The 1720 sportsboat Optique held off a strong challenge from three different J-Boat designs to win the first race of the AIB DBSC Turkey Shoot Series on Sunday morning.

The Dublin Bay-based cruiser racer one-design keelboat fleet series hosted by the Royal Irish Yacht Club attracted a 68-boat entry for the race in medium westerly winds.

The J109 Blast on Chimaera finished second, with sistership White Mischief in third. A third J109 Riders on the Storm was fourth, with J97 Windjammer fifth and the larger J112e Valentina sixth. 

Results are downloadable below, with handicaps and starts for the first race.

For the third year running, there were five separate starts, such is the range of boats now competing.

Racing continues next Sunday.

Dublin Bay Sailing Club 2023 Turkey Shoot Series has reached a fleet of over sixty ahead of Sunday's (November 5th) first of seven pre-Christmas races off Dun Laoghaire Harbour.

It looks like the winter series will get off to an ideal start with moderate to fresh westerly winds forecast for Dublin Bay. It will be bright and breezy with sunny spells and passing brief showers. Visibility is forecast to be good. Sea state moderate but rough well offshore.

As entries for the popular series closed this week, organisers confirmed some long-distance travellers for the fun series.

As Afloat reported earlier, Sean Hawkshaw's Sligo-based Sigma 38 Wardance is among the runners, as is Stuart Harris's Moxy II, an X322 from Waterford Harbour.

In an eve of race announcement, organiser Fintan Cairns has highlighted Sailing Instruction 14 re Bowsprits and SI 17.4 re DLRCC Yellow buoys for swimmers. Download the full SIs below. 

From among Dun Laoghaire's waterfront clubs, Brendan Foley's first Class 8 Allig8r from the Royal St. George is racing, as is Patrick Burke's First 40, Prima Forte from the host club. 

John Treanor's new J112e Valentina from the National Yacht Club is entered, and so is Hal Sisk's newly restored Marian Maid, a classic 8-metre from 1954.

Organisers are now expecting to match or exceed last year's bumper fleet for the series that runs up to December 17th. 

Now in its 23rd year, the AIB-sponsored seven-race series will be hosted by the Royal Irish Yacht Club at Dun Laoghaire Harbour.

Yachts from Sligo and Dunmore East will race in this year's popular DBSC 'Turkey Shoot' Winter Sailing Series that starts on Dublin Bay in less than a fortnight.

With over a week before entries close, the popular event already has 45 entries, putting it on target for its usual bumper fleet of 70 boats or more.

Sean Hawkshaw's Sligo-based Sigma 38 Wardance is among the runners, as is Stuart Harris's Moxy II, an X322 from Waterford Harbour.

Brendan Foley's first Class 8 Allig8r from the Royal St. George Photo: Afloat

From among Dun Laoghaire's waterfront clubs, Brendan Foley's first Class 8 Allig8r from the Royal St. George is racing, as is Patrick Burke's First 40, Prima Forte from the host club. 

John Treanor's new J112e Valentina from the National Yacht Club is entered, and so is Hal Sisk's newly restored Marian Maid, a classic 8-metre from 1954.

Hal Sisk's restored 8-metre Marian Maid Photo: Bob Bateman

Dublin Bay Sailing Club has already issued the advance notice of race for the first race on Sunday, 5th November. 

"This is a series for keelboats, cruisers, cruising boats, one-designs and boats that do not normally race are very welcome," race organiser Fintan Cairns told Afloat.

Now in its 23rd year, the AIB-sponsored seven-race series will be co-hosted by the Royal Irish Yacht Club at Dun Laoghaire Harbour. 

Last year, a massive 78-boat entry gathered for the short and sharp morning racing that promises to have everyone ashore by lunchtime.

As Afloat reported, Kenny Rumball's RS21 was the first entry received. 

The last date for entries is Wednesday, 1st November.

Dublin Bay Sailing Club has issued the advance notice of its popular 'Turkey Shoot' winter sailing series that starts on Sunday, 5th November.

Now in its 23rd year, the AIB-sponsored seven-race series will be co-hosted by the Royal Irish Yacht Club at Dun Laoghaire Harbour. 

Last year, a massive 78-boat entry gathered for the short and sharp morning racing that promises to have everyone ashore by lunchtime.

A progressive handicap on a time-on-time basis will be used. 

As regular Afloat readers will know, the white-sailed First 31.7 'Avalon' was the overall winner of the 22nd edition.

A Notice of Race is downloadable below.

Race organiser Fintan Cairns, who has run the series since inception,  has urged skippers to enter early to ease the administrative burden, with one entry received already in the shape of Kenny Rumball's RS 21 keelboat.

"This is a series for keelboats, cruisers, cruising boats, one-designs and boats that do not normally race are very welcome," he told Afloat.

The last date for entries is Wednesday, 1st November.

"Handicaps of late entries (and incorrect sail nos.!) will be adjusted accordingly!" Cairns says.

The final DBSC Saturday Summer Series racing was cancelled on Dublin Bay today for all classes when southerly winds reached 35 knots off Dun Laoghaire Harbour.

Results in all classes are below

Tim Goodbody's J109 White Mischief won the penultimate Saturday race in Dublin Bay Sailing Club's AIB Summer Series on September 23rd. 

The Royal Irish crew finished Saturday's IRC Cruisers One race in a corrected time of one hour 37 minutes and 10 seconds to be clear ahead of clubmate Fintan Cairns and his Mills 31 crew on Raptor, finishing in a time of 1:43:13. John Hall's J109, Something Else from the National Yacht Club, was third on 1:43:35.

Overall, after 14 races sailed and with 11 races counted, Goodbody leads the Saturday Series with 15 points from Colin Byrne's XP33 Bon Exemple on 20. Something Else is third on 35.5.

The final Saturday race of the season takes place on September 30th.

Full results in all DBSC classes are below.

Although northeasterly winds gusting to 25 knots and big seas on Dublin Bay led to the cancellation of some DBSC Saturday Series racing, the club's blue fleet raced.

Racing was held for 31.7s, Cruisers Two and Cruisers Three.

National Champion Chris Johnston continues his domination of the 31.7s with another win today in a reduced fleet of three boats. 

Two DBSC Saturday races are left in the 2023 calendar.

With Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC) Saturday racing starred in IRC Zero and One due to the annual ICRA cruiser-racer National Championships in Howth, a five-boat IRC Two division was won by Lindsay Casey's J97 Windjammer and Ed Melvin's Ceol na Mara was the winner of IRC Three.

A south-easterly sea breeze of less than 10 knots prevailed for the fourth last Saturday race of the AIB Summer Series.

In the one design fleets, a 15-boat turnout of Flying Fifteens was won by Shane McCarthy in Mr Potato Head of the National Yacht Club. Recently crowned 31.7 national champions, Chris Johnston sailing Prospect of the National Yacht Club, won again in a five-boat turnout. The Royal Irish's Joe Smyth topped a seven-boat Beneteau 211 fleet.

Full results in all classes are below.

It's not often Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC) racers don shorts and T-shirts for AIB Saturday Series racing – and rarer still in September – but today's 2nd September fixture presented such an opportunity with a warm sea breeze of up to ten knots on Dublin Bay.

There was an individual recall in the Cruisers One start, with four boats on course side (OCS), but all four (Something Else, Powder Monkey, Ruth and Raptor) returned with the Mills 31 Raptor skippered by Fintan Cairns managing to take second on IRC rating in the ten boat race despite the start line blip.

The Race Officer was Con Murphy.

Timothy Goodbody's J109 White Mischief of the Royal Irish was the race winner in a corrected time of 1 hour, 30 minutes and 11 seconds. Clubmate Raptor finished in 1:31:14, corrected with another RIYC entry, Colin Byrne's XP33 Bon Exemple, third in a corrected time of  1:31:24.

With four Saturday races left to sail in the 2023 Series, White Mischief leads on 14 points from Bon Exemple on 16, with John Hall's J109 Something Else from the National Yacht Club lying third on 32.5.

Full DBSC results in all classes below.

John Power's Beneteau 31.7 Levante from the National Yacht Club was the winner of DBSC's final Thursday night AIB Summer Series 2023 race on Dublin Bay on August 31st. 

The overall series leader, Chris Johnston's Prospect, was second in an eight-boat fleet, with a third NYC boat, Michael Bryson's Bluefin Two, third. 

Colin Byrne's XP33 Bon Exemple won Thursday's race 18 in the IRC One division in a corrected time of 44 minutes and 40 seconds from John Maybury's Joker 2 (0:45:13 corrected). Third was the Mills 31 Raptor
skipped by Fintan Cairns (0:47:28 corr).

In the last race before the class national championships this weekend on Belfast Lough, Philip Lawton's Puffling won the Flying Fifteen race with only two finishers. Niall Coleman in Flyer was second. 

All DBSC results are below.