Big Win for “Little Fella” in Ireland.

19 Irish Dragons in Glandore for South Coast Championship

The Glandore Harbour Yacht Club hosted the Irish South Coast Championship 11th to 13th June with a total of 6 races completed over the 3 days. It was great to see the Irish Fleet back in race mode after such a long time off the water due to the pandemic.

Great conditions in Glandore.

After the cancellation of the Gold Cup last year in Kinsale, the Irish sailors have been itching to get back racing as fleets continue to grow, in Dublin, Kinsale and Glandore…  Over recent years the most consistent team have been IRL 176 “Phantom” helmed by Neil Hegarty, crewed by David Williams and Peter Bowring but on this occasion they were beaten (on count back) by IRL 211 “Little Fella” helmed by Cameron Good, Henry Kingston and Simon Furney.

“Phantom” Neil Hegarty, David Williams & Peter Bowring 2nd overall.

Winning helm Cameron told me “It was great to be back sailing in stunning conditions, sun and a nice breeze. It was hard racing but very relaxed ashore, with plenty of pints and banter. Hopefully some of the Irish boats will start travelling again next year, I may even get roped into sailing with Daniel Murphy in Cannes this September”.  I certainly hope you do Cameron and many congratulations to your team on Little Fella.

Winners IRL 211 “Little Fella” Cameron, Simon & Henry.

In 3rd place overall was IRL 219 “TBD” helmed by James Matthews, crewed by Dave Good & co owner Fergal O’Hanlon. James has been out of the Dragons for some time ever since one of his crew fell off the stage in Douarnenez 🙂 (long story), but is now back in the fold and he told me “Cameron was very fast in the breeze and Phantom were particularly quick in the light stuff, so we were happy to finish 3rd. It was great to be sitting around a table eating, drinking lots of pints and talking rubbish! Glandore is a great spot and we all enjoy sailing here”. Thanks James and well done to you, Dave and Fergal.

IRL 219 “TBD” James Matthews (with hat) Dave Good & Fergal’s Boot 🙂

In 4th place overall were the young men on IRL 180 “Serafina” helmed by Brian Goggin, crewed by Sean and Daniel Murphy. Sean & Daniel learnt their Dragon skills from their father Pat who raced for many years in Kinsale. This team always enjoy the “craic” and were very successful down in San Remo during the 90th Anniversary in 2019. Well done boys and I look forward to seeing you in Cannes, probably in the Irish Bar…

IRL 180 “Serafina” Brian Goggin, Sean Murphy & Daniel Murphy 4th overall.

So there we have it, the Irish are up and running and the European Fleet look forward to seeing some IRL sails back on the race course. Irish Sailors have been the bedrock of the Dragon class and over the years there have been many great wins from Simon Brien, Johnny Ross-Murphy, Martin Byrne, Mick Cotter, Robin Hennesy, Tony O’Gorman, Connor Doyle…. the list goes on.  On another positive note Kinsale will host the Gold Cup again in 2024, so that’s something everyone can look forward to. There are so many fantastic places to visit and sail in Ireland and the Guinness is not bad either 🙂

Higher, Faster, Longer…..    Stavros.