Tributes have been paid to outgoing Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta administrator Ciara Dowling, who has retired after 16 years. Regatta Chairman Don O’Dowd made a special presentation at last Wednesday’s launch.
Sailors, sponsors and volunteers launched Volvo Dún Laoghaire Regatta 2023 in fine style at the National Maritime Museum of Ireland on Wednesday night. This ninth edition of the regatta event promises to be one of the biggest sailing events in Northern Europe
Volvo Ambassadors Amy Huberman, Author and Actress, and Dermot Bannon, Architect, were ‘onboard’ to help launch the ninth Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta, Ireland’s largest regatta.
It’s all go for the brand new Cape 31 class with the word on the street that Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta could now play host to the Irish National Championships this July.
Scotland’s RC35 cruiser-racer class has published its 2023 calendar for its 2023 RC35 Series and 2023 Celtic Cup, and Ireland’s Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta features in both.
With news that Ireland’s largest regatta is closing in on a 300-boat entry with two and a half months yet to go to the first gun, Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta organisers say they will use the digital info board app ‘Sportity’ as a means of communication during the four-day biennial regatta this July.
With 25 entries already in two months before the first gun (compared to 26 racing in 2019), Class One IRC Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta (VDLR) looks like it’s going to be a repeat of some of the hottest Irish Sea IRC action seen since before covid.
A second canting keel 50-footer is set to contest June’s Volvo Dun Laoghaire to Dingle offshore yacht race. Afloat sources say the Elliott 57 has been purchased by an as-of-yet-unnamed Irish sailor who will contest not only the 280-mile D2D but also the coastal divisions of the Simply Blue Sovereign’s Cup in Kinsale, also in June, and July’s Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta.
240 entries have been received for this year’s Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta as of March 31st 2023, and organisers are reported ‘pleased’ with the take up to date both across the competing handicap and One Design classes.
The 2023 RS21 Cup season will see events in Scotland, Ireland and England as teams compete in a three-regatta venue, including Dun Laoghaire Harbour in July. To ensure sailors, new and old, get the chance to get up to speed as quickly as possible, the first regatta will see RS21 racing paired with coaching to provide direct feedback on the water.
