Dave Dwyer of Cork is the Afloat.ie/Irish Independent Sailor of the Month for June with his convincing retention of the British Open IRC Championship in Marinerscove.ie over three days of racing which concluded in the Solent on Sunday June 27th. Marinerscove.ie went on to hold her Cork Week crown in IRC 0 as well as take the Boat of the Week title, a 'double double' for the successful Mills Design IRC 39 and her dedicated owner.

Mark Mills was honored with the Asian Marine & Boating Best Designer Award 2010 at the Louis XIII-sponsored China International Boat Show (CIBS) Gala Dinner in Shanghai last week. The award was collected on Mills' behalf by the Irish Vice-Consul in Shanghai John Lynam, below.

Mark Mills was honored with the Irish Independant / Afloat.ie Sailor of the Year Award: "Globally successful yacht designer Mark Mills of County Wicklow is the Afloat.ie/Irish Independent 'Sailor of the Year 2009' after a year of exceptional achievements which built on his original accolade as Sailor of the Month a year ago."

Mark Mills was a featured speaker at the International Yacht Forum 2010, the Future in Offshore Yacht Racing held in Hamburg on February 13. A very positive event organised by the German Offshore Owners Association with a tremendous turnout from all around the Baltic requiring a relocation to the city's convention centre, this meeting represented the major interest in reviving Big Boat events in the Baltic, starting with the new Hanseboot IRC Baltic Open series in 2010.

The Mills Design website has been upgraded with the addition of a Proposals page to showcase the design work we have performed on preliminary and proposal designs. New ideas often show up first in these plans intended to get design discussions underway, without the pressure of implementation to limit creativity. Perhaps they will form the basis of a new design discussion we can have with you.

Alegre the IRC 68 Mini-Maxi of Andres Soriano III sailed an extraordinary race to win a tough Rolex Middle Sea Race. This extends her record of success in major Mediterranean offshore events after first to finish victories and Mini-Maxi class wins in both the 2008 Rolex Middle Sea Race and the 2009 Rolex Giraglia Race. In very testing conditions with large waves and up to 40kn of wind producing significant numbers of breakages and retirements, Alegre led the fleet on handicap at each of the passing marks after Stromboli, approximately a third of the way into the race. Beating boats like the SuperMaxi ICAP Leopard and the 80' Beau Geste on handicap and staying ahead of larger Mini-Maxi competitors such as the 72' Ran II on the water was a testament to the non-stop team effort. Owner Soriano summed it up "this result shows what hard work, team spirit and supporting each other can do. We're just friends sailing together and I'm so proud."

The first Summit 35 was launched on Sept 5 and after 2 days sailing went straight to the Newport Boat Show where interest exceeded expectations, boats sold, and she was awarded the Best Sailboat title. Pictured are the heads of the team responsible for the Summit 35 including Peter Truslow of Edgewater Boats, Tom Whidden of North Group, both partners from Summit Yachts, and Mark Mills.

A portfolio of IRC designs in the 40'-43' size range we have produced in recent years is available for download. The large Acrobat (.pdf) file lists both our custom and production projects.

Andy Soriano helming his IRC 68 Alegre has won the 57th edition of the famous 243 mile Giraglia Race from St. Tropez to Genoa via the rocky outcrop of Giraglia off Corsica, as well as the preceding Giraglia Rolex Cup inshore race series held in St. Tropez. Alegre finished at the head of a tightly packed Mini-Maxi fleet composed of the worlds latest Grand Prix IRC Racers, most of whom owe her time producing a significant IRC win in her class. Alegre earlier won the intense three race Giraglia Rolex Cup inshore series held in St. Tropez over the weekend, including a coastal race corrected time win by 7 minutes. Owner Soriano said "the racing was truly tight all the way through, with all the mini-maxis coming up to the windward mark even on port ...amazing".

Mills Design has racked up a string of IRC Championship titles this year Mariners Cove has been crowned the Overall British IRC Champion as well as winning the Irish Championhip, Argie Bargie won the Scottish IRC Championship, and Ngoni took the Italian IRC Championship. These and other successes for both custom and production designs at events like the NYYC Annual Regatta, Scottish Series, and Red Funnel reflect the balance in IRC and bodes well for future projects.

Summit Yachts have announced their latest project, the Summit 35 . Designed to follow in the footsteps of the successful King 40, the Summit 35 is already underway with milled tooling completed and construction underway.

Soozal the King 40 owned and driven by Dan Woolery with a strong team including Robbie Haines and Scott Easom has continued her winning streak in Florida with wins in the Montego Bay Race-Pinaeapple Cup and 8 bullets in the Acura Miami Grand Prix. She now returns to a busy season in the Bay Area.

Mark Mills was named the January 2009 'Sailor of the Month' by Ireland's largest daily paper the Irish Independant, who mentioned the wide-ranging success of Mills Design in 2008, culminating in success in Key West this January..

Soozal driven by owner Dan Woolery took the top spot from Tony Buckingham's Mills 40 Ngoni after a tough ten-race Acura Key West Race Week . In a competitive fleet the fight for top spot went down to the last day, with the very successful Mills 40 Ngoni (ex-Tiamat) only needing to make up 3 points over the last two races, but Soozal looked rock solid and finished the day strongly for a series lead of seven points, counting a first or second in nine of the 10 races.

The leading US magazine Sailing World has announced the King 40 by Summit Yachts as their 2009 Overall Boat of the Year. Topping the list of winners for Sailing World's 25th annual Boat of the Year contest was this IRC Racer/Cruiser from Mills Design, which won the award from an independent panel of experts who inspected and sailed the 17 nominated entries during the U.S. Sailboat Show in Annapolis earlier this year.

David Dwyers IRC 39 Mariners Cove, one of the most successful IRC designs of recent years, was awarded the ICRA Yacht of the Year for 2008 jointly with 'Rosie'.

Alegre has taken line honours in the Rolex Middle Sea Race, beating her Mini-Maxi rivals on corrected time in this Mediterranean offshore classic.

Ambush the custom IRC 41 by McConaghy's China has lit up Hong Kong with back to back wins in the BMW Autumn Regatta and China Coast Regatta.

The latest Tiamat for Tim Costello of Dublin has been launched by Vision Yachts. This 43' IRC performer will be competing with No Naked Flames and Blondie as the Irish Green team in the Commodores Cup this July.

The first King 40 'Blondie IV' did well in her first outing: a windy and truncated Red Funnel.

Performance Cruiser with looks as well as pace for Cruising Division fun around the globe.

No Naked Flames, the first of the semi-custom Sliim 37 design, has been launched by Davie Norris Boatbuilders in New Zealand for Andrew Allen of the Irish Commodores Cup Green Team. Project Manager Chris Main reports "Boat is pretty F%$£&^%$ nice".

Now sailing in Dubai, the Landmark 43 has proved to be a stunner, both in visual and performance terms. The first reaction from Claus Landmark was "The first impression is great: the boat looks great and the balance of the boat seems to be perfect."

The first md35 matagi was launched in the UK this summer for a UK owner who believed in the idea of a slim, stable, containerisable gentlemans daysailer. With performance, looks, and handling which has caused industry testers to gush with enthusiasm the md35 is poised to become a large and lasting success worldwide.