Rockabill VI Keeps Clear of Southwest Headlands to Maintain Dingle Lead

16th June 2017

Afloat.ie Team

Rockabill VI powering out of Dublin Bay shortly after Wednesday evening's start. Closing in on the Dingle finish this afternoon her speed continues reaching at a brisk 7 knots in an easing southwesterly breeze Credit: Afloat.ie

Paul O’Higgins’ JPK 10.50 Rockabill VI has opened out a ten mile lead on the first of the chasing J/109s Mojito (Peter Dunlop and Vicky Cox) in the Volvo Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race 2017 writes W M Nixon. In approaching Dursey Head, the Rockabill crew are sensibly taking the option of giving the headland a wide berth, as going too close to such a steep coastline can result in both wind shadow, and an even more confused sea state at the point itself.

Ten miles astern at Mizen head, Mojito is nearer to the land and her speed has fallen to 5.1 knots while Rockabill continues reaching at a brisk 7 knots in an easing southwesterly breeze which may see her speed reduced shortly, as Valentia is reporting a 9 mph southerly.

Lulabelle Liam Coyne Liam Coyne's Lulabelle sailed into Kinsale to make repairs and is continuing in the race. The former RORC Round Britain and Ireland race winner brought his 13–year–old son along for his first offshore experience – what a debut!

However, Valentia wind reports have to be taken with a dose of salt, as the actual met station is not on Valentia Island, but in the western suburbs of Cahirsiveen. It’s an impressive looking setup, but there’s no way it is recording the actual wind conditions on Valentia Island’s Atlantic coasts.

As for the rest of the fleet still in this demanding race, Stephen O’Flaherty and David Cagney in the Spirit 54 Soufriere pulled off a good move in laying out to sea last night, as they found the new sou’wester which has brought them in as neat as you please past the Fastnet in company with the other J/109s Juggerknot (Andrew Algeo) and Ruth (Ben Shanahan), which had struggled a bit to find their way out from hugging the coast.

Thus Soufriere now leads the Two-Handed Division from Derek and Conor Dillon with the Dehler 34 Big Deal, but with the wind continuing to ease it’s going to be quite a challenge keeping the big long Soufriere travelling well in the confused leftover sea. And even while we’ve been writing this at 1515 hrs, the challenges being faced are very evident with Mojito briefly in a flat spot at the Mizen with her speed down to a knot, but Soufriere and Rockabill continue at 6.5 knots.

Published in Dun Laoghaire Dingle

Dun Laoghaire Dingle Race Live Tracker 2023

Track the progress of the 2023 Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Yacht Race fleet on the live tracker above and the leaderboard below

Dun Laoghaire Dingle Race Live Leaderboard 2023

The 16th edition of the 280-mile race organised by the National Yacht Club starts at 2 pm on Wednesday, June 7th, on Dublin Bay.

Read the full 2023 race preview by WM Nixon here
Read all the D2D Race News in one handy link here
Listen to Lorna Siggins's interview with Race Chairman Adam Winkelmann on Afloat's Wavelengths here

WM Nixon will be posting regular race updates and analysis throughout the 2023 race here

Published in Dun Laoghaire Dingle

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Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Yacht Race Information

The biennial Dun Laoghaire to Dingle race is a 320-miles race down to the east coast of Ireland, across the south coast and into Dingle harbour in County Kerry.

The race is organised by the National Yacht Club.

It never fails to offer a full range of weather, wind and tide to the intrepid entrants, ranging from a 32ft cruiser to a 79ft all-out racer.

Three divisions are available to enter: cruiser (boats equipped with furlers), racing (the bulk of the fleet) and also two-handed.

D2D Course change overruled

In 2019, the organisers considered changing the course to allow boats to select routes close to shore by removing the requirement to go outside Islands and Lighthouses en route, but following input from regular participants, the National Yacht Club decided to stick with the tried and tested course route in order to be fair to large and smaller boats and to keep race records intact.

D2D Course record time

Mick Cotter’s 78ft Whisper established the 1 day and 48 minutes course record for the Dun Laoghaire to Dingle Race in 2009 and that time stood until 2019 when Cotter returned to beat his own record but only just, the Dun Laoghaire helmsman crossing the line in Kerry to shave just 20 seconds off his 2009 time.