News

It is with great sadness that the British Dragon Association announces the passing of Monique Hayles late last week. Monique made a huge contribution to the class over many decades and will be sorely missed. Our deepest sympathies are with Mike, family and friends at this time. Funeral Arrangements Venue: Cam Valley Crematorium, Great Chesterford […]

The third weekend of November 2019 marks the end of racing for the Burnham Dragon Fleet this year. To mark the occasion the fleet will take part in two races, one per day across the weekend for the Peter Matthews Memorial Trophy. To take part in the racing please contact Fleet Captain Noddy > burnhamdragons@gmail.com […]

British Dragons celebrate at the 90th anniversary regatta along with 20 other nations and 140 travelling Dragons. The International Dragon 90th Anniversary Regatta powered by Paul & Shark got underway in spectacular Italian style on Sunday 6th October at the Yacht Club Sanremo, with a gala opening ceremony at which the 162 participating teams were […]

Sanremo Delivers Two Great Opening Races for Dragon 90th Anniversary Regatta powered by Paul & Shark British Dragon sailors Mike & Monique Hayles lead Fleet A after opening two races of Dragon 90th Anniversary Regatta powered by Paul & Shark at Yacht Club Sanremo Ireland’s Daniel Murphy and Brian Goggin head Fleet B. Fleet prepares […]

This year’s East Coast Dragon championship 2019 had 15 Dragons compete over the weekend of 14th and 15th September. Race Officer Richard Stone managed to hold six races in light winds and glorious sunshine in the river Medway’s Long Reach. Four races on Saturday were completed in a light NE sea breeze after a postponement […]

Dragon South Coast Championships – 7th to 8th September Sadly, gone are the days when 40 plus boats would cross the start line for the South Coasts; but what we lacked in quantity we made up for in quality. With only seven entries we merged our event with a standard Windward/Leeward weekend, which kept costs down […]

Scottish Dragon Championship Sunday 25 August 2019 The wind on Saturday morning in Edinburgh started off with a gentle breeze from the east but this failed to hold constant and after a postponement the first race got underway with a reasonable breeze from the south. For the rest of the day the original east breeze […]

Cowes Week 2019 saw a full barrage of Autumnal weather conditions batter the island. This resulted in the first two days of racing being cancelled for many of the fleets and classes. While many used the time to watch the exciting SailGP races from Egypt Point many more were chomping at the bit to get racing. […]

Abersoch’s Nick Whipp has a very special summer offer for anyone wanting to upgrade their Dragon or get into Dragon sailing with their first boat. You can now get your hands on a club boat and a championship Dragon with this one very special offer for both Harryot and Djinn.  Harryot is a Northern Championship 2019 race winning Dragon that […]

The The East coast championship 2019 makes a return to Rochester and the river Medway for the final regional Dragon event of the year. Medway Yacht Club (MYC) invites International Dragons to take part in a two day open regatta for the BDA east coast championship to be held on 14th and 15th September 2019. […]

An overnight change in the weather forecast pre-empted an adjustment to the sailing schedule for the 33 Dragons and over 100 sailors. With very heavy weather and strong winds predicted for Friday it was confirmed that the crew’s race would be abandoned, and two races would be run to finish the championship. A strengthening 10-15 […]

Sailors swapped suncream and shorts for foulies and boots on day two of the Haulfryn Edinburgh Cup in Abersoch. A stronger south westerly breeze and rolling Irish Sea was already waiting for the competitors as they sailed out for the start of race three. With the tide pushing the Dragons over the line a general […]

A beautiful warm morning greeted the Dragon sailors at the South Caernarvonshire Yacht Club (SCYC) on the first day of the Haulfryn Edinburgh Cup. The 71st British Dragon nationals started under postponement for two hours while the wind filled in from the South. Over keen to get racing underway after the postponement resulted in a […]

The 71st British Dragon Nationals, the Haulfryn Edinburgh Cup is set to be four days of thrilling one-design keelboat racing in the waters of North Wales. The South Caernarvonshire Yacht Club (SCYC), one of the UK’s premier yachting and sailing destinations, is this year’s host to their eighth Edinburgh Cup. The home SCYC Dragon fleet […]

Over 30 Dragons and up to 100 sailors will be heading to North Wales this weekend for the 2019 Dragon Northern Championships and Haulfryn Edinburgh Cup. The 71st edition of the British Dragon nationals will include many past Dragon winners and Edinburgh Cup champions. We talk to 1999 Edinburgh Cup winner Martin Payne on the […]

This year’s British Dragon Northern Championships and Haulfryn Edinburgh Cup, held in Abersoch, will see for the first time an all-female youth team taking part in the prestigious national event. The 71st British Dragon nationals has attracted sailors of all ages from all across the UK and further afield. This year the BDA and local […]

Martin Byrne, owner and helm of Jaguar Sailing Team IRL 201, is looking forward to this year’s British Dragon nationals, the Haulfryn Edinburgh Cup in Abersoch. With just two weeks to go we caught up with Martin on his way home from the Irish nationals to find out a little more about the 2011 Edinburgh […]

Regatta Date: May  25th – 27th The Medway Regatta was held over three days over the May Bank Holiday. Nine dragons enjoyed some quality racing: eight windward leeward courses and one round the cans to finish on Monday. The series was dominated by Fit Chick GBR 753 (Simon Raw, Tim and Theresa Wilkes, Steven Harris). They won […]

Bocci Aoyama has sadly left us. It is with a sad heart I inform Dragon sailors and friends all over the world, that a great man has joined the angels today, sailing away to different shores. A man full of love for our wonderful sport and dedicated to helping others. Img: Bocci in full speed mode, […]

This year’s Northern Championships and Edinburgh Cup, the 71st British Dragon nationals, is set to be several days of thrilling keelboat racing in the waters of North Wales. The South Caernarvonshire Yacht Club (SCYC), established in 1924, is one of the UK’s premier yachting and sailing destinations with an active membership base. Positioned atop a cliff […]

On Friday 11 January nearly 40 members and friends of the British Dragon Association met to celebrate a successful season on the water and to a thoroughly enjoyable start to the year. After a productive and swift AGM helmed by Chairman, Julia Bailey everyone gathered in the top room of the Royal Thames Yacht Club […]

2019 Dragon World Championship at Fremantle, Western Australia The 2019 Dragon World Championship takes place from Friday 4th to Wednesday 9th January inclusive. The championship is organised by host club the Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club and sailed out of Fremantle Sailing Club on the pristine waters of Fremantle in Western Australia. The race course […]

The Annual General Meeting of the British Dragon Association will be held on Friday 11th January 2019 at 18.30 at the Royal Thames Yacht Club, London. The AGM will be followed by the Annual Dinner at 20.00 at the Royal Thames YC. Please do come and support your Officers and the Association by arranging your […]

We are delighted that the date and venue for the 90th Anniversary Regatta has been confirmed for Italy. DATE: 5 – 13 October 2019 5th Oct Registration and lift in 7th – 11th Racing 12th Oct Lift out VENUE: San Remo, Italy Planning and preparations have immediately been put into urgency mode and within the next few weeks there will be: * […]

The Burnham Dragon Fleet ended their season in style with eleven boats slipping their moorings for Saturday afternoon racing – the first of two races to decide the Peter Matthews Memorial Trophy. With a weak flood tide and Easterly breeze, the fleet used the width of the river on the beat, with ‘Quicksilver VI’ (Rob, […]

Dragon racing is truly for everyone, at any age. Will Heritage started sailing with the Bailey’s at 8 years old and was described then by Tim Tavinor as “the best nipper he had seen on a boat.” Ten years on and after retaining the title of Edinburgh Cup champion this year Will has added to […]

IDA Grade 1 event 2018 – 2019 All Dragons are warmly invited to sail in what is probably the best Dragon winter sailing. Cascais has proven over the years to have some of the best conditions for sail racing in Europe. Different ranges of wind, from light to low twenties knots and from different quarters, […]

Twelve boats competed for the 2018 BDA East Coast Championship hosted by the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club, Burnham on Crouch on the weekend of 15/16 September; the last of the British Dragon Association 2018 regional championships. Under the stewardship of PRO Edwin Buckley and his team on ‘Phoebe’, six scheduled races were completed in a […]

To mark the 90th anniversary of the International Dragon the Yacht Club de Cannes, in association with the International Dragon Association, invites all Dragon sailors to join in this celebration regatta. Join us in celebrating 90 years of the Dragon! There will be a full programme of racing with a party atmosphere and it will […]

This year’s East Coast Championship returns to the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club in Burnham-on-Crouch on Saturday 15th to Sunday 16th September 2018. Burnham-on-Crouch is a town in the Maldon District of Essex in the East of England. It lies on the north bank of the River Crouch and is a famous centre for yachting, hosting an annual […]

This weekend’s South Coast Championships run by Cowes Corinthian Yacht Club was closely fought champagne sailing – glorious sunshine with steady 10- 12 knot breezes – the Solent at its best. The seven competitors jousted through six windward leewards on the Bramble Bank finishing within seconds of each other on most races. There were battles […]

Edinburgh Cup final day report – decisive result after three-way shoot out Baileys dominate final day of 70th Dragon Edinburgh Cup The first three days of racing produced a tantalisingly close leader board in the 70th edition of this iconic regatta, which forms the Dragon class’s open British Championship. With only one point separating the […]

70th Dragon Edinburgh Cup day 3 Report Top teams on equal points at end of penultimate day The scoreboard could not be tighter in this iconic championship at the end of the penultimate day of racing at the Royal Torbay Yacht Club. Graham and Julia Bailey’s Aimee and Grant Gordon’s Louise Racing are both tied […]

70th Anniversary Edinburgh Cup Day 2 Report Light and shifty winds combined with a sea left over from the big on shore breezes of the previous day created new challenges for the 28 teams competing in the Dragon Edinburgh Cup at the Royal Torbay Yacht Club. The day’s first race got away cleanly in 6-8 […]

70th Anniversary Edinburgh Cup Day 1 Report Lumpy seas and a blustery north easterly breeze produced exhilarating racing on the opening day of the 70th Edinburgh Cup at the Royal Torbay Yacht Club. The fleet was overly enthusiastic in the first start, which led to a general recall, with the restart under a U flag. […]

With just over ten days to go to this year’s South West Championship and 70th anniversary Edinburgh Cup there are still boats signing up to take part and all of the latest Edinburgh Cup event information is now available. Head over to the Event Information page to view and download both the South West Championship […]

The 2018 Northern Championships were run out of Abersoch 8/10 of June . A very light forecast set some interesting challenges but in the end six races were completed. Ten teams took part . Registration on Thursday night and skippers briefing went for amendments to SI’s to reduce number of races bearing in mind lack […]

Enter now for this year’s Edinburgh Cup and South West Championship Entry is now open, join us at the Royal Torbay Yacht Club and sail on the finest waters in the South West. There is set to be an active racing programme with competitors from around a dozen nations contesting this tightly fought national championship. The […]

This year’s Burnham Easter regatta saw 14 boats, including two Belgian entries, brave the bitter weekend weather conditions to complete six races over the three day event. Sunday 1 April was the concluding day of the regatta. Twelve teams came to the line set across the river between Fairway Buoys 13 and 15 with a […]

Intrepid Dragoners Brave Arctic Conditions to show a Dragon at the Dinghy Show in Alexandra Palace on 3rd & 4th March 2018 – written by Medway Yacht Club Dragon Fleet Captain, David Harris After a gap of six or seven years, the BDA took a Stand at the RYA Dinghy Show. We showcased a twenty year […]

The British Dragon Association (BDA) is back at the RYA Dinghy Show after a six year break. There will be a stunningly beautiful Dragon on display, in all of its glory, on the stand to show visitors that the Dragon class is not all about very expensive day boats and championship racing. The boat on […]

This year’s Edinburgh Cup returns to Torquay and entry is now open! The BDA’s prestigious event was last held here in 2004. During that event new BDA Chair and Dragon helm, Julia Bailey led around the first mark in both reported races, read more on this regatta from the Daily Sail here >>> The five […]