Dublin Bay Sailing Club is the largest yacht-racing organisation in Ireland and arguably in these islands. With thirteen hundred elected members, the Club provides regular weekly racing for upwards of 320 yachts, ranging from ocean-going forty footers to single-handed dinghies.
It operates from Dun Laoghaire, a major marine recreational centre six miles to the south of Dublin. Members are drawn for the most part from the four local yacht clubs in Dun Laoghaire but visiting yachts can participate in racing if they complete the Club’s temporary yacht entry and membership form and pay a small fee. (This is found in racing form but the applicant must not be a resident in South County Dublin or its environs).
Apart from a Starter’s Hut on Dun Laoghaire West Pier, the Club possesses no premises; moorings and the usual onshore facilities are provided by the local yacht clubs. The Dun Laoghaire Marina, situated in the north-western side of the Harbour, accommodates a considerable number of racing yachts.
Racing usually starts at
the end of April and continues up to the end of September.
Mid-week races for keelboats takes place on Thursday evenings, from late April to the end of August.
Keelboat crews and dinghy sailors race on Tuesday evenings.
Water Wags race on Wednesday evenings
On Saturday afternoons (April to September) racing is provided for both keelboats and dinghies.
Keelboat races start either on fixed lines on the seaward side of Dun Laoghaire West Pier or from one of the Club’s two committee boats.
Courses are designed around 26 fixed marks in Dublin Bay, in an area of nearly 40 square miles, extending from Salthill and Seapoint on the western side of Bay to the Burford Bank on the east. Races finish at the Club’s fixed lines at the West Pier or at a committee boat.
Dinghy racing takes place on Olympic-type courses on Tuesdays in the Bay and and on designated Saturdays in Dun Laoghaire Harbour On certain Saturdays in June and July, the Club makes way for the annual one-day regattas of the the four local yacht clubs and alternating every two years with Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta organised jointly by the clubs
On Sunday mornings during the winter months, the Club organises two series of races for cruising boats. The Turkey Shoot Series runs for the six Sundays(November/December) leading up to Christmas. The Spring Chicken Series starts usually on the first Sunday in February and also lasts six weeks ending mid March. These races are conducted in a more relaxed, informal way than the summer series which follows the more competitive and formal format. Some of the eighty or so competing boats that enter either the Turkey Shoot or Spring Chicken are marina-based and do not race in the summer series.
If you wish for more information or on how to enter either one of the winter or summer series please go to the home page of the website and you will see in the tabs at the top of the page the relevant entry forms (depending on the time of year) for the Winter Series or Summer Racing Season. You can also email our Honorary Secretary at honorarysecretary@dbsc.ie for exact racing form entry times and deadlines for either the winter, spring or summer series.
Jacqueline McStay
Commodore