#VDLR2013 – The second day of the VDLR13 for the Fireball Class yielded tight racing, excellent courses, 2 "Retired After Finish" and 3 OCSs - the latter resolved on the water!

Frank Miller & Grattan Donnelly (14713) dominated the results with a 2,3,1 to rocket up the pecking order from 7th overall to 2nd. They are a point ahead of Brian Byrne & Stephen Campion who were a RAF in Race 4 but scored a 3rd in the last race of the day to offset the 7th in Race 3.

Conor and James Clancy are comfortably leading the fleet with a seven 7pt margin, courtesy of another two race wins (R3 & R4).

3 points cover positions 4 to 7 with the pecking order being McKenna/Rowan, Doyle/Sweeney, Colin/Casey and Smyth/Bradley.

The first two races were tight and at one stage in R3 (first of the day) seven of the eight Fireballs were in a line across the downwind leg of trapezoid course. Going the right way up the beat is always a challenge, today choosing the right way to go downwind was equally challenging. In R4 Team Clancy sailed from 5th place to a convincing winning margin. Yet when Smyth/Bradley sailed the same line in the previous lap, they went from 1st to 6th!

Miller/Donnelly sailed a brilliant last race of the day leading from start to finish and looked very comfortable doing it.

Two "Finishing Queries" were required to get the results resolved as two boats sailed two laps rather than the prescribed three - hence the 2 x RAFs!

Race Officer Harry Gallagher and his team have set five excellent courses, alternating classes between inner and outer loops of the trapezoid course. Races have been started promptly and with the stronger breeze relative to yesterday, 3-lap courses were the order of the day. Wind direction was again between 110 and 120 degrees.

With five races of the ten race programme down, it would appear the fleet is fighting for the minor podium finishes - this regatta is Team Clancy's to lose. And with a week to go to the Class Nationals, this extended session of tight racing is good practice for the eight boats on the water.

Not everyone will be delighted with their day's work, but on a day when the sun shone out of a totally blue sky and there was enough wind to sail three laps in an hour................it would be churlish to complain.

#vdlr2013 – Nine Fireballs sailed two tight races today on the first day of the 2013 Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta. Sailing in winds that were slightly south of east, the 9 boats enjoyed close racing in the light breeze that gave marginal trapezing conditions.

Team Clancy led the first race from start to finish with a lead that extended to about 50/60m at the finish. Brian Byrne & Stephen Campion (14934) came from 3rd place after the first lap of the outer loop trapezoid race to secure 2nd. Louis Smyth and Cormac Bradley (15007), 2nd at the first weather mark lost one place upwind (Byrne/Campion) and one place downwind to finish 4th. At Mk 3 of the trapezoid they lost Louise McKenna & Francis Rowan (14691) who took third.

On the first beat of the 2nd race, 8 boats went hard right, the exceptions being Smyth/Bradley who got caught out at the start, were forced left and couldn't get back as they were continuously lifted on starboard tack. Inside them the other eight boats sailed in close quarters up the beat of an inner loop trapezoid course.

Gavin Doyle & Dave Sweeney (14953) rounded in the lead, followed by Frank Miller & Grattan Donnelly (14713) & Byrne/Clancy and Neil Colin & Margaret Casey (14775). The first three gave a brief impersonation of going the wrong way but Colin/Casey gybed immediately. This opened up the race again for the first 7 boats. Places changed but at the finish the order was Byrne/Campion, Team Clancy and McKenna/Rowan.

After two races;

1 Byrne & Campion 3pts
1 Team Clancy (Conor & James) 3pts
3 McKenna & Rowan 6pts.

#vdlr2013– The Irish Fireball fleet faces into seven days of intense racing with the advent of the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta and their Nationals on successive weekends. In a year when numbers at regattas have been under pressure, there is a (relatively) healthy entry of 10 boats for the biennial regatta in Dun Laoghaire which had its first hosting in 2005. The Irish Fireball class has been ever-present at the regatta and in times past we have used the Saturday and Sunday racing as one of our own regattas. This year, the event is an "extra" on our regatta schedule, and we have managed to get enough boats to warrant our own start. For those who are unfamiliar with the Dun Laoghaire event it provides racing for everything from Class 0 IRC to the locally designed Waterwags who race inside the harbour. A visit to the website this morning indicates that the entry is close to 400 boats. The picture above shows a portion of the Dun Laoghaire amphitheatre, with the Fireballs racing alongside the other dinghies classes in the area to the right of the harbour – the Salthill Course.

A ten race programme has been scheduled with two races down for Thursday afternoon, with a 15:25 kick-off, followed by a three-race programme for both Friday and Saturday, with two races to close on Sunday. Race Officer for the Salthill Course is Harry Gallagher, National Race Officer, who is one of the Fireball Class' favoured Race Officers. Harry has been Race Officer for two of our recent Nationals, both in Westport and is the regular Race Officer for the dinghies at the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta.

Four days after the close of the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta, the Fireball fleet will reassemble a little bit further up the coast, to the north of Dun Laoghaire, in Skerries, hosts of the 2000 Fireball Europeans. The Skerries club has long been a base for the Fireball fleet but like everywhere, the numbers of the fleet have ebbed and flowed over the years. In recent years they had a very active fleet of five to six Fireballs, with the McGrottys and O'Tooles the names most synonymous with the Class. Numbers are on the low side at present, but the Class has adopted the policy of taking Fireball regattas to venues where the fleet is established.

Skerries provides very easy access to the Dun Laoghaire based fleet and they have been a very welcoming club whenever we have sailed there – most often with the Fireball Leinster Provincial Championships. Access from Northern Ireland is also easy with the travel time from Belfast of the order of 2hrs, or slightly less.

A nine race series is scheduled for the Nationals with racing due to start at 12 noon on the Friday afternoon. Race times thereafter will be determined by the weather conditions.

An 'educated guess" is that our Race Officer might be Liam Dineen, another National Race Officer with whom the Class is very familiar. Like Harry Gallagher, Liam is sensitive to the needs of the competitor and runs his racing accordingly.

Defending Champions Noel Butler & Stephen Oram will doubtless be there and I am aware of at least one combination that we haven't seen this year so far getting together for the event. This combination could well give the defending champions a run for their money but assuming that the regulars we have seen this season are all present, there should be good racing. Names that immediately come to mind to challenge Butler & Oram are Kenny Rumball & Dave Moran, Connor & James Clancy. Based on our recent Ulsters, the likes of Gavin Doyle and Dave Sweeney and Frank Miller & Grattan Donnelly have the capacity to upset the established order. And on home waters, it would be churlish to ignore the aspirations of Team McGrotty – Niall certainly and Simon, if studies allow!

While we are all enjoying great weather here on Ireland's east coast (like much of the UK), a victim of the sunshine has been the wind. XCWeather is forecasting a range of 2-9knots from a variety of directions for the duration of the Dun Laoghaire event

Thus a busy period for the Fireball fleet, theoretically 19 races in six and a half days of racing (Volvo Dun Laoghaire Thursday is a half day!).

8 Fireballs started tonight's fourth round race of Series 2 of DBSC. In yet another odd night of weather, playing the waves downwind, in particular, was as important as reading the wind going the opposite direction writes Cormac Bradley.

The suggestion from my favoured web-based forecaster was that we could expect WSW winds of 8/9 knots with severe gusts in the twenties. As the evening progressed the wind was due to go westwards.

From my office vantage point overlooking Dublin Bay the signs were that the wind was stuck in the SE quarter and was dying as the afternoon progressed.

Our reading of the wind at the start was 170 degrees and with a still flooding tide the question was (again) whether to look for breeze offshore and fight a stronger tide. The majority of the fleet went offshore, the notable exception being Noel Butler & Glen Fisher (15061) who headed inshore at the gun. Louise McKenna & Francis Rowan (14691) soon followed suit. The flying of an individual recall signal prompted two boats to go back at the start, Team Clancy, Connor & James (150++) and Frank Miller & Grattan Donnelly (14713).
Of the other four boats, Smyth & Bradley (15007) were furthest out to sea, with Cariosa Power & Marie Barry (14854), Jonathon Nicholson & Vivian Besslar (14781) and Mary Chambers & Brenda McGuire (14865) inside them, in that order. Nicholson/Besslar peeled off first followed by Power/Barry and finally Smyth/ Bradley, who by now were on the port lay line. A starboard hail by Nicholson/Besslar caused Power/Barry to tack again to leave them outside Smyth/Barry on the port layline.

Nicholson, Power and Smyth then closed in on the weather mark with Nicholson and Smyth overlapped and Power immediately astern. Butler powering up the starboard layline complicated the first rounding of the weather mark to render the rounding order as Smyth, Butler, Nicholson, Power, with little to choose between them in terms of distance. The balance of the fleet were close on their transoms..

On the downwind leg of the W/L course, Smyth went back out to sea where the waves and wind were quite good. Butler went inshore immediately and the rest of the fleet followed his lead initially. As the leg progressed the fleet was spread across the course all taking advantage of the waves to accelerate downwind.

Butler took pole position round the leeward mark and took a hitch inshore to ensure he was to weather of the fleet. Smyth was next, tacking immediately, followed by Power, McKenna & Nicholson. The whole fleet continued upwind on starboard tack before making their port tack approaches to get to the weather mark. Smyth went the furthest keeping a weather eye on Power and McKenna as all three crossed the course on port tack.

Butler was still in pole position at the 2nd weather mark, Smyth retained the 2nd position and Power and McKenna rounded close together. Team Clancy worked the inshore slot to round close on their tails.

Smyth went the opposite way to Butler downwind and McKenna and Power also took a more seaward approach. This seemed to benefit those who were chasing Butler/Fisher because the distance certainly closed. Smyth gybed four times before reaching the leeward mark to find that Power/Barry had closed to a boat length at the mark. Team Clancy appeared to round next before McKenna/Rowan. The short hitch to the finish saw positions being defended with only Team Clancy breaking rank by tacking immediately.

1. Noel Butler & Glen Fisher 15061
2. Louis Smyth & Cormac Bradley 15007
3. Cariosa Power & Marie Barry 14854.

#dbsc – Last night's Tuesday night race in the Fireball DBSC Series was characterized by the fact that four of the five boats racing were subject to an evening of snakes and ladders, while race winners, Noel Butler and Glen Fisher (15061), sailing together for the second successive Tuesday, led from start to finish. On another evening of light winds (south-easterly) with low tide due at around 19:15, the question was whether going inshore to get out of the tide was the preferred option to going offshore to get slightly better wind.

Butler & Fisher went inshore initially along with Frank Miller & Grattan Donnelly (14713) after the latter pair had gone back for an OCS. They were joined by Louise McKenna and Francis Rowan (14691). Mary Chambers & Brenda McGuire (14865) and Louis Smyth & Cormac Bradley (15007) decided to take a hitch to sea first, and the latter pair were then obliged to take another hitch to sea when their first attempt to go back inshore coincided exactly with Chambers & McGuire thinking the same thing!

Having seemingly gone very low on his inshore trek, Butler then went out to the seaward side of the course and was followed by Chambers. Smyth continued inshore and at the weather mark, Butler & Fisher had stretched some distance between themselves and Chambers & McGuire who rounded second. Smyth, McKenna & Miller rounded in reasonably close company but a modest distance behind Chambers.

This order was maintained through the first triangle to the leeward mark. Up the 2nd beat, Butler & Fisher again played the inshore hand and their pursuers followed suit.............with the exception of Miller & Donnelly, who by virtue of having nothing to lose could afford to gamble. It paid off as they closed the gap on the other two half way up the beat. Butler & Fisher were building a horizon special. Smyth and McKenna criss-crossed each other all the way up the beat, and in the last 100m of the windward leg this interaction was joined by Chambers. Miller had dropped back! But in the final approach to the weather mark, a final seaward hitch by McKenna allowed her to open a gap on the other two, elevating her to 2nd place. Chambers went round 3rd, Smyth 4th and Miller 5th.

Second and third went inshore initially, but Smyth was convinced by his crew to go out into the stronger tide and was rewarded with slightly better wind as well. This allowed the three boats to close up on each other, before they diverged again with McKenna and Chambers going into the tide and Smyth inshore. As the leeward mark beckoned, with an "F" flag flying from the adjacent rib, all three were in very close company. McKenna sneaked in front of the other two and Smyth secured the inside boat slot at the leeward mark. Chambers went inshore, the other two went out to sea to varying degrees, Smyth going further. With both boats sailing on port tack and Smyth going for the pin end of the line, McKenna tacked onto starboard and from a lower position crossed and closed the windward-leeward gap between the two boats. A final tack onto port, a boat length ahead of Smyth, was enough for McKenna & Rowan to shut the door on Smyth & Bradley.

#fireball – The Irish Fireball scene moved away from the Tuesday evening and Saturday afternoon racing in Dublin Bay to the scenic venue of Carlingford Lough Yacht Club in the South-East corner of Northern Ireland. The club, which currently enjoys RYA Volvo Champion Club status was founded in 1958 but has been based at its current site since the early 1960s. The home fleet has varied over the years with GP14s, Flying Fifteens, Scorpions and Lasers being promoted at different stages but currently the fleet is made up of Lasers, Laser Radials and Laser 2000s with a few others joining in. They have a long tradition of hosting provincial and national championships and this year alone have hosted the Laser Ulster Championships, the IDRA Northern Championships and, this weekend past, the Fireball Ulsters.

Speculation during the week leading up to the regatta was on two counts – the weather and the likely turnout of boats. XCWeather was suggesting earlier in the week that there would be lots of wind on Saturday, 16/16 knots gusting up to 30+ on Saturday, but almost nothing on Sunday. However, by Friday morning, that forecast had been modified to suggest that there would be a more equitable spread of wind between the two days. The Sea Area forecast from Met Eireann on Friday evening was SW Force 3 - 5, increasing 6 - 7 before moderating back to 3 – 5. The weekend got off to an inauspicious start with very strong wind and driving rain on the Friday evening. This combination persuaded some of those who had intended to camp to revise their plans in favour of a B&B and by all reports the level of hospitality received vindicated their decision.

After a turnout of only ten boats at the first event of the year, there were concerns about the numbers for this weekend, especially when the host club advised on the Thursday that a single entry had been received electronically.

In the end we had all sorts of wind, rain and sunshine with better wind on the Sunday, and a fleet of 15 boats.

Club Commodore and Race Officer for the weekend greeted the fleet at the briefing on Saturday morning with the news that with the wind having an element of westerly in it the conditions would be difficult – he wasn't wrong.

The on the water proceedings got underway with an 11:25 Warning signal and a first lap of an Olympic course that was led all the way round by Louis Smyth and Cormac Bradley (15007). This was to be their moment in the limelight as the rest of their regatta wasn't quite to this standard. At the first leeward mark, Noel Butler and Stephen Oram (15061) executed a manoeuvre straight out of the Adam's Bowers coaching manual, with huge amounts of "wumpeta" to gazzump Smyth/Bradley and secure the windward slot for the next beat. Thereafter, Butler/Oram were never headed. Conor & James Clancy (150**) who had been 2nd for most of the first lap, but lost ground going into the leeward mark, took second back again before they too were overtaken, first by Diana Kissane & Conor Kinsella (14820) and then by Kenny Rumball & David Moran.

A heavy rain shower and stronger breeze dominated the period before the second start got underway. This left the weather mark out of position for the first beat but the varied wind conditions were exposed even further when the first reach turned into a run with people gybing as soon as 100m from the weather mark. The whole course got out of kilter with respect to the wind and ultimately a shortened course was signaled, but the incorrect procedure for shortening was used and in a subsequent Request for Redress for this mistake, the race was thrown out.

The third race of the day was a more appropriate affair and while the wind wasn't quite what we would have wanted, at least the points of sailing and the legs of the Olympic course were in tandem with each other. The reaches on the triangle were particularly good as the breeze filled in to give all the crews a good work out. Kenny Rumball & David Moran led this race from start to finish and were chased all the way round by Butler/Oram. The star performance however, came from Frank Miller and Grattan Donnelly (14713) who secured a podium place finish with a 3rd. Team Clancy also showed consistency to rack up another 4th place, while Neil Colin and Margaret Casey (14775) enjoyed their high point of the regatta with a fifth. The last race was sailed in sunshine and as the fleet returned to shore the sense that summer had arrived was manifested with a post-mortem on the day's proceedings in shirtsleeves on the club patio.

Phillip O'Connor introduced another element of multi-tasking to his portfolio when he cooked our dinner on a barbeque – steak and fish – ably aided by a small team of ladies, led by his wife Siobhan, who provide ample salads and a dessert of warm apple pie and ice-cream. Post supper, the barman took over the role of key-player!

At 7:15 on the Sunday morning, Carlingford Lough was a mirror. However, as the day progressed the mirror started to disappear and pockets of breeze formed on the Lough. The problem was that by the scheduled start time the only flag flying was a postponement flag, at the club flagpole, with the fleet still ashore. Very soon thereafter however, we did get on the water to sail three races in breeze that came from the direction of the normal sea-breeze for these parts, even if the heat wasn't quite there.

The "duopoly" of Messrs Butler or Rumball winning regatta races was broken in the first race of the morning when Gavin Doyle & Dave Sweeney (14953) won. Sailing in an area where the incoming tide would have been expected to be at its strongest, conventional wisdom would have been to go left. Doyle & Sweeney went hard right every time, with Doyle claiming afterwards that the breeze was more "user-friendly" that side of the course. Sail right until the header hits, then come into the weather mark on the starboard lay-line. This tactic kept him to the front of the fleet, though the victory was secured late on, possibly as late as the hitch from the leeward mark to the finish. Butler/Oram, and Rumball/Moran, like others, had gone left and at the first weather mark they had lots to do to get back into their more accustomed places at the head of the fleet. Rumball, bemused by the throwing out of the 2nd race the day before, was keeping a watching brief on his adversary. Rumball would have been comforted to put Team Clancy between himself and Butler on the finish line to provide a finishing order of Doyle, Rumball, Clancy, Butler, Kissane. Jon Evans and Aidan Caulfield (14748) had been tweaking their boat before the day's proceedings and were rewarded with a 6th place in this race. Jon had driven from Sligo on Ireland's west coast for the regatta and had taken four hours to do so, encountering on the way the security arrangements for this week's G8 summit in Fermanagh.

Races 5 & 6 went to Butler & Oram, clearly anxious to make sure that their 4th place didn't prompt a suggestion that they weren't able to close out the regatta. They dominated Race 4 to win by a very comfortable margin with Rumball/Moran trailing in their wake. Rumball/Moran secured two 2nd places and Kissane/Kinsella kept the symmetry going by securing two 3rd places to effectively close out the regatta in overall terms.

The wind for Races 5&6 improved as the "sea-breeze" got itself established. The approach to the upwind leg again showed quite a bit of diversity as the right hand side was still paying off, though maybe not quite as much as had been the case. By the latter stages of the last race, the more correct side was the left. Niall McGrotty & Neil Creamer (14938) had a good fourth race with a fourth place and followed it up with a ninth in race 5, but this latter result was influenced by having to do a 720º at one of the leeward marks. Miller & Donnelly also had a good brace of results with a 6 and a 5. Louise McKenna & Hermine O'Keeffe who have been very competitive in DBSC races were slightly off the pace on Saturday but came back much stronger with a 8, 8, 10 on Sunday. They had good straight line speed and excellent pointing which meant that dealing with them in close quarters was a risky affair.

There were newcomers to this fleet in the form of Alan Henry & Simon Revill of East Down Yacht Club (14645). Alan has recently purchased a Fireball but is no slouch in a trapeze boat as he has a substantial CV in IDRA 14s. However, a work posting to Belfast has influenced his appetite for travelling to Dublin for IDRA events whereas a Fireball offers him sailing action closer to home. Two 7th places in Races 5 & 6 will hopefully whet their appetites for future Fireball regattas. A new combination was Glen Fisher & Vivian Bessler (14781) who have sailed with others in this fleet.

Marie Barry & Michael Ennis (14854) had a better Saturday than Sunday with a 8th and a 7th as did the Colin/Casey combination. However, with such a compact and tight fleet, it didn't take too much to fall off the pace and into the higher numbered placings at the finish.

The Silver fleet was won by Jon Evans and Aidan Caulfield from Sligo Yacht Club.

Thanks are due to CLYC for hosting another successful Ulster Championships, specifically to Phillip O'Connor, Commodore, Race Officer and Head Chef, Michael O'Hare for the use of his Dufour 34, Aurora as committee boat, Henry McLaughlin as Rescue Co-ordinator and Mark Layer, Kieran Cranley who did the registration and scoring, the ladies catering team led by Siobhan O'Connor and the bar staff who stayed late on Saturday night for our entertainment.

The next Fireball regatta is the Volvo Dun Laoghaire event over the period Thursday 11th – Sunday 14th July, followed by the Nationals to be hosted by Skerries Sailing Club on the weekend of 19th – 21st July.

#fireball – Tonight's dinghy race under the auspices of the DBSC was held under very difficult conditions. On the way out to the starting area it wasn't at all certain that any racing would actually take place. There was no obvious sign of consistent wind on the water, rendering the sea conditions to a lumpy smooth surface finish.

The majority of the fleet struggled to make the official start of proceedings so the status of the initial postponement may have been due to wind conditions – there was a significant shift – or due to the fact that only a handful of boats would have made their respective starts.

XCWeather was projecting a southerly of about 10 – 12 knots but what wind there was was closer to east than south initially, swung to SE and then went further south during the race.

Seven Fireballs took to the water and despite a cautionary note about our poor start of the last Tuesday night this correspondent was off the pace again when the starting signal went!

Five Fireballs went left and out to sea. The all-lady crews of Louise McKenna & Hermine O'Keeffe (14691) and Cariosa Power & Marie Barry (14854) went inshore. Of the five seaward going Fireballs, all on starboard tack, Jonathon Nicholson & Vivian Besselar (14781) were the furthest inshore, while Noel Butler & Shane McCarthy (15061) and the Clancy Brothers, Connor & James (150**) led the straight line "chase" (figuratively speaking) to the port lay-line. Also in this bunch and well placed were Mary Chambers & Brenda Maguire (14865).

At the first weather mark the running order was Clancy, Butler, Nicholson, Chambers, McKenna, Smyth & Power. 100 – 150m into the downwind leg, the wind shifted southwards rendering the course into a three sail reach down wind and a two sail fetch upwind, with a short hitch at either end to round the mark, or so it appeared from my vantage point! Clancy and Butler seemed to be initially vying for the lead but the biggest movers of the night were Louise McKenna & Hermine O'Keefe who converted their first weather mark fifth place to a second place on the finish line. Butler & McCarthy led from the 2nd weather mark and were never threatened by the remainder of the fleet.

Tonight was the first race in the second series of DBSC so these individual race finishes reflect the overall situation.

In Series 1, the winners were Noel Butler & Stephen Oram, followed by Louise McKenna & Hermine O'Keefe and Connor Clancy & Others.

#fireball – Tonight's Tuesday DBSC dinghy race presented challenges for everyone, the Race Committee had very fickle winds to contend with as did the competitors. The consequence was a very small course (physically) and only two laps of the triangular course - triangle and sausage!

The race was dictated at the start and the short opening beat. A prompt start, which was beyond some of us, was critical. Four of the six-boat Fireball fleet rounded the first weather mark in quick succession with Frank Miller & Grattan Donnelly (14713) leading followed by Stephen Campion & Stephen Oram (15061), Louise McKenna & Hermine O'Keeffe (14691) and Mary Chambers & Brenda McGuire (14856). By the gybe mark the two Stephens had gone into the lead. And by the leeward mark the two all lady crews had also overtaken Miller & Donnelly.
The remainder of the race was a procession. Like Formula 1 racing's attitude to pit stops, 1 or 2, so the approach to the second beat dictated the number of tacks taken - one if you sailed all the way on port to the starboard layline, three if you went out the other side of the beat. Exciting stuff!
No further place changes can be reported though the two all lady crews had an interesting luffing match just before the 2nd leeward mark.

1 Stephen Campion & Stephen Oram 15061 2 Louise McKenna & Hermine O'Keeffe 14691
3 Mary Chambers & Brenda McGuire 14856.
Footnote to last week's report, only 3 Fireballs got a finish, the rest of us were timed out!!

Specialist coaching for The Irish Fireball Class Association is not covered in the Irish Sailing Association's new coaching scheme for non-Olympic classes accoording to the latest Fireball class newsletter. One of the biggest dinghy classes in the country has investigated the new scheme but reports the ISA coaching monies are available only if 'ISA approved coaches are used'.  

The news letter goes on to say:  'They [The ISA] have proposed to make some monies available for coaching in non-Olympic Classes, but on further investigation the coaching would have to be provided by ISA approved and registered coaches. Thus, for example, the coaching that we as a Class provide to our own members would not qualify for financial support under this scheme. Likewise, the Adam Bowers training session would have to be funded from our own resources. 

The new coaching arrangements were put in place after a motion placed before the AGM of the ISA by Bryan Armstrong (Sligo Yacht Club) and Norman Lee (Greystones SC) sought far reaching reforms of the Association. A meeting held after the agm produced 300 proposals for change inlcuding increased coaching for senior dinghy fleets.

Louise McKenna & Hermine O'Keeffe (14691) led last night's Tuesday race (21/05) in the DBSC Series for Fireballs. The best turnout for the series so far, eight boats, contested what started off as a tense race with everyone in close proximity to each other and devolved into a light wind drifter as the wind ultimately disappeared.

Our reading of the wind direction in the racing area gave us SE as the direction and while getting out of the harbour had been a bit of a struggle, once we were in Scotsman's Bay there seemed to be a healthy breeze for the evening's proceeding. Nobody was trapezing but there was wind!

With a flooding tide the sensible thing to do seemed to be "go inshore" and the majority of the fleet did that. What resulted was a procession of boats approaching the first weather mark on the starboard layline. Louise & Hermine were the most offshore of the group and ahead with Frank Miller & Grattan Donnelly (14713) leading the layline procession, followed by Louis Smyth & Cormac Bradley (15007), Noel Butler & Stephen Oram (15061), Conor Clancy & Hugh Butler (150**) and Neil Colin & Margaret Casey (14775).

The first five went marginally out to sea while Colin & Casey gybed immediately onto an inshore track for the downwind leg of the windward/leeward course. McKenna/O'Keeffe were the first to gybe back inshore, while Miller/Donnelly were the last to do so. The other three played more of a middle course. The Colin/Casey gamble paid off as they rounded in close company with Butler/Oram & Clancy/Butler. McKenna/O'Keeffe were gone and Smyth/Bradley managed to round second.

2nd beat, with a modified weather mark position, and the lead group played the inshore card. Miller/Donnelly went to sea initially but then came back. Smyth/Bradley held their 2nd place but Butler/Oram closed the distance and Clancy/Butler weren't far behind them. Still leading McKenna/O'Keeffe held their nerve and played the 2nd downwind leg much the same as the first. Butler, Smyth, Clancy & Colin went down to the second leeward mark in close company. Miller/Donnelly dropped off the pace and lost distance. At the 2nd leeward mark, McKenna/O'Keeffe were still comfortable. Smyth/Bradley got caught in a pincer movement by Butler/Oram outside and Clancy/Butler inside to drop two places instantaneously at the leeward mark. Interpretations of 3 boat-lengths would provide an interesting discussion among these three!!

Now it was time to "hit the shore" which the ladies did. Butler and Clancy kept each other in close company up the third beat. Smyth was obliged to try something different which didn't work – distance lost! Colin/Casey also went to the beach but didn't gain the distance they craved.

At windward 3 the order was McKenna, Butler, Clancy, Smyth, Colin, and Miller. But Miller wasn't finished yet. The dying breeze all but evaporated on the third downwind leg. Boats were pointing in all sorts of directions to try and keep spinnakers filling. There was a sense of almost sailing away from the shortened course finish line, between the leeward mark and the committee boat, just to keep spinnakers full.

Butler/Oram appeared to close the gap on McKenna/O'Keeffe, but the ladies held out to win. Smyth initially closed on Clancy and Colin closed on him. Behind Miller & Donnelly were the first to drop their spinnaker and ghosted past both Smyth and Colin to regain the places they had lost earlier.

DBSC Tuesday Night Series – Fireballs: Round 4.
1 Louise McKenna & Hermine O'Keeffe RStGYC. 14691
2 Noel Butler & Stephen Oram DMYC 15061
3 Conor Clancy & Hugh Butler RStGYC 150**