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On a night where winds of 20knots were recorded, as reported elsewhere on this website, 12 Flying Fifteens answered Brian Mathews’ DBSC starting call last night in the robust conditions that caused the cancellation of racing for the Mermaids and Squibs. While the numbers are a bit on the low side, there were justifiable absences as evidenced by departures to a UK regatta and an important family occasion as documented on Facebook.

Initially, a postponement was flown, possibly due to shifting winds as the racecourse selection went from N to P, but when the final course was declared for the evening, it was one where there were a lot of turning marks, eight in total. Some may have fallen foul of the navigation and lost out on the water, but that didn’t detract (I hope) from a very enjoyable session on the water.

PW3 was the course of choice, suggesting a wind direction of NW (292°) and a sequence of marks that read – Harbour-Pier-Poldy-Pier-Poldy-East-Molly-East-Finish.

The fleet was spread along the starting line under a flooding tide and this correspondent found himself at the pin end in the company of Frank Miller & Patrick Kearsey (3845). Both boats were early but Miller peeled away to find another starting slot back towards the committee boat while Mulligan & Bradley started between 5 and 10 seconds too early and had to go round the pin and start. This left them on the left-hand side of the shortish beat to Harbour and marginally behind a line of boats making their way up the port lay-line. An equally sized group of boats came in on the starboard lay-line to make the first mark rounding a bit tighter than might normally be the case. As the fleet headed off to Pier, the majority set spinnakers. The lead group at this stage was David Mulvin & Ronan Beirne (4068), Keith Poole & Niall Meagher (4093), Neil Colin & Margaret Casey (4028), Joe Coughlan & Michael McCambridge (3913) and Alistair Court & Conor O’Leary (3753). The leg to Pier was a three-sail reach and over the length of the leg, Mulligan & Bradley took a number of places and closed on Poole, Mulvin and Colin. The next leg to Poldy saw a broader spinnaker leg and a tightening of the distances at the front of the fleet behind Mulvin.

A stiff beat back up to Pier saw the lead group pull away from the rest of the fleet and Mulligan gained another place to get ahead of Poole & Meagher and possibly Colin & Casey. On the next leg to Poldy, for the second time, Colin & Casey went hard left whereas the others kept to a more direct line to the mark. Colin came up smiling by going into second place behind Mulvin, with Mulligan ahead of Poole as the latter had a rounding complicated by keelboats going around the same mark. That caused him to take an unnecessary hitch inshore before tacking back to port for the leg to East. There was an easing of the physicality of the sailing on the leg to Molly as it was more of a two-sail fetch. There had also been a change of leader as Colin took over from Mulvin and Mulligan closed again on the new second-placed boat. By Molly, Mulligan had taken Mulvin, though not by much and on the return leg to East, Mulvin closed back on Mulligan. So, at the last turning mark before the beat to the finish, the order was Colin, Mulligan, Mulvin and Poole.

Mulligan tacked off early due to traffic and on tacking back again found a vein of wind that lifted him on port tack. Having gone to sea initially, Colin then headed inshore while Mulvin also stayed offshore. Mulligan and Mulvin crossed paths twice, the first time by a very short distance with Mulligan clearing Mulvin’s starboard-tacked transom and latterly when Mulligan, on port, crossed about a boat-length ahead of Mulvin. The port tack was still paying! The question was -Would there be the necessary header to get back inside and close in on the finish? The answer was Yes! And, as an added bonus, Mulligan had got away from both Colin and Mulvin who were now in very close company and playing cat and mouse with each other. Poole too had staged a recovery distance wise.

Mulligan crossed the line with a few boat-lengths in credit while Colin and Mulvin finished within a second or two of each other. Even tighter was the finish between Poole & Mulvin as they were credited with the same score and place, equal third. There were three OCSs and one DNF in the results.

Thursday 17th May 2002.

  1. Ben Mulligan & Cormac Bradley,
  2. Neil Colin & Margaret Casey,
  3. David Mulvin & Ronan Beirne and Keith Poole & Niall Meagher (Tied)
  4. Frank Miller & Patrick Kearsey.

Overall (5 races, 4 to count).

  1. Neil Colin (9),
  2. Keith Poole (10),
  3. David Mulvin (15.5),
  4. Ben Mulligan (17),
  5. Frank Miller (20).
Published in Flying Fifteen
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Howth Yacht Club's Nigel Biggs and Peter Evans sailing Checkmate XIX won the Scottish Flying Fifteen Championships at Holy Loch on the Clyde last weekend.

Racing over windward-leeward courses in light to medium airs, Biggs and Evans took the four race championships by a single point from Nigel Tullett's Niffty of Royal Windermere. Third in the 11-boat fleet was Mike Preston's B of the Bang.

The next championship event for the UK Flying Fifteen Class will be the Inland Championship at Grafham Water on the 28th & 29th May incorporating the Classic Nationals.

Results are here and a class report is here

Published in Flying Fifteen
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After last Thursday’s healthy breezes and the “pea-souper” that prevented last Saturday’s racing, fourteen Flying Fifteens answered the DBSC Race Officer’s call last night in conditions that started off as being “robust” with a wind against tide situation generating choppy conditions.

The course for the evening was set at KW2 – Bay, Battery, Zebra, Molly, Zebra, Battery, Molly – Finish. Initially, the first mark of the course, Bay, was hidden, from certain angles, by a moored Irish Naval Vessel, but shortly after the starting signal for the Flying Fifteens she moved off. The fleet was pretty much agreed that the first leg to Bay had to be an inshore leg, the only question seemed to be which end of the line to start that trek from. In reality, there was a reasonably even split of the fleet between the pin end and the committee boat end of the line. At the former were Tom Galvin & Keith Poole (4093) with Tom helming, Neil Colin & Margaret Casey (4028), Ben Mulligan & Cormac Bradley (4081) and possibly Frank Miller & Ismail Inan (3845).

However, at Bay, the lead was taken by John Lavery & Alan Green (4083) by a few boat lengths, but there was a tight chasing pack behind them that included the aforementioned “committee boat enders” Tom Murphy & Carel (4057) and Alan Balfe & Patrick Kiersey (3995). The leg to Battery was a two-sail fetch and this stretched the chasing pack to a single file of boats behind Lavery & Green. A spinnaker leg to Zebra followed with a number of gybes necessary to get into a rounding position at this the most seaward mark of the course. Lavery & Green kept a watching brief on the chasing pack with Miller/Inan and Alistair Court & Conor O’Leary (3753) in close company with Mulligan & Bradley, Colin & Casey hovering and Balfe & Kiersey also in the frame. A slightly early drop at Zebra saw Mulligan into a windward berth and he got to the head of the chasing pack for the leg to Molly. However, none of the others were too far away as Galvin/Poole, Colin/Casey, Miller/Inan and Niall & Susan Coleman made sure Mulligan stayed honest.

After the second rounding of Zebra, there was a long leg back to Battery. Here the fleet split with Colin, in particular, going inshore early. Lavery and Mulligan played the middle and left of this beat initially, before Lavery decided to head inshore as well. Meanwhile, Galvin & Poole played the offshore aspect of this leg as did Miller & Inan. Court & O’Leary also went inshore for the latter stages of the leg, resulting in them coming up the starboard layline for the mark. Not sure how the Colemans played this one, but it worked as the rounded behind Mulligan and Court, in quick succession. Having thought they had caught some distance on Lavery & Green, Mulligan & Bradley found that the reverse had happened as both Galvin & Poole, from the left and Colin & Casey from the right steamed in to place themselves ahead of Mulligan. Mulligan had the misfortune to sail into a hole as the brisk breeze faded and became quite tricky. Thus, the revised order at Battery was Lavery, Galvin, Colin, Mulligan, Court and Coleman.

On the leg to Molly, the Colemans sailed low and steamed (a poetic licence term in the conditions) through Mulligan’s lee, while Court went to windward of Mulligan and through him. No further place changes occurred on the leg to Molly. Enough is enough!

The hitch to the finish seemed to be academic – initially, everyone headed inshore. But then to varying degrees, the fleet tacked off. The first three were comfortable at this stage but there was a sneaking suspicion that some late changes might be possible between the latter three boats. In the final approach to the finish line, both the Colemans and Court/O’Leary were outside of Mulligan/Bradley with the latter on starboard on a final approach to the finish. The Colemans got that little bit extra to put daylight between themselves and the other two, but it was very close on the finish line with Court getting the decision over Mulligan, but there was only a second between the finishing “hoots” for these two.

Thursday 19th May 2002 results

  1. John Lavery & Alan Green (4083)
  2. Tom Galvin & Keith Poole (4093)
  3.  Neil Colin & Margaret Casey (4028)
  4. Niall & Susan Coleman (4008)
  5. Alistair Court & Conor O’Leary (3753)

Overall: Keith Poole & Others (7), Neil Colin & Margaret Casey (7), David Mulvin & Ronan Beirne (12), Frank Miller & Others (15), Ben Mulligan & Cormac Bradley (16).

Published in Flying Fifteen
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Fourteen DBSC Flying Fifteens had a cracking night on the water last night on Dublin Bay when the light zephyrs of the past few sessions, Thursdays and Saturdays, were replaced by a robust breeze out of the west. The forecast had been for 12/14 knots with gusts in the low twenties and during the afternoon on site, down the N7, that appeared to be the case. It was also the case on the water.

The racecourse for the night was NW3 – Harbour-Omega-Poldy-Bay-Poldy-East-Finish. Our decision was to start at the committee boat end and enjoy the breeze and avoid the reverse flow of the incoming tide along the Dun Laoghaire shore. Not everyone shared that view as a sizeable number of the fleet did go inshore. In the brisk beat, the “winter avoir dupois” of the crew (singular) of 4081 (Ben Mulligan) was put to good use as they rounded the Harbour mark in first place but closely pursued by Alistair Court & Conor O’Leary (3753) who had taken the inshore route. Others in the frame were Jill Fleming & Alan Green (4026), Frank Miller & Ismail Inan (3845), Neil Colin & Margaret Casey (4028) and Keith Poole & Niall Meagher (4093). The leg to Omega was a spinnaker leg, but it was challenging, especially for the lighter crews and some chose not to fly their coloured sails. Mulligan and Bradley’s lead soon evaporated with spinnaker pole issues (crew) but they stayed in the frame to Omega and onto Poldy. Court & O’Leary powered down the leg to open up a comfortable lead.

The leg from Omega to Poldy was less severe on the crews, but a tight bunch of chasers had gathered behind the lead boat. Green and Miller took the places at the front of this chasing pack as they approached Poldy with Mulligan and Colin also in close company and only a couple of boat lengths astern of the other two. Just astern of this group was Poole & Meagher. The leg to Bay was one for playing the shifts and the chasing group of four went about the task in different ways. The breeze was still healthy so the crews had their work cut out for them. Mulligan pursued a slightly offshore route with Fleming while Colin and Miller went inshore (I think). The sense from this correspondent was that Court’s lead was reduced on this leg, but he and O’Leary were still comfortable relative to the chasing group. In the view of the chasing pack, Court went round Bay the wrong way, as the four chasing boats now reconverged at the mark. Miller got there first, followed by Colin, Mulligan and Fleming. Under spinnaker Court sailed a long starboard tack before gybing out to sea. Miller and Fleming also started off on starboard whereas Colin and Mulligan sailed a short port tack leg before gybing as well. At this stage Mulligan had got ahead of Colin but only by a boat-length but as the quartet sailed towards Poldy they all reconverged and as spinnakers were dropped, Miller had gone into the lead position, followed by Mulligan, Colin and Fleming who ended up slightly to leeward of the other three.

The leg to East was a two-sail fetch, made a bit more interesting as the wind had got up under an oncoming bank of grey cloud. Mulligan managed to sail through Miller’s weather but could not pull away by any distance which meant that Miller came back to try and squeeze him at East. Mulligan rounded in the windward berth and on the beat was able to break free of Miller. At this stage, for the beat to the finish, the breeze was at its strongest and again Mulligan was able to power up with the extra weight on board. Colin also stayed offshore whereas Miller and Fleming headed inshore.

The finish was a tight affair again with Mulligan taking them over the line in second, probably only a boat-length ahead of Colin. Poole & Meagher must also have enjoyed the robust final leg as they finished 4th over the line, not far behind Colin, followed by Miller, Green, Murphy & Mulvey (3774) and Dumpleton & O’Reilly (3955).

Race 3, Thursday Series, 12th May. (Provisional, protest pending.)
1. Alistair Court & Conor O’Leary, 3753.
2. Ben Mulligan & Cormac Bradley, 4081.
3. Neil Colin & Margaret Casey, 4028.
4. Keith Poole & Niall Meagher, 4093.
5. Frank Miller & Ismail Inan, 3845.

Overall Series (3 races sailed)
1. Keith Poole & Crews 9pts.
2. David Mulvin & Ronan Beirne 13pts.
3. Neil Colin & Margaret Casey 18pts.

Published in Flying Fifteen
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On arrival at the sea-front late on Saturday morning, one might have been forgiven for thinking that Keat’s Ode to Autumn was in vogue as a mist had descended on Dun Laoghaire to the extent that there was shore-side speculation as to whether we would get to race at all. Curiously though, there was sense that there was some breeze on the water. In the absence of any sound signals or flags to the contrary, the fleets went afloat………..and were rewarded with a glorious afternoon of sunshine with and a breeze that the weather mark rib recorded as 4.5knots early in the afternoon. The Flying Fifteen fleet mustered 18 boats on the water, including Dunmore East visitors Lee Statham and Andy Paul, in their upgraded Fifteen, 4070. Their previous boat, 3896 (I think) is also in Dun Laoghaire in the ownership of Adrian Cooper.

XCWeather was suggesting a SE breeze that would go ESE as the afternoon wore on, but in the light conditions, it was also a day for watching what was happening on other parts of the Bay. Is it ever otherwise? The Race Officer took the Green Fleet west of the harbour and set up a 2-lap Windward-Leeward course for the first race of the day. At one stage the conversation between RO and Rib driver suggested a beat of 1900m, with the weather mark in the direction of the harbour.

Initially, there was a suggestion that there was more breeze out the left-hand side, but then there was the question of where the tide could be used to best advantage, given that at 14:00 it was approaching the fastest rate of flow, with high water at approx. 17:00. My recall is that the lead boats came in from the left-hand side at the top mark and on rounding the spreader mark most boats went right initially, before taking an inshore hitch. On this first downwind leg there was no sense of the leading group pulling away from the rest of the fleet, but rather there was a steady stream of boats rounding the mark. To the fore though were John Lavery & Alan Green (4083), Ian Mathews & Keith Poole (4093), David Gorman (4099), David Mulvin & Ronan Beirne (4068) and Neil Colin & Margaret Casey (4028).

Bearing in mind that there had been a promise of the wind going slightly further east, this correspondent and helm, Ben Mulligan (4081) stayed on the left-hand side of the second beat and were rewarded by catching up to Messrs Mulvin & Beirne and a low single digit placing. These two crossed each other’s paths on the downwind leg, in gentlemanly fashion and by the leeward mark, Mulligan had eked out a “short-head lead”. In the two-sail fetch to the finish, Mulligan held on to finish ahead of Mulvin.

For the second race, the Race Officer set a four-lap Windward – Leeward course with a proposal that the race might be shortened at the weather mark. Again, there was some debate as to which was the best way to tackle the beats, but for a substantial part of the race, the lead group was made up of Statham/Paul, Lavery/Green, Gorman, Mulvin/Beirne, Colin/Casey. Others who flirted with a top ten position included Niall Coleman, sailing with his daughter (4008), Tom Murphy & Carel (4057), John O’Sullivan & Cas (3762) and Peter Sherry, sailing with his daughter (4056).

While there was a bit more “oomph” for this second race, the wisdom of checking what was happening elsewhere came to the rescue of 4081. Rounding the leeward mark of a shortened three-lap race in the low teens, we observed other classes enjoying breeze beyond the top right-hand corner of our course. While the majority of the boats ahead of us had gone to sea, we ploughed an inshore furrow and found ourselves being lifted on the port tack as we moved up the course. A timely header allowed us to put in a starboard tack for the finish line and while three boats went past us, we were able a to sneak a fourth place.

Race 1: Lavery & Green, Mathews & Poole, Gorman, Colin & Casey, Mulligan & Bradley.

Race 2: Statham & Paul, Lavery & Green, Gorman, Mulligan & Bradley, Mulvin & Beirne.

Saturdays Overall (after 4 races & 1 discard)

1. Neil Colin & Margaret Casey 6pts
2. David Gorman 8pts
3. John Lavery & Alan Green 11pts
4. Ben Mulligan & Cormac Bradley 11pts
5. Lee Statham & Andy Paul 13pts.

Published in Flying Fifteen
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After the first Saturday was blown out due to high winds, DBSC’s subsequent fixtures have been characterised by light and fickle winds. And last night was no exception, with the addition of a strong ebbing tide on the start line causing the “U” flag to be raised for more than one class start.

The Flying Fifteens had eighteen boats on the water of which sixteen finished, one was scored DNF and another was scored DNS. We did well, the Ruffians didn’t register a single finisher in the very light wind of later in the evening.

The Fifteens were the subject of a General Recall for their first start and got away at the second time of asking under a “U” flag. This correspondent was at the pin end trying to execute a port tack start that was just a little too late. There was at least one other boat trying the same thing but being unable to close the gap to the pin in time they let a group of four of five boats head out to sea on starboard.

The course for the night was BULLOCH-ISLAND-PIER-ISLAND-PIER-FINISH. The nature of the evening was such that there was a wide spread of boats across the upwind course before a file of boats went round Bulloch.

The leg from Bulloch to Island was a two-sail fetch, so it was only at Pier that spinnakers were flown and my estimate that Messrs Mulvin & Beirne (Ignus Caput Duo, 4068) were well placed was confirmed when their red spinnaker flew at Pier. Others to be well up were Neil Colin & Margaret Casey (FFuzzy, 4028, yellow spinnaker) and Ian Mathews & Keith Poole (Mike Wazowski 4093, red & black spinnaker). Ahead of us on the leg to Island I could see David Gorman (4099) with ace Fireball crew Stephen Oram on board, Peter Murphy & Ciara Mulvey (Hera, 3774), Alistair Court & Conor “Hola” O’Leary (FFinisterre, 3753) among others.

The leg to Pier saw a narrowing of the width of the run to Pier and the middle section of the fleet consolidated behind the leaders.

Unfortunately, my grasp of who went where on the second beat disappeared but suffice to say that at Pier for the second time, the lead groups was as before – Mulvin, Mathews, Colin – joined by Alan Green (Mach Ffive, 4026) with Jill Fleming on the helm. A better beat saw us get into a single digit position for the final run to Pier and at one stage it looked as though more places might be gained, but that did not materialise. Colin went hard right on the run and did not seem to lose out by doing so. The other three took a more inshore route to Pier.

Mulvin & Beirne secured the win, but I understand it was very close, seconds even, between Colin, Mathews and Fleming, in that order. Gorman/Oram took fifth.

DBSC, Race 2, Thursday Series. (5th May).

  1. David Mulvin & Ronan Beirne, 4068, Ignus Caput Duo.
  2. Neil Colin & Margaret Casey, 4028, Ffuzzy.
  3. Ian Mathews & Keith Poole, 4093, Mike Wazowski.
  4. David Gorman & Stephen Oram, 4099.
Published in Flying Fifteen
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Lough Neagh Sailing Club at Kinnego Marina, Northern Ireland hosted the first 2022 event for the Flying Fifteen class which was designed to support personal development of crews through practise starts followed by a series of races.

Participants were welcomed from Strangford clubs, Belfast Lough and Dublin and Dun Laoghaire. The event took place on Saturday 9 April 2022.

With most crews at Kinnego by 1100 hours boats were set up and tea and scones were consumed while the race organisers monitored the wind and set a beautiful course with a wind axis of 300 degrees and a nice gentle breeze of 4.2knots gusting 7knots. All was well with the world as the crews briefed at 1200 hours.

Upon arrival at the race area however, the beautiful course was found in disarray. The wind which had been at 300 degrees had veered by a full 90 degrees to 060. Mark layers began the process of moving everything from West to East.

By 1317 hours all was in order and the practice starts commenced with crews jostling for starting positions while timing their arrival at the line to coincide with the removal of the starting flag. Crews completed 3 starts with only a little bit of misbehaviour which necessitated the preparatory flag being switched from Papa to black to keep the unruly bunch of sailors in line.

The plan was to run 6 practice starts before the racing began, but the wind had different ideas. It would appear that Brexit or COVID or fuel prices meant that while the order for sun had been delivered in abundance the order for wind was still stuck at a port somewhere, or maybe someone didn’t put enough money in the meter. Either way, after the third practice start the wind dropped to 0 knots gusting 0 knots from a direction of nowhere. And so it began…the Flying Fifteen drifting event in basking April sunshine on the millpond of Lough Neagh.

The patience and the resilience of the sailors was eventually rewarded about 45 minutes later when the wind filled in to the grand sum of 1.7 knots gusting 2.1 and a short course was hastily set with a constantly shifting wind axis causing havoc for mark layers. After 2 laps the course was reset again and a second starting sequence was hastily commenced. Crews headed out for a second race and again completed 2 laps before another wind shift necessitated another course lay to be arranged. The money in the meter clearly ran out again and the guy with his wind machine in Antrim obviously heard the Grand National was on so packed up and headed home. The wind on the course fell again to 0 knots and it was time to call it a day and drift or grab a tow back down Kinnego bay to the slipway and the awaiting BBQ in the club house.

Thanks to all the participants and to the crews afloat and the crews ashore, those who organised and served food and provided so warm a welcome and hospitality for all.

Lough Neagh Commodore (left) presents the prize to David MulvinLough Neagh Commodore (left) presents the prize to David Mulvin

The event was won by the crew of “Ignis Caput” David Mulvin & Ronan Beirne NYC who donated their winning voucher from Sands Marine Chandlery and Boat Supplies to The Lough Neagh Rescue at Kinnego.

Results were as follows

Race 1 – 030 degrees 1.7 knots – 2.2 knots
Boat Name Time Place
Stiflers Mom Sail No 3892 12.35 1
Ignis Caput Sail No 4068 13.46 2
Simply Gold Sail No 4074 14.12 3
Taking it easy Sail No 3963 14.34 4
Phoenix Sail No 4083 15.36 5
Freyja Sail No 3454 17.04 6
Freya Sail No 2290 18.33 7

Race 2 – 000 degrees 2.1 knots – 2.3 knots
Boat Name Time Place
Taking it easy Sail No 3963 12.43 1
Ignis Caput Sail No 4068 12.49 2
Phoenix Sail No 4083 13.16 3
Simply Gold Sail No 4074 13.30 4
Stiflers Mom Sail No 3892 14.17 5
Freya Sail No 2290 16.28 6
Freyja Sail No 3454 17.37 7

Results
Boat Name Points Place
Ignis Caput Sail No 4068 4 1
Taking it easy Sail No 3963 5 2
Stiflers Mom Sail No 3892 6 3
Simply Gold Sail No 4074 7 4
Phoenix Sail No 4083 8 5
Freya Sail No 2290 &
Freyja Sail No 3454 13 6

Published in Flying Fifteen

Dublin Bay Sailing Club's (DBSC) biggest one-design keelboat fleet staged a pre-season Interactive Racing Rules talk on April 1st with Irish International Judge Gordon Davies.

The Flying Fifteens – a fleet that numbers 26 boats in the just-published 2022 DBSC yearbook – assembled at the Royal St. George YC for the pre-season pow-wow.

Davies took the fleet through aspects of the 2021-2024 Rules ahead of a busy season in a meeting run by Lady Captain Jill Fleming.

The first DBSC race of the season is on Saturday, April 23 and runs through to October 1.

DBSC has highlighted some new initiatives, to include the FFs, for the season ahead on Afloat here

Published in Flying Fifteen
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Lough Neagh Sailing Club will be running Flying Fifteen one design keelboat starting practice sessions and three Windward-Leeward races on Saturday 9th April 2022 a shakedown event for the 2022 season. 

The Oxford Island event is open to all members and non-members of the Lough Neagh club.

In an attempt to keep costs down, and therefore entry fees to a minimum, prizes will not be on offer but the top three best-placed boats will be announced at an end of day farewell.

The entry fee per boat will be £20. The fee includes hot food after the racing.

The training and racing area is South-East Lough Neagh outside Kinnego Harbour. 

Published in Flying Fifteen
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Former Flying Fifteen British Isles and Irish Champion Gerry Donleavy who died last year is one of three members of the Dun Laoghaire Flying Fifteen class to be honoured at the 2021 FF15 Trophy Awards Dinner in Dun Laoghaire Harbour this Friday.

The Royal St. George Yacht Club hosted event will celebrate the season's achievements on the water but the class will also commemorate its former helmsmen Donleavy, Jack Roy and Ross Doyle who all died in 2021.

Rosemary Roy, Jack's wife and flagship partner and the Chairman of the Irish Flying Fifteen Association of Ireland, Hammy Baker are guests of the Dun Laoghaire class for the evening.

The occasion will also be the last official function of outgoing Dun Laoghaire Class Captain, Neil Colin of the DMYC.

The successful defence of the Irish National FF Championships by Dun Laoghaire's John Lavery and Alan Green on Strangford Lough last August that will be saluted again on Friday was also rewarded last weekend with the National Yacht Club's O’Leary Cup for the best performance of the year in one designs.

Published in Flying Fifteen
Page 7 of 39

Dublin Bay

Dublin Bay on the east coast of Ireland stretches over seven kilometres, from Howth Head on its northern tip to Dalkey Island in the south. It's a place most Dubliners simply take for granted, and one of the capital's least visited places. But there's more going on out there than you'd imagine.

The biggest boating centre is at Dun Laoghaire Harbour on the Bay's south shore that is home to over 1,500 pleasure craft, four waterfront yacht clubs and Ireland's largest marina.

The bay is rather shallow with many sandbanks and rocky outcrops, and was notorious in the past for shipwrecks, especially when the wind was from the east. Until modern times, many ships and their passengers were lost along the treacherous coastline from Howth to Dun Laoghaire, less than a kilometre from shore.

The Bay is a C-shaped inlet of the Irish Sea and is about 10 kilometres wide along its north-south base, and 7 km in length to its apex at the centre of the city of Dublin; stretching from Howth Head in the north to Dalkey Point in the south. North Bull Island is situated in the northwest part of the bay, where one of two major inshore sandbanks lie, and features a 5 km long sandy beach, Dollymount Strand, fronting an internationally recognised wildfowl reserve. Many of the rivers of Dublin reach the Irish Sea at Dublin Bay: the River Liffey, with the River Dodder flow received less than 1 km inland, River Tolka, and various smaller rivers and streams.

Dublin Bay FAQs

There are approximately ten beaches and bathing spots around Dublin Bay: Dollymount Strand; Forty Foot Bathing Place; Half Moon bathing spot; Merrion Strand; Bull Wall; Sandycove Beach; Sandymount Strand; Seapoint; Shelley Banks; Sutton, Burrow Beach

There are slipways on the north side of Dublin Bay at Clontarf, Sutton and on the southside at Dun Laoghaire Harbour, and in Dalkey at Coliemore and Bulloch Harbours.

Dublin Bay is administered by a number of Government Departments, three local authorities and several statutory agencies. Dublin Port Company is in charge of navigation on the Bay.

Dublin Bay is approximately 70 sq kilometres or 7,000 hectares. The Bay is about 10 kilometres wide along its north-south base, and seven km in length east-west to its peak at the centre of the city of Dublin; stretching from Howth Head in the north to Dalkey Point in the south.

Dun Laoghaire Harbour on the southside of the Bay has an East and West Pier, each one kilometre long; this is one of the largest human-made harbours in the world. There also piers or walls at the entrance to the River Liffey at Dublin city known as the Great North and South Walls. Other harbours on the Bay include Bulloch Harbour and Coliemore Harbours both at Dalkey.

There are two marinas on Dublin Bay. Ireland's largest marina with over 800 berths is on the southern shore at Dun Laoghaire Harbour. The other is at Poolbeg Yacht and Boat Club on the River Liffey close to Dublin City.

Car and passenger Ferries operate from Dublin Port to the UK, Isle of Man and France. A passenger ferry operates from Dun Laoghaire Harbour to Howth as well as providing tourist voyages around the bay.

Dublin Bay has two Islands. Bull Island at Clontarf and Dalkey Island on the southern shore of the Bay.

The River Liffey flows through Dublin city and into the Bay. Its tributaries include the River Dodder, the River Poddle and the River Camac.

Dollymount, Burrow and Seapoint beaches

Approximately 1,500 boats from small dinghies to motorboats to ocean-going yachts. The vast majority, over 1,000, are moored at Dun Laoghaire Harbour which is Ireland's boating capital.

In 1981, UNESCO recognised the importance of Dublin Bay by designating North Bull Island as a Biosphere because of its rare and internationally important habitats and species of wildlife. To support sustainable development, UNESCO’s concept of a Biosphere has evolved to include not just areas of ecological value but also the areas around them and the communities that live and work within these areas. There have since been additional international and national designations, covering much of Dublin Bay, to ensure the protection of its water quality and biodiversity. To fulfil these broader management aims for the ecosystem, the Biosphere was expanded in 2015. The Biosphere now covers Dublin Bay, reflecting its significant environmental, economic, cultural and tourism importance, and extends to over 300km² to include the bay, the shore and nearby residential areas.

On the Southside at Dun Laoghaire, there is the National Yacht Club, Royal St. George Yacht Club, Royal Irish Yacht Club and Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club as well as Dublin Bay Sailing Club. In the city centre, there is Poolbeg Yacht and Boat Club. On the Northside of Dublin, there is Clontarf Yacht and Boat Club and Sutton Dinghy Club. While not on Dublin Bay, Howth Yacht Club is the major north Dublin Sailing centre.

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