#fireball – The Irish Fireball Class gathered in the National Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire last Friday, 22 nd November, to celebrate the season just past and recognize those people who had excelled on the water or made significant contributions to the Class during the past season writes Cormac Bradley.

Forty to fifty people were in attendance with a mix of the younger members of the fleet, some who are not so young and some who are no longer active but are still part of the Irish Fireball family. The hospitality of the National Yacht Club was of its usual high standard with a function room to ourselves and our own bar. An excellent buffet meal was served with desserts and tea/coffee served individually.

Five Fireball organized regattas are sailed during the Irish summer season and these five events are used to provide a season long competition for the entire fleet with points for overall places at each of the individual regattas counting towards the overall season long competition – The Travellers Trophy. The fleet is split into Gold and Silver sub-fleets. Additionally, the prize-giving is the occasion when five other awards are made – the India Trophy for the Most Improved, the Asterix Trophy for making a Significant Contribution, the Lady Helm's Trophy, the Captain's Prize and the Liam Bradley Memorial Trophy. 

Newly elected Class Chairman, Ms. Marie Barry presented an overview of the season, recounting tales of tents being erected in howling winds and driving rain (Friday night at CLYC), of attempts to put up tents being abandoned in favour of sleeping in the bar (LRYC), of 40-knot gusts flattening the fleet and leaving a regatta with just one race (Killaloe), of an exceptionally enjoyable Nationals in Skerries, of the very enjoyable Europeans and Worlds regatta in Slovenia and having the biggest turnout for the last regatta of the season, the Leinsters, hosted in mid-October by Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club.

Marie also acknowledged that we had new National Champions in the form of Kenny Rumball and David Moran who had won the title on countback from Noel Butler and Stephen Oram in Skerries. It was also acknowledged that while the fleet was smaller than in previous years, the level of competition was still very high, particularly at the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regattas (9 boats) and the Nationals (15 boats).

Medals in the Gold and Silver fleets were awarded to the first, second and third placed helms and crews in accordance with the results table above.

Left to right: Hermine O'Keeffe, Marie Barry & Louise McKenna. Louise won the Lady Helm Trophy for the 2013 season.

Louise McKenna presents the Captain's Prize to Cormac Bradley.

 Jon Evans (Sligo Yacht Club) picks up the Gold medals for first in the Silver fleet from Class Chair, Marie Barry.

National Champions, David Moran (L) and Kenny Rumball (R), pick up the Silver Medals for the Gold fleet from Marie Barry.

 Travellers' Trophy winners (Gold fleet) Noel Butler (L) and Stephen Oram (R) pick up their overall trophy from Marie Barry.

Photos courtesy of Frank Miller

Class Awards.

The India Trophy.
Awarded by the committee, this trophy recognizes the individual who has made the most progress in the season just completed. This year's winner upgraded his boat during the close season and teamed up with a new crew for the 2013 season. As a combination, Gavin Doyle and Dave Sweeney sailed all five events of the Travellers' Trophy, finishing second in Killaloe where there were only three finishers and discarding an 11 th at the Munster Championships in Lough Ree Yacht Club (Athlone). This allowed them to finish 4 th overall in the Travellers' and earned Gavin Doyle the India Trophy.

The Asterix Trophy.
Again awarded at the discretion and discussion of the committee, the Asterix Trophy is awarded to an individual who has made a significant contribution to the Class. This year's recipient has just stood down as Class Chairman after a two-year stint but during his two years in office he has also been very involved in his own club, DMYC, provided training to the Fireball Silver Fleet and gave of his time and effort to the ISAF Youth Worlds hosted in Dublin Bay and other international events that came this way.
This year the Asterix Trophy was awarded to Neil Colin.

Lady Helm's Trophy.
This trophy is awarded to the leading lady helm in the Travellers' Trophy competition at the end of the season. Louise McKenna & Hermine O'Keefe also sailed all five regattas of the summer season and while they weren't a finisher in Killaloe, they did start the single race that constituted that regatta. They finished seventh in the Travellers' Trophy. Additionally, Louise & Hermine were very competitive in the Tuesday night racing under the auspices of Dublin Bay Sailing Club and showed a very clean transom to the rest of the Fireball fleet on more than one occasion.
This year's Lady Helm's Trophy goes to Louise McKenna.

Captain's Prize.
The "Captain" in the title of this trophy is the Dun Laoghaire Class Captain and this award may be made at the sole discretion of the person who occupies this office. He or she may, of course, consult with the committee. The 2013 Dun Laoghaire Class Captain was Louise McKenna and in that capacity she awarded the trophy to Cormac Bradley for his reporting of all things Fireball (from an Irish perspective) to the websites Afloat.ie, Yachts & Yachting, our own Fireball Ireland website (courtesy of Stephen Oram) and the Fireball International website.

Liam Bradley Memorial Trophy.
Donated by Cormac Bradley, in memory of his father, this trophy is awarded at Cormac's discretion. This year the trophy went to Kenneth Rumball and in awarding the trophy reference was made to Kenny's contribution to the fleet by way of affording opportunities to the fleet to contest international regattas with his multi-stacker trailer which brought six boats to Bracciano (Italy) and back for the 2012 Europeans and repeated the feat with delivery and return of six boats to Slovenia for the 2013 Europeans and Worlds Regatta. This in a year when Kenny also won the 2013 Nationals after a number of years of trying and getting very close. It as noted that while many people race Fireballs in discretionary time, Kenny gave up time from his business to trek across Europe and back so that the rest of us could contest international regattas.

#ISORA – All boats entering the ISORA series in 2014 will have the option of taking part in a Team Series, Saturday's AGM at the National Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire was told.

The teams of 3 will be randomly selected by the committee and each team will consist of a boat from Class1, 2 and Silver Class. It is hoped that this will encourage boats to take part in more races. There will be a trophy for the Team Series.

The AGM also head that ISORA is to clarify the qualifying conditions for boats entering the Wicklow SC's Round Ireland with the race organisers. This could alter the length of some of the races prior to the Round Ireland.

There will be an ISORA coastal series that will consist of results from the coastal / day races only. It is hoped that this will encourage those boats who do not do the cross channel races. There will be trophies for this series as well.

Virtual marks will be used in races to ensure, weather permitting, that there is an upwind and a dead downwind leg in each race.

The mandatory use of the PredictWind tracker was discussed. While there was unanimous agreement that the use of such a tracker was of huge benefit to ISORA, there were some technical difficulties experienced with its use last season. ISORA is to engage with PredictWind to sort these issues
out prior to next season.

The prize giving dinner took place in the National Yacht Club on Saturday evening. The dining room was packed with 165 people. The pre-dinner reception took place in the JB room. The classical trio "The Trident Trio" provided the background music while the guests mingled and chatted.

ISORA commodore Peter Ryan acted as MC for the prizegiving. Traditional toasts were made by Mr James Cannon, Director of KONA, Mr. Paul Barrington, Commodore NYC, Mr. Barry MacNeaney, Commodore Royal Alfred Yacht Club  and Mr. Derek mathews, Commodore of the Royal Dee Yacht Club. Anne-Marie Ryan presented the many prizes to the winners. The prizes included unique personalised "KONA" jackets for race winners and Series Class Winners.

#sb20 – With over 40 sailors trying out the SB20 on Dublin Bay on Saturday in glorious weather the Demo day at the National YC surpassed all expectations.

'We expected 20 to 25 and we got over 40 sailors, all were very positive about the boat and all expressed interest in crewing / helming' said demo day organiser Justin Burke.

The Dun Laoghaire club was a hive of sportsboat activity with the NYC also staging the 35–boat Flying fifteen east coasts too.

'We had serious interest in used boats and three asking serious questions about brand new boats'.

A new SB20 was on display on the NYC platform.

One issue that transpired at the weekend is the confusion over the SB3 and SB20 rebranding, a lot of people were of the opinion that the SB3 class had 'imploded' and Burke says the day was a welcome opportunity to sort out the confusion and advise them that the rebranded fleet SB20 is very much alive and kicking.

The fleet never went away,just Laser is no longer the builder. The SB20 is now built by Formula White in the UK and the marketing is by Sports Boats World, according to Justin.

Eight Irish boats went to the SB20 Worlds in Hyeres, France, racing in sun, warm water and a Mistral wind will always be memorable in any sailors life. The SB20 acquitted itself very well even in a 35 knot Mistral, according to reports.

The SB20 in Cork harbour has expanded to Cobh Sailing Club and racing also continues at RCYC.

With a strong programme of six regional events, Belfast Cork and Dublin Bay racing the class is set up for 2014.

#foiling– Interested in those skiffs or mad foiling machines? Dublin's National Yacht Club (NYC) is taking a leading role in developing high performance dinghy sailing by organising a presentation evening and debate at its Dun Laoghaire clubhouse on the subject of faster sailing. Former youth champion Ben Lynch (and older brother of Finn, the Laser U21 world champion) is organising the session on Friday, 4th October at 18:30 in the NYC.

The aim of the "JUST DO IT" initiative, according to sailing manager Olivier Proveur, is to 'spark something useful for all sailors interested in going a bit faster...'

The programme will cover how to get started and will cover Skiffs, 49er, 29ers and Moth dinghy sailing. (Don't forget the foiling Laser, Ben – Ed)

A programme and poster for the session is available for download below. The go-ahead club was previously in the vanguard of promoting solo and short–handed sailing and held a similar evening at the NYC in December 2009. This Summer it hosted the Route des Princes stop over, a round Europe race for ultra fast trimarans that had more than its fair share of drama on Dublin Bay.

The objectives of the October evening are:

- To inform potential new comers
- To see what level of interest there is to get into that scene...create an attendance / database list
- To detail what we are trying to achieve by coming together and what are potential routes to continue on from here if interested. (Create Yahoo Group? Facebook page? Committing to program to get involved with particular boats or to try a few, training hard in one class to perform)
- To promote the around the island challenge
- To explore the room to develop a series for Hi Perf Dinghies in Dun Laoghaire, within or outside of DBSC, elsewhere in Ireland....

Currently, club members Tadhg and Sean Donnelly are campaigning a 29er dinghy and the NYC's Olympic sailor Annalise Murphy is heading to Hawaii shortly for the Moth World championships.




#SB20 – Just because this coming Sunday is the last in the DBSC SB20 Sunday series on Dublin Bay does not mean the newly elected class captain is going to pack the boats away for winter. Far from it. 

The fleet is celebrating a recent Dun Laoghaire world masters win in Hyeres, France and new fleet boss Michael O'Connor is capitalising on this international success and a buoyant domestic season by having an open day in Dun Laoghaire (National YC) on October 5th 2013.

The primary purpose is to attract new crew into the class because O'Connor says a constant bugbear with all classes and a common reason for boats not making it onto the start line is simply lack of crew.

The SB20 fleet are addressing this problem by demonstrating to prospective crew how exhilarating the SB20 can be and giving those sailors an opportunity to try one out.

'We would also welcome helms/prospective new owners on the day and we will be able to give them a taste of what it is like to sail in the largest sportsboat fleet in the country' O'Connor adds.

There will be several existing boat owners and experienced crew on hand on the day to answer any questions and help put the boats through their paces.

A pdf poster is downloadable below.

#isora – Under not ideal weather and sea conditions yesterday's final ISORA race of 2013 was a battle of gargantuan proportions between the Series leader "Ruth" and close second "Sgrech". The two J109's, with "Sgrech" only giving 43 seconds in the expected 12 hour race "Ruth" writes ISORA chairman, Peter Ryan.

After a long season with many boats having races and sailed thousands of miles. With some boats with gear problems and others with crew fatigue after three consecutive weekends of offshore racing, only 13 boats out of an entry list of 22 came to the start line in Pwllheli. The PSC starter Richard Tudor sent the fleet of on a direct course from the start to the finish in Dun Laoghaire.

The weather forecast appeared to be very manageable with the winds of maximum 25 knots, north west backing south west over the day. Unfortunately the north west wind had been blowing strong for all the previous day producing overall conditions at Bardsey that were not pleasant. The first leg to Tudwals was a tight reach. After the warning signal "Sgrech" and "Ruth" commenced manouvers to get the better start. The two boats headed off in front of the fleet within a boat length of each other towards Tusdal's sound.

In Tudwal's sound more tussles arose between the tow boats in the form of a luffing match. This facilitate "Pipedreamer 6", "Mojito" and "Lula Belle" to pass them into the lead. Sea condition past Tudwal's sound warned of what was going to be met at Bardsey. It was a beat to Bardsey. While most of the fleet chose to go through the sound with the north going tide some boats including "Sarnia" ventured outside the island. The five lead boats arrived at Bardsey close together with "Ruth" and "Sgrech" exchanging tacks.

Conditions at Bardsey Sound were "pretty bad"!!!!. Huge and breaking seas met those who ventured through. "Sgrech" recorded a ground speed of 14.2k at one stage. "Windshift" suffered some slight gear damage with the pounding and retired. At the same time the life raft on "Sgrech" broke its fixings and was heading off the stern before the crew managed to retrieve it. "Poppy of Brighton" had retired earlier.

Exiting Bardsey "Ruth" and "Sgrech" were still within boats lengths of each other and leading the fleet with "Mojito" close behind and headed off north on a beat in the north going tide. The wind was still north west. Over the following few hours, the backing wind lifted the boats on the north leg of the beat to arrive north of the Bailey lighthouse. At all time "Ruth" and "Sgrech" were within 100m of each other with the boast being side by side "Ruth" being to weather. Felloe J109 "Mojito" was close behind.

It was only just approaching the Kish Light that "Sgrech" regained the advantage and set the scene of the tacking duel between the two boats across Dublin Bay to the finish at Dun Laoghaire Pier heads. "Sgrech" held the lead and finished just 1 minute 50 seconds ahead of "Ruth". "Mojito" finished approximately 10 minutes behind the leaders to give the J109's a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place overall and Class 1. "Sarnia", the oldest and lowest rated boat in the fleet took Class 2 and Silver Class Overall with "Lula Belle" taking 2nd Class 2 and "Yahtzee" taking 3rd Class 2 and 2nd Silver Class while Sigma 33 "Polished Manx" took 3rd Silver Class.

The result of the gargantuan battle between "Ruth" and "Sgrech" was that "Sgrech" retained the ISORA lynx metmAsts Offshore Series 2013 champion status, ahead of "Ruth". "Polished Manx" is the ISORA lynx metmAsts Offshore Silver Series 2013 champion. Full details are below.

The usual "dignified" end of series party took place in the NYC immediately after the race.

The progress of the race was recorded using the PredictWind tracker but some boats had technical problems. It can be viewed on the iPhone or smartphone app or on the website at http://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/race/ISORA It is hoped to make the use of this tracker as mandatory for next years races however this will be discussed at the ISORA AGM in the NYC on the 16th November.

The prize giving will take place at the ISORA annual dinner to be held in the NYC on the 16th November. To avoid disappointment, it is vital that places are booked early with the club.

It was a fitting and exciting end to a very success offshore series where, with the possible exception of yesterday's race, all the races were sailed in great racing conditions. It is hoped that this close racing will attract new boats to enter and race "outside of the Bay".

#LaserEuro2013 – Ireland's Annalise Murphy is the new Olympic Laser European Champion, winning her first major international trophy urged on by family and supprters on her native Dublin Bay this afternoon. It's a sweet victory on home waters that won't quite make up for missing out on an Olympic medal this time last year but it is all the same a major boost to her Olympic campaign towards Rio 2016.

The Dubliner won an outstanding seven races out of ten in the week long series, a feat seldom seen in top flight Olympic class competition and one that mirrors Weymouth and London 2012 in many ways.

The 23–year–old National Yacht Club sailor finished second, third and first in the final three races this afternoon to win the regatta by some margin.

In the end, a much anticipated final race fight between rivals Murphy and Olympic silver medalist Marit Boumeester of Holland did not materialise. Dun Laoghaire's golden girl took the upperhand from the start of the final race of today's championships, looking very much the winner, beaming with confidence and chatting and joking with fellow competitors between races.

Her many supporters afloat and ashore all knew well how the 23–year–old had lost out an Olympic medal in Weymouth in the closing stage a year previous, so there could be no repeat today on home waters.

With a ten knot wind moderating and a nasty chop on Dublin Bay, Murphy pulled out the stops to lead her 90-boat fleet by 100 metres at the first weather mark. It was a lead she never relinquished, she built a solid lead over Belgium's Evi Van Acker to take the European title in some style.

Immediately after she cleared the finish line, Annalise punched the air, smiling broadly as she was handed an Irish tricolour to wave, sailing home to her National Yacht Club for a hero's welcome. Nearby boats and yachts let off hand flares as an armada of supporting vessels gathered around the winning dinghy helmswoman.

Annalise celebrates her European Radial win in Dun Laoghaire today. Photo: Richard Langdon

Fourth place - the so called leather medal - is always the hardest result to accept for an Olympic athlete. But for both the 2012 Olympic sailors who collected their respective Laser European titles today after a thrilling final day on the sparkling waters off Dun Laoghaire, Ireland, winning the first big championship since they finished fourth in the Laser Olympic regatta marked the first steps on the long road from 2013 Dublin Bay to Rio 2016 on Guanabara Bay, with a key title victory.

For Murphy it was a fairy-tale win, her first ever major Laser title, won on the waters where she learned and trained as a youngster and the same sea to which she returned to the Laser in the freezing cold of last November, her first time back in the boat since the bitter disappointment of losing an Olympic medal on the last race. Murphy had lead overall after the first two days of her first Olympic regatta, winning four races in succession and went in to the Medal Race finale as one of four girls who were only one point apart.

Just over a year ago Murphy proved to be the one who finished empty handed and disappointed in but as she triumphantly topped out the European Championship standings today, with eight wins from 12 starts, she left Holland's 2012 silver medallist Marit Bowmeester in her wake as runner up, a conclusive 22 points behind, and Belgium's bronze medallist Evi van Acker 31 points adrift. Britain's Alison Young took third overall.

Murphy was carried up the slip of the National Yacht Club shoulder high by her fellow Irish sailors still in her Laser, smiling broadly. "It was pretty tough after the Olympics. It hurt to have finished fourth, especially to have been in a medal position all the way through. It made me train pretty hard this year, I have been pretty focused these last few months and I knew I had a goal here. I was not too sure how everyone else was going to perform. I am so delighted."

Annalise (centre) celebrates her trophy win with father Con looking on and Marit Boumeester (left) second and Alison Young third. Photo: Richard Langdon

"It is so special to win here at my home club. My mum and dad are here, my sister is here. It is awesome, it is great to see all the club members here sharing it with me. They have been such a huge support for me over the last two years. It is great. Rio is still three years away. I have a lot of training to do and a lot of racing, But this feels great to win my first big event."

"I have not done any more or less training here or before Weymouth. I have always done plenty. I have another year's experience. I was extremely nervous after my first two days at the Olympics after winning the first four races. But here, after winning so many races, I did not have that same nervous feeling, because I knew what not to do. I was a bit apprehensive today but mostly I want to just prove I could go out and have another good day."

In the Men's Laser Radial fleet Australia's Tristan Brown retained the World title despite a shaky final day. Brown, from Fremantle, WA, is a regular training partner for Marit Bouwmeester who he has worked with since two years before she won the Women's Radial World 2011 title. Poland's three times World Champion Marcin Rudawski pipped 17 year old local ace Finn Lynch, who won silver at last year's ISAF Youth World Championships, to win the European Men's Radial championship.

But Ireland's Finn Lynch didn't fare too badly either. The 17 year old from Bennekerry, Co. Carlow is the 2013 U21 Men's Laser Radial World Champion. He also won Bronze in the overall World Championship and Silver in the European Championship. The ISA Academy teenager sailed consistently throughout the 12 regatta races notching up nine top 5 finishes including two race wins.

Croatia's Tonci Stipanovic secured the Laser Men's European title for the third time, following wins in 2010 and 2011. But it was only within the final 500 metres of the last race that he took the one place that ensured the championship and the European Trophy were both his. In the closest finish to the hardest fought Laser European Championship for many years, the sailor from Split emerged one point ahead of Brazil's five times Olympic medallist and eight times World Champion Robert Scheidt in the European Trophy, and had just two points in hand over Holland's Rutger van Schaardenburg.

After a full diet of 12 races on Dublin Bay in a broad range of conditions, from 5 to 20 knots and most directions of the compass, only five points separated Stipanovic from Great Britain's Nick Thompson who started the final day with a two points lead but finished fifth overall. On Weymouth & Portland's notorious Medal Race arena 14 months ago Stipanovic rounded the final gate in bronze medal position but rather than cover, he tacked away from Sweden's Rasmus Myrgren who worked ahead to steal the medal.

The doughty Croat gave himself just a month off from training and has worked tirelessly since. Murphy took time away from the Laser after the 2012 Games but retained her fitness with competitive triathlon and iron-man events. As respective rewards for their European victories Murphy was due to treat herself to a '99' cone from legendary local ice-cream Teddy's of Dun Laoghaire maker while Stipanovic was relishing to seven days at home, looking forwards to long walks with his beloved dog.

Stipanovic, World Championships runner up last year in Boltenhagen, Germany returned to the boat park this afternoon dazed but delighted, confirming this was significantly harder than his previous European titles. "This was the hardest because when it was not going good I was pushing, pushing. No one could say I was lucky."

"I am sailing better than this time last year. I am fitter and stronger for the strong winds when I am feeling more comfortable."

"It was so hard today. I was trying to do the best I could. On the first upwind mark it was not looking good I was 31st and managed to finish eighth. So I was leading by one point. The second race we were all close but I lost the wind pressure downwind and they all passed me. Then I knew I had to push more. In the end I finished sixth. That was enough. It was so hard."

Of his fourth place at last year's Olympic Games, he said "The Olympics finished last year and that is it. And the door is closed. Now it is a new road to Rio. I don't think about the Olympics, what happened. I had very little time off because I did not do my job properly, so I had to train more and not to rest. So I started working almost immediately to be better for Rio."

Robert Scheidt, back in the Laser after a seven years gap, proved he is close to his championship winning best. Two weighty scores in the four Finals races meant Scheidt counted a 23rd in his 46 pts final aggregate. Otherwise he never finished worse than fourth and lead overall into the final race. "Overall I am happy to finish second" Scheidt said, "I had two big scores in this regatta a 24th and a 23rd, so to end up second is a good result. But overall it was a great regatta, testing all the skills strong medium and light winds, current, very high level competitors. I am glad to have come here. And for me the main thing is my performance not necessarily the result."

Rutger van Schaardenburg missed the European title by two points but Holland's Laser sailors finish runners up in both Men's and Women's Olympic classes. He said "I am really happy with my second in the last race and in fact my end result as well, but two points from being European champion is pretty hard to take at this moment. That is really hard, you start to think about those races which went before, maybe the odd point here and there you could have gained. But, then, that is what makes the difference between being champion and runner up. I am really pleased, but when it is that close it is hard."

Poland's three times World Champion Marcin Rudawski pipped 17 year old local ace Finn Lynch, who won silver at last year's ISAF Youth World Championships, to win the European Men's Radial championship.

See www.lasereuropeans2013.com for full results.

#LaserEuros2013 – Annalise Murphy goes into the final races of the Laser European and World Championships tomorrow on her native Dublin Bay with a comprehensive 17 point lead ahead of Holland's Olympic silver medallist Marit Bowmeester.

With the prospect of a breezy finale on the waters off Dun Laoghaire Murphy is looking to resume the same kind of form which has led to seven wins from her nine starts here and convert her big lead to her first major Laser Radial title. A disappointing 27th in today's light breezes is her discardable result.

In contrast the contest for the titles and trophies in the Olympic men's fleet is very delicately poised after two tricky races in light and unpredictable northerly winds today which made consistency very elusive. Indeed of the top ten sailors in the Men's fleet all sailed one good result and one poor, discarded race.

As Britain's Nick Thompson promoted himself to the top of the standings with a second place in the second of their pair of races today to earn a two points margin ahead of Croatia's Tonci Stipanovic and three up on Holland's Rutger Schaardenburg, Brazil's Robert Scheidt returned to shore frustrated to have scored his second poor result in consecutive days. After winning the first race he fell into a wind hole in the second contest and struggled to a 24th.

Scheidt, who will bid for his ninth Laser world title in Oman in November, has returned to the class after seven years in the Star keelboat. He believes that racing in amongst most of the best in the class at the moment he is close to being back to his best, but needs to polish up on his consistency.

"I think that independent of tomorrow's results I have the chance to win regattas the way that I am sailing." Scheidt confirmed today, "I think that I have already proven this week that I sail well in strong winds, I can sail well in light winds. I am still not as consistent as I used to be but it shows the field is pretty open and I can still do well."

After taking time out from the Laser Thompson, who missed out on the British Sailing Team's selection to the last Olympics despite twice finishing runner up at consecutive World Championships behind Australia's Tom Slingsby, would love to mark his return with the first major title of his long and distinguished career. Since winning the 2004 ISAF Youth World title in 2004, Thompson has won world cup and international regattas but has yet to win a major class title.

"I am pleased with the way I have sailed at the event so far" Thompson said, "I have made few mistakes. The Worlds is the main focus but this event is hugely important, but for me it is nice to feel I am sailing back on top of my game again. The competition is great with Rutger, Scheidt and Tonci all up there and so I am looking to an interesting final day."

Thompson's pair of results – a 30th and a second – were characteristic of the day's highly unpredictable conditions. In the offshore northerly breeze, choosing the best side of the first beat was key but there were big holes in the breeze which summarily halted many of the top seeds in their tracks.

Croatia's Tonci Stipanovic, twice European champion in the past, has a slightly better discard in his locker, but Thompson has been better in the stronger breeze, scoring best of the fleet in Wednesday's wilder winds.

Although the men finished two races for the Olympic rigged fleets, the corresponding Women's Radial class only managed one because the fickle breeze died away too much. Murphy was disappointed not to have the chance to atone immediately for her disappointing 27th place, while Bouwmeester was also dismayed that only one race in her preferred lighter conditions was sailed.

The Dutch sailor said "It is a shame to only get one race. It looked like a bit of an early decision. That is a shame. It was a tricky race which reminded me a bit of Weymouth in the N'ly wind, so it was nice to race in that again. I was just in the top group at the windward mark and then got up to second on the second upwind. But we will be back hiking again tomorrow."

Annalise Murphy says she will change nothing for the decisive final day, concentrating on making better starts than today's which was the start of a frustrating downwards spiral which was concluded when she ran out of breeze close to the finish line. "It was difficult" Murphy said, " I had a bad start and struggled to get into the race in the first half, but made a good comeback on the second upwind, the last downwind and the reach to get into the top 15. But I was close to the finish line and then the wind died. I was not moving and could do nothing at all about it. I lost 15 places at the finish line and so that was disappointing. It was a shame not to get a second race in. The breeze came in but it is always hard to tell."

"I am disappointed with today. I would much preferred to have a 15th rather than a 27th or whatever it is. I will just have to get out there and have good races on the last day. I just need to get better starts than today's and try and not make any mistakes."

While Bouwmeester rose to second overall she is now just three points up on Britain's Ali Young.

In the Men's Laser Radial World Championship Australia's defending champion Tristan Brown won again to build his lead to 18 points. Ireland's Finn Lynch, the home club's ISAF Youth World Championships silver medallist leads the European Championship by two points ahead of Poland's three times world champion Marcin Rudawski. Lynch, who has climbed the rankings all week, is set for a place on the podium if her can maintain his current form in the final rounds.

Lynch, who sails from the National YC said "The conditions were very shifty and challenging conditions today. I had a good start and was in 10th at the first mark and then climbed to first but then dropped to third at the line. Tomorrow I am hoping for two solid races and to hold on to a podium position tomorrow."

Top three by class

Laser Radial Women's European Championship
1. Annalise Murphy, IRL, 9 points
2. Marit Bouwmeester, NED, 26
3. Alison Young, GBR, 29

Laser Radial Men's World Championship
1. Tristan Brown, AUS, 12
2. Finn Lynch, IRL, 30
3. Marcin Rudawski, POL, 32

Laser Standard Men's European Championship
1. Nick Thompson, GBR, 29
2. Tonci Stipanovic, CRO, 31
3. Rutger Schaardenburg, NED, 32

http://www.lasereuropeans2013.com/ for full results.

#lasereuros2013 – Annalise Murphy wins two more races today to lead the Laser Europeans in Dun Laoghaire by seven points. In bright sunshine, warm temperatures and even an unusual sea breeze, favourite Annalise Murphy remains the only sailor at the Laser European & World Championships to complete the six-race Qualifying Series counting a score line of five race wins.

The satisifed Dun Laoghaire sailor tweeted after racing: 'Wins in both races today @LaserEuros2013 ! I am going to sleep well tonight! #sotired'

The change from the offshore, shifty westerly breezes of the first two days might have been welcomed, but in their place was a difficult, at times frustrating, thermal sea breeze which was often riddled with holes and peppered with puffs which still brought significant changes in wind direction. But the change did not seem to worry Murphy who built a significant lead in both of her races for another two winning guns. But as the Final Series now starts - the business end of the championships - she will face much stiffer competition.

"I'm feeling pretty good. Now it's gold fleet and it will be very different, much harder with twice as many good people in the fleet. I feel good after these last few days but there are three days to go. I am taking nothing for granted. I am just looking to keep sailing well, to get good starts and hopefully it will work out. I don't worry about what the weather forecast might bring, they have been wrong the last three days and so there is no point in speculating" Murphy, who is sailing on her home waters, reported.

She goes forward with a lead of seven points over Belgium's Evi Van Acker, the 2012 Olympic bronze medallist who finished second twice today, whilst the British Sailing Team's Ali Young and Denmark's Sarah Gunni are three points further back on 17 points.

Fionn Lyden drops to second

In the Laser Radial Men's fleet Baltimore's Fionn Lyden dropped to second after a 20th in the second race today but remains only one point behind Australian leader Tristan Brown. "I got everything wrong" Lyden said later, "I had a reasonable start and thought the wind was going to shift left but it didn't. I was in the bottom 15 at the first mark but gained about 15 places on the run. I thought it was going to shift left again on the second beat but it didn't. I then gained a few more places on the reach but finished 20th. It was a weird race".

Last year's European Championships runner-up, Sweden's Jesper Stalheim, goes into the Final Series of the Men's Olympic class with a lead of two points over Brazil's Robert Scheidt who he kept behind him twice today as he sailed to a first and a second, with the five times Olympic medallist taking second and third.

Scheidt confirmed again today that he is racing the Laser not through any sense of obligation but because he loves it, and it is his best option at the moment for him to win a sixth medal. "I think this is my only option in terms of an Olympic class. It is a boat I know, I have the experience, easy to start a campaign. The most important thing is I still enjoy sailing the boat. I would not be doing this if I did not enjoy sailing this boat" he smiled in the Dun Laoghaire sunshine this afternoon.

Of his races today he reported "In the first race I rounded the top mark in 25th and so I was pleased to come back from that. It was pretty difficult with a lot of holes in the breeze. It was very fluky wind, getting up to 16 - 17 knots but then dropping very quickly to four knots. That made the racing very difficult. Also downwind sometimes you were going but sometimes you were stopped. I am happy to have made two results in the top three today. But tomorrow it is like the start of a new regatta. We all start again in the one fleet".

Although Swede Jesper Stalheim sailed to first and second place finishes, he maintained he had found the conditions confounding at times. "It was a game of luck at times and my luck again seemed to work out" said Stalheim, "There were such big pressure differences. You would go from full hiking to no wind in a matter of seconds and just stop. And people would still be going around you. It feels really good to be sailing well though".

"The conditions were weird at the last Europeans where I was second. I must be OK at it. But the standard there was not so high (as many sailors were in Weymouth preparing for the Olympics). I feel I am sailing well. I will have to be good from here."

Stipanovic shares the same raw motivation as Annalise

With a first and a third today Croatia's Tonci Stipanovic is up to third overall. Twice Laser European Champion – in 2010 and 2011 – Stipanovic shares the same raw motivation as Annalise Murphy. He too missed out painfully on an Olympic medal in the Medal Race at Weymouth and Portland just over a year ago.

"It will be difficult as of now. You have to sail well on the first day of the finals, the pressure really is on then. If you don't it becomes complicated. It is not necessary to win races, just get good results" said Stipanovic.

See here for full results

#greystonesharbour – Last Wednesday night (28th August) in The National Yacht Club, an audience of up to sixty people heard of the origins, design and construction of the new Greystones Harbour, presented by Councillor Derek Mitchell of Wicklow County Council and Sean Mason of Arups.

The event was hosted by the Civil Division of Engineers Ireland in response to a request from members of the DBSC Thursday night racing community who couldn't make the original presentation at the Clyde Road offices of Engineers Ireland.

Councillor Mitchell gave some of the historical and political background to the project and touched on some of the community aspects while Sean Mason dealt with the technical aspects of the design and construction.

The lecture started at 19:35 and finished after 21:00 with the speakers taking up just over an hour. An active Q&A session followed the presentation.

The development of the harbour is a first for the PPP model of investment whereby a combination of public and private investment funds the project. Representatives of the contractor, Sisks, were in the audience and they too contributed to some of the answers that were provided.

The Civil Division would like to thank our hosts for the evening, The National Yacht Club, the speakers, Messrs Mitchell & Mason, the people who came out to listen to the lecture, Afloat magazine and the four Dun Laoghaire yacht clubs who promoted the lecture.

Cormac Bradley
Chairman, Civil Division
Engineers Ireland.