pieter Heerema from the Netherlands is third.

Five more races are scheduled for Friday and Saturday.

Results are here

Over sixty yachts and cruisers will be hauled out of the water at Dun Laoghaire Harbour tomorrow as the 2021 summer season ends at Ireland's biggest boating centre. 

The National Yacht Club and neighbouring Royal St. George YC will lift out approximately 30 cruisers apiece using a mobile crane. 

The boats will overwinter on the hardstanding at the waterfront clubhouses, where space is at a premium.

It's not the end of all sailing by any means, however. A winter Turkey Shoot Series run by DBSC that attracts up to 70 boats, mainly from the town marina, is scheduled to start on Nov 7th, and the DMYC Dinghy Frostbite Series will run in harbour racing until March.

Online applications are now open for winter dinghy platform parking with the National Yacht Club at Dun Laoghaire Harbour.

However, with space very limited on the platform, the club advises that priority will be given to junior dinghies signed up for club training, and adult dinghies involved in club training and/or the DMYC Frostbite series. All other applications will be reviewed based on the space remaining.

Boats which have been accepted must complete the platform parking payment form made available to them prior to bringing their boats back on the platform.

Members are reminded that platform parking will not reopen before Saturday 23 October as the boathouse still has to lift many keelboats on trailers and position them on the platform after the main lift-out next Saturday 16 October.

Elsewhere on Dun Laoghaire’s waterfront, the Royal St George Yacht Club’s annual lift-out is also scheduled for next Saturday 16 October. More details are available on the RStGYC website HERE.

Dun Laoghaire Harbour's Laser dinghy class ended their summer season with a bang, hosting over 80-boats in a five-race one-day regatta where some exciting new talent emerged.

80 Lasers racing in Dublin Bay on a sunny Saturday afternoon in October is an unusual sight in a normal year. These past two seasons have been far from normal for most sailors, but the Laser dinghy class has gone from strength to strength nationally.

At times during lockdown in 2020, single-handed dinghies were the only access for sailors to local waters. The fifty-year-old Laser class benefited greatly from this and has continued to attract and retain new sailors throughout 2021. The Irish Laser Masters championship hosted by the Royal St. George Yacht Club in June broke records with the highest attendance in the event’s history. Other regional and national events throughout the season were also seeing record attendances.

The final event of the season in Dun Laoghaire was this weekend’s Grant Thornton Sprint Regatta hosted by the Royal St. George Yacht Club. This novel regatta format saw race officer Richard Kissane serve up five races in quick succession for each of the three Laser fleets. Light and shifty wind conditions made his job particularly challenging as his team set down a trapezoid course. Ever-calm, Kissane was not phased and he delivered 15 race starts in just over three hours.

Howth's Rocco Wright (right) with Royal St. George Commodore Richard O'Connor

The event saw some new talent emerge into the Laser fleet, most notably in the junior section. Howth’s Rocco Wright who raced for the first time this season in a 4.7, sat into the larger Radial rig for this event. The lighter airs clearly suited him and he took home Gold against a strong fleet including national champion Jonathan O'Shaughnessy from Royal Cork Yacht Club.

Royal St. George’s Matteo Ciaglia

Meanwhile, in the 4.7 fleet, the Royal St. George’s Matteo Ciaglia who also competed for the first time in this fleet took home Gold for the Dun Laoghaire club. Christian Ennis from the National Yacht Club took Silver, while the George’s Jessica Riordan took third overall and first female.

Royal St George's Peter Fagan

The Standard fleet served up a real treat with local sailors Tom Higgins and Peter Fagan going head to head for the entire event. Higgins took first blood, winning the opening race with Fagan then taking the second race. By race three, it had become a spectacle in match racing between the pair. Ultimately, two third place finishes killed off Higgins’ chances. Fagan took Gold with Higgins in second and Tralee Bay Sailing Club’s Paddy Cunnane taking bronze.

Event organiser, Brendan Hughes of the Royal St. George Yacht Club suggested that the interest in Saturday’s event was as much to do with format as the overall growth of Lasers. “Sailors are really enjoying the sprint format and also having the opportunity to participate in a competitive fleet on a single day. Each race was between 25 and 30 minutes in duration which on a trapezoid course means there is intense competition and opportunity to win or lose places.” said Hughes. “Clearly the format is worth repeating with fleets travelling for this event from as far and wide as Tralee, Cork and Sligo. We’ll definitely be doing more of these in future.”

Full results available here.

The host club's 13-year-old Caoilinn Geraghty-McDonnell continues her winning run in the Optimist dinghy class and added a victory in the Royal St. George Yacht Club's Summer Optimist Championship yesterday in Dun Laoghaire to her National Championships success on Lough Derg last month. Geraghty-McDonnell finished the six-race series (with three race wins) on 11 points. Second in the 41-boat Senior fleet was Tralee Bay Sailing Club's William Walsh on 13, with third going to Howth Yacht Club's Cillian Twomey on 20 points.

Geraghty-McDonnell's clubmate Carolina Carra (12) won the 48-boat junior fleet on 14 points, just one point ahead of Sarah Scott of Howth Yacht Club. Third was Abigail Murphy, also of the host club on 17.

Thomas Judge of Sutton Dinghy Club stole a march in the 40 boat Regatta fleet that raced inside the harbour. Judge had a seven-point margin over Corey Browne from Royal Cork Yacht Club on 14. Third was Elizabeth Lyster of the Royal St. George Yacht Club on 17.0.

Full results are here

Dun Laoghaire Harbour's Charlie Cullen of RStGYC came second at this year’s foiling week in the Waszp class held in Fraglia VelaMalcesine, on Lake Garda which finished yesterday, with Netherlands Paul Hameeteman taking first place and Denmarks Jeppe Borch finishing third.

Charlie, 19, was the only Irish representative at the event which attracted over 100 boats in various classes with world-class sailors from almost twenty countries.

Foiling Week is an event dedicated to foiling which involved clinics with International champions including Olympic gold medallists Tom Slingsby and Paul Goodison. Other competing champions were Francesco Bruni, Ian Jensen and Billy Besson.

It was quite a spectacle with over 60 Moths, 30 Waszp and other foiling boats on the lake, The racing was very tight and super exciting.

Charlie Cullen of the RstGYC IRL 2987 (Purple Mast) Charlie Cullen of the RstGYC IRL 2987 (Purple Mast) at Fraglia VelaMalcesine on Lake Garda Photo: Martina Orsini

There were demos to try out foiling bikes, boats and foilboards. Also, ideas of developing new foiling technologies with sustainability in mind were shared.

There were 4 days of racing. Day 1 was cancelled due to no wind, but they got 10 very competitive races over the 3 days.

It was exhilarating sailing with great racing and a great group of people and no doubt foiling is the future.

The next big event on the Waszp foiling calendar are the waszp Europeans in August that will be hosted in Circolo Vela Arco in Lake Garda and there is expected to be a good Irish contingent.

Some hoped for less wind on day 2 of the Seachange Now RS Aero Easterns – they got more. With a solid 18 knots gusting 24 at times from the Southeast throwing up a tricky chop on Dublin Bay that challenged upwind and downwind technique. RO Michael Conway and team set a great windward-leeward course in Seapoint Bay that really tested the competitors after day 1 which was also windy.

Brendan Foley (Aero 7)

In the end, Hammy Baker sailing an Aero 7 was unstoppable, producing more firsts with athletic performance in the breeze. He was crowned RS Aero Eastern Champion. In second place Roy Van Maanen in an Aero 5 took a race win today to cement his overnight second place. Roy who will compete in the RS Aero European later this month at Lake Garda showed great speed and was mixing it with the top boats in the 7 fleet. A place change in 3rd spot saw Brendan Foley (Aero 7) overtake Sarah ‘Skinny’ Dwyer (Aero 5) with 1 point separating the two boats. The PY handicap saw a mix of two 7’s and two 5’s at the top but the 9’s struggled in the big winds.

Roy Van Maanen sailing an Aero 5

Sarah Dwyer was first female in the event, sailing a very strong series in her RS Aero 5

Robin Gray IRO was the winner of the masters prize sailing smartly to stay out of trouble and the right way up!

In the RS Aero 7 class, sailing with 9 of the 14 boats entered, one to five were; Hammy Baker, Brendan Foley, Noel Butler, Emmett O’Sullivan and Stephen Oram. The feedback from the sailors was very positive with gratitude to the Royal St George, the race team and in particular event organiser Sarah Dwyer. Sponsor Brendan Foley of Seachange Now was delighted with turnout and good friendly competition.

Teddy Byrne (1264) and Stephen Oram (3288)

Richard O’Connor, Commodore of the Royal St George thanked the fleet for choosing the club for their very first event and expressed his wish that the George would continue to have a place in Aero history into the future. As is customary at RS Aero events all the participants and race committee got a giant Aero chocolate bar.

Brendan Foley, MD of sponsor Seachange Now (and third place competitor), Hammy Baker first overall and Richard O’Connor Commodore of the RstGYC

The next event is the RS Aero Northern Championships in Carrickfergus on the 14th/15th of August.

Full results here

The MGM Boats Laser Master Championships kicks off Saturday morning at the Royal St. George Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire Harbour and was setting a number of precedents before sailors even took to the water.

This year’s event has seen record entries with a total of 63 boats registered from Laser sailors aged 35 and upwards. For the first time since this competition format was introduced in 2009, with 35 entries there are more Radial rigs competing than the original Standard rig, with 28 entered.

An unprecedented total of nine ladies are competing for the new Ladies Radial Trophy. With the upsurge in interest in the Laser class over the past couple of years, it is perhaps no surprise to see a total of 17 adults in the new Novice Cup format.

With such a large fleet and a range of formats, it is expected that the competition will be intense right through the fleet. In the Standard rig, previous winner Nick Walsh from RCYC and Howth’s young gun Paul McMahon are hotly tipped, with the forecast favouring McMahon.

Dun Laoghaire expects to control the Radial fleet with Sean Craig and Conor Clancy expected to dominate over the two day event. In the ladies category, Shirley Gilmore and Judy O’Beirne are considered to be the ones to beat this weekend.

In keeping with Irish Sailing’s guidelines for events, the event organisers have confirmed that the event is going virtual. Race officer, Harry Gallagher will be delivering a virtual briefing to all competitors via Zoom. Arbitrations and protests will also be facilitated via Zoom by the Protest Committee, lead by Cxema Pico.

Prize-giving on Sunday will be live streamed on the Dun Laoghaire Laser Instagram page and presumably there will be plenty of virtual cheers for the winners. All in all, it looks like that aside from sailing and socially-distanced outdoor dining on Saturday evening, this will be a truly virtual event.

Full details of the event including results are available at the Virtual Race Office on the RSGYC website.

The Irish Laser Association's Masters Championship is for the first time introducing an innovative Novice Cup to encourage newer adult sailors to participate.

This year's Irish Laser Association's Masters Championship, sponsored by MGM Boats and taking place in Royal St. George Yacht Club is introducing a new format specifically for first-time adult competitors.

Less experienced sailors who enter the two-day event taking place on June 12th and 13th can elect to participate in the Novice Cup format. Only those who have not competed in a regional or national Laser event in the past 5 years can participate.

Participants will race in the same races as all other sailors but will only have the scores from their two best race results across both days counted. Participants can therefore choose to race on just one or both days and can decide to join in on however many races they wish.

Explaining the rationale behind the concept, local event chairperson Brendan Hughes said, "We've identified that some of our newer adult sailors in the Laser fleet across the country are somewhat intimidated by the thoughts of two full days on the water but would really love to participate in such a fun championship event. Therefore, we feel that this approach offers the flexibility to sail on one or two days and to sail as many races as people feel comfortable with."

The so-called Master's category of Laser sailing is for sailors aged 35 and over. While traditionally, the Masters is a smaller proportion of the overall fleet, there has been a massive upsurge in adults sailing Lasers across the country over the past 12 months.

Rachel Crowley who organises the Dun Laoghaire 'Laser Kindergarten' group for adults said; "The concept of the Novice Cup is brilliant. We are already planning a buddy system for newer sailors at this event; pairing them up with more experienced sailors who can give them support on and off the water. The Novice Cup means that everyone can compete at their own level and have lots of fun along the way!"

The early bird entry for the event closes this Sunday, May 30th. Anyone who enters before that date can benefit from a reduced fee plus entry into a raffle for a £100 voucher from Lennon Racewear.

Full event details are available here

The Irish Laser Association’s Masters Championships, sponsored by MGM Boats and taking place in Royal St. George Yacht Club on June 12-13 looks set to be the first national sailing competition of 2021.

Taking place just days after the Government restrictions are lifted on sports competitions at regional and national level, the organisers of this year’s event in Dun Laoghaire are expecting a lot of interest from both local and travelling sailors.

Ed Rice, event coordinator for the Irish Laser Association says that “We’re expecting upwards of 50-60 local boats to take part and probably another 20-30 boat travelling from outside of Dublin.”

This year’s event will be run in strict compliance with Irish Sailing’s recommendations for covid-safe event planning. In essence, this means that much of the on-site activities that normally take place at the club will be virtual. “We’ll be running a virtual race office and protest committee. Furthermore, all participants will be reminded to maintain social distancing ashore and we will encourage everyone to wear face coverings before and after sailing” says Rice.

Rice also announced that Dun Laoghaire’s MGM Boats will be the main sponsor for the 2021 event. “We’re delighted to have MGM Boats on board this year. They are an integral part of the sailing landscape in Dun Laoghaire and have been very supportive of us over the years.”

Ross O’Leary of MGM Boats, himself a Laser sailor, said “Single-handed sailing, in particular the Laser, has provided an opportunity during the pandemic for sailors who wouldn’t normally sail a dinghy to get out on the water. This is great for dinghy sailing and also for sailing in general. We’re proud to be associated with the activities of the Irish Laser Association locally and nationally”.

The so-called Masters category of Laser sailing is for sailors aged 35 and over. While traditionally, the Masters is a smaller proportion of the fleet, it seems that this year the event will draw record numbers of both male and female Masters sailors.

Event chairperson, Brendan Hughes who is captain of the class locally, outlined how prizes will be allocated. “There will be placing in both the Standard and Radial rig, plus there will be prizes in each of the 5 different Masters age categories, ranging from Apprentice Masters (35-45-year-olds), right up to Legends, aged 75+. We’re also delighted to announce that for the first time, there will be a dedicated trophy for the top female sailor in the Radial class, the MGM Boats Ladies Champion Trophy.”

Early bird entry for the Masters event is open from Monday 17th to Sunday 30th May. Event entries close on Friday 4th June. More here