‘The Final Fling is Flung’ commented one competitor as he painfully dragged his boat up the slipway in Dun Laoghaire. Strong north-easterly’s greeted the fleet on Sunday afternoon.

With a healthy entry of 22 boats, from four different dinghy fleets – the effects of the 'weather bom'b that was Storm Brian caused the postponement of racing by 24 hours. Three races with no discard were held in the Harbour.

In the Feva fleet – Elysia O’Leary and Lilly Dwyer took top spot in the testing conditions.

Laser Standard – Conor O’Leary sailed solidly to take first overall – with the rest of the fleet decimated by gear and body failure!

Royal St. George's Toby Hudson Fowler, sporting the overall Final Fling prize!
Laser Radial first overall was decided on the last mark rounding of the last race with young gun Toby Hudson-Fowler getting the better of Dinghy Master Sean ‘Recently Radialised’ Craig. First Female was Shirley Gilmore.

The Waspz fleet wisely stayed at home!

Final Fling 2017 showcased the competitive Dinghy racing is provided by DBSC each Tuesday evening during the summer – Overall regatta winner Toby commented that he will ‘definitely joining in next year and will be dragging along some of his young radial sailor mates’…

If any other Dinghy fleets want to get involved or make Tuesday evening dinghy racing part of their training plans for 2018 please let us know now!

Thanks to RO Michael Tyrell & Crew, DBSC for providing committee and patrol boats and host club Royal St George.

Final Fling 2018 – 29/9/18 – one for the diary!

Results here

Dublin City is extremely vulnerable to coastal flooding which could cost at least €340 million in insurance claims alone, according to a new book, Dublin Bay – Nature and History (The Collins Press, price €24.99). Richard Nairn, one of three authors of the book, said, ‘Rising sea levels, increasingly severe storms and poor flood defences will combine to cause frequent flooding of property in the coastal areas of Sandymount and Clontarf.’ He added that there needs to be a high level of cooperation between all state and local authorities to ensure that the capital city is protected from the worst effects of climate change. 

Eamonn O’Reilly, Chief Executive of Dublin Port Company, said, ‘The challenge to simultaneously manage, develop and conserve Dublin Bay is formidable and requires an appreciation of both the bay’s natural environment and its built environment.’

Weaving the kindred strands of history and nature, the authors tell the fascinating story of the bay. The development of the port city has been mirrored by major changes in the coastal environment. Geographer and planner Rob Goodbody, said, ‘The human and natural components of the bay have learned to coexist and, in some cases, even to depend on each other. We wanted to show people things like how the creation of Dublin Port caused the formation of Bull Island, or how the cockles and mussels immortalised in “Molly Malone” caused typhoid fever throughout the city.’ Co-author David Jeffrey, added, ‘The bay has stretched its arms widely to embrace countless generations of Dubliners: it is a life support system, an economic asset and an invaluable recreational resource.’ This new look at a familiar seascape authoritatively explains its importance to the past, present and future of our city and country.

Richard Nairn is a writer and ecologist from Dublin. He studied Natural Sciences at Trinity College Dublin and was the first Director of BirdWatch Ireland. He provides ecological advice to local authorities, and supported the UNESCO Biosphere designation of Dublin Bay. An active sailor, he has also walked all the shores of the bay.

David Jeffrey, Emeritus Professor of Biology at Trinity College Dublin, lives in Howth. He was a key researcher on the Dublin Bay Water Quality Management Plan and is a tireless advocate for science-based nature conservation.

Rob Goodbody from Dublin is a geographer and planner. He has written several local histories and regularly leads historic walking tours in Dublin.

Did you know that the River Liffey was much wider and shallower in earlier millennia, before it was confined between the quay walls. At low tide, the mud would have been too soft to support a person’s weight and the only crossing was a wide shallow section of the river, with wicker mats staked to the riverbed, which came to be known by the Irish name of Átha Cliath, or ‘ford of the hurdles’. The name Dubhlinn means ‘black pool’, referring to deeper water where the River Poddle enters the Liffey estuary. Thus, the names of the city itself related to the bay.

Dublin Port, which occupies the mouth of the Liffey, is the gateway for three quarters of the trade entering and leaving Ireland. Six ferry companies operate up to seventeen sailings a day to the UK and over a hundred cruise ships visit each year.

Dublin Bay had the first designated bird sanctuary in Ireland and it now has more designations than any other place in the country. The latest of these is its recognition by UNESCO as a biosphere.

The initiative of Dublin City Council in 2015 to extend the UNESCO designation of Biosphere to the entire area of Dublin Bay and its hinterland was innovative, forward-thinking and a model for good international practice in coastal zone management. The Biosphere is managed through a partnership between three coastal local authorities, Dublin Port Company, Fáilte Ireland and the National Parks and Wildlife Service. This promising start should be the first building block in a development that could cast Ireland as a world leader. In ecological terms, the biosphere is the global ecological system integrating all living beings and their relationships, including their interaction with the physical environment.

Launched in 1971, the Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) is an Intergovernmental Scientific Programme that aims to establish a scientific basis for the improvement of relationships between people and their environments. Still in place over four decades later, MAB combines the natural and social sciences, economics and education to improve human livelihoods and the equitable sharing of benefits, and to safeguard natural and managed ecosystems, thus promoting innovative approaches to economic development that are socially and culturally appropriate, and environmentally sustainable.

Price €24.99 / £21.99 • Hardback • 312 pages and available to buy online from Afloat's Marketplace here

• The book will be Launched on Thursday, 2 November in Dublin Port Company. The guest speaker will be Senator David Norris. More launch details here.

The Irish Fireball regatta season came to an end with a four-race Munster Championships in Dun Laoghaire yesterday (Saturday 14th). The irony of course is that Dun Laoghaire isn’t in Munster at all, of course, but the Association is cutting its cloth according to its numbers and an offer from the Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club to host the event was readily accepted. With an expectation of low numbers, the regatta organisation structure was minimised to two ribs and 3 people and the course configuration was reduced to a windward-leeward option.

Race Officer, Cormac Bradley, ably assisted by Alistair Court and Charles Dunn, was tasked with getting four races in and watching the weather forecast during the week before, the challenge would be to get them in before the weather closed in. While XCWeather was suggesting that the base wind strength would be of the order of 12 – 15 knots, the gusts were projected to start off at 20 knots and grow to 27 knots as the day wore on. At the briefing the six-boat fleet were made aware of the forecast , the impending gustiness of the day and the programme to get 4 races in and to get off the water before the weather got “hooligan”…………and this was not due to the impending blast of Ophelia!

The saving grace on the day was that the wind direction was SSW meaning that the sailing area was in flat water. The sailing area was to the west of Dun Laoghaire harbour and with the slimmed down organisation the start, finish and gate of the windward-leeward course were coincident. This meant that the windward mark could be moved relative to the other two fixed points of the course.

Contrary to the weather forecast, only the first race was a blustery affair that generated a few capsizes, but none of the capsizes I witnessed were due to wind strength, so maybe only one was due to wind strength and that happened before the start. As the day wore on the wind eased, the sun came out and “full-on trapezing” upwind gave way to sitting on the windward deck. Race lengths were of the order of 30 – 40 minutes and 3 or 4 laps, with race times and laps increasing as it became apparent that the projected wind conditions were not going to materialise.

Proceedings on the water were dominated by the usual suspects – Messrs Butler and Oram (15061, NYC) – but they didn’t have everything their own way. Class Chairman Neil Cramer, crewing for Niall McGrotty (14938, Skerries Sailing Club) led Race 2 until the last leeward mark before they were passed before the last weather mark. Indeed, at one stage they had dropped back to third on the water, with Neil Colin & Margaret Casey (14775, DMYC) getting into second. However, the ultimate measure of success is the sequence across the finish line and in this regard Butler and Oram reigned supreme with four wins.

The competition for second and third was a tighter affair between McGrotty/Cramer and Colin/Casey and went the way of the former combination by way of a more favourable ratio of second places on the water, 3:1. It might even have been a bigger margin if the Skerries combination hadn’t capsized in Race 3 when they were in a strong second place – they finished sixth.

For the balance of the fleet – Frank Miller & Peter Doherty (14713, DMYC), Mick Creighton & Marie Barry (14854, NYC) and Louise McKenna & Hermine O’Keeffe (14691, RStGYC), the “pink ladies”, it was a case of sharing the lesser places and two of the three had race capsizes that cost each of them.

For 15061 this completes a season “Grand Slam” of all the Provincial titles, the Nationals and the Dublin Bay Sailing Club Series. While Stephen was absent for the Nationals, Noel helmed the boats to each of these titles.

After the racing, prize-giving and post-mortems the Class held its AGM in the DMYC clubhouse.

In his Chairman’s address Neil Cramer highlighted the fact that although Noel & Stephen had dominated the top spot on the podium there had been a wide spread of combinations filling the lowers steps of the podium.  His report also reflected the various formats the regattas of the season had taken – a three-day, nine race Nationals at Lough Derg with SODs, Mirrors and Squibs as part of their Harvest Regatta, a two-day six race Leinsters co-sailed with the Skerries Club Regatta, a one-day four race Open at Greystones, a two-day six race Ulsters in Ballyholme with the 420s and today’s one-day four race Munsters. The Mirrors in particular have expressed an interest in teaming up again with a view to getting their members a taste of Fireballing and a provisional arrangement to do that in Mullingar is on the agenda.

The turnout for the DBSC Tuesday Series was less than last year but was still healthy and the competition ran for the entire season.  A number of the dinghy classes are anxious to get some weekend racing organised under the burgee of DBSC in 2018 and it appears the best way to achieve this objective is to nominate specific Saturdays on which this will happen. 

In terms of the committee structure, there was a resignation and a slight shuffling of the seats around the table – Neil Cramer remains as Class Chairman, Frank Miller takes on the Secretary portfolio and Marie Barry that of Treasurer. Other committee members are staying on. Neil thanked all those who had served in 2017 and thanked them for their continued support.  

An update on the affairs of Fireball International as discussed at the Europeans in Lyme Regis in August was tabled and the meeting was advised that we are in election mode. Current FI Commodore Steve Chesney is not seeking re-election and his successor is likely to be a lady Fireballer from Switzerland. Further discussions revolved around a motion by the UK Association that the class be able to use twin spinnaker poles and it prompted a lively discussion in the DMYC as well.

Given the numbers we have had on the water this season, the meeting closed out with a soul-searching discussion on how we get our numbers back to a respectable level. Some of the issues to be discussed were;

•        The need to get younger people interested in the class.
•        Diluting the perception that the Fireball can only be competitive if it is brand new.
•        Undoing the perception that it is an overly expensive class to get in to.
•        Marketing the flexibility of the crew combinations that can sail the boat competitively.
•        Sharing venues with other classes to showcase the class
•        Putting energy and training into club fleets that aren’t travelling to get them onto their own water.

The meeting was particularly encouraged that a couple had come up from Killaloe for the meeting and were able to report that two Spanish guys had joined their fleet and were keen to get a Fireball presence going again.

The day closed with a gathering of the fleet in the Purty Kitchen, a hostelry around the corner from the DMYC for dinner.

The Frostbite Series starts on the first Sunday of November and this year we will be part of the fast PY Fleet. The expectation is that we will have 6-7 boats contesting the event.

The Class Dinner takes place on November 25^th in the National Yacht Club.

BENETEAU 31.7 - 1. Fiddly Bits (Timmins/Quigley/Murray/Breen), 2. Crazy Horse (F Heath & I Schuster), 3. Attitude (Milner Sugars Owens) 

BENETEAU 31.7 - 1. Prospect (Chris Johnston), 2. Crazy Horse (F Heath & I Schuster), 3. Levante (M.Leahy/J.Power)

CRUISERS 0 - 1. Lively Lady (Derek Martin), 2. Wow (George Sisk)

CRUISERS 0 - 1. Wow (George Sisk), 2. Lively Lady (Derek Martin)

CRUISERS 1 - 1. Indecision (Declan Hayes et al), 2. Prima Luce (O'Flynn, Burke, Lemass), 3. Jalapeno (P Barrington et al)

CRUISERS 1 - 1. White Mischief (Tim Goodbody), 2. Something Else (J.Hall et al), 3. Jalapeno (P Barrington et al)

CRUISERS 2 - 1. ECLIPSE (D BELL), 2. Windjammer (L Casey & D Power), 3. GWILI TWO (D CLARKE & P MAGUIRE)

CRUISERS 2 - 1. Peridot (Jim McCann et al), 2. Windjammer (L Casey & D Power), 3. SPRINGER (I BOWRING)

CRUISERS 3 - 1. Cartoon (McCormack/Brady/Lawless), 2. Dubious (P Richardson), 3. Asterix (Boushel/Meredith/Counihan)

CRUISERS 3 - 1. Pamafe (M Costello), 2. Dubious (P Richardson), 3. Cartoon (McCormack/Brady/Lawless)

FLYING FIFTEEN - 1. FFantastic Mr Fox (N Meagher & N Matthews), 2. Elena (Ross Doyle), 3. Ignis Caput (David Mulvin)

FLYING FIFTEEN - 1. Ignis Caput (David Mulvin), 2. Frequent Flyer (C Doorley), 3. As Good As It Gets (Ben Mulligan 

GLEN - 1. Pterodactyl (R & D McCaffrey), 2. Glendun (B.Denham et al), 3. Glenariff (Adrian Lee)

IDRA 14 FOOT - 1. Diane (B Murphy), 2. Doody (J.Fitzgerald/J.Byrne), 3. Dart (Pierre Long)

IDRA 14 FOOT - 1. Diane (B Murphy), 2. Dart (Pierre Long), 3. Sapphire (Lorcan O'Sullivan)

RUFFIAN 23 - 1. Alias (D.Meeke/M.McCarthy), 2. Ruff Nuff (D & C Mitchell), 3. Bandit (Kirwan/Cullen/Brown)

SHIPMAN - 1. Barrosa (Geraghty/Trotter), 2. Jo Slim (J.Clarke et al), 3. Invader (Gerard Glynn)

SHIPMAN - 1. Barrosa (Geraghty/Trotter), 2. Jo Slim (J.Clarke et al), 3. Invader (Gerard Glynn)

SQUIB - 1. Periguin (N Colcough), 2. Tais (Michael O'Connell), 3. Little Demon (Sheila Power)

SQUIB - 1. Tears in Heaven (M Halpenny & G Ferguson), 2. Little Demon (Sheila Power), 3. Periguin (N Colcough)

Sportsboat - 1. Jambiya (M Ryan & V Lattimore), 2. Jawesome III (M Dyke & B Darcy), 3. JOYRIDE (P BOURKE)

Sportsboat - 1. Jambiya (M Ryan & V Lattimore), 2. Jawesome III (M Dyke & B Darcy), 3. JOYRIDE (P BOURKE) 

WHITE SAIL CRUISERS - 1. The Great Escape (P Rigney), 2. Lucyo (P Aonghus OhEocha), 3. Sweet Martini (B Carswell)

WHITE SAIL CRUISERS - 1. Persistence (C Broadhead et al), 2. Act Two (M O'Leary), 3. Cevantes (P Conway)

#MarineWildlife - This weekend Dublin Port is deploying data buoys in Dublin Bay to monitor marine wildlife activity during the controversial dredging works at Alexandra Basin.

According to The Irish Times, the four boys will provide live data on any whales, dolphins or porpoises in the vicinity of the Burford Bank near Howth, where up to a million tonnes of dredge spoil will be dumped over the next few weeks.

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, campaigners have raised concerns about the safety of Dublin Bay’s harbour porpoises, protected by an SAC since 2013, during the dredging operation.

The Irish Times has more on the story HERE.

Jean Mitton's Levana of the Royal St. George Yacht Club has won the cut-short Beneteau 31.7 National Championships at the Royal Irish Yacht Club. See full results below.

Mitton held the overnight lead after four races in the 13–boat fleet with a second and three firsts from Chris Johnston's National Yacht Club entry Prospect who counted a first and three seconds.

Third place went to class Captain Frank Heath on Crazy Horse of the Royal St. George.

Today's racing was cancelled due to strong southerly winds on Dublin Bay.

Chris Johnston's Prospect from the National Yacht Club entry was second overall. Photo: Afloat.ie

Roger Conlans and James Fox's Beneteau 31.7 Avalon from Dun Laoghaire Marina Photo: Afloat.ie

Michael and Bernie Bryson's Bluefin Two from the National Yacht Club on starboard tack passes Michael Blaney's Royal St. George entry After You. Photo: Afloat.ieJean Mitton's Levana keeps Chris Johnston's Prospect in close cover Photo: Afloat.ie

Beneteau 31.7 National Championships 2017 Entries: 13 Races Sailed: 4

The new offshore racing entity, 'Ireland Ocean Racing', that will put Royal Cork Yacht Club's Nicholas O'Leary (31) at the helm of the IMOCA 60 Hugo Boss on the 2020 Vendée Globe start line is sailing off Cork Harbour.

As Afloat.ie reported previously, the demo sails are part of the launch of the world–girdling project that will arrive into Dun Laoghaire Harbour on Wednesday or Thursday. O’Leary, son of Royal Cork's Anthony and Sally O'Leary, wants to be the first Irish sailor to complete the non–stop round the world challenge. He'll be following in the wake of plucky Enda O'Coineen's ill–fated Kilcullen that was dismasted in the last race off New Zealand in December.

(Above and below) The Ireland Ocean Racing Team onboard Hugo Boss. Photos: Bob Bateman

O'Leary's team say he is expected into Dublin Bay on August 30. 

Read more in WM Nixon's blog: How Much in the Sponsorship Pot for all These Irish Offshore Sailing Superstar Hopefuls?

B21S - 1. VENTUNO (R FOGARTY), 2. SMALL WONDER (H KELLY & J MCSTAY), 3. YIKES (P CARROLL)

B21S - 1. VENTUNO (R FOGARTY), 2. MARISSA XIV (FRANK ELMES), 3. YIKES (P CARROLL)

BENETEAU 31.7 - 1. After You Too (M Blaney), 2. Levana (Jean Mitton), 3. Crazy Horse (F Heath & I Schuster)

BENETEAU 31.7 - 1. Fiddly Bits (Timmins/Quigley/Murray/Breen), 2. Avalon (R.Conan/J.Fox), 3. Extreme Reality (L Balfe)

CRUISERS 0 - 1. Wow (George Sisk), 2. Lively Lady (Derek Martin)

CRUISERS 0 - 1. Wow (George Sisk), 2. Lively Lady (Derek Martin)

CRUISERS 1 - 1. Indecision (Declan Hayes et al), 2. Something Else (J.Hall et al), 3. Jigamaree (R Harris)

CRUISERS 1 - 1. Something Else (J.Hall et al), 2. Juggerknot (A Algeo et al), 3. Bon Exemple (C Byrne)

CRUISERS 2 - 1. RUPERT (R & P LOVEGROVE), 2. GWILI TWO (D CLARKE & P MAGUIRE), 3. Red Rhum (J Nicholson)

CRUISERS 2 - 1. RUPERT (R & P LOVEGROVE), 2. Windjammer (L Casey & D Power), 3. GWILI TWO (D CLARKE & P MAGUIRE 

CRUISERS 3 A - 1. Enigma (J Monaghan), 2. Running Wild (B & S Foley), 3. Cartoon (McCormack & Lawless)

CRUISERS 3 A - 1. Running Wild (B & S Foley), 2. Cartoon (McCormack & Lawless), 3. Enigma (J Monaghan) 

CRUISERS 3 B - 1. Cacciatore (M Ni Cheallachain), 2. Maranda (Myles Kelly), 3. Gung Ho (G & S O'Shea) 

CRUISERS 3 B - 1. Maranda (Myles Kelly), 2. Cacciatore (M Ni Cheallachain), 3. Saki (Paget McCormack et al)

CRUISERS 5A - 1. Coumeenole (B Kavanagh), 2. Edenpark (Liam Farmer), 3. Persistence (C. Broadhead et al)

CRUISERS 5A - 1. Coumeenole (B Kavanagh), 2. Persistence (C. Broadhead et al), 3. White Lotus (Paul Tully)

CRUISERS 5B - 1. Fortitudine (D & A Clarke), 2. Calypso (Howard Knott), 3. Menapia (J Sweeney)

CRUISERS 5B - 1. Vertigo (M Muldoon), 2. The Great Escape (P Rigney), 3. Nirvana (B Neeson) 

DRAGON - 1. Zu (M Minch/C Grimley/T Pearson), 2. Phantom (D.Williams & P.Bowring), 3. DCision (J.Mason/G.Purcell/C.Fleming)

FLYING FIFTEEN - 1. Deranged (N Colin), 2. As Good As It Gets (Ben Mulligan), 3. fFinisterre (C O'Leary & A Court) 

GLEN - 1. Glendun (B.Denham et al), 2. Pterodactyl (R & D McCaffrey), 3. Glenroan (T O'Sullivan) 

RUFFIAN 23 - 1. Shannagh (S.Gill/P.MacDiarmada), 2. RUFFLES (M CUTLIFFE), 3. Ruff Nuff (D & C Mitchell)

SB20 - 1. Sin Bin (Michael O'Connor), 2. Sacrebleu (R Hayes & C Galavan), 3. AlertPackaging.com (J Burke & D Burke)

SHIPMAN - 1. The Den (A. Costello/G.Millar), 2. Viking (Brian Glynn et al), 3. Bluefin (B.Finucane et al 

SHIPMAN - 1. Viking (Brian Glynn et al), 2. The Den (A. Costello/G.Millar), 3. Invader (Gerard Glynn) 

SQUIB - 1. Why Not (Derek & Jean Jago), 2. Sidewinder (R Westrup & R Bowen), 3. Fox (M Moran & M Shiel)

Sportsboat - 1. Jester (D Curtain), 2. Big Bad Wolfe (David Ryan), 3. GRADUATE (D O'KEEFE)

As the midweek racing in Dublin Bay Sailing Club gets to its close we had one of the more pleasant evenings of weather this summer with a gentle breeze and sunshine for two races outside the harbour in Scotsman’s Bay. Twenty-four boats answered the Race Officer’s call, Ian Mathews from the Flying Fifteen fleet, and of these, three were Fireballs.

With Stephen Oram unavailable due to work commitments, Noel Butler teamed up with Grattan Donnelly and with Hermine O’Keefe on hockey support duties in Europe, Louise McKenna engaged the services of Cormac Bradley, leaving David and Michael Keegan (14676) as the only regular team out on the water. Holidays and unavailability reduced the fleet to three boats.

There was a slightly eerie feel to the race course area, the tide had already started to ebb and while there was wind on the water there was no real “oomph” to it. While spinnakers were set on the sail down to the start area, there was no real energy to the boat.

For the first start the three Fireballs decided to go for the pin end and to be frank none of us were on the start line when the gun went. Possibly a tactical call, but even Noel was late across the start line as the three boats decided to embrace the flow of the ebbing tide and sail westwards towards the harbour mouth. Noel/Grattan occupied the windward slot, David/Michael the leeward slot and Louise/Cormac were the “meat in the sandwich”. Initially the latter pair seemed to have a bit more boat speed, but this was going to be a night of wind vagaries and soon Noel/Grattan had sailed over the top of the other two. A starboard hail by a Laser Vago caused Louise/Cormac to take a hitch inshore and by the time they rounded the weather mark, Noel/Grattan had a healthy lead which they never relinquished. Two laps of a windward-leeward course was the recipe for Race 1 with a weather mark set in the direction of the East Wall of the harbour. The first downwind leg saw a variety of approaches being taken with more than one gybe being executed on the way to the leeward mark. A snagged spinnaker halyard for Louise resulted in a poor spinnaker drop that allowed the Keegans to close the gap to less than a boat-length but a recovery was fashioned on the next beat to generate a final finishing order of Butler-McKenna-Keegan.

While the wind strength and direction was pretty much the same for the second race, all three boats adopted the opposite approach to the start of the first race. In tandem with the PY start that preceded the Fireballs – everyone went inshore first! Noel/Grattan played a game of “Shut the Door” at the pin end with Louise/Cormac with both boats doing pirouettes in the vicinity of the pin before all three headed off on starboard tack, Noel/Grattan having the windward slot. All three worked their way up to the port lay-line of the weather mark and took a long sail into the mark on port tack. This led to the easing of sheets as they closed in on the mark. On rounding the weather and spreader marks spinnakers were set on a starboard tack as the boats went down-tide with the sequence being Noel/Grattan, Louise/Cormac and David/Michael with a couple of boat-lengths separating each from the other. The leaders gybed first, followed a moment or two later by Louise/Cormac with David/Michael gybing simultaneously with the second pair. This left all three sailing a slightly loose reach to the leeward mark with the committee boat already on the move to relocate at the weather mark for a shortened course. David/Michael got better breeze and sailed away from Louise/Cormac. Rounding the leeward mark, there seemed little sense in Louise/Cormac following the other two out to the right of the course as there was little sense that boat speed alone would effect a place change, so an inshore tack was initiated – after all it had worked on the first beat! For a period of time it looked better, rather than good, and the sense of a possible recovery was heightened when the other two seemed to have to sail a huge distance westwards before they tacked for a starboard approach to what was now the finishing line.

While hope sprang eternal, reality bit and a finishing order of Noel/Grattan, David/Michael and Louise/Cormac closed the evening’s proceedings. David/Michael appeared to close quite a bit on Noel/Grattan but the winners gained a few more boat-lengths at the finish.

With two possible Tuesdays left the current situation in Series 2 is as follows;

Four Irish Fireballs will be in Lyme Regis for the Europeans next week, with measurement on Saturday and racing starting on Sunday (20th) through to Friday (25th). The entry now stands at 85, with entries from the UK, Australia, France, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Canada, Belgium and Ireland. The defending champions are Ruedi Moser and Claude Mermod (SUI 14799) and as can be expected of a Fireball International event in the UK, the entry list is littered with the “Who’s Who” of the Fireball community. Race Officer is Paul Withers, an IJ and IRO and former Secretary of the Class.

Irish Fireball readers of this report are also reminded of our Fireball Nationals which are scheduled for Lough Derg Yacht Club on the weekend of 15 – 17th September, under the race management of National race Officer John Leech. This is a nine-race programme and we will be endeavouring to have a “latish start” to proceedings on Friday to try and accommodate those who might want to go to the office first. Nothing confirmed yet, but this is what we have done before.

B21S - 1. YIKES (P CARROLL), 2. ISOLDE (B MULKEEN & J MARTIN), 3. BILLY WHIZZ (P SHANNON

COMBINED CRUISERS TUESDAY - 1. Windjammer (L Casey & D Power), 2. Elandra (J Conway), 3. Powder Monkey (C Moore)

CRUISERS 3 Tuesday - 1. Running Wild (B & S Foley), 2. Maranda (M Kelly), 3. Jiminy Cricket (M Tyndall)

FIREBALL - 1. No Name (S Oram), 2. GOODNESS GRACIOUS (L MCKENNA), 3. GBH (M & P Keegan) 

FIREBALL - 1. No Name (S Oram), 2. GBH (M & P Keegan), 3. GOODNESS GRACIOUS (L MCKENNA)

GLEN - 1. Glenariff (Adrian Lee), 2. Glenroan (T O'Sullivan), 3. Glenshane (P Hogan)

IDRA 14 FOOT - 1. Sapphire (Lorcan O'Sullivan), 2. Dart (Pierre Long), 3. Slipstream (Julie Ascoop)

IDRA 14 FOOT - 1. Slipstream (Julie Ascoop), 2. Sapphire (Lorcan O'Sullivan), 3. Dart (Pierre Long)

Laser - 1. DARACH DINEEN (RIYC), 2. G Murphy (RSGYC), 3. Marco Sorgassi (RSGYC)

Laser - 1. Marco Sorgassi (RSGYC), 2. G Murphy (RSGYC), 3. Ross O'Leary 

PY CLASS - 1. Richard Tate (), 2. Conor Corson (RS200), 3. Tom Murphy (K1)

PY CLASS - 1. Tom Murphy (K1), 2. Des Fortune (Finn)