Kinsale Yacht Club is gearing up to host the Irish National Dragon Championships next weekend, which is set to attract boats from the UK, Dublin Bay and Glandore, who will join the strong local Kinsale fleet.

The event, sponsored by Cantor Fitzgerald, promises to be a thrilling competition with last year's champions, "Little Fella" helmed by Cameron Good, looking to defend their crown on home waters. However, they won't have it their own way with "TBD" showing early form and winning the South Coasts in Kinsale earlier this season. Other competitors to look out for include Royal St. George's "Phantom" (Neil Hegarty, Peter Bowring & David Williams), International Dragon Sailor Martin Byrne, and the Jaguar sailing team, who are rushing back from the Edinburgh Cup to make the start line on time. 

Regatta Director Maeve Cotter is keeping a close eye on the activities as Kinsale Yacht Club will also host the prestigious Gold Cup in September 2024. "We are treating the Nationals this year as a warmup for the Gold Cup next September and are delighted to have principal race officer Con Murphy oversee proceedings," she commented. The racing will take place on the Gold Cup course, well outside the harbor, giving competitors a taste of what they can expect next year. 

"Daniel Murphy and Cantor Fitzgerald are instrumental sponsors of the event, with Kinsale Yacht Club hugely indebted to their significant sponsorship," Kinsale Yacht Club Commodore Matthias Hellstern told Afloat.

Daniel, a well-known Dragon sailor, will sail on "Whisper" together with his brother Sean and Brian Goggin. The event is set to kick off next Thursday (August 24th), and the organisers are optimistic that it will be a successful and entertaining competition for all involved.

Kinsale Yacht Club Kinsale Yacht Club has confirmed that the UK Sailmakers Ireland KYC (SCORA) Fastnet Race has been rescheduled for September 1, 2023.

As regular Afloat readers will recall, the race was cancelled in July due to the "huge number of sailors from the South Coast competing in the Rolex Fastnet Race". 

The event will kick off with a Skippers briefing at Kinsale Yacht Club, followed by the First Gun at 18.55hrs on the Charles Fort Line in Kinsale Harbour.

The Notice of Race is now available for download below, with the Sailing Instructions set to follow shortly. Those interested in participating can submit their Entry/Declaration Form online via the Fastnet Race 2023 Entry Form on the Kinsale Yacht Club website.

All-In IRC and Echo race enthusiasts will be excited to hear that this year's event will not feature any Class Divisions. Additionally, sponsors' prizes and trophies will be presented at the club on Saturday, September 2, at 18:00 Hrs.

The Fastnet Trophy will be awarded to the yacht with the lowest corrected time in IRC, while the Ocean Trophy will be awarded to the yacht with the second lowest corrected time in IRC.

The Minihane Trophy, on the other hand, will be awarded to the yacht with the lowest corrected time in Echo. In the event that the yacht with the lowest corrected time in Echo wins either the Fastnet or Ocean trophy, the Minihane trophy will be awarded to the yacht with the next lowest corrected time in Echo.

For those interested in participating, the online Crew List must be submitted by 17.00hrs on Friday, September 1. Don't miss out on this thrilling event, and mark your calendars for the KYC (SCORA) Fastnet Race on September 1, 2023.

The south coast regatta season is in full swing, and Kinsale was the place to be at the weekend for sailing activities and a spectacular fireworks display set off from the commanding position of James Fort at Kinsale Harbour.

The country's 'oldest' regatta drew in crowds of spectators for the regatta and for the smaller-than-hoped-for SCORA fleet heading to Baltimore. 

When it's August Bank Holiday, it's Kinsale Regatta Photo: Bob Bateman

Adding to the spectacle was the arrival of the 55m superyacht, Adela that been a contender for some superyacht racing titles with victories in the St Barths Bucket, RORC Caribbean 600, Antigua Superyacht Challenge and the America’s Cup Superyacht Regatta over the past five years.

Fireworks viewed from Charlesfort were a spectacular sight at Kinsale Harbour on Saturday night Photo: Bob Bateman

As readers of Afloat are aware, West Cork's Calves Week Regatta is scheduled to begin on Tuesday with Cork Harbour's Cobh Regatta taking place the following weekend.

The 55m long and 250 tonne superyacht Adela dwarfs local vessels at Kinsale Harbour Photo: Bob Bateman

The presence of the superyacht at Kinsale marina and the historic Ilen, Ireland's last trading ketch, at the town quay, added to the festive maritime summer scene in Kinsale.

It was an exciting and eventful weekend on the south coast. See Bob Bateman's photo gallery from Kinsale below. 

Kinsale Yacht Club Regatta 2023 Photo Gallery by Bob Bateman

This week's Calves Week Class Zero entrant, the J122 Jelly Baby, won Sunday's seven-hour SCORA Kinsale to Baltimore Race.

Just three boats, all from Royal Cork Yacht Club, made the line for the race, postponed until Sunday due to weather. 

The Brian Jones skippered big boat won in both IRC and ECHO with Kieran O'Brien and Fiorentina Carroll's MG335, Magnet second in both handicap divisions. Third was Ronan Twomey's Rosmarina.

As Afloat reported previously, Jelly Baby will be in a five-boat battle for Class Zero honours at Calves Week that starts on Tuesday, August 8th.  

In its 224th year this August weekend, Kinsale Regatta is claimed to be “the oldest regatta in Ireland.”

The varied regatta programme includes sailing for both Cruisers and Dinghies.

There will be racing for Cruiser Classes 1,2, and 3 and White Sail on both Sunday and Monday. There will also be racing for Dragons, Squibs, Lasers, Toppers, Optimists and Mixed Dinghies on both days and a Sailability event on Monday

All starts, and finishes will be off Pier Head. First Gun for Cruisers on Sunday is at 2 p.m. Dragons at 2.05 p.m.; Squibs at 2.10 p.m.; Lasers and Mixed Dinghies at 2.15 p.m.; Toppers at 2.20 p.m.; Optimists at 2.25 p.m.

On Monday, the start time for all Classes will be an hour earlier, and the Sailability event will start at 1.30 p.m.

“For all Kinsale sailors staying local this weekend, the oldest regatta in Ireland is an event to take part in,” according to Kinsale Yacht Club.

The regatta is sponsored by Hamilton Shipping and Cully & Sully.

Kinsale Yacht Club’s annual Race to Baltimore, also a South Coast Offshore Racing Association (SCORA) event, will start on Saturday morning with First Gun at 10.55. This is also a feeder race to West Cork for Calves Week.

Sixteen yachts raced at Kinsale Yacht Club on Friday night (July 21) for the Bertoletti Trophy.

This race commemorates the late KYC steward Mario Bertoletti who served at the club from the 1970s for over 30 years.

John Godkin and his crew on Godot, the Dufour 44 DD, won the trophy with a corrected time for the course of 40 minutes and 40 seconds. Stephen Lysaght’s Elan 333, Reavra Too, was second on corrected time of 46 minutes 20 seconds, and third was John Whelan’s Wheels Sun Odyssey 42i.

Kinsale Yacht Club returned to club cruiser monthly league racing after the Sovereigns Cup dominated activities, with racing in the Blue Haven Group Summer Series.

Dan Buckley’s ‘Justus’ a J109, won the first race in IRC1 and ECHO handicaps from Stephen Lysaght’s ‘ Reavra Too’ an Elan 333, with Finbarr O’Regan’s ‘Artful Dodjer’ another J109 third, the same placings in ECHO.

Samuel Cohen’s ‘Gunsmoke,’ a First 32, won Class 2 from Patrick Beckett’s ‘Miss Charlie’ with ‘No Notion’ (O’Regan/O’Sullivan) third. ‘Gunsmoke’ also won in ECHO from ‘Miss Charlie’. Nigel Dann’s ‘Val Kriss’ was third. IRC 3 fleet winner was ‘Swift’ (Paul Cotter/Dominic Falvey), second was ‘Apache’ (Alan Mulcahy) and third Padraig O’Donovan’s ‘Chameleon’.

ECHO handicap Fleet 3 winner was ‘Toroloco’ (Raymond Hanley), second Martin Hargrove’s ‘Deboah’ and third ‘Swift.’

Although the biennial Sovereigns Cup might be the big focus at Kinsale Yacht Club this week, another aspect of the club was boosted over the weekend - its commitment to inclusiveness in sailing.

The West Cork club welcomed Minister of State at the Department of Children, Equality and Disability, Anne Rabbitte, to launch its new Sailability fleet of access dinghies and a new Whaly Safety boat on Saturday.

Sailability Ireland is a ‘not-for-profit’ organisation to promote wider participation and has provided the resources to purchase specially-adapted boats.

Minister of State at the Department of Children, Equality and Disability, Anne Rabbitte, with Kinsale Yacht Club's Sailability promoter Donal Hickey Photo: Bob Bateman

Kinsale has been a big supporter of disabled sailing through the years, as Afloat's Tom MacSweeney previously reported in his podcast with Kinsale's Sailability promoter Donal Hickey.

Kinsale Yacht Club's new Sailability fleet of access dinghies afloat at the Kinsale Harbour slipway with thew new yellow hulled Whaly Safety boat in the background Photo: Bob Bateman

"People of different abilities can sail a boat. Sailability makes sailing available for people with disabilities. It gives equality and opportunity through the attraction of the sport and the sea," says Donal Hickey, who organises the Sailability programme at Kinsale and is a strong exponent of what the sport can provide for disabled people.

Kinsale Yacht Club Commodore Matthias Hellstern speaking at the Sailability launch Photo: Bob Bateman

Listen to Tom MacSsweeney's 2019 podcast here and see photos from Saturday's Sailability launch at KYC by Bob Bateman below

Sailability Launch at Kinsale Yacht Club Photo Gallery by Bob Bateman 

James Matthews, David Good, Harry Lewis and Fergal O’Hanlon of the host club were the overall winners by three points of the O'Leary Life Irish South Coast Dragon Championships sailed at Kinsale Yacht Club from 26th – 28th May.

A fleet of thirteen boats took part, including visitors from the Royal St.George YC, Glandore Harbour YC and Royal Irish YC.

The prevailing high-pressure system resulted in great racing with easterly winds for the three days under the direction of PRO, John Stallard.

Going into the final race, only one point separated Phantom (Neil Hegarty, Peter Bowring & David Williams) from TBD (James Matthews, David Good, Harry Lewis and Fergal O’Hanlon).

TBD (James Matthews, David Good, Harry Lewis and Fergal O’Hanlon) were the overall winners of the Dragon South Coasts at Kinsale Photo: David Cullinane

Following the start of the final race, Phantom remained on a starboard tack and head inshore, whereas TBD tacked early onto port and headed further out to sea.

The port tack proved to be the winning tack for TBD as the was ahead of Phantom at the weather mark and held her lead for the rest of the race. The final results were TBD in first place (11 points),Phantom in second place (12 points) and Little Fella in third place with 15 points.

Overall results are below

Dan Buckley's J109 Justus leads after one race sailed at the La Bougie Early Summer Cruiser Series at Kinsale Yacht Club.

After last week's cancellation, the series got underway last night in breezy conditions in Kinsale Harbour.

Justus now leads Class One IRC from Cian McCarthy's Sunfast 3300, Cinnamon Girl. Third is John Godkin in the Dufour 44 DD, Godot. 

Cian McCarthy's Sunfast 3300, Cinnamon Girl under spinnaker at Kinsale Yacht Club's Early Summer Cruiser Series Photo: Bob Bateman

In IRC Class Two, Gerald & Matilda Campbell are in first place on the Elan 31, Cirrus. Second is David O'Sullivan's J80 No Notions with Patrick Beckett's Tofinou 8, Miss Charlie, third.

IRC Two racing at Kinsale Yacht Club's Early Summer Cruiser Series with the J80 No Notions (left) and Patrick Beckett's Tofinou 8, Miss Charlie Photo: Bob Bateman

Alan Mulcahy's Albin Express Apache is the IRC 3 leader in Kinsale Yacht Club's Early Summer Cruiser Series Photo: Bob Bateman

Kinsale Yacht Club's Richard Hanley in his Saoirse Ukraine message on the hull of his GK 24 competing in the West Cork club's Early Summer Cruiser Series Photo: Bob Bateman

Early Summer Cruiser Series at Kinsale Yacht Club Photo Gallery by Bob Bateman

Full results below