Press Coverage

Every year the Volvo Dún Laoghaire Regatta generates great interest in both the traditional broadcast and print media as well as the newer online publications and on social media.

Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta 2023 Is In Full Grip Of Northern Jetstream

Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta 2023 Is In Full Grip Of Northern Jetstream

Some decidedly rugged racing yesterday (Friday), though with rapidly improving conditions, managed brilliantly to pull the wind-battered VDLR2023 back into line. But there’s no doubting the fact that it is all being achieved with weather that is a little bit too interesting for many folk.

Potential Winners Emerging after Day Two

Potential Winners Emerging after Day Two

Winds gusting up 20 knots put Ireland’s biggest sailing event back on schedule at Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta on Friday, with Dublin Bayu dishing up a full programme of testing racing for nearly 400 competing boats.

McCarthy and Green Lead after Day of Drama on the Water for Flying Fifteens

McCarthy and Green Lead after Day of Drama on the Water for Flying Fifteens

“Rewarded” is used judiciously as the fleet gathered in the National Yacht Club to initiate the recovery process! Nobody offered to “get the party going”, such was the physical challenge on the water. As one very experienced Fifteener said, that was like a day at a World Championship, and I should know!

O’Leary’s Antix Takes the Lead in the Cape 31 Nationals

O’Leary’s Antix Takes the Lead in the Cape 31 Nationals

The O’Leary Antix crew defending their Irish crown in style after the first day of racing in tough Dublin Bay conditions at the Cape 31 Irish Nationals at Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta. Antix, who were the UK’s top Corinthian Cape 31 crew at Royal Lymington in June, are counting a 2,2,1 to be on five points and three points clear of Howth’s Dan O’Grady sailing Aja.

Jerry Dowling’s Bád/Kilcullen Leads the SB20s

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.

Craig’s Puffin Leads Water Wag Fleet

Craig’s Puffin Leads Water Wag Fleet

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.

Johnston’s Prospect Tops Beneteau 31.7 Fleet

Johnston’s Prospect Tops Beneteau 31.7 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.

Gran Senor Tops Offshore Fleet in Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta’s First Race

Gran Senor Tops Offshore Fleet in Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta’s First Race

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.

Bird’s Eye View Film of Action Packed Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta

Bird’s Eye View Film of Action Packed Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta

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.

Royal St. George Phantom Leads Dragons

Royal St. George Phantom Leads Dragons

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.

Champions Slug It Out In IRC 1 as Final Call II Takes The Lead

Champions Slug It Out In IRC 1 as Final Call II Takes The Lead

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.

Royal Cork Half Tonner Swuzzlebubble Finds Mojo in IRC Two

Royal Cork Half Tonner Swuzzlebubble Finds Mojo in IRC Two

The tough first race of IRC Two at Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta saw the rugged veteran X-302 Dux (Gore-Grimes family, HYC) loving it, but as things settled down a bit, Olympian Andy Beadsworth in James Dwyer’s legendary Half Tonner c (Royal Cork YC) found his mojo to record 4,4,1 against Dux’s 1,7,3, while Stephen Quinn’s J/97 Lambay Rules (HYC) lies third on 2,1,10.

Beneteau 211 is Dismasted in Windy First Race

Beneteau 211 is Dismasted in Windy First Race

Joe Smyth’s Yikes from the Royal Irish Yacht Club won the breezy first race of the Beneteau 211 class of the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta on Dublin Bay, but the race was not without drama as one yacht was dismasted.

RStGYC’s Owens and Morris Prepare to Defend Leinster GP14 Title at VDLR

RStGYC’s Owens and Morris Prepare to Defend Leinster GP14 Title at VDLR

With the 2023 Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta starting for dinghies this Friday, the GP14 Ireland fleet will use the event as their 2023 Leinster Championships. This is not the first time the Leinsters have been run as part of Volvo, and former winners Ger Owens and Mel Morris will be on the start line to try and retain their Leinster crown, having won in Mullingar last year.

NYC’s Galvin and Bradley Win First Flying Fifteen Race

NYC’s Galvin and Bradley Win First Flying Fifteen Race

The National Yacht Club’s Tom Galvin and Cormac Bradley were the winners of Thursday’s first Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta race in the Flying Fifteen class. As southerly winds topped 30 knots, only five starters from a fleet of 22 came to the startline of the Salthill course area in the northwest of Dublin Bay.

Five Courses Cancel Racing on Blustery Opening Day

Five Courses Cancel Racing on Blustery Opening Day

The first day of the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta saw the cancellation of nearly all racing due to strong winds. Five of the six courses at Ireland’s largest sailing event were cancelled as the southerly breeze on Dublin Bay reached 38 knots.

Fireball Dinghies Line Out for VDLR

Fireball Dinghies Line Out for VDLR

Sixteen Fireball dinghies are lined up to compete in the Volvo Dun Laoghaire regatta this long weekend. The relatively large Fireball entry has taken even the class committee by surprise. It is clear now that the resurgence spurred on by last year’s Worlds in LDYC Dromineer is here to stay.

Closure of South Burford Traffic Separation Scheme

Closure of South Burford Traffic Separation Scheme

To ensure the safety of all concerned and to facilitate the management of such a large sailing event, the South Burford Traffic Separation Scheme will be closed to all commercial traffic on Thursday 6 July between noon and 6.30pm, and Friday 7, Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 July between 10am and 6.30pm.

Top Crews Arrive for IRC One Battle at VDLR

Top Crews Arrive for IRC One Battle at VDLR

Within 24 hours of the first races of Ireland’s biggest sailing event at Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta, Division One IRC gets hotter with the unconfirmed report that a Hong Kong crew skippered by Jamie McWilliam has entered the 24-boat fray on a J109.

NYC’s Gorman and Doorly are Flying15 Front Runners at VDLR

NYC’s Gorman and Doorly are Flying15 Front Runners at VDLR

The National Yacht Club takes the lion’s share of representation, understandably as this is where the bulk of the DL fleet is situated, but four boats (from seven) hail from the Royal St George and the DMYC has a solitary representative, which translates to a 100% turnout for them.

British Olympic Ace Andy Beadsworth Joins the Swuzzlebubble Crew for VDLR

British Olympic Ace Andy Beadsworth Joins the Swuzzlebubble Crew for VDLR

Double British Olympic keelboat sailor Andy Beadsworth is on board Dave Dwyer’s Royal Cork Half Tonner Swuzzlebubble for an IRC Two contest in this week’s Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta, where strong winds are forecasted to get the four-day regatta off to an exciting start on Thursday afternoon.

Griffin is a Favourite for ILCA 6 Honours at VDLR

Griffin is a Favourite for ILCA 6 Honours at VDLR

While Darren Griffin (MYC/RStG) must be a favourite on paper for the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta ILCA 6 dinghy title as he was top three at the ILCA 6 Master Nationals in the last two years, another north Dublin sailor, Tom Fox of Rush, will also be very fast if the forecasted breeze materialises this weekend.

Southworth’s Quarter Tonner ‘Protis’ is the Star of the Show in IRC 3

Southworth’s Quarter Tonner ‘Protis’ is the Star of the Show in IRC 3

It turns out that next week’s Quarter Ton World Championships in Cork Harbour may well have a bearing on the overall results of Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta’s IRC Three division. The reason is that at least three top Quarter Ton teams – including one visiting former world champion – are signed up in a 20-boat mix of eclectic designs. 

RIYC’s ‘Rockabill VI’ Eyes IRC Zero Prize at VDLR

RIYC’s ‘Rockabill VI’ Eyes IRC Zero Prize at VDLR

It may look like only half the size of the other IRC classes at Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta, but an 11-boat IRC Zero fleet is every bit as competitive as the other four and double the size of the 2019 entry.

RIYC Hosts Six Cape 31s Racing for National Honours at VDLR

RIYC Hosts Six Cape 31s Racing for National Honours at VDLR

Anthony O’Leary’s Antix will seek to defend his Cape 31 national title when the championship is run in conjunction with the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta this week on Dublin Bay. Racing will run from Thursday to Sunday, but competitors have already begun to arrive at the Royal Irish Yacht Club, which is hosting the fleet of six.

Met Éireann Forecasting Southerly Winds For VDLR

Met Éireann Forecasting Southerly Winds For VDLR

Met Éireann is forecasting southerly to south-easterly winds for Dublin Bay during the Volvo Dun Laoghaire regatta this week. However, it cautions that the forecast is “more uncertain than usual for later this week, so the probability for change is quite high”.

Can an A35 or J99 Dislodge Dominant J109s in Class One?

Can an A35 or J99 Dislodge Dominant J109s in Class One?

With the top three boats from 2019 all competing again, the outcome of this contest depends mainly on what conditions will prevail. Six days out, it looks like the Bay will serve strong to medium-strength southerly breezes, which could upset the pecking order in the regatta’s most significant class.