Jerry Dowling’s Bád/Kilcullen Leads the SB20s
Royal Irish Yacht Club Commodore Jerry Dowling leads the SB20 fleet at the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta with three straight wins scored in blustery conditions on Friday.
Royal Irish Yacht Club Commodore Jerry Dowling leads the SB20 fleet at the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta with three straight wins scored in blustery conditions on Friday.
Royal St. George’s Sean and Heather King sailing Puffin have three wins from three races in the Water Wag class of the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta. Racing inside Dun Laoghaire Harbour, the husband and wife duo are six points clear of Guy and Jackie Gilroy in Swift in the 13-boat fleet.
Sailing on the North Course, the national champion commanded the nine-boat fleet from the off in the strong wind conditions. His only slip from a perfect scoreline was in this afternoon’s third race when clubmate Michael Bryson took the gun and moved into third overall. Johnston’s arch-rival Levante (Power/Leahy) is four points off the lead in second place.
Scotland’s leading offshore skipper Jonathan Anderson seems to have gone native in Dun Laoghaire, as he registers himself and his J/122 El Gran Senor as racing for the Royal Irish YC in the crack Offshore Class of the 2023 Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta with 25 top-level boats battling for the honours.
Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta organisers released a bird’s eye view film of an action-packed day two of sailing on Dublin Bay. Ireland’s largest yacht racing event was captured by drone by Dun Laoghaire sailor Mark Nolan of Lotus Media when southerly breezes topped 20 knots.
The local crew of Hegarty with David, Hillary and Emma Williams scored 2,1,1 in the three races on the Salthill course to lead the national champions Cameron Good, Henry Kingston and Simon Furney sailing Little Fella from Kinsale overall by four points.
You’ll sometimes hear complaints that the impressive JPK range from France are marginally under-canvassed boats, but what’s not to like about that when racing on Friday’s slowly easing rough and tumble?
Michael Chester was ashore and afloat throughout the weekend, capturing all the action.
Mike & Richie Evans’s well-starred J/99 Snapshot (Howth YC) got the best of it in today’s first race ahead of John Maybury’s frequently-winning J/109 Joker (RIYC), with northern star Final Call II, John Minnis’s A35 helmed by Gareth Flannigan (RUYC & RNIYC) in third.