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In a letter to The Irish Times last week, the principal of Ireland's largest sailing school hails the introduction of the new 'master plan' for Dun Laoghaire Harbour.
Alistair Rumball, director of the Irish National Sailing School (INSS), argues that the harbour's current financial model "cannot bring us forward".
He highlights the seasonal nature of the harbour's core businesses, which include a ferry service, four private yacht clubs, the Commissioners of Irish Lights and the public marina and boat yard.
"Due to seasonality these operations cannot financially support the harbour all year," he writes. "We need the same numbers of the public to be using harbour facilities at mid- summer as mid-winter."

In a letter to The Irish Times last week, the principal of Ireland's largest sailing school hails the introduction of the new 'master plan' for Dun Laoghaire Harbour.

Alistair Rumball, director of the Irish National Sailing School (INSS), argues that the harbour's current financial model "cannot bring us forward". 

He highlights the seasonal nature of the harbour's core businesses, which include a ferry service, four private yacht clubs, the Commissioners of Irish Lights (CIL) and the public marina and boat yard.

"Due to seasonality these operations cannot financially support the harbour all year," he writes. "We need the same numbers of the public to be using harbour facilities at mid- summer as mid-winter."

Published in Dublin Bay

The Dragon was designed by Johan Anker in 1929 as an entry for a competition run by the Royal Yacht Club of Gothenburg, to find a small keel-boat that could be used for simple weekend cruising among the islands and fjords of the Scandinavian seaboard. The original design had two berths and was ideally suited for cruising in his home waters of Norway. The boat quickly attracted owners and within ten years it had spread all over Europe.

The Dragon's long keel and elegant metre-boat lines remain unchanged, but today Dragons are constructed using the latest technology to make the boat durable and easy to maintain. GRP is the most popular material, but both new and old wooden boats regularly win major competitions while looking as beautiful as any craft afloat. Exotic materials are banned throughout the boat, and strict rules are applied to all areas of construction to avoid sacrificing value for a fractional increase in speed.

The key to the Dragon's enduring appeal lies in the careful development of its rig. Its well-balanced sail plan makes boat handling easy for lightweights, while a controlled process of development has produced one of the most flexible and controllable rigs of any racing boat.