An initially-discouraging weather pattern and an expanding fleet placed special demands on the organisers for the post-pandemic resumption of the biennial Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta. But the broad shoulders of longtime administrator and current Chairman Don O’Dowd backed the efforts of Regatta Director Paddy Boyd to pull a remarkable success out of a very mixed period of sailing conditions, and the result was a diverse competition-filled waterborne sport in the very best Dun Laoghaire traditions, which go back to 1828 and beyond