Kinsale Dragon Gold Cup 2024 Day 1
by International Dragon Association 8 Sep 19:36 BST
5-13 September 2024
It was a frustrating opening day for the 62 strong fleet at the Kinsale Dragon Gold Cup supported by Astra Constructions Service Ltd, with strong winds ultimately preventing racing.
The Kinsale Yacht Club's Race Officer Con Murphy had briefed competitors that the forecast was for plenty of wind, but that he would attempt to achieve racing for them if at all possible. As the fleet headed out of the River Bandon to the open sea the wind and waves were already building. There was an initial hope that conditions may abate a little, but by 13.00 it was blowing a steady 25 knots with heavy gusts, and the decision was made to fly N over H and send the fleet home.
IDA Championship Coordinator Martin Payne, who is working with Con Murphy on the committee boat talked us through their decision-making process. "All this year, the weather forecasts have been under predicting what the wind strength will be. We took the fleet out there and we were expecting a maximum of 23 knots, but at one stage we were getting gusts of 30. The sea state was quite rough, and all the Dragons could see for themselves how bad it was. We waited until the scheduled start, and we still had gusts on the deck of the boat of over 25 knots. So the race officer decided that with a good forecast for Monday and the possibility of two races, we should cut the day today. At a Gold Cup you have to cater for everyone in the fleet, older boats, very young sailors, and to start the first race off in crazy conditions is not the spirit of the Gold Cup."
After a very long and wet beat home, the crews repaired to the warm embrace of the Kinsale Yacht Club where Yanmar's post racing drinks and delicious free hot pasta and garlic bread were much appreciated.
Racing is of course the primary focus of the Gold Cup, but the fostering of international relations and camaraderie amongst Dragon sailors comes a close second. There are several teams new to international competition here this week, and all have been warmly welcomed by the old guard.
One such crew is the young team of Mark Barrett (52), his children Joseph (18) and Emma (16) and their friend Zaiba Mahmood (14), aboard IRL221 Leah. This team have been part of a hugely successful Youth Dragon Sailing Programme created by legendary sailing writer, adventurer and Dragon owner, the late Don Street, in partnership with Glandore Yacht Club. For some years now teams of young sailors have been paired with Dragon owners/reps to train and race regularly, creating a new generation of keen and very promising young Dragonists.
After sailing Mark Barrett talked about their decision to attend. "We decided to come to the Gold Cup as it's so close, and a wonderful opportunity for travelling away, and coming from Glandore it was doable. And we have ten boats representing Glandore so I said we couldn't let the fleet down." His son Joseph added, "We bought the boat five years ago. Today we were just trying to survive really. It was very windy, so we got out and came straight back in pretty much. We're hoping for better conditions tomorrow."
The Race Committee has formally announced that the schedule for day two has been amended to allow two races to be sailed with a first start at 11.30 and the race time limit for each race revised from five to three hours. The regatta continues until Friday 13 September with a total of six races scheduled.
You can follow the latest regatta updates on the event website, Facebook and Instagram pages. Further information about the regatta can be found at www.kyc.ie.