Displaying items by tag: Royal Irish Yacht Club

16th August 2021

Howth Yacht Club's 'Insider' Wins Sigma 33 National Title at the Royal Irish Yacht Club

Howth Yacht Club's 'Insider' co-skippered by Stephen Mullaney and Ian Martin topped the nine boat fleet to win the 2021 Sigma 33 Irish Championships at the Royal Irish Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire Harbour.

The HYC crew beat former class champion Squawk skippered by Paul Prentice of Ballyholme Yacht Club by three points with visitors occupying the top three places overall after five races sailed and one discard.

Third overall was Waterford Harbour's Flyover (Marchant Roche McDonald).

Up to seven clubs were represented in the nine boat fleet bringing visitors from Ballyholme Yacht Club in Belfast Lough to Dunmore East Harbour on the south coast to Dublin Bay.

Results are here.

Prof O'Connell of North Sails Ireland shot the vid below of Insider sailing upwind.

Sigma 33 Irish champions - 'Insider' co-skippered by Stephen Mullaney and Ian Martin Photo: Mark Mackey

Second overall - Squawk skippered by Paul Prentice of Ballyholme Yacht Club Photo: Mark Mackey

Third overall - Waterford Harbour's Flyover (Marchant Roche McDonald) Photo: Mark Mackey

Published in Sigma

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15th August 2021

Howth Yacht Club's 'Insider' Leads at the Sigma 33 National Championships at the Royal Irish Yacht Club

Visitors occupy the top three places overall after three races sailed at the 2021 Sigma 33 Irish Championships at the Royal Irish Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire Harbour.

Howth Yacht Club's 'Insider' co-skippered by Stephen Mullaney and Ian Martin leads the nine boat fleet by three points from Waterford Harbour's Flyover (Marchant Roche McDonald) on seven points.

Third is former class champion Squawk skippered by Paul Prentice of Ballyholme Yacht Club.

Up to seven clubs are represented in the nine boat fleet bringing visitors from Ballyholme Yacht Club in Belfast Lough to Dunmore East Harbour on the south coast to Dublin Bay.

Results are here.

Racing continues today.

Published in Sigma

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4th July 2021

Yikes! Takes the Beneteau 211 National Championships Title at Royal Irish Yacht Club

Consistent sailing with two race wins and five results in the top three gave the Beneteau 211 National Championships title to Peter Carroll's Yikes! at the Royal Irish Yacht Club this afternoon.

John Downey's B211 Capilano closed the gap by a point in today's final two races on Yikes to finish just one point adrift in second overall on seven points.

15-20 knot south easterly breezes proved to be testing championship conditions for the 12-boat fleet in a good chop, though the sheltered Seapoint racecourse protected the 20-foot keelboat class from the bigger waves on the Bay.

John Downey's Capilano John Downey's B211 Capilano

Third in the 11-boat fleet was Andrew Bradley's Chinook on 13 points.

Andrew Bradley's Chinook Andrew Bradley's B211 Chinook

Results are here

Beneteau 211 National Championships Photo Gallery

Published in Beneteau 211

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4th July 2021

Clear Victory for SB20 'Ted' Crew at Royal Irish Yacht Club Hosted Eastern Championships

Six straight wins handed the SB20 Eastern Championships title to Ted crew, Michael O'Connor, Davy Taylor and John O'Driscoll at the Royal Irish Yacht Club this afternoon.

In the fight for second place overall, the National Yacht Club's Philip, Simon and Paul Doran leapfrogged Royal Cork's Mel Collins and Aidan Mac Sweeny in Gold Digger (in second place overnight) and Royal Irish's Ger Dempsey and Chris Nolan on the final day to take second by a single point from Dempsey who took third overall.

As regular Afloat readers will know, the Irish SB20 fleet is gearing up for next year's world championships on Dublin Bay, a year earlier than originally planned.

It's a change that also sees the Irish hosted World Championships switching venues at Dun Laoghaire. The event now moves from the National Yacht Club to the Royal Irish Yacht Club, which is hosting this weekend's Eastern Championships as part of its world's build-up.

Results are here.

SB20 Easterns Photo Gallery

Published in SB20

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4th July 2021

Peter Carroll's 'Yikes' Leads Beneteau 211 National Championships at the Royal Irish Yacht Club

The host club dominates the 2021 Beneteau 211 National Championships at the Royal Irish Yacht Club after the first three races sailed off Dun Laoghaire Harbour.

With a 2,1,1 scored so far RIYC's Peter Carroll helming Yikes has a three-point margin over clubmate John Downey's Capilano on seven points.

Royal Irish commodore Pat Shannon, sailing Beeswing, is lying third on 13 points in the 11-boat fleet.

A start of a 2021 Beneteau 211 National Championships race at Dun Laoghaire

Dublin Bay presented 12 to 18-knot breezes from the southeast with a mist and fine drizzle.

Testing championship conditions for the 12-boat fleet were completed with a good chop, though the sheltered Seapoint racecourse protected the 20-foot keelboat class from the bigger waves on the Bay.

Racing continues on Sunday.

Results are here.

Published in Royal Irish Yacht Club

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3rd July 2021

SB20 Champions O'Connor, Taylor & O'Driscoll Take the Lead at the Royal Irish Hosted Easterns

Michael O'Connor, Davy Taylor and John O'Driscoll lead the 2021 SB20 East Coast Championships by eight points after three races sailed off Dun Laoghaire Harbour.

Dublin Bay presented 12 to 18-knot breezes from the southeast with a mist and fine drizzle.

Testing championship conditions for the 12-boat fleet were completed with a good chop, though the sheltered Seapoint racecourse protected the 20-foot keelboat class from the bigger waves on the Bay.

Michael O'Connor, Davy Taylor and John O'Driscoll lead the 2021 SB20 East Coast Championships off Dun Laoghaire Photo: Afloat

The Dublin trio is well clear of Royal Cork's Mel Collins and Aidan Mac Sweeny in Gold Digger who is just one point ahead of Royal Irish's Ger Dempsey and Chris Nolan in third place on 12 points.

As regular Afloat readers will know, the Irish SB20 fleet is gearing up for next year's world championships on Dublin Bay, a year earlier than originally planned.

Racing continues on Sunday.

Results are here.

Published in SB20

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8th June 2021

Royal Irish Yacht Club Dun Laoghaire Dingle Champion Rockabill VI is Aiming for a Hat Trick

As well as the defending champion, Dun Laoghaire's Royal Irish Yacht Club will have three other yachts in Wednesday's Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race.

The 14th edition of the 280-mile offshore fixture starts at 2 pm off Dun Laoghaire Harbour and is organised by the National Yacht Club.

Paul O'Higgins will defend his D2D crown in the JPK 10.80 Rockabill VI and aim to make it three in a row for the RIYC after previous Rockabill VI victories in 2017 and 2019.

The champion is joined by some potent RIYC clubmates; Andrew Algeo's J99 Juggerknot II, the Beneteau First 40 Prima Forte as well as George Sisk's Xp 44, WOW.

Patrick Burke and Sean Lemass's First 40, Prima Forte

Patrick Burke and Sean Lemass's First 40 arrived in Dublin Bay in January last year and in her first season won DBSC's best performing new yacht award. As regular Afloat readers will know, this all-round performer was previously named La Response, and before that formerly known as Courier Zen and a veteran of several Commodore's Cup teams under former owner Andrew McIrvine, an ex Admiral and Commodore of the Royal Ocean Racing Club.

Andrew Algeo's J99 Juggerknot II

Algeo's Juggerknot II crew, who finished eighth in the 2019 race, is joined for this edition by Figaro campaigner Kenny Rumball.

George Sisk’s Xp 44 Wow

George Sisk’s Xp 44 “Wow” was the 2019 Sovereign’s Cup winner in the coastal class, having delivered a hat-trick of wins and beating bigger sistership the Xp 50 Freya on her home waters off Kinsale in the Regatta’s Coastal Class but was scored as 'did not finish' in that year's D2D.

A fourth Royal Irish boat, Barry Cunningham's Sun Odyssey 490, ConQuestador is contesting the IRC Cruiser class.

Royal Irish Yachts in the 2021 Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race

ConQuestador Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 490, IRL4900, Skipper: Barry Cunningham, Class: IRC Cruiser, Rating: 1.079
Juggerknot II J/99, IRL 3990, Skipper: Andrew Algeo, Class: IRC Racing, Rating: 1.011
Rockabill VI JPK 10.80, IRL 10800, Skipper: Paul O'Higgins, Class: IRC Racing, Rating: 1.05
WOW X-Yachts Xp44, IRLl4419, Skipper: George Sisk, Class: IRC Racing, Rating: 1.124
Prima Forte Beneteau, IRL4240, Skipper: Sean Lemass, Class: IRC Racing, Rating: 1.078

Published in Dun Laoghaire Dingle

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29th March 2021

Dun Laoghaire Sportsboat Cup Postponed Til 2022

The Royal Irish Yacht Club at Dun Laoghaire Habour has announced it is 'sadly' postponing its planned May Dun Laoghaire Cup till 2022 due to the ongoing COVID-19 restrictions.

Regatta organiser David Ryan told Afloat 'We thank the sailors for their continued support and look forward to seeing everyone in 2022".

Published in Royal Irish Yacht Club

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2nd February 2021

Enda O’Coineen's RIYC Talk on 'Across the Atlantic by Inflatable & Other Ways to Get Wet'

The Royal Irish Yacht Club's 'Home Together' virtual talk this Thursday 4th February will feature RIYC member Enda O’Coineen.

Enda will recount the extraordinary story of his epic transatlantic solo voyage onboard his 16-foot inflatable, the Kilcullen just over 35 years ago.

Having first made landfall in Dunmore East, upon arriving finally in Dun Laoghaire, Enda promptly sold the Kilcullen. It subsequently changed hands several times before Enda finally bought her back and restored her, reviving memories of some extraordinary adventures, long submerged and almost deliberately forgotten.

The refurbished 5m Humber RIB in which Enda ‘OCoineen crossed the Atlantic in 1985

Enda first attempted to cross the Atlantic by inflatable at the age of 22 and almost making it before capsizing off the west coast of Ireland – and being rescued by the NATO war fleet.

Seven years later Enda attempted the voyage for a second time and this time made-it into the record books.

Commences 19:30hrs contact [email protected] to register.

Published in Royal Irish Yacht Club

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1st February 2021

Full House for Prof’s Top Ten Dublin Bay Racing Tips at Royal Irish Yacht Club Webinar

North Sails Ireland’s Maurice “Prof” O’Connell’s top ten tips talk to RIYC Members and guests pulled in the crowds with a record-breaking 105 attending.

Prof’s insights for racing in Dublin Bay ranged on how to gain maximum advantage through adequate preparation before going afloat, through to the start line to sail trim principles/set-up and key boat handling manoeuvres for rounding marks.

Prof brought the audience through Dublin Bay geography and topography, the DBSC course card design, logic, mark locations and geometry as well as Dublin Bay currents.

He talked through the importance of correct onboard communications and providing clear information fundamental to sailing the correct course.

Prof, who never misses a DBSC race with his customers unless he is out of the country, concluded with “Rules of Thumb” for Dublin Bay racers. The talk was part of the RIYC “Home Together” series of virtual talks.

Published in Royal Irish Yacht Club

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Page 4 of 17

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.