7 September 2024 – Kinsale, Ireland – Kinsale Yacht Club has thrown open its doors to welcome more than 200 Dragon sailors from around the globe in preparation for the Kinsale Dragon Gold Cup 2024 sponsored by Astra Construction Services Ltd, which gets underway today, Sunday 8 September.
A post Covid record entry of sixty-two teams from twelve nations and four continents has registered for this very special 80th edition of the Dragon Gold Cup. The fleet includes all the top international teams, plus an exceptionally strong group of all amateur Corinthian crews, who will also be vying for the Corinthian Gold Cup.
Sadly, the weather gods failed to delivery for Saturday’s planned practice race and although the fleet went afloat and Race Officer Con Murphy put his team through their paces mark laying and wind tracking, the breeze failed to build sufficiently and at 14.00 the boats were sent home.
Despite lack of practice the teams are raring to go. 2019 Gold Cup Champion Pedro Andrade summed up the feeling saying, “It’s always good to go out and check the racecourse, and for the race committee to check all their systems and equipment and make sure everything is working so they don’t have any surprises. I love Kinsale and have been here a few times in the past. I sailed an Irish Nationals and a South Coast Championship here with Martin Byrne and Adam Winklemann and I absolutely loved it. The sail out is beautiful, and the racecourse is great. And the hospitality is perfect too, plus it’s exciting to see over 60 boats here.”
Supporting the Race Committee on the Committee Boat will be International Dragon Association’s Championship Coordinator Martin Payne. Looking ahead to the opening race he noted, “The forecast is for a lot of wind and a change of wind direction, so it’s going to be quite exciting. The first race of the Gold Cup has its own special trophy, which was presented in honour of the great Danish Dragon sailor and boatbuilder Borge Borresen, who competed in the Gold Cup an incredible 51 times, winning twice as a helm in 1967 and 1985.”
The Gold Cup is run to a very traditional format, with one race per day scheduled for each of the six days using long windward leeward courses. The time limit for each race is up to five hours, unless it becomes necessary to run two races on a single day to catch up the schedule, in which case the time limit is reduced to three hours per race. There are no discards in the series and with all races to count consistency and good boat preparation are paramount. Racing will run from Sunday 8 to Friday 13 September on an open sea course area set against the spectacular backdrop of the Old Head of Kinsale.
Defending Gold Cup crew Ruairidh Scott will be racing once again with helm Lawrie Smith. Fresh from their recent victories at the Edinburgh Cup (British Championship) and Irish Championship, Ruairidh picked up on the exceptional nature of the Gold Cup, “The Gold Cup is always good fun and this week we’re sailing with Martin Wrigley [a top 470 sailor] who has not done a Gold Cup before, so I’ve been explaining some of the anomalies and intricacies of the length of the of the course and size of it. And that the no discard scoring brings its own challenges. With six long races and no discard you have to think about the racing slightly differently. We’re definitely looking forward to it!”
Alongside the racing, the championship will also feature a superb social programme. Each afternoon long standing Dragon Class sponsor Yanmar will host an Après Sailing Party. The Regatta was formally declared underway at the Opening Ceremony, hosted at Kinsale Yacht Club and sponsored by Cork County Council. The Opening Ceremony was followed by a Taste of Ireland supper party sponsored by Astra Construction and featuring delicious Irish fare including local oysters, mussels, seafood chowder and Irish Stew, all washed down with Guiness. Later in the week event sponsor Astra Construction will host both a reception at the historic Charles Fort, overlooking the entrance to the harbour, and a Gold Cup Gala Dinner at Acton’s Hotel. The championship will conclude on Friday with the Prize Giving Ceremony.
At the Opening Ceremony, Regatta Chair Maeve Cotter issued a warm welcome to the competitors saying “It’s wonderful to see so many Dragons here in Kinsale, and to welcome teams from across the world. To have such a wide mix of ages and Corinthian and non-Corinthian teams is very special and we’re excited for the week ahead.” She also relayed a personal message from Michael D Higgins, President of Ireland, who asked her to convey his warm regards to Kinsale in hosting this important event for the third time, following previous editions in 1977 and 2012. He expressed his best wishes to all those involved and wished the competitors an enjoyable, memorable and successful week.
The first race is due to get underway at 12.55 Sunday 8 September, and 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
About The International Dragon
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.
The International Dragon Gold Cup was presented to the class in 1937 by members of the Clyde Yacht’s Conference to foster international racing in a friendly spirit and to this day the Gold Cup is run with that intention in mind. The regatta is both a major international sailing competition and an opportunity for sailing friends and family to come together to celebrate the extraordinary Dragon Class and the wonderful camaraderie that it fosters. The first Gold Cup was held in Oslo, Sweden, and was won by local sailor Rolf Billner. With the exception of the second world war and the period of Covid travel restrictions, the Gold Cup has been raced annually ever since. The most successful Gold Cup sailor of all time was Denmark’s Aage Birch, who won the trophy seven times between 1963 and 1972.
For further information about the International Dragon visit internationaldragonsailing.net
@DragonGoldCupKinsale2020
