Displaying items by tag: ITRA

28th January 2024

Irish Team Racing Association Unveils Packed 2024 Calendar in Effort to Grow the Sport Across Ireland

In response to a surge in the popularity of team racing in Ireland over recent years, the Irish Team Racing Association (ITRA) has announced a packed 2024 calendar aimed at further growing the sport across the country.

The announcement followed the election of a new ITRA committee at an AGM held in late 2023.

The ITRA Committee intends to bring adults of all ages and abilities into team racing over the coming years through an array of events running between April and October. While team racing has been immensely popular amongst young adult sailors across the country for a long time, the association is hopeful that a full calendar will allow for continuity and growth in the community after university and beyond.

In addition to this, the ITRA is also aiming to grow women's participation in helming and in the sport in general. A "Take the Helm" event is set to take place this April 13th and 14th in Malahide, with a second event provisionally scheduled for September. Currently, training sessions are being organised in the south, east and west of the country to help get more women helming ahead of the event.

The packed calendar is also set to include a mixed pairs event, a 2K Keelboat event before concluding with the ITRA Nationals in Baltimore in October, which will be held over three days for the first time.

Many in the sailing community are excited about the ITRA's plans for growth and development of team racing in Ireland. With the already established Irish University Sailing Association (IUSA) and Irish Schools Team Racing Association (ISTRA), the ITRA's efforts are expected to bring even more attention and growth to the sport in the country.

THE IRISH TEAM RACING ASSOCIATION CALENDAR 2024

Take the Helm, Malahide Sailing Club, April 13th & 14th
Royal St George Invitational, RStGYC, May 25th & 26th
Mixed Pairs Team Racing Event, Galway, June 22nd & 23rd
Take the Helm 2, Venue TBC, September 21st & 22nd (Provisional)
2K Keelboat Team Racing, Dun Laoighaire, September 28th & 29th
ITRA National Championships, Baltimore, October 18th-20th

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7th April 2015

Forum For Irish Team Racing Discussion Opens Online

#teamracingforum – News that the Optimist dinghy class in Ireland is once again organising a team racing event, together with the announcement of plans for junior event in the Royal St George and the continuing development of 2K team racing in Europe confirm that team racing offers competitive sailing for all ages. With this new impetus the Irish Team Racing Association have set up a forum to allow 'in depth discussion' of a large number of topics regarding team racing and its development in Ireland.

The forum is reserved for active participants in team racing organised by ITRA. Delegates from IUSA, the Irish National Schools Sailing Association will be invited to participate if they do not qualify for access directly. As membership of ITRA is one topic that needs to be addressed access to this forum is limited to sailors, race committee and umpires who took part in the ITRA Nationals in 2013 and 2014.

The forum registration process is here

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12th December 2014

Irish Team Racing Association To Select World Championship Teams

#teamracing – The ISAF Team Racing Worlds will be sailed in Rutland UK on 19th-24th July 2015. The ISA has already reserved places for an open team and a youth team. Other places may become available during the entry process.

The Irish Team Racing Association will select Open and Youth teams to represent Ireland at this event.

Teams shall consist of six sailors, including at least one male and one female competitor. The age limit for Youth teams is under 19 on 31st December 2015. All competitors must be eligible to represent Ireland under ISAF Eligibility (Regulation 19).
On the basis of information supplied by the candidate teams the Selection Committee will select a number of teams to compete in a trial event. Criteria for selection will include consideration of the individual sailing CVs of all six team members, and results in team racing in Ireland and abroad, particularly in 2013 and 2014. Preference will be given to teams that have already demonstrated their capacity to compete in international competitions.
A one day, multiple round robin event will be sailed. This event will be sailed in Fireflies, and the event is planned for Saturday 14th February in the Royal St George Y.C. Dun Laoghaire.
Selected teams will be nominated by the Irish Team Racing Association for approval by the Irish Sailing Association to represent Ireland at the ISAF Team Racing Worlds.

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7th April 2011

Irish Teams Selected for Team Racing World Championships

The trials to select the Irish sailing teams for the ISAF Team Racing Worlds were sailed in Dun Laoghaire on Saturday 2nd of April. Organised by the Irish Team Racing Association, using the facilities of the Royal St George Yacht Club, the trials were the last act of the selection procedure. Five senior teams having put themselves forward for selection, were invited to participate, together with three youth teams. The format for both trials was that each team sailed the others twice, with a possible further round after elimination of low scoring teams.

After the first round the home team, the "George Gladiators" were demonstrably the leading senior team. They won all their races, and in all but one race finished in first and second place. The "Supertroopers", mainly University of Limerick graduates, were second with 5 wins and UCD1 4 wins. These 3 teams proceded to the second round, sailing each other once. In order to qualify UCD1 needed to beat both other teams. Unfortunately, they lost their first race to the "Gladiators". The "Gladiators" then relaxed, loosing their only race of the day to the Supertroopers, who then beat UCD1.

In the Youth event, Schull1 won 3 races, Schull2 2 races. This was enough to ensure selection.

As a result of these trials the Irish Team Racing Association will be recommending the following teams to represent Ireland (subject to meeting all eligibility requirements) at the ISAF World Team Racing Championships, to be sailed in Schull,West Cork in August:

Ireland 1

Marty O'Leary, Brian Fenlon, Sam Hunt, Jodie-Jane Tingle, Andrew Fowler, Rachel Guy

Ireland 2

Darragh O'Connor, Hannah Herlihy, Kevin Stollard, Rachel O'Brien, George Kingston, Tom Martin

Ireland Youth 1

Connor Miller, Ellen O' Regan, Oisin O'Driscoll, Katie Moynihan, Jay Jay Stacy, Kaspar Snashall

Ireland Youth 2

Fionn Lyden, Tomas O'Sullivan, Darragjh McCormack, Mark Hasset, Pearse O'Flynn, Gleb Romantchik

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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.