SAILING:The biennial racing pilgrimage to the south coast gets under way this weekend with the Dingle Skellig Hotel D2D Race organised by the National Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire. More than 30 boats have entered and but for harsh Atlantic weather, it would have featured some of the biggest boats ever to take part in this growing event.
The mini-exodus from the east coast to Kerry opens a range of options for both racing and cruising sailors: from Dingle to West Cork or westwards and the Shannon region and even the relatively undiscovered west coast. The Saab Cruiser Racing Nationals in the Royal Cork YC followed immediately by the Sovereign's Cup Regatta in Kinsale are the two must-do regattas on the south coast at the end of this month and are timed perfectly to deliver a feast of big boat racing ahead of mid-July's 500-boat spectacular at the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta.
Of the crop of competitors this weekend, attention will fall on both the overall winner on IRC handicap-corrected time as well as the line-honours winner for sheer speed over the 300-mile course.
As far as the latter goes, one entry is a dead certainty and comes in the form of the British-based Farr 52 Chernikeef racing as Deloitte for Phelim O'Connell of the NYC. Two older Volvo 60-footers might also have delivered a challenge for this prize but withdrew their entries after sustaining damage returning from wintering in the Caribbean.
O'Connell's Deloitte might easily take the handicap overall prize also but this event is notoriously unpredictable. "The forecast this year looks light - not windless - but very tactical conditions that will suit the inshore sailors," predicted Martin Crotty, the National Yacht Club's race director.
Among the 30 other entries, several veterans stand out for mention including Jim and Sheila Tyrrell's Aquelina from Arklow, a J109 design that has seen an explosive growth in Ireland this season after proving very able at offshore events around these islands in recent years.
Vincent Farrell's Beneteau 40.7 Tsunami is certainly the right size and experienced enough to deliver a fast passage southwards as is Anthony O'Brien's White Tiger from Kinsale. A clutch of sub 50-footers such as Adrian Lee's Irisha and Sean Lemass' Galileo will also have an edge between size and experience on board, especially if it proves to be a windy course.
The race starts on Sunday at 11.00am from inside Dun Laoghaire's East Pier close to the bandstand and, by the middle of next week, the 300-mile D2D sprint will be decided and we will know if the course record has been broken.
Up for grabs is Eamon Conneely's record time on board the Transpac 52-footer Patches from the 2005 race when a time of 32 hours, 33 minutes and 49 seconds was set.
Meanwhile, for those on the East coast not attempting the D2D, on the 150th anniversary of the first recorded Howth Regatta, the north Dublin club's annual regatta takes place tomorrow with the traditional Lambay Races.
A large fleet across 13 classes is expected and will start from two committee boats one of which will be the first outing of the club's new committee boat, the Sea Wych. A separate course will be used for Dun Laoghaire's Glen class which will start in Dublin Bay and finish at Howth's East Pier.
