Menu

Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Byrne Retains Irish Dragon Title at Kinsale

15th August 2011
Byrne Retains Irish Dragon Title at Kinsale

Martin Byrne retained his title as National Dragon Champion in Kinsale last weekend, adding to his Edinburgh Cup victory last month in Abersoch writes Tim Pearson.

Byrne, with crew Adam Winkelmann and Pedro Andrades, was pushed hard by Jay Bourke and Cameron Good throughout the four day event which saw a variety of testing conditions in a predominantly moderate to fresh southwesterly airflow.

On the Friday racing was conducted in a sea mist which reduced visibility at times to 200 metres and required the competitors to bring their navigational skills into play.

However, Race Officer Alan Crosbie, using the event as a dry run for the Gold Cup in September 2012, when around 80 Dragons are expected to compete in the waters off the Old Head, was master of the conditions and got the 7 race series off on time.

2012 will be a special year for Dragons in Ireland, and there is already much international interest in  a veritable grand prix circuit which will start with the Edinburgh Cup In early July, move to Dublin for the Nationals and culminate in Kinsale with the Gold Cup.

Martin_Byrne_Adam_Winkelmann__Pedro_Andrade-1

Irish Champions Martin Byrne, Adam Winklemann and Pedro Andrades

2011 Dragon Irish National Championships:

1. Martin Byrne
2. Jay Bourke
3. Cameron Good

Published in Dragon
Afloat.ie Team

About The Author

Afloat.ie Team

Email The Author

Afloat.ie is Ireland's dedicated marine journalism team.

Have you got a story for our reporters? Email us here.

We've got a favour to ask

More people are reading Afloat.ie than ever thanks to the power of the internet but we're in stormy seas because advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. Unlike many news sites, we haven't put up a paywall because we want to keep our marine journalism open.

Afloat.ie is Ireland's only full-time marine journalism team and it takes time, money and hard work to produce our content.

So you can see why we need to ask for your help.

If everyone chipped in, we can enhance our coverage and our future would be more secure. You can help us through a small donation. Thank you.

Direct Donation to Afloat button

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.