Please select your home edition
Edition
Savvy Navvy 2024

Kinsale Dragon Gold Cup 2024 Overall

by International Dragon Association 13 Sep 21:22 UTC 5-13 September 2024

Going into the last day of the Kinsale Dragon Gold Cup 2024 supported by Astra Construction Services Ltd the regatta was still wide open. Peter Gilmour had led from day one but had only a three-point advantage over Lawrie Smith and five points on Pedro Rebelo de Andrade, so the stage was set for a spectacular showdown.

After five days of strong winds, it was all change with race six getting under way after an initial postponement and two general recalls in around ten knots from the southwest, which shiftily clocked right and built to the upper teens.

Germany's Michael Zankel, sailing POR90 with Diogo Peteira and Jaoa Matos Rosa sailed a superb race to take a commanding final win of the regatta, but behind him all eyes were focused on Andrade, Gilmour and Smith. Off the line Andrade looked good, and he rounded the first mark in third, while Smith and Gilmour were down in the teens, putting Andrade into the overall lead at that point. From there on all Andrade could do was sail his own race and hope that the other two failed to gain sufficient places to beat him.

At the end of the first lap Smith was up into eighth with Gilmour tenth, but they still needed to gain places. The spectators, who were out in force, were on the edge of their seats as Andrade crossed the line in second place, followed home by Andy Beasdworth in TUR12 Provezza. Smith and Gilmour had tried everything they could, but it wasn't enough, and they finished sixth and ninth respectively.

So Pedro Rebelo de Andrade, Jose Leitmann and Jamie Lea sailing POR89 Capable Planet are the Kinsale Dragon Gold Cup Champions 2024. This is Andrade's second Gold Cup win as a helm, the first being in Medemblik in 2019, but for Lea and Leitmann it was their first.

A delighted and slightly shocked Pedro Rebelo de Andrade commented, "It's still hard to believe. We were far away from the game at some stages, and we kept believing, believing a little bit, not too much. We kept fighting. I don't know how we managed it. We needed the others to make some mistakes. That's the game, they made some mistakes, and we took advantage. I was lucky to win the Gold Cup for the first time in Medemblik in 2019 and I was supposed to defend the trophy here in Kinsale in 2020 [when Covid forced the event's cancellation], so to be back here now and to win is very special."

Andrade's victory was by just two points, but the other podium places could only be decided on countback with the JPN56 YRed team of Peter Gilmour, Yasuhiro Yaji and Sam Gilmour just grabbing the silver medal from GBR815 Alfie sailed by Lawrie Smith, Ruairidh Scott, Concalo Ribeiro and Martin Wrigley.

The result of the Corinthian Division also went down to the last race as Cameron Good, Henry Kingston and Sam Hunt sailing IRL221 Little Fella leapfrogged into first place ahead of GER1075 sailed by Hannes Hollaender, Arne Hubregtse and Johannes Berg, with Jono Brown, Chris Grosscurth and Andrews Nordon in GBR753 Fit Chick taking the final step on the Corinthian podium.

Alongside their trophies, the Overall and Corinthian winning helms also received a customised Kinsale Dragon Gold Cup 2024 TNG Watch, presented by the event's official timing partner TNG Swiss Watches.

The Nations Cup team event also went down to the wire with POR90 Easy/Michael Zankel, GER62 Dessert Holly/Stephan Link and GER1075 Grace/Hannes Hollaender claiming a narrow three-point victory over the British team of GBR402 Meteor/Peter Cooke, GBR815 Alfie/Lawrie Smith and GBR610 Rackham/Mark Dicker. Third place went to the Netherlands represented by NED309 Furie/Guus de Groot, NED393 Cobweb/Richard Blickman and NED352 Hestia/Frank Van Beuningen. As the winner of the last race Michael Zankel accepted the Nations Cup on behalf of the team.

Race six winner and recipient of the Nations Cup Michael Zankel was delighted with the week overall saying, "It's been a very nice Gold Cup and I like everything here in Kinsale and would like to come back. We had a great race today and I liked to beat Pedro, but I was a bit scared as I knew he needed the points. Yesterday we had a very bad race with 33 points, but today was perfect and we've been three times in the top three. We're also delighted to be part of the German Nations Cup winning team too."

At the final prize-giving, which was held in the Kinsale Yacht Club courtyard, there were a number of special presentations made alongside the main prizes.

The Silver Cup was presented to the class by Jacob J Roosjen of Holland and is awarded to the boat that wins the Silver Fleet or finishes at the midpoint if raced as a single fleet. This year's extremely popular winner, who came to the stage to huge applause, was Denis Bergin sailing IRL161 Sir Ossis of the River with Denis Joseph Bergin and Rory Byrne.

A new Classic Boat Trophy has been presented for the Gold Cup by the family of the late Don Street, who died in May of this year. A world-renowned sailor, Don Street competed in major Dragon championships across many decades, most recently sailing in the 90th Anniversary Regatta in San Remo in 2019. He also played a pivotal role in encouraging youth Dragon sailing in his adopted home of Glandore, with many of those young sailors competing this week.

The inaugural winner of the new Gold Cup Classic Boat Trophy is the beautiful GBR192 Bluebottle sailed by Graham and Julia Bailey, Will Bedford and Killian Boag who finished in tenth place. Bluebottle was built by Camper & Nicholson in 1947 and presented to the then Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh on the occasion of their wedding in 1948 by the members of the Island Sailing Club. Bluebottle underwent an extensive restoration by David Heritage Yachts, on which the Duke kept a close eye, but sadly he did not live long enough to see her race again when she was relaunched in 2021. Without doubt he would be delighted to know that at 76 years old she is still capable of winning Gold Cup races.

The Dubarry Boot for the best performance by a crew with a combined age of under 80 years went to IRL22 Missfire sailed by Peter Hayes, Michelle Hayes and Jess Tubb. This young crew from Glandore were racing in their first major regatta and impressed everyone with their grit and determination on even the windiest of days.

Organising international regattas of this magnitude takes a vast number of volunteers and The IDA would like to thank the Kinsale Yacht Club, its members and staff for their incredible work in hosting the event, the Race Officer Con Murphy and his team and the International Jury for all their hard work on behalf of the class. Thanks also go to the event sponsors, Astra Construction Services Ltd, Cork County Council, Guinness, the Trident Hotel, Actons Hotel, Yanmar, TNG Swiss Watches, the Kinsale Good Food Circle, the Blue Haven, Rooster, North Sails, Matthews of Cork and Dubarry for their most generous support.

The 2025 Dragon Gold Cup will be hosted by La Société des Régates de Douarnenez from 25 to 30 August. Further information about this event is available from the event website.

Quick Links:

Corinthian top five results overall:

1st - IRL211 - Little Fella - Cameron Good
2nd - GER1075 - Grace - Hannes Hollaender
3rd - GBR753 - Fit Chick - Jono Brown
4th - IRL225 - Phantom - Neil Heggarty
5th - IRL219 - TBD - James Matthews

Overall Results:

PosBoat NameSail NoHelmCrewCrewCrewR1R2R3R4R5R6Pts
1stFirst Things FirstPOR 89Pedro Rebelo de AndradeJose LeitmannJamie Lea 221143233
2ndYRedJPN 56Peter GilmourYasuhiro YajiSam Gilmour 714212935
3rdAlfieGBR 815Lawrie SmithRuairidh ScottGoncalo RibeiroMartin Wrigley48269635
4thProvezzaTUR 12Andy BeadsworthEnes ‚aylakSimon Fry 6137111341
5thMeteorGBR 402Pete CookeTorvar MirskyPete NicholasHarry Durcan112101521353
6thDeja vu ver. 2 0DEN 423Bo sejr JohansenTheis PalmLars Hendriksen 8521941158
7thEasyPOR 90Michael ZankelDiogo PeteiraJaoa Matos Rosa 1333833161
8thFrench ConnectionAUS 211Grant AldersonEmma ShandMike HartSally Hart51916371868
9thHerbieBEL 82Xavier VannesteGustavo Lima  12238527580
10thBluebottleGBR 192Graham BaileyJulia BaileyWill BedfordKillian Boag21379717.582.5
11thLouise RacingGBR 833Grant GordonLuke PatienceJames TaylorFaye Chatterton144610351483
12thDesert HollyGER 62Stephan LinkFrank ButzmanIngo Borkowski 324291319492
13thCobwebNED 393Richard BlickmanRemco van dem BergKoen de Smedt 16181219207.592.5
14thJerboaGBR 831Gavia Wilkinson‑CoxMark HartJake HardmanBenedict Brown33722221010104
15thLittle FellaIRL 211Cameron GoodHenry KingstonSam Hunt 201719RDG2120107
16thGraceGER 1075Hannes HollaenderArne HubregtseJohannes Berg 2692527619112
17thFit ChickGBR 753Jono BrownChris GrosscurthAndrew Norden 371011121734121
18thStorichGBR 832David TabbJohn MaddocksOliver Spensley‑Corfield 311113212825129
19thPhantomIRL 225Neil HegartyPeter BowringDavid Williams 173928141616130
20thTBDIRL 219James MatthewsDavid GoodFergal O'Hanlon 29165243229135
21stJaguar Sailing TeamIRL 201Martin ByrneAdam WinkelmannJohn Simms 341430173412141
22ndFreeSUI 313Dirk OldenburgIan AinslieDominik Zycki 321523RET815156
23rdFurieNED 309Guus de GrootHay WintersRichard van Rij 1025261618DNC158
24thWhisperIRL 213Brian GogginDaniel MurphySean Murphy 282639251532165
25thGhostIRL 181Colm DunneColm DalyDaniel McCloskey 413817RDG2933168
26thBande a partFRA 428Gery Trentesauxjean QueveauMorgan RiouSofian Bouvet15618RET5DNC170
27thWS 1637POR 34Vasco Empis   423314203922170
28thFuriousGBR 777Owen PayJonathan MortimerDave Ross 483431182621178
29thRackhamGBR 610Mark DickerJames CampbellBen Simpson 94335282441180
30thDr. ChacárteguiESP 9Javier ChacárteguiLeonardo ArmasIan WalkerJavier VilarinoRETDNC15111317182
31stAr PrimFRA 395Cyrille VernesLoic Le GarrecThomas Bacchini 223636263826184
32ndSir Ossis of the RiverIRL 161Denis BerginDenis Joseph BerginRory Byrne 402920314224186
33rdHestiaNED 352Frank Van BeuningenDries van der LaanArno Twigt 354243382223203
34thAphroditeIRL 110John WylesKillian MurphyTiarnan Brown 432034344439214
35thEizhFRA 418Rene BideauSterenn BideauMatthieu Bideau 47DNC27331431215
36thGrintaFRA 401Herve ChauvinOlivier GachesLaurent Beaurin 182832475835218
37thJeeIRL 145Diarmuid O DonovanHarry DineenAva ScarlettFionn Brennan523124303745219
38thMoonshineIRL 702Jamie FrameTim FordeAustin McKenna 244633405028221
39thsprindriftFRA 410Renaud AckerJean Francois LegoffTanguy Trellu 5022DNC372527224
40thKestraGBR 731Richard LeaskDonald MilneNigel Cole 544845352330235
41stAvel DroFRA 334Virginie ProstFrancois ProstTanguy Ravach 393244423148236
42ndTrue StoryGBR 8Ian MalleyGerard McgannSandy AndersonTanit Cabau194448395240242
43rdFireflyGBR 767Stewart ReedRichard GlenLottie Johns 254949234850244
44thSerafinaIRL 180Ronan MurphyHarvey MatthewsPeter O'Reilly 23DNC40DNC3636261
45thGrey HareIRL 188Shawn KingstonMatt BeecherTony Kingston 514037444644262
46thWild IrisSWE 407Iain WoolwardEolann MilesLee Miles 4427RET325938263
47thCK1SUI 318Wolf WaschkuhnJoao VidinhaCharles Nankin 112RETDNCDNCDNC265
48thTitanIRL 45Ben CookeDan RabinsJim BakerJim Griffiths3045DNC3630DNC267
49thResilienceIRL 230Ciaran FitzgeraldSinead CrowleyClive O'SheaJohn O'Connor274746435551269
50thD‑cisionIRL 195Tim PearsonJoey MasonConor GrimleyDeclan Hayes3641DNC464049275
51stZinzanIRL 127Tim CarpenterOrlaith CarrAdrian Masterson 46RET382941DNC280
52ndCogitoBEL 83Bert JanssenPatrick De GryseCyrile De Gryse 49RET47414537282
53rdLeiaIRL 227Rui FerreiraCharlie BolgerConor O'Beirne 553550485342283
54thTenaciousIRL 157Anthony O'NeillArthur MehiganEoghan O'Neill 603041455752285
55thGlaurungGBR 768Andrew MillbandRob GoddardTony Hastings 565151494743297
56thLeahIRL 221Mark BarrettJoseph BarrettEmma Barrett 4552DNC505654320
57thZuIRL 159Vincent TubbBen PerezFrances LynchMax Tubb5853DNC514946320
58thMagicIRL 695Warren BrownRuairi BrownKevin HayesMia Scarlett59RET42DNC5147325
59thMissfireIRL 22Peter HayesMichelle HayesJess Tubb 53RETDNCRET4353338
60thElectra SuperglideGBR 829Cian O'CarrollCressida RobsonEoin K 5750RETDNC5455342
61stScarlet RibbonsIRL 220Tomás O'BrienDonal SmallConor Hemlock 38RETDNCDNCDNCDNC353
62ndSpassgesellschaftGER 883Stephan Dr. SchuetzeJan Willy BremerAndreas Sasse RETDNCDNCDNCDNCDNC378

Related Articles

Burnham Week overall
Storms and sunshine, heartbreak and mast breaks, parties till dawn Storms and sunshine, heartbreak and mast breaks, parties till dawn, series decided in the last race, a regatta of many firsts - Burnham Week 2024 ended with a bang. Posted on 17 Sep
Kinsale Dragon Gold Cup 2024 Day 5
Bailey heads fleet while Gilmour clings to overall lead Day five of the Kinsale Dragon Gold Cup 2024 supported by Astra Construction Ltd brought the fifth race winner in five races. A lighter northerly breeze of five to eighteen knots and a more benign sea state made for a very different day's racing. Posted on 12 Sep
Kinsale Dragon Gold Cup 2024 Day 4
Beadsworth snatches closing seconds race win while Gilmour consolidates overal lead With four races down and two to go Australia's match racing legend Peter Gilmour sailing JPN56 YRed continues to hold a narrow lead at the Kinsale Dragon Gold Cup 2024 supported by Astra Construction Ltd. Posted on 11 Sep
Kinsale Dragon Gold Cup 2024 Day 3
Andrade takes race victory as Gilmour continues to lead Race three of the Kinsale Dragon Gold Cup 2024 supported by Astra Construction Services Ltd was held in a strong and squally north-westerly that at times pushed both the sailors and their boats to their limits. Posted on 11 Sep
Kinsale Dragon Gold Cup 2024 Day 2
Cooke and Gilmour take first blood After the previous day's strong winds, day two of the Kinsale Dragon Gold Cup 2024 supported by Astra Construction Services Ltd produced fabulous conditions, allowing races one and two of the six race series to be completed. Posted on 10 Sep
Kinsale Dragon Gold Cup 2024 Day 1
Strong winds ultimately prevent racing 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. Posted on 8 Sep
Oldest videos of Dragon class
A look back into our video archive, as the Gold Cup begins The Gold Cup (the Dragon class' World Championships) has just begun, so that gives a great reason to delve into the video archive and see what is the oldest footage we can find of this class. Posted on 8 Sep
Dragons ready to race for Dragon Gold Cup
Kinsale Yacht Club welcome more than 200 Dragon sailors from around the globe 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 under way tomorrow, Sunday 8 September. Posted on 7 Sep
Record fleet heading for Dragon Gold Cup 2024
Kinsale Yacht Club is on standby for the arrival of 62 International Dragon Teams Kinsale Yacht Club is on standby for the arrival of 62 International Dragon Teams, representing 14 countries and 4 continents from across the globe, to compete in the 80th Dragon Gold Cup, which gets under way with a practice race on Saturday Posted on 4 Sep
Burnham Week 2024 Day 8
Strong winds, high swell and overcast on Trophy Day Strong winds, high swell, overcast and the inaugural edition of the Dinghy Town Cup - the Burnham Week 2024 final day sees David Evans in Hullabaloo win the Town Cup Trophy for the second year in a row. Posted on 2 Sep
Savvy Navvy 2024Maritimo 2023 M600 FOOTER