14 J109s are Force to be Reckoned With as Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta IRC One Fleet Hots Up to 25 Boats

27th April 2023

25 IRC One entries are already in, two months before the first gun of Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta Credit: Afloat

With 25 entries already in two months before the first gun (compared to 26 racing in 2019), Class One IRC Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta (VDLR) looks like it's going to be a repeat of some of the hottest Irish Sea IRC action seen since before covid.

The regular Irish and Welsh boats in this class will be joined by some of the Scottish RC35 Class, which previously used VDLR as one of the Celtic Cup events, so it's no surprise to see a few of this number travelling to the hub of Irish Sea yachting, including the Celtic Cup Champion, John Minnis in his A35, Final Call II from Belfast Lough.

RC35 Celtic Cup Champion, John Minnis in his A35, Final Call II will compete in IRC One at VDLR Photo: Afloat

Scottish RC35s

Scottish and Northern Ireland RC35s are due to race at Royal Ulster Yacht Club at an inaugural RC35 weekend ten days ahead of Dun Laoghaire, so the visitors should be fully warmed up if that dress rehearsal gets the numbers as Afloat's Betty Armstrong reports here.

Robin Young's J109 from the Scottish RC35 class is Dun Laoghaire bound from the Clyde this July Photo: RC35

Dublin J109s

14 J109s are currently entered (there were 16 in 2019) and are known to be potent across the wind range, as shown in 2019 when 1,2,3 went to the well-sailed Dublin class.

2019 winner John Maybury's Joker II has entered again, and after a successful foray at Cork Week 2022, now has a Cork Harbour tactician onboard. His Royal Irish runner-up clubmates Richard and Tim Goodbody in White Mischief are also in, but third-placed Storm II (Pat Kelly of Howth and Rush) is not entered yet.

2019 VDLR Class One winner, John Maybury's Joker II is a five-time J/109 Irish champion Photo: Afloat

The ISORA champion J109 Mojito is also entered in IRC One, and as regular Afloat readers know, she was the Cork Week Coastal Champion in 2022 but has opted to sail in VDLR IRC One rather than the regatta's dedicated Offshore Class, so it will be interesting to see how the North Wales crew perform inshore.

Richard and Tim Goodbody in White Mischief were Class One VDLR runners-up in 2019 Photo: Afloat

New Dun Laoghaire J109 entries for July include Bobby Kerr's new 'Riders on the Storm' and Barry Cunnigham's 'Blast on Chimaera', with North Sails' Prof O'Connell onboard, both from the RIYC.

The Shanahan family's J109 Ruth from the National Yacht Club has been an early performer in ISORA coastal in 2023 and will race to Dingle in June before the VDLR competition in July Photo: Afloat

Apart from the J109s, there are other possible front runners too, but that will depend greatly on wind strength, especially if it stays light for all four days of the regatta.

A35

Minnis's A35 has just won the 2023 Spring Series in Belfast Lough, and as shown last year, with Gareth Flanigan driving, Final Call II saw them all off at Howth's WAVE Regatta with a dominant performance in a mix of conditions. Her ability to run square downwind with symmetric kites and gain on all the asymmetric boats proves especially effective in medium conditions on windward-leeward courses.

J111 and J99

There are a number of other J models competing, including a further optimised ICRA Boat of the Year, the J99 Snapshot, skippered by Mike and Ritchie Evans of Howth, along with their clubmate Norbert Reilly's brand new J111 Ghost Raider that saw her first action last Sunday in the second ISORA coastal of the season.

ICRA Boat of the Year for 2023, the J99 Snapshot co-skippered by the Evans brothers, has been further optimised for the 2023 regatta season Photo: Bob Bateman

Corbys

Four Corby designs are competing, and they all are visitors to Dublin Bay.

Carrickfergus's Brian and Ryan Wilson travel to Dun Laoghaire with their Corby 29E, Elixir. The Belfast Lough boat was the 2022 winner of the IRC One Bar Buoy Race at Strangford.

From Wales, Richard Fildes returns to the bay with his Corby 33 Imposter from South Caernavonshire Yacht Club and Pwhelli's Corby 36, Gelert, skippered by Brian Dixon, can show a turn of speed, again with the deadly use of a symmetric kite.

Check out the entries so far here

Scroll down for 2023 Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta results class by class

Read all the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta Race News in one handy link here
Click links to read more on VDLR IRC divisions Coastal, IRC Zero, IRC One, IRC Two and IRC Three
Listen to Lorna Siggins's interview with Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta Race Director Paddy Boyd here
Read more on the Coastival Festival here
See live Dublin Bay webcams covering here

Afloat will be posting regular race updates throughout the 2023 Regatta. Send your photos, tips and stories by email to [email protected]

Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta 2023 Race Results

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Published in Volvo Regatta, J109, RC35

Published in Volvo Regatta

Tagged under

J109
RC35

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Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta

From the Baily lighthouse to Dalkey island, the bay accommodates six separate courses for 21 different classes racing every two years for the Dun Laoghaire Regatta.

In assembling its record-breaking armada, Volvo Dun Laoghaire regatta (VDLR) became, at its second staging, not only the country's biggest sailing event, with 3,500 sailors competing, but also one of Ireland's largest participant sporting events.

One of the reasons for this, ironically, is that competitors across Europe have become jaded by well-worn venue claims attempting to replicate Cowes and Cork Week.'Never mind the quality, feel the width' has been a criticism of modern-day regattas where organisers mistakenly focus on being the biggest to be the best. Dun Laoghaire, with its local fleet of 300 boats, never set out to be the biggest. Its priority focussed instead on quality racing even after it got off to a spectacularly wrong start when the event was becalmed for four days at its first attempt.

The idea to rekindle a combined Dublin bay event resurfaced after an absence of almost 40 years, mostly because of the persistence of a passionate race officer Brian Craig who believed that Dun Laoghaire could become the Cowes of the Irish Sea if the town and the local clubs worked together. Although fickle winds conspired against him in 2005, the support of all four Dun Laoghaire waterfront yacht clubs since then (made up of Dun Laoghaire Motor YC, National YC, Royal Irish YC and Royal St GYC), in association with the two racing clubs of Dublin Bay SC and Royal Alfred YC, gave him the momentum to carry on.

There is no doubt that sailors have also responded with their support from all four coasts. Running for four days, the regatta is (after the large mini-marathons) the single most significant participant sports event in the country, requiring the services of 280 volunteers on and off the water, as well as top international race officers and an international jury, to resolve racing disputes representing five countries. A flotilla of 25 boats regularly races from the Royal Dee near Liverpool to Dublin for the Lyver Trophy to coincide with the event. The race also doubles as a RORC qualifying race for the Fastnet.

Sailors from the Ribble, Mersey, the Menai Straits, Anglesey, Cardigan Bay and the Isle of Man have to travel three times the distance to the Solent as they do to Dublin Bay. This, claims Craig, is one of the major selling points of the Irish event and explains the range of entries from marinas as far away as Yorkshire's Whitby YC and the Isle of Wight.

No other regatta in the Irish Sea area can claim to have such a reach. Dublin Bay Weeks such as this petered out in the 1960s, and it has taken almost four decades for the waterfront clubs to come together to produce a spectacle on and off the water to rival Cowes."The fact that we are getting such numbers means it is inevitable that it is compared with Cowes," said Craig. However, there the comparison ends."We're doing our own thing here. Dun Laoghaire is unique, and we are making an extraordinary effort to welcome visitors from abroad," he added. The busiest shipping lane in the country – across the bay to Dublin port – closes temporarily to facilitate the regatta and the placing of six separate courses each day.

A fleet total of this size represents something of an unknown quantity on the bay as it is more than double the size of any other regatta ever held there.

Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta FAQs

What is Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Dun Laoghaire Regatta is Ireland's biggest sailing event. It is held every second Summer at Dun Laoghaire Harbour on Dublin Bay.

When is Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Dun Laoghaire Regatta is held every two years, typically in the first weekend of July.

Where is Dun Laoghaire Regatta held?

As its name suggests, the event is based at Dun Laoghaire Harbour. Racing is held on Dublin Bay over as many as six different courses with a coastal route that extends out into the Irish Sea. Ashore, the festivities are held across the town but mostly in the four organising yacht clubs.

How big is Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Dun Laoghaire Regatta is the largest sailing regatta in Ireland and on the Irish Sea and the second largest in the British Isles. It has a fleet of 500 competing boats and up to 3,000 sailors. Scotland's biggest regatta on the Clyde is less than half the size of the Dun Laoghaire event. After the Dublin city marathon, the regatta is one of the most significant single participant sporting events in the country in terms of Irish sporting events.

How old is Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

The modern Dublin Bay Regatta began in 2005, but it owes its roots to earlier combined Dublin Bay Regattas of the 1960s.

How many boats compete at Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Up to 500 boats regularly compete.

How many yacht clubs are represented at Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Up to 70 different yacht clubs are represented.

Where do the yachts come from to compete at Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

The Channel Islands, Isle of Man, England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Ireland countrywide, and Dublin clubs.

How many boats are visiting boats at Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Nearly half the sailors, over 1,000, travel to participate from outside of Dun Laoghaire and from overseas to race and socialise in Dun Laoghaire.

What type of yachts race in Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

21 different classes are competing at Dun Laoghaire Regatta. As well as four IRC Divisions from 50-footers down to 20-foot day boats and White Sails, there are also extensive one-design keelboat and dinghy fleets to include all the fleets that regularly race on the Bay such as Beneteau 31.7s, Ruffian 23s, Sigma 33s as well as Flying Fifteens, Laser SB20s plus some visiting fleets such as the RS Elites from Belfast Lough to name by one.

What famous sailors race in Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Some sailing household names are regular competitors at the biennial Dun Laoghaire event including Dun Laoghaire Olympic silver medalist, Annalise Murphy. International sailing stars are competing too such as Mike McIntyre, a British Olympic Gold medalist and a raft of World and European class champions.

How much does it cost to enter Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

There are different entry fees for different size boats. A 40-foot yacht will pay up to €550, but a 14-foot dinghy such as Laser will pay €95. Full entry fee details are contained in the Regatta Notice of Race document.

Where can spectators view Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

Spectators can see the boats racing on six courses from any vantage point on the southern shore of Dublin Bay. As well as from the Harbour walls itself, it is also possible to see the boats from Sandycove, Dalkey and Killiney, especially when the boats compete over inshore coastal courses or have in-harbour finishes.

How does Dun Laoghaire regatta compare to international regattas?

Very favourably. It is often compared to Cowes, Britain's biggest regatta on the Isle of Wight that has 1,000 entries. However, sailors based in the north of England have to travel three times the distance to get to Cowes as they do to Dun Laoghaire.

Why is Dun Laoghaire Regatta so unique?

Dun Laoghaire Regatta is unique because of its compact site offering four different yacht clubs within the harbour and the race tracks' proximity, just a five-minute sail from shore. International sailors also speak of its international travel connections and being so close to Dublin city. The regatta also prides itself on balancing excellent competition with good fun ashore.

Who organises Dun Laoghaire Regatta?

The Organising Authority (OA) of Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta is Dublin Bay Regattas Ltd, a not-for-profit company, beneficially owned by Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club (DMYC), National Yacht Club (NYC), Royal Irish Yacht Club (RIYC) and Royal St George Yacht Club (RSGYC).

What does Dun Laoghaire Regatta contribute to the local economy?

The Irish Marine Federation launched a case study on the 2009 Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta's socio-economic significance. Over four days, the study (carried out by Irish Sea Marine Leisure Knowledge Network) found the event was worth nearly €3million to the local economy over the four days of the event. Typically the Royal Marine Hotel and Haddington Hotel and other local providers are fully booked for the event.