There was very little wind at the start when Paul McCarthy of the Royal Alfred sent off the fleet of 11 boats. The wind was north-easterly and it was a beat to the Muglins. The strong north-going tide not only kept the fleet on the correct side of the line, but also kept most of them there for a while after the start! Vincent Farrell’s Tsunami was the first to break and was heading steadily towards the Muglins with the fleet eventually following when the wind died at Dalkey Island. Sean Lemass with Galileo took advantage of this, tacked inshore and shot along the coast passing the entire fleet. Yahtzee (Richard Mossop) and Lula Belle (Liam Coyne) followed. Galileo passed the Muglins and sailed into another hole that allowed Lula Belle and Yahtzee to avoid it. However, the fleet bunched again.
The wind filled from the west this time and the fleet slowly built speed towards North India. The wind stayed westerly and increased to 19k for a time. Soon spinnakers were flying and this helped counteract the huge adverse tide.
Galileo, Tsunami and Big Hillie Style (Ross O’Leary) were the first around North India. The leg to Kish was a white sail reach with again Gailieo rounding some 7 minutes ahead of Tsunami and Big Hillie Style. The last leg was a beat to the line. Again Galileo took line honours passing between the harbour lights at 03:55.
Tsunami won overall and Class 1, Galileo took 2nd overall and Class 1, Big Hillie Style took 3rd overall and 1st Class 2, Rebellion (John Hughes) took 3rd Class 1, Albatross (Ken Long) took 2nd Class 2, while First of September (Jerry Whiston) took 3rd Class 2. Adelie (Peter Hall) took 4th Class 2. The last boat finished at 06:22.
The next race is the Dun Laoghaire to M2–Day Race, run in conjunction with the RAYC and Lee Overlay. It is on the 22nd of August. There has been some confusion on the date of this race as it was moved to avoid a clash with the DBSC Cruiser Challenge on the 28th–30th August.
It was a beautiful night for a night race (Race 5, July 24, 2009). Clear skies, light winds and strong tides. The forecast was for westerly winds 10–12k dropping during the early morning. The tides were very strong springs that were just to turn north at the start of the race, as we were to head south. At the briefing in the marina, no wind could be spotted on the bay but the course was agreed: Muglins (S) – North India (P) – Kish (P) 40 miles.
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