Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

#FIREBALL – The penultimate race in the Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club's Frostbite Series was a sustained session of snakes and ladders for most of the fleet who took part in the 6-lap race writes Cormac Bradley. A reduced fleet, due probably to it being a Bank Holiday weekend with St Patrick's Day on Saturday and Mother's Day on Sunday, was set a six-lap course with the weather mark under the wind shadow on one of Dun Laoghaire's piers.

Noel Butler & Stephen Oram got to the first weather mark in first place and proceeded to do a "horizon job" on the rest of the fleet, winning by over a leg at the finish. During the course of the race, Kenny Rumball & Dave Moran worked their way into second place by the end of the third beat and they too disappeared generating a one-leg margin on the third-placed boat, Neil Colin & Margaret Casey. Despite being one of two boats over the line early, Neil & Margaret worked the port-hand side of the course to good effect on the first two beats to get into second place. The other starting miscreants, Frank Cassidy & John Hudson, were also rewarded for doing the right thing and restarting when they picked up the day's mugs.

The race was sailed in 10-12 knots, a marginal trapezing breeze under sunny conditions but with a chill in the air. Louise McKenna & Hermine O'Keefe got intimate with the weather mark on their first rounding which left them with work to do to catch-up.

Mick Creighton secured fourth place over the line and were followed home by Andy Boyle & Barry Hurley.

After the race the fleet retired to the DMYC lounge to watch Ireland play Korea in the final of the Olympic Men's Hockey qualifier. Despite Ireland going into the lead twice, Korea won the game 3-2 with the winning goal coming with 2 seconds to spare. This qualified Korea for the Olympic tournament later in the year and provided Irish supporters with their second disappointment within 24hrs, after the rugby debacle in Twickenham.