Menu

Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

A Sigma 33 One Design keelboat racing on Dublin Bay Photo: AfloatA Sigma 33 One Design keelboat racing on Dublin Bay Photo: Afloat

Displaying items by tag: Spring Chicken Series

A new overall leader goes into this Sunday's final race of the AIB DBSC Spring Chicken Series on Dublin Bay as sportsboats occupy the podium places.

The fourth-placed J80 Jambon has moved to the front of the mixed cruisers handicap fleet (the second time she has topped the scoreboard in this six race series) after her seventh placed finish last Sunday.

After five races sailed and one discard, the 1720 No Show is second by two points on 36 with one-time leader, another 1720 sportsboat, Long Island Legend in third.

Download the latest results below as a PDF file

Published in DBSC

After four races sailed in the AIB DBSC Spring Chicken Series on Dublin Bay, the 1720 sportsboat Long Island Legend replaces the J80 Jambon at the top of the scoresheet.

With two races to go in the series, only ten points separate the top ten boats overall after organisers applied a discard. 

The third race of the six-race series saw sunny conditions accompanied by a good breeze, providing an ideal setting for the competitors. The 40-boat fleet was safely home before gale-force winds swept the bay on Sunday afternoon.

Overall, Long Island Legend leads by a point from the J109 Joker II on 27. In third place is another J80, Derry Girls on 30 points, with one-time leader Jambon dropping to fourth overall on 31.

Download the latest results below as a PDF file

 

Published in DBSC

A third race win last Sunday means the J80 'Jambon' moves into the  AIB DBSC Spring Chicken Series lead on Dublin Bay.

The Dun Laoghaire Harbour sportsboat crew are five points ahead of second-placed Just Jasmin, a Bavaria Match 35, on 32 points.

Derry Girls, another J80 entrant, lies third on 38 points in the 40-boat fleet.

The fleet sailed in moderate westerly winds for its third race. 

From February 4 to March 10 (first gun 10:10), six races will be run using a progressive handicap on a case-by-case basis.

Racing continues in the National Yacht Club hosted series this Sunday at 10.10 am off Dun Laoghaire.

Download the results below as a pdf file.

Published in DBSC

The AIB DBSC Spring Chicken Series fleet is expecting moderate westerly winds for their third race this Sunday on Dublin Bay.

ECHO Handicaps and start times for the 40 boat have been published and are downloadable below

As Afloat reported earlier, the racing came to an exciting conclusion last Sunday as 'No Show', the 1720 sportsboat, clinched the top spot. The second race of the six-race series saw sunny conditions accompanied by a good breeze, providing an ideal setting for the competitors.

The third race starts at 10.10 am off Dun Laoghaire Harbour.

 

 

Published in DBSC

The AIB DBSC Spring Chicken Series on Dublin Bay came to an exciting conclusion last Sunday as 'No Show', the 1720 sportsboat, clinched the top spot. The second race of the six-race series saw sunny conditions accompanied by a good breeze, providing an ideal setting for the competitors.

However, the day didn't go without incident. During the race, the crew of J109 'Joker' had to deal with a man overboard situation. Fortunately, their practised procedures paid off, and the crew quickly recovered with no damage, albeit a bit wet, according to organisers.

The final results for the second race of the series are available for downloadable below, and organisers have announced that the Katanca result will be corrected to 'retired' in the overalls next week, ensuring fairness and accuracy in the final standings.

 

Published in DBSC

This Sunday's AIB-sponsored DBSC Spring Chicken Series from Dun Laoghaire Harbour will take place at the National Yacht Club.

From February 4 to March 10 (first gun 10:10), six races will be run using a progressive handicap on a case-by-case basis in the AIB-sponsored event.

The Sailing Instructions are downloadable below. Series Organiser has drawn attention to an extra paragraph in SI 1, borrowed from Brass Monkeys Series at Howth that describe the 'fun ethos' of the event.

Fifty boats participated in the 2023 Series, and organisers anticipate a similar fleet this Sunday.

One-designs, cruisers, and other boats that don't often compete in races are all "quite welcome," according to DBSC.

After the sailing, the National Yacht Club will generously organise prize draws, meals, and other events.

The €60 entry fee includes temporary memberships in the DBSC and the NYC.

Published in DBSC

There is one week until the entry deadline for February's first race of the AIB-sponsored DBSC Spring Chicken Series from Dun Laoghaire Harbour, which will take place at the National Yacht Club.

Dublin Bay Sailing Club has published the Notice of Race for its AIB 2024 Spring Chicken Series here.

Six races will be held on Sunday mornings from 4 February to 10 March (first gun 1010 hrs), using a progressive handicap on a time-to-time basis.

The 2023 Series attracted a fleet of nearly fifty boats, and organisers are expecting a similar fleet next month. 

Cruisers, cruising boats, one-designs and boats that do not normally race are “very welcome”, DBSC adds. After the sailing, prize draws, food and more will be kindly hosted by the National Yacht Club.

The entry fee is €60, which includes temporary membership of DBSC and the NYC. Entries can be made online at dbsc.ie.

Anyone experiencing issues with their entries is invited to contact Rosemary Roy, Hon Sec, at 087 7626976 or Fintan Cairns at 087 2439208.

Sailing instructions will be available on Sunday, 4 February and will be emailed to entrants beforehand.

Published in DBSC

A 37-boat fleet will fight for the AIB Dublin Bay Sailing Club's Spring Chicken Series title on Sunday morning, with the J80 Derry Girls leading into the last race.

As Afloat reported previously, in a competitive climax to the series, the top 14 boats in the 37-boat mixed cruiser-racer fleet are separated by just ten points.

DBSC Race organiser Fintan Cairns has released handicaps and start times for the final race, which are downloadable below.

The J80 Derry Girls leads on 46 points from the J109 Dear Prudence on 47.00 with three boats tied for third place; the J122 Aurelia, the J97 Windjammer and the Sunfast 3600, Hot Cookie.

The six-race series was held on Sunday mornings from 5 February to 12 March (first gun 1010 hrs), using a progressive handicap on a time-to-time basis.

Download Handicaps and starts for the final race below

The final race of the six-race series takes place on Sunday off Dun Laoghaire Harbour at 10.10 am

The prizegiving will be held in the dining room of the National Yacht Club immediately after sailing.

Prizes will be made to overall and weekly winners.

Published in DBSC

With a light wind forecast for the penultimate race of the AIB-sponsored DBSC Spring Chicken Series, the 38-boat cruiser-racer fleet heads into its fifth race on Dublin Bay this Sunday (5th March).

As Afloat reported earlier, J boats have a firm grip on the podium at the National Yacht Club after one discard has been applied.

Handicaps and starts for Sunday's race are downloadable below.

Chris Power Smith's Royal St. George J122, Aurelia is the new overall leader. The ISORA offshore racer leads the 37-boat fleet by three points overall from John Maybury's J109 Joker II from the Royal Irish Yacht Club on 21 points. 

The J109 Dear Prudence lies third on 26 points. 

AIB-sponsored DBSC Spring Chicken Series has attracted a buoyant fleet of 38 cruiser racers for the six-race series Photo: Finnie KennedyAIB-sponsored DBSC Spring Chicken Series has attracted a buoyant fleet of 38 cruiser racers for the six-race series Photo: Finnie Kennedy

Six races are being held on Sunday mornings from 5 February to 12 March (first gun 1010 hrs), using a progressive handicap on a time-to-time basis.

Download Handicaps and starts for the fifth race below

Published in DBSC

The First Class 8 Allig8r was the winner of last Sunday's first race of the mixed cruiser-racer 2023 DBSC Spring Chicken Series on Dublin Bay.

The 1720 sportsboat entry 'No Show' was second in the 43-boat entry, with Irish J109 Champion Joker II from the Royal Irish Yacht Club in third place.

The weather looks promising for this Sunday's second race of the National Yacht Club-hosted event, with light south-westerlies forecast on the Bay.

Download the first race results (for Feb 5th) as well as the starts and handicaps for this Sunday (Feb 12) below.

Live Dublin Bay webcams here

Published in DBSC
Page 1 of 3

How to sail, sailing clubs and sailing boats plus news on the wide range of sailing events on Irish waters forms the backbone of Afloat's sailing coverage.

We aim to encompass the widest range of activities undertaken on Irish lakes, rivers and coastal waters. This page describes those sailing activites in more detail and provides links and breakdowns of what you can expect from our sailing pages. We aim to bring jargon free reports separated in to popular categories to promote the sport of sailing in Ireland.

The packed 2013 sailing season sees the usual regular summer leagues and there are regular weekly race reports from Dublin Bay Sailing Club, Howth and Cork Harbour on Afloat.ie. This season and last also featured an array of top class events coming to these shores. Each year there is ICRA's Cruiser Nationals starts and every other year the Round Ireland Yacht Race starts and ends in Wicklow and all this action before July. Crosshaven's Cork Week kicks off on in early July every other year. in 2012 Ireland hosted some big international events too,  the ISAF Youth Worlds in Dun Laoghaire and in August the Tall Ships Race sailed into Dublin on its final leg. In that year the Dragon Gold Cup set sail in Kinsale in too.

2013 is also packed with Kinsale hosting the IFDS diabled world sailing championships in Kinsale and the same port is also hosting the Sovereign's Cup. The action moves to the east coast in July with the staging of the country's biggest regatta, the Volvo Dun Laoghaire regatta from July 11.

Our coverage though is not restricted to the Republic of Ireland but encompasses Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the Irish Sea area too. In this section you'll find information on the Irish Sailing Association and Irish sailors. There's sailing reports on regattas, racing, training, cruising, dinghies and keelboat classes, windsurfers, disabled sailing, sailing cruisers, Olympic sailing and Tall Ships sections plus youth sailing, match racing and team racing coverage too.

Sailing Club News

There is a network of over 70 sailing clubs in Ireland and we invite all clubs to submit details of their activities for inclusion in our daily website updates. There are dedicated sections given over to the big Irish clubs such as  the waterfront clubs in Dun Laoghaire; Dublin Bay Sailing Club, the Royal Saint George Yacht Club,  the Royal Irish Yacht Club and the National Yacht Club. In Munster we regularly feature the work of Kinsale Yacht Club and Royal Cork Yacht Club in Crosshaven.  Abroad Irish sailors compete in Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) racing in the UK and this club is covered too. Click here for Afloat's full list of sailing club information. We are keen to increase our coverage on the network of clubs from around the coast so if you would like to send us news and views of a local interest please let us have it by sending an email to [email protected]

Sailing Boats and Classes

Over 20 active dinghy and one design classes race in Irish waters and fleet sizes range from just a dozen or so right up to over 100 boats in the case of some of the biggest classes such as the Laser or Optimist dinghies for national and regional championships. Afloat has dedicated pages for each class: Dragons, Etchells, Fireball, Flying Fifteen, GP14, J24's, J80's, Laser, Sigma 33, RS Sailing, Star, Squibs, TopperMirror, Mermaids, National 18, Optimist, Puppeteers, SB3's, and Wayfarers. For more resources on Irish classes go to our dedicated sailing classes page.

The big boat scene represents up to 60% of the sail boat racing in these waters and Afloat carries updates from the Irish Cruiser Racer Association (ICRA), the body responsible for administering cruiser racing in Ireland and the popular annual ICRA National Championships. In 2010 an Irish team won the RORC Commodore's Cup putting Irish cruiser racing at an all time high. Popular cruiser fleets in Ireland are raced right around the coast but naturally the biggest fleets are in the biggest sailing centres in Cork Harbour and Dublin Bay. Cruisers race from a modest 20 feet or so right up to 50'. Racing is typically divided in to Cruisers Zero, Cruisers One, Cruisers Two, Cruisers Three and Cruisers Four. A current trend over the past few seasons has been the introduction of a White Sail division that is attracting big fleets.

Traditionally sailing in northern Europe and Ireland used to occur only in some months but now thanks to the advent of a network of marinas around the coast (and some would say milder winters) there are a number of popular winter leagues running right over the Christmas and winter periods.

Sailing Events

Punching well above its weight Irish sailing has staged some of the world's top events including the Volvo Ocean Race Galway Stopover, Tall Ships visits as well as dozens of class world and European Championships including the Laser Worlds, the Fireball Worlds in both Dun Laoghaire and Sligo.

Some of these events are no longer pure sailing regattas and have become major public maritime festivals some are the biggest of all public staged events. In the past few seasons Ireland has hosted events such as La Solitaire du Figaro and the ISAF Dublin Bay 2012 Youth Worlds.

There is a lively domestic racing scene for both inshore and offshore sailing. A national sailing calendar of summer fixtures is published annually and it includes old favorites such as Sovereign's Cup, Calves Week, Dun Laoghaire to Dingle, All Ireland Sailing Championships as well as new events with international appeal such as the Round Britain and Ireland Race and the Clipper Round the World Race, both of which have visited Ireland.

The bulk of the work on running events though is carried out by the network of sailing clubs around the coast and this is mostly a voluntary effort by people committed to the sport of sailing. For example Wicklow Sailing Club's Round Ireland yacht race run in association with the Royal Ocean Racing Club has been operating for over 30 years. Similarly the international Cork Week regatta has attracted over 500 boats in past editions and has also been running for over 30 years.  In recent years Dublin Bay has revived its own regatta called Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta and can claim to be the country's biggest event with over 550 boats entered in 2009.

On the international stage Afloat carries news of Irish and UK interest on Olympics 2012, Sydney to Hobart, Volvo Ocean Race, Cowes Week and the Fastnet Race.

We're always aiming to build on our sailing content. We're keen to build on areas such as online guides on learning to sail in Irish sailing schools, navigation and sailing holidays. If you have ideas for our pages we'd love to hear from you. Please email us at [email protected]