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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: Supernova

#boatsforsale – Looking for a great performer for club racing or a chance to join the growing Quarter Ton Fleet in time for the European Championships in Ireland 2013?

€13,750 gets you the professionally refitted Quarter Tonner Supernova that has an impressive list of victories including the 'Boat of the Week' title at the 2011 Volvo Dun Laoghaire Week. The boat is also a frequent top performer in Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC) leagues. The boat has been dry sailed over the last five years and wintered indoors.

It's not the first competitive quarter tonner to come on the market in recent times either. Last year Kinsale's Ian Travers sold his similarly well priced top performing 'Bandit' after posting it on the Afloat Boats for Sale site.

All the details on the full Supernova Quarter Tonner advert are on the Afloat's Boat for sales website

Published in Boat Sales
Tagged under
It looked like Supernova (Ken Lawless) would continue her success on Dublin Bay with weekend wins in a blustery DBSC end of season fixture for the Cruisers III class until a broken boom in the penultimate race gave the event to arch rivals Hard on Port.

In what at first glance looks like a repeat of the results from July's Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta there are familiar name at the top of the leaderboard after the weekend's Dublin Bay Sailing Club Cruiser Challenge contested by 70 boats from 7 classes.

So far overall results have yet to be published and only provisional results are appearing online.

As in July, the J24 Hard on Port (Flor O'Driscoll) was second to Supernova in the 16-boat Cruisers III IRC fleet, the biggest fleet of the combined classes event until the final race of the series when disaster struck for the Dubois Starflash desgin.

Wow J111

Wow tackles the breeze at the Cruiser Challenge. Photo: Gareth Craig. more on the Afloat Gallery here.

In the six boat Cruisers Zero fleet, Howth visitor Crazy Horse (Norbert Reilly) counting two firsts won by a margin of 5 points from Tiamat. Third was the new J111 Wow skippered by George Sisk.

Published in DBSC
The Royal Irish Yacht Club is gearing up to host the inaugural Best In The Bay 2011 Shootout this Sunday the 31st July 2011.

The Best In The Bay is a new sailing event designed to take the top helms from the various Dublin Bay Sailing Club keelboat classes and put them and their trimmers and tacticians head to head in the ISA Sailfleet J80 keelboats.

The competitors have been selected based on the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta results, with the highest finishing DBSC boat based on either IRC, scratch or standard ECHO qualifying.

The event structure has two qualification fleet racing flights with the finals then emphasising match racing tactics in a reduced field final.

Notables in the field include Supernova, the boat of the week in the VDLR, competing against White Mischief, the VDLR one design boat of the week as well as J109, Cruisers 1, SB3, Dragon and other Cruiser fleet representatives.

The sailing will be kept close inshore to entertain the Bank Holiday crowds in Dun Laoghaire and will feature on the water judges for instant penalties and short match racing style courses for maximum tactical opportunities.

The Best In The Bay is modelled on the successful formula already used in the ISA All-Ireland Helmsman Championship and the King of Cowes event to bring the top helms from differing classes that would not normally compete against each other into an event on one design boats for a head to head challenge.
Published in Dublin Bay

She maybe old but she's still a fast one. Don't let the fact that a 33-year old local yacht took top prize from a combined fleet of 420 competitors at Ireland's biggest sailing regatta, the Volvo regatta in Dun Laoghaire yesterday.

The three sailors involved in the campaign, skipper Ken Lawless, Sybil McCormack and Pat Shannon have invested in a three year campaign to get the quarter tonner Supernova up to speed and it was only after a season of modifications last year that they found the real go button on the Dubois Starflash design.

supernova_montage
supernova_prize

David Baddeley of Volvo (left) and Alan Moore of Spirit (back row) present the award to the Supernova crew (from left) Ken Lawless, Sybil McCormack, Edel Harvey, Pat Shannon and Daryl Balf

In a hard fought battle for honours in the biggest class of the regatta Supernova of the Royal Irish Yacht Club overhauled the 2009 Volvo trophy winner, Hard on Port (Flor O'Driscoll) of the Royal St. George Yacht Club by five seconds to win yesterday afternoon's final sixth race for Class III and lift the overall Volvo Trophy for the best performance of the regatta.

In fact, Supernova won from O'Driscoll by only the narrowest of margins and only after the third tie-break was applied to the arch rivals.

Both boats had equal points plus three wins and two second places apiece. Both had also  discarded a second place and so the class, and the 2011 title, was decided on  countback and who won the last race.

In a season of successes for the vintage Dubois Starflash design Dun Laoghaire sailor Lawless and his partners Sybil McCormack and Pat Shannon have already won class honours in June’s Lambay race. The quarter tonner has taken overall honours too in Dublin Bay Sailing Club's first series this season.

Part of the reason for the success has been a winter of overhauls to the 1978 design including extra downwind sail area and improved stability with the relocation of its floorboards. The improvements brought about better performances downwind, especially in light airs.
"We found stability was more important than increasing draft. In anything over 15-knots she proved very difficult to sail, her big rig makin her very skittish" Lawless told Afloat.ie
supernovatacking
Supernova takes a tack

The vintage boat from the old IOR handicap days is in fact a carbon copy of the famous 1979 Admiral's Cupper two tonner Police Car, a boat that has held huge appeal for Lawless.

"We were second to Hard on Port at this regatta two years ago when they won boat of the week so there was intense rivalry today but we knew we could do it!" Lawless said last night.
Published in Volvo Regatta
In one of the busiest racing weekends of the Irish sailing calendar a vintage Quarter tonner sailed by six friends lifted the top prize in Dun Laoghaire. We report on Supernova's success. In a weekend of extremes for the biennial 'big one' we have reports, photos and video from Day one, two, three and overall. Plus how one VDLR competitor skipped the ferry and sailed over, from Wales in a dinghy. We have the DBSC likely first series winners too. On Friday, John Twomey and his crew qualified in Weymouth for next year's Paralympic Games. Yesterday in Croatia Sophie Murphy took a race win at the ISAF Youth Worlds for Ireland. From a lead at the halfway stage Peter McCann ended up eighth at the Oppy worlds in Portugal.We have less serious Optimist action from Crosshaven too.

In offshore news, the Transatlantic Race 2011 Nears a Finish, and RORC yachts that headed West did best in the St Malo from Cowes race. Ireland's entry in the Tall Ships race, Celtic Mist, is safely in Scotland. WIORA starts this week in Clifden, thirty boats are expected.

Two top Cork performers are in Cowes for this week's Quarter Ton Cup.

In other boating news, rower Siobhan McCrohan won bronze at the World Rowing Champs in Lucerne, Kiteboarding debuted in Dun Laoghaire. There were Medals for Irish Kayakers at Athens Special Olympics.

And finally after a Elaine 'Shooter' Alexander is set for hero's welcome this week as she becomes the first woman from Northern Ireland to circumnavigate the island of Ireland.

All on our home page this morning, thanks for your interest in Irish Sailing and Boating.

Published in Racing

Local success is being toasted in Dun Laoghaire tonight following the Volvo Dun Laoghaire regatta prizegiving this afternoon.

SCROLL DOWN FOR PRIZEGIVING PHOTOS by Gareth Craig.

The bulk of the major trophies were divided among sailors from the waterfront Dublin Bay yacht clubs or Howth at the end of four days of racing today.

The major overall prize went to the Class III IRC winner Supernova who produced three wins and three second places in a 38 boat fleet, the biggest class of the regatta. More on Supernova HERE.

supernova

The quarter tonner Supernova - Shining brightly on Dublin Bay

The biennial regatta is being hailed an enormous success both afloat and ashore as a combined fleet of 420 boats raced over nine courses and a range of conditions since racing began last Thursday from full gale to flat calm.

Supernova won but only after the third tie-break was applied against arch rival Hard on Port (Flor O'Driscoll). Both boats had equal points plus three wins and two second places apiece. Both had also discarded a second place and so the class, and the 2011 title, was decided on countback and who won the last race.

The cruisers zero IRC winner, in the biggest turn out of the class this year is Alan Chambers and Norbert Reilly's Crazy Horse. Steven Cowie's Beneteau 40, Zephyr from Royal Gourock was 4 points behind the Howth winner with the Dufour 42 Grand Cru from Clyde Cruising club three points further adrift.

In Cruiser one IRC the prize went to the National Yacht Club's Something Else (John & Brian Hall & Sue McDonnell). Second was Scotland's Carmen II (Paul Scutt/ Alan Jeffrey) and third Bengal Magic (John Moorehead/ Chris Ferres)

In class two Howth's Impetous lifted the IRC trophy from a fleet of 21. Second was Sligo traveller Conor Ronan sailing Ruthless, a Corby 25,
Third was the half tonner King One (David Cullen) from Howth.

In the one designs class champions prevailed in the SB3, the Sigma and the Flying fifteen classes.

In a new departure for the event Kitesurfing was added to the slate and the sport was showcased yesterday off Seapoint. Francios Colussi won the demonstration event.

The next Dun Laoghaire regatta is scheduled for early July 2013

The full breakdown of overall results is below.

Overall results VDLR 2011 (provisional and subject to protest)

OVERALL WINNER – Supernova (Sybil MacCormack/Ken Lawless/Pat Shannon),

IRC CLASS 0 - 1. Crazy Horse (Chambers/Reilly), 2. Elf Too (Christina Murray) 3. Grand Cru II (Jamie McGarry)

IRC CLASS 1 ­ 1. Something Else (John & Brian Hall & Sue McDonnell 2. Carmen II (Paul Scutt/ Alan Jeffrey) 3. Bengal Magic (John Moorehead/ Chris Ferres)

IRC CLASS 2 - 1. Impetuous (Fergal Noonan/Robert Chambers) 2. Ruthless (Conor Ronan), 3. King One (David Cullen)

IRC CLASS 3 - 1. Supernova (Sybil MacCormack/Ken Lawless/Pat Shannon), 2. Hard on Port (Flor O'Driscoll), 3. Scandal (Brian McDowell)

NON SPINNAKER 1 - 1. Tsunami (Vincent Farrell), 2. Lula Belle (Liam Coyne), 3. Persistance (Charles Broadhead/Jerry Collins/Ian Stuart)

NON SPINNAKER 2 - 1. Bite the Bullet (Colm Bermingham), 2. Voyager (Joe Carton), 3. Arwen (Philip O'Dwyer)

NON SPINNAKER DBSC CUP - ) 1. Arwen (Philip O'Dwyer), 3.Eden Park (Liam Farmer) 3. Nauti-Gal (John and Jason Crawford)

J109 - 1. Joker 2 (John Maybury) 2. Storm (Pat Kelly), 3. Jedi (Barratt/Austin/McGuinness)

J80 WELSH/IRISH CUP- 1. Ireland 1 (Geoff O'Donoghue), 2. Ireland 2 (Stephen Doherty), 3. Wales 1 (Kieron Iniman)

LASER SB3- 1. Sharkbait (Ben Duncan/Brian Moran), 2. TBC Aidan O'Connell, 3. BoMChickaWahWah (John O'Driscoll)

BENETEAU 31.7 ­ 1. Twister (Fletcher/Byers/Fair), 2. Flying Machine (Conor & Donal O'Gallagher),3. 30 Something (Kavanagh/Jones/Gaffney/Lubliner)

SIGMA 33 - 1.White Mischief (Tim Goodbody), 2. Popje (Ted McCourt), 3. Gwili Two (Dermot Clarke and Paddy Maguire)

RUFFIAN 23- . 1. Diane 2 (Alan Claffey) 2. Ruff Nuff (Derek & Carol Mitchell), 3. Ruff n'Ready (Cullen/Brown/Kirwan)

SHIPMAN- 1.Curraglass (John Masterson), 2. Whiterock (Henry M Robinson), 3. Lulu (Bob & Tom Galvin)

GLEN - 1. Glenluce (Donal &Richard O'Connor), 2. Pterodactyl (Roderick & David McCaffrey) 3 .Glenmarissa (Frank Elmes/Wilf Higgins)

FLYING 15- 1. Hy5ive (David Gorman), 2. The Gruffalo (Keith Poole) 3. Deranged (Alan Green)

DRAGON- 1.Phantom (Peter Bowring/David Williams), 2. Jaguar (Martin Byrne), 3. Susele (Michael Halpenny)

MERMAID - 1. Tiller Girl (Jonathon O'Rourke), 2. Endeavour (Roger Bannon), 3. Dolphin (James O'Toole)

SQUIB - 1. Toy for the Boys (Peter Wallace), 2. Femme Fatale (Joe O'Byrne/Vincent Delaney), 3. Perfection (Jill Fleming) (PROTEST PENDING THAT AFFECTS SECOND AND THIRD)

WATER WAG - 1. Little Tern (J Ross-Murphy) 2. Tortoise (William & Linda Prentice) 3. Molly (Cathy McAleavey)

WAYFARER- 1. Black Pear (David Wade) 2. Hofreki (Trevor Fisher) 3. Devil's Advocate (Richard Hartley)

FIREBALL- 1. El Rey Del Fuego (Francis Rowan) 3. Moon Monkey (Diana Kissane) 3. Lets Get Messy (Andy Boyle/Barry Hurley),

IDRA 14- 1. Delos II (Patrick O Neill) 2. Dunmoanin (Frank Hamilton), 3. Chaos (Julie Ascoop/Heather Keenan)

HOWTH 17- 1. Oona (Peter Courtney) 2. Aura (Ian Malcolm) 3. Leila (Roddy Cooper)

LASER RADIAL - 1. Pump It (Luke Murphy) 2. No Name (Declan Kickham), 3. No Name (Eoin Foley)

LASER STANDARD - 1. Fossa Too (Will Nesbitt), 2. No Name (Francis Barry) 3. Buster 3 (Garry O'Hare)

KITE BOARDERS 1. Francios Colussi 2. Jade O'Connor 3. Colm Murphy

Published in Volvo Regatta

Ken Lawless's Supernova was a double winner in last night's Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC) race, a result that sets up the Dubois Starflash design as a favourite in the biggest fleet of next week's Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta at the same venue. Our Dublin Bay Correspondent Reports.

On IRC handicap Huggy Bear (S.Doyle/G.Byrne) was second to Supernova and third was the Bolero 26, Two Step (Ross Doyle). On ECHO, Huggy Bear took second too but third went to the club's only Jezequel 116 design, Cri-Cri skippered by Paul Colton.

DBSC are celebrating the success of course changes introduced this year that have received widespread approval across the 17 fleets. The new courses are producing tight racing, a situation very much in evidence last night across the bay but particularly noticeable in the one design classes. Good turnouts from the Ruffian's, Fifteens and SB3s were treated to good courses and some of the closest racing of the season.

Royal St. George crews fared well with Derek Mitchell coming out on top in a 19-boat Ruffian fleet and Andrew Algeo at the helm of Flutter the SB3 winner. Tom Leonard's Mellifluence from the National Yacht Club was the winner of the 16-Flying fifteens. The full results are below:

BENETEAU 31.7 - 1. Bluefin Two (M & B Bryson), 2. Levana (Jean Mitton), 3. Prospect (Chris Johnston)

BENETEAU 31.7 Echo- 1. Extreme Reality (P.McSwiney/E.O'Rafferty), 2. Attitude (D.Owens/T.Milner), 3. Bluefin Two (M & B Bryson)

CRUISERS 1 Echo - 1. Adrenalin (Joe McDonald), 2. Xtravagance (Colin Byrne), 3. Axiom (M.O'Neill)

CRUISERS 1 - 1. Xtravagance (Colin Byrne), 2. Joker 11 (John Maybury), 3. Something Else (J.Hall et al)

CRUISERS 2 - 1. Jawesome 11 (V.Kennedy/M.Dyke), 2. Red Rhum (J Nicholson), 3. Bendemeer (Lindsay Casey Power)

CRUISERS 2 Echo - 1. Red Rhum (J Nicholson), 2. Jawesome 11 (V.Kennedy/M.Dyke), 3. Peridot (Jim McCann et al)

CRUISERS 3 Echo - 1. Supernova (K.Lawless et al), 2. Huggy Bear (S.Doyle/G.Byrne), 3. Cri-Cri (P Colton)

CRUISERS 3 - 1. Supernova (K.Lawless et al), 2. Huggy Bear (S.Doyle/G.Byrne), 3. Two Step (Ross Doyle)

DRAGON - 1. Susele (Michael Halpenny), 2. Diva (R.Johnson/R.Goodbody), 3. Phantom (D.Williams/P.Bowring)

FLYING FIFTEEN - 1. Mellifluence (Tom Leonard), 2. Snow White (Frank Burgess), 3. Fflogger (Alan Dooley)

GLEN - 1. Glenmarissa (F.Elmes/W.Higgins), 2. Pterodactyl (R & D McCaffrey), 3. Glenroan (Terence Moran)

RUFFIAN 23 - 1. Ruff Nuff (D & C Mitchell), 2. Diane ll (Bruce Carswell), 3. Ruff N Ready (Ann Kirwan et al)

SB3s - 1. Flutter (Andrew Algeo), 2. Defiant (R.Hudson/J.Hooper), 3. Alert Packaging (Justin Burke)

SHIPMAN - 1. Curraglas (John Masterson), 2. Therapi (Alan McCarthy et al), 3. Malindi (B.Smith/A.Gray)

SIGMA 33 - 1. White Mischief (Timothy Goodbody), 2. Gwili Two (D.Clarke/P.Maguire), 3. Pippa lV (G.Kinsman/K.Blake/M.O'Brien)

SQUIB - 1. Little Bird (N Barnwell), 2. Anemos (Pete & Ann Evans), 3. Chillax (Mary McLoughlin)

WHITE SAIL CRUISERS Echo - 1. Katie (Tom Dunne et al), 2. Nirvana (Bernard Neeson), 3. Edenpark (Liam Farmer)

WHITE SAIL CRUISERS - 1. Persistence (C. Broadhead et al), 2. Act Two (Michael O'Leary et al), 3. Calypso (Howard Knott)

Published in DBSC

Ken Lawless's Supernova emerged the winner of tonight's Dublin Bay Sailing Club Cruisers III race sailed in moderate westerly winds writes our Dublin Bay Correspondent. The Dubois Starfish design beat Papytoo (M.Walsh/F.Guilfoyle) who finished second. Last Saturday's race winner Gung Ho (G & S O'Shea) was third. The J80 Jawsome was the Cruisers II winner and in Cruisers I another J design, a 109, Something Else (John Hall) from the National Yacht Club finished first.

On the one design course 13 Flying fifteen's enjoyed a tight race and were one of the only classes to hold spinnakers on the shy reach from Bay to forty foot. Snow White, Frank Burgess's FF from the National Yacht Club notched up another win, this time from club-mate Keith Poole's Gruffalo. Third was The Big Bow Wow (N.Meagher/N.Matthews).

DUBLIN PORT Dublin Bay Sailing Club Results for 19 MAY 2011

BENETEAU 31.7 Echo- 1. Attitude (D.Owens/T.Milner), 2. Levante (B.Leyden/M.Leahy), 3. Magic (D.O'Sullivan/D.Espey)

BENETEAU 31.7 - 1. Magic (D.O'Sullivan/D.Espey), 2. Levante (B.Leyden/M.Leahy), 3. Prospect (Chris Johnston)

CRUISERS 0 Echo - 1. Lively Lady (Derek Martin), 2. Tsunami (Vincent Farrell)

CRUISERS 1 Echo - 1. Contango (Barry Cunningham), 2. Jetstream (Peter Redden), 3. Jedi (Sarratt/Austin/McGuinness)

CRUISERS 1 - 1. Something Else (J.Hall et al), 2. Joker 11 (John Maybury), 3. Jedi (Sarratt/Austin/McGuinness)

CRUISERS 2 - 1. Jawesome 11 (V.Kennedy/M.Dyke), 2. Red Rhum (J Nicholson), 3. Jester (Declan Curtin)

CRUISERS 2 Echo - 1. Jester (Declan Curtin), 2. Red Rhum (J Nicholson), 3. Jawesome 11 (V.Kennedy/M.Dyke)

CRUISERS 3 Echo - 1. Supernova (K.Lawless et al), 2. Papytoo (M.Walsh/F.Guilfoyle), 3. Small Wonder (Hugh Kelly)

CRUISERS 3 - 1. Supernova (K.Lawless et al), 2. Papytoo (M.Walsh/F.Guilfoyle), 3. Gung Ho (G & S O'Shea)

DRAGON - 1. Diva (R.Johnson/R.Goodbody), 2. Phantom (D.Williams/P.Bowring), 3. Puca (P.Burke/R.Henry)

FLYING FIFTEEN - 1. Snow White (Frank Burgess), 2. The Gruffalo (Keith Poole), 3. The Big Bow Wow (N.Meagher/N.Matthews)

GLEN - 1. Glenshane (P Hogan), 2. Glendun (B.Denham et al), 3. Glenmarissa (F.Elmes/W.Higgins)

RUFFIAN 23 - 1. Shannagh (S.Gill/P.MacDiarmada), 2. Ruff N Ready (Ann Kirwan et al), 3. Ruffles (Michael Cutliffe)

SB3s - 1. Sin Bin (Barry O'Neill), 2. Defiant (R.Hudson/J.Hooper), 3. Smoke (L. McKenna/B.Hobby)

SHIPMAN - 1. Curraglas (John Masterson), 2. Jo Slim (J.Clarke et al), 3. Gusto (C Heath)

SIGMA 33 - 1. Popje (Ted McCourt), 2. White Mischief (Timothy Goodbody), 3. Gwili Two (D.Clarke/P.Maguire)

SQUIB - 1. Kookaburra (P & M Dee), 2. Perfection (Jill Fleming), 3. Chillax (Mary McLoughlin)

WHITE SAIL CRUISERS Echo - 1. Zephyr (R Cahill-O'Brien), 2. Nauti-Gal (J & J Crawford), 3. Xerxes (Dan O'Neill)

WHITE SAIL CRUISERS - 1. Nauti-Gal (J & J Crawford), 2. Act Two (Michael O'Leary et al), 3. Calypso (Howard Knott)

Published in DBSC
A retro class of sailing boats will give a shot in the arm to the two major south-coast regattas this June. Although its heyday was 30 years ago, the revitalised Quarter Ton class in Britain and Ireland, is experiencing a new lease of life.

Up to 25 Quarter Tonners have signed up for Cork harbour's Irish Cruiser (ICRA) National Championships and the Sovereigns Cup in Kinsale – only a week separates the two fixtures. (Latest Sovereigns Cup news here)

The budget-minded class has been back building numbers steadily since 2001 when Peter Morton revived the class on the south coast of England. Now over 40 boats compete in Britain and up to 10 will visit Cork this summer after a successful trial here two years ago.

From June 17th they'll go head to head with a number of hot Irish campaigns that have emerged in the last 12 months, including the host port's "Tiger" (O'Brien, Kenefick and Kenefick), Eamon Rohan's recently refurbished Anchor Challenge and Dún Laoghaire's Supernova, skippered by Ken Lawless.

anchor_challenge1

The crew of Anchor Challenge Complete a gybe. Photo: Bob Bateman

 

For this year's event, some of these dated 24-26 footers are being pulled from hedgerows and fields rather than building new ones.

Last raced in the 1980s, others are getting the full make-over and have been extensively remodelled for today's IRC handicap rule.

"Budget sailing with five friends, that's the ethos", claims Kinsale skipper Ian Travers about the style of the passe class.

The current fleet contains boats from €6,000 to €30,000, the more expensive boats having extensive optimisation and new sail plans.

It's well within the rules to alter rudders and keels but hull shapes must stay original.

To qualify to race in the Quarter Ton cup, a boat must fall within the old IOR rule or be a production boat derivative. This means many mainstream class-three craft such as Farr 727s, GK24s, Starflash 26s and Boleros all qualify.

Travers reckons therefore a potential Irish fleet could reach 50 boats, if enough owners showed interest.

One boat of particular interest in June will be "Black Fun" a fully refurbished and IRC optimised 1977 Laurie Davidson- designed Quarter Tonner.

Back then she was the top Quarter Tonner in New Zealand but for financial reasons did not make the journey to Finland to compete in the Quarter Ton Cup that year. Now, 34 years later, the current owners are shipping her from New Zealand to compete in this year's cup in Cowes in July but beforehand will compete in both Irish regattas as warm-ups.

And in further good news for the ICRA event a west coast cruiser fleet have confirmed that at least 15 boats will be entering the national championships.


Published in Sovereign's Cup

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]