The skyline of Dun Laoghaire harbour became significantly more exotic yesterday when the fleet of the MOD70 European Tour berthed at the end of the latest leg of its racing schedule.  The multi hull fleet will now participate in a weekend of racing, exhibitions and a festival in the town The National Yacht Club which is hosting the event expects a crowd of 100,000 to attend the festivities.
The race itself finished in dramatic fashion with only just over one minute separating the first three boats home after a three and a half day race from Kiel in Northern Germany.
The boats are among the fastest and certainly the most exotic on the water with their high sails and three hulls.  Sponsors including the Sultanate of Oman, the Rothschild family and the Race for Water Foundation has attracted one of the most successful group of sailors assembled outside the America’s Cup to participate.
It also provided a great background for the Sport for Business Round Table on Technology and Sport whose participants enjoyed a tour of the fleet yesterday morning.
Elsewhere in sailing, BMW Ireland has been confirmed as the title sponsor of the J/24 World Championship Sailing at Howth Yacht Club in late August 2013 when up to sixty boats from thirteen countries are expected to compete.
One of the major regattas on the Irish sailing calendar for next year, the BMW J/24 Worlds has already attracted interest from sailors in the USA, Canada, UK, Netherlands, Hungary, Sweden, France, Japan, Monaco, Italy, Germany and Greece.
Racing will take place over five days (August 26th-30th) and teams will be in Dublin from the 22nd.
The J/24 is the biggest and most widespread one-design keelboat class in the world with fleets in 32 countries and is sailed in half a dozen bases in Ireland. Twelve Irish boats have already qualified for the Worlds after a series of regional and national championships over the past two seasons.
“We are delighted that BMW Ireland has agreed to continue its support of major sailing events at Howth, having sponsored the 2011 J/24 Europeans and this year’s ICRA Cruiser Nationals. The partnership has worked well and we look forward to a top class event next year,” said Derek Bothwell, Chairman of the organising committee.
John Ives, Managing Director of BMW Ireland, added: “Our connection with sailing and, in particular, our experience with those two major events means we are only too happy to work with Howth Yacht Club again to support such a prestigious world-class event in Ireland.”
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