In the week when there was a “macro-committee” meeting of the organising team for the Subaru Ireland sponsored Flying Fifteen World Championship 2019, a slightly reduced fleet took part in the penultimate race of the Flying Fifteen 2019 DBSC midweek summer season writes Cormac Bradley.

The series leaders, Messrs Gorman & Doorly were absent as were fellow NYC-ers Niall Coleman & Mick Quinn, the RStGYC contingent was at 50% with Alistair Court & Conor O’Leary AWOL and Frank Miller & Ed Butler at the Fireball Worlds in Montreal Canada, where three races have been completed in the North American/Pre-Worlds Regatta. The Coal Harbour were fully represented in Hugh & Michael Cahill and the DMYC had a 66% turnout. In total, 13 boats gathered at the start line.

The forecast was for a WSW of between 10 and 17 knots in the early evening but fading as the evening wore on. The tide was ebbing, so we had tide and wind going in the same direction. Race Officer Jack Roy was advising the competitors by radio that the wind was being a bit fickle in terms of direction, but he settled on the “N” suite of courses to acknowledge the 270º aspect of the wind direction.

The Fifteens got N2 – Harbour, Omega, Poldy, Omega, Poly, Bay, East and finish and Mulligan & Bradley made a late arrival at the start area to remove any debate as to which way to go up the first beat – they were on time, but the pin appeared to be the best option for them having just dropped the spinnaker. This was proving fruitful in the early stages of the port-tack beat up to Harbour, but at the latter stages of the leg the boats inside them started to benefit more and about four or five boats arrived at the mark in quick succession inside them. In this bunch were Neil Colin & Margaret Casey (4028) who rounded first, John O’Sullivan (3762) who may have hit the mark, Ken Dumpleton (3955), Brian O’Hare & Tonia McAllister (4043) and David Mulvin & Ronan Beirne (4068). My recall is that Team Cahill were also lurking with intent.

Mulligan & Bradley sailed a bit further inshore on the premise that the wind was more likely to come off the shore and sailing that bit higher would give them more “wriggle-room”. The others who had simply borne off seemed to be a bit reticent about flying spinnaker. Mulligan’s green and yellow duster was therefore well up the pecking order in being hoisted and the pair worked their way through the fleet on the tight reach from about sixth place at Harbour to tuck in behind Colin & Casey at Omega for the run down to Poldy. Behind then Dumpleton and Mulvin appeared to be to the fore in the chasing pack, though Louise McKenna & Hermine O’Keeffe (3697, Ffandango) were also well up.

At Poldy Colin rounded in the lead followed by Mulligan and having pulled away from the rest they played a tactical game going up to Omega for the second time. The wind was indeed fickle with big lifts being evident on the port tack which made getting inshore a selective exercise. The gap between them stretched and receded but only by boat-lengths. Colin led around Poldy for the second time while Mulligan & Bradley practised their gybes trying to close the gap. At this stage O’Hare & McAllister were starting to extract themselves from the chasing bunch towards the leaders.

The two leaders took slightly different approaches to the long beat up to Bay with Colin initially favouring a more inshore route to Mulligan’s port-tack approach parallel to the shore. Again, the distance between the boats ebbed and flowed but again, also by small margins. About three-quarters of the way to Bay, Mulligan was significantly inshore of Colin and got a major lift towards Bay and this gave him the break to get ahead of Colin. Mulligan rounded Bay first with Colin a short distance astern. Mulligan adopted a more easterly line to the next mark, East, relative to Colin. In the meantime, O’Hare had closed on the lead two and he sailed a line that was even further east of Mulligan. Behind O’Hare, Mulvin and McKenna were keeping in touch at the head of the chasing pack.

Mulligan gybed a couple of times on his way to rounding East first, O’Hare rounded second but not before “engaging” with a Ruffian on their respective approaches to the mark. O’Hare rounded on the transom of the Ruffian with Colin a short distance astern. Colin was the first to take an inshore “hitch” but this was merely an attempt to clear his wind. Mulligan was able to sail in a windward slot relative to O’Hare and with Colin astern of him. All three boats sailed to the finish on port tack before each of them, in turn, closed on the finish line with a short starboard hitch.

1. As Good As It Gets: 3688; Ben Mulligan & Cormac Bradley
2. Nimble: 4043; Brian O’Hare & Tonia McAllister
3. No Name: 4028; Neil Colin & Margaret Casey
4. Ignus Caput Duo: 4068; David Mulvin & Ronan Beirne
5. Ffandango: 3697; Louise McKenna & Hermine O’Keefe

Flying Fifteens for sale here

The Irish Flying Fifteen fleet had their last provincial event, the South Coast Championships, last weekend before the Subaru sponsored World Championships are hosted by the National Yacht Club at the end of this month writes Cormac Bradley.

This time the host was the near neighbours of the NYC, the Royal St George Yacht Club and there was some debate as to whether the RStGYC had ever hosted a Flying Fifteen event before. From early in the week before there was speculation as to what might happen on the Saturday as there was such an adverse forecast and in other regatta reports on the Afloat website, the sense that not much would happen was replicated. By Friday evening the forecast had moderated slightly but winds of mid-twenties gusting to over thirty were still showing up on the XCWeather chart and other web-based forecasts weren’t any more optimistic.

Tom Murphy & Carel La Roux (L) and David Gorman & Chris Doorly(R) power upwind

A fleet of 27 boats signed up for the event with four northern visitors, three from Strangford; the brothers Martin, Baker & Chamberlain, and McCleery & Dougan and one from Belfast Lough, Messrs Willis & McPeake with the newest Flying Fifteen in the World, sail number 4074. Dunmore East had a 100% turnout with Lee, Andy, Charlie and Rob all in attendance. Of the DL Clubs, the DMYC had a 66% turnout (2), the Royal St George had a 100% turnout (4) but the bulk of the fleet came from the NYC.

Race Officer Barry O’Neil committed himself and his team to trying to provide at least one race on the Saturday and they were true to their word. With a punctual start at 11:55, a slightly reduced fleet got off the start line cleanly in 20+ knots of breeze, coming from a W – WNW direction, with a start area towards the South Bull, located to avoid any possible clash with the DBSC fleets later in the day. It wouldn’t be an issue!

(L to R) – Craig/Green (Viking Pump), Willis/McPeake (Yellow/White), Mathews/Poole (Red/Black) & Martins (Grey) approach the leeward mark

Ben Mulligan & Cormac Bradley (3688) went left and worked their way up the left-hand side of the first beat to find themselves in first place at the mark. An element of confusion entered their thinking when Bradley stated that the offset mark for the Windward-Leeward course was going to be a black inflatable, matching the weather mark. Only problem was that the second black inflatable was sitting in a rib. The obvious conclusion was that the smaller white mark in the water was the offset. That resulted in a slightly delayed spinnaker hoist. Given the breezy conditions, identifying other boats in the immediate vicinity was less important, but my recall is that Ian Mathews & Keith Poole (3864), the Martin brothers, Andy & Rory (3974), Andrew Baker & Peter Chamberlain (3756) Charlie Boland & Rob McConnell (3682) and Lee Statham & Andy Paul (3896) from Dunmore East were in the lead bunch. The first downwind leg was still “playable” from a spinnaker perspective and the surfing was almost continuous as a consequence of the strengthening breeze. The Martin Brothers rounded the gate first with Statham & Paul possibly second. More boats tried out the left-hand side of the beat with reward, particularly Sean Craig & Alan Green (3970) who came from a low top ten position to feature at the front of the fleet. The Martin Brothers extended their lead upwind. The second downwind was a bit hairier than the first with the challenge “not to do anything stupid”. Though not in the realms of doing something stupid, Statham & Paul turtled at a late stage of the second run following a Chinese gybe, stuck their mast in the “putty” and broke is as a consequence. Boland & McConnell were also telling stories of a hectic spinnaker drop. Matthews and Mulligan came dangerously close, given the conditions, but both survived to give a finishing sequence of Martins, Craig/Green, Mulligan/Bradley, Mathews/Poole and Baker/Chamberlain.

It is not often that a regatta fleet “votes with its feet”, but as each boat finished, they made a bee-line for shore, even though the committee boat had flown no flags to promote that option. The two-sail sail in to the harbour was full of sight-reducing spray and was completed in a very short time. Later a WhatsApp post suggested that the race had been sailed in winds of high twenties knots with gusts measuring 34/35 knots.

Sunday dawned with a healthy wind forecast of ten- twelve knots gusting to seventeen and as promised the Race Officer started the day with two sausage-triangle courses. The wind reduction seemed to go unnoticed by the Martin Brothers as they recorded two bullets in the first two races. Dave Gorman & Chris Doorly (3920) particularly enjoyed the first two races of the day as they recorded a 3, 4, while Baker & Chamberlain also had a good start to the day with a 5, 2. Mathews & Poole scored a 4, 7 while some of the others had a one good/one not so good start. Of these Alistair Court & Conor O’Leary (3753) registered a 6, 3, Craig & Green a 2,13 and Mulligan & Bradley a 11, 8. These combinations of numbers give an indication of the competitive nature of the racing, while the Martin Brothers registered two first places, my sense is that they didn’t lead from start to finish in either race. And there is no recall that any one race was won by a large margin. The DL fleet would consider a number of fleet members to be a gauge of success on the water, so when one finds oneself in that company, the sense is that one is at the races, literally, but it isn’t always the case.

Two Windward-Leeward races closed out the proceedings and in these the races wins went to David Gorman & Chris Doorly (Race 4) and Niall Coleman & Mick Quinn (4008) (Race 5). For the last two races of the series, Barry O’Neil was obliged to use the “U” Flag and in the last race, in particular, a number of high-profile transgressors of the “U” flag start regime were caught, namely Gorman & Doorly, Craig & Green and Gavin Doyle & Dave Sweeney (3912).

Frank Miller & Grattan Donnelly (3845) had a good series to win the Silver Fleet, counting a second place in the last race of the series and leading the fleet around the weather mark for the first time. Brian O’Hare and Tonia McAllister (4043) won the bronze fleet, counting scores either side of tenth position to finish 11^th overall, a place behind Miller & Donnelly. Neil Colin & Margaret Casey also scored a second place, in Race 4.

Overall this was a very successful event – we found out just how these boats perform when it “honks” and the racing on the Sunday was very competitive. Aside from the Martin Brothers who had a final score of only 6 points, five points separated second overall to seventh overall. It also proves that consistency is key in a fleet where the competition level is high – a salutary lesson with ten days of racing coming up shortly.

At the prize-giving, due recognition was given to the host club for their hospitality over the weekend, the race team led by Barry O’Neill were complimented on their race management and Conor O’Leary, in particular was singled out for his organisation and background work in getting the event off the ground. The prizes were handed out by RStGYC Commodore, Peter Bowring.

Sixteen Flying Fifteens had a great night’s DBSC racing on Thursday 8th August with a five-boat group at the front setting the pace for everyone else. The sunny conditions of earlier in the day gave way to overcast conditions but the evening wasn’t unpleasant and more importantly, there was breeze. Race Officer Jack Roy was determined to take advantage of Mother Nature and gave a course that had lots of reaching in it.

Ben Mulligan & Cormac Bradley (As Good as it Gets, 3688) had a nearly-perfect pin end start but their timing was out by two seconds and looking back along the line there was nowhere to hide. A bear-off and a gybe saw them take a few transoms on the way to pioneering a course on the right-hand side of the beat. A bigger group had gone out to sea first before taking a long port-tach approach to the first mark of the evening, East.

At this stage the lead was in the hands of Alistair Court & Conor O’Leary (Ffinnisterre, 3753) but immediately behind them were David Gorman & Chris Doorly (Betty, 3920), Neil Colin & Margaret Casey (No Name ,4028), Tom Murphy & Karel la Roux, (Fflagella, 4057), David Mulvin & Ronan Beirne (Ignus Caput Duo, 4068), Niall Coleman & Mick Quinn (Flyer, 4008) and, despite their having to go back at the start, just a short distance off the lead group, Mulligan & Bradley.

The spinnaker leg to Bay was exceptional, with surfing conditions and a glorious opportunity for crews to work their spinnaker magic! Colin & Murphy went higher than needs and found themselves needing to gybe to get across to the better side of the leg. Mulligan closed onto Coleman’s transom but couldn’t work beyond that. At Bay, Court led from Gorman and Mulvin while Coleman, Mulligan, Colin and Murphy converged in close company. Murphy’s spinnaker drop went skewwhiff, putting him out of the hunt and Colin tried to squeeze the other two but didn’t get it completely right. That left Mulligan astern of Coleman but to windward of Colin. Mulligan took a hitch to get out of Coleman’s “dirties” but soon tacked back again to see all six boats sailing a parallel course to the next mark, Island.

Colin was the first to tack out to sea, crossing behind Mulligan’s transom, but thereafter all six boats seemed to be confused as to which mark was Island. Having located Island first, Court stayed ahead of Gorman and Mulvin as all three “hared off” on a three-sail reach to Molly. Colin & Casey decided not to fly bag and stayed high but weren’t really rewarded for their choice. Mulligan chased Coleman all the way without really closing significantly. The return visit to East confused the fleet and Court appeared to over-stand allowing Gorman to get his nose into the lead. Another great leg from East to Omega saw more exceptional three-sail racing followed by a gybe at Omega for another “cracker of a leg” to Harbour. All of the front six flew spinnakers down both legs but no place changes developed.

The final leg of the course was a short hitch from Harbour to the finish line and this saw the final move of the night when Colin only just “pipped” Coleman for 4th place.

1. David Gorman and Chris Doorly; “Betty” 3920
2. Alistair Court and Conor O’Leary; “Ffinnisterre”, 3753
3. David Mulvin and Ronan Beirne; “Ignus Caput Duo, 4068
4. Neil Colin and Margaret Casey; “No Name”, 4028
5. Niall Coleman and Mick Quinn; “Flyer”, 4008

This weekend sees the Southern Championships being hosted by the Royal St George Yacht Club as the clock ticks down to the Subaru-sponsored Flying Fifteen World Championships 2019 at the end of the month, hosted by the National Yacht Club.

With the Subaru sponsored Flying Fifteen World Championships only 26 sleeps away, the enthusiasm for racing on Dublin Bay has continued apace writes Cormac Bradley.

After a light wind session on the preceding Thursday that prompted a very shortened course to be sailed, there was a much healthier contribution to the proceedings on the August Bank Holiday Saturday from Mother Nature. The forecast was for 10 – 17 knots from SSE, according to XCWeather and while some of that strength was in evidence the wind didn’t go quite that far south.

The Facet Trophy had its origin in an attempt to stem the fall-off in Flying Fifteen numbers racing under the DBSC burgee on the August Bank Holiday weekend and enjoys the support of Pat Shannon of Facet Jewellers. This year that objective was achieved when 21 boats came under starters orders for the first race of the day. The fleet also included a visitor from Dunmore East. And even that number could have been increased as at least 1 boat was struggling for a crew and two other potential entries were absent altogether. Race Officer Brian Mathews set a triangle course for the first race – triangle-sausage-triangle and found that he had a very competitive fleet on his hands as they jostled for position on his start line.

While some of us went right, we were to be proven wrong as the leading bunch at the weather mark all came in from the left. Among those was Joe Coughlan (Ash; 3913), Alistair Court & Conor O’Leary (Ffinisterre; 3753), Neil Colin & Margaret Casey (No Name; 4028). The exception to this assessment was Niall Coleman & Mick Quinn (Flyer; 4008) who from memory were one of those on the right; but ended up in the lead bunch. I can only assume that they crossed the course at some stage. Joe led the fleet into the leeward mark with Court/O’Leary in second place.

The three-sail reach across the top of the course was exhilarating and some found it more comfortable than others. Unfortunately, the discomfort of the “others” didn’t translate to places being lost. The “reward” of getting to the gybe mark with three sails was that the second reach was a lot more comfortable. The inside track of the second reach paid some dividends and this correspondent gained a few places here.

The breeze had moved left which meant that the second beat wasn’t quite the challenge it might have been. For all that it wasn’t a fetch to the mark either, so getting clear air was quite important.

At the top mark, the lead appeared to have changed hands as Court/O’Leary were the first to show and as they sailed down the sausage to a shortened course finish, the pecking order was Court/O’Leary, Coughlan, Colin, Coleman, and Gerry Ryan. Dave Mulvin & Ronan Bierne (Ignus Caput Duo; 4068) were well placed in the race until Ronan decided to do some “knitting” with the spinnaker on the foredeck. This was very commendable when one considers that Ignus Caput Duo has a fly-away pole system. Despite Ronan’s stringent efforts, they were relegated to a much lower finishing position than their first-half efforts warranted.

For the second race, Brian Mathews set a Windward/Leeward but by now the wind was starting to move around with directions varying from 120 - 155º - a race officer’s nightmare. Add to that a fleet that was “champing at the bit” to get away and there was only one inevitable result – a “U” Flag start, followed by a “Black Flag” start after the first conventional start was unsuccessful.

After several attempts the fleet did get away and on the water the Dunmore East raiders showed everyone a VERY clean pair of heels. Well sailed Lee and Andy, sailing “Trigger’s Brush”! Behind them there was a very interesting competition going on among the DBSC registered boats. Gerry Ryan and crew (4045) were again well placed as were a few others, Coleman & Quinn, Colin & Casey, Court & O’Leary. Included at the front was “Snow White”; 3747, sailed by Gill Fleming and Frank Burgess, the driver behind getting the fleet out to support the generosity of Facet Jewellers.

The left-hand side of the run paid dividends the first time but wasn’t quite so generous the second time but racing in the pack was very close with both mark-roundings very busy locations.

Gerry Ryan came out on top in the second race, followed home by Coleman & Quinn, Fleming & Burgess, Colin & Casey with Louise McKenna & Owen Sinnott (Ffandango;3697) claiming fifth.

At a very convivial prize-giving in the National Yacht Club, prizes were handed out by Facet Jeweller’s Pat Shannon.

Due thanks were recorded to Pat, Brian Mathews for his Race Officer role and the DBSC race team.

Next weekend sees the last provincial regatta before the Subaru-sponsored Flying Fifteen Worlds when the Southern Championships are hosted by the Royal St George Yacht Club. A discussion item at the Facet Trophy prize-giving was the modest on-line entry thus far. On a day when 21 Flying Fifteens were on the water, less than 15 entries had been registered with the RStGYC. Please get your entries sorted!!

FF Dun Laoghaire Class Captain, Conor O’Leary, who also sails out of the “George” advised that a BBQ will be available immediately after sailing and is included in the entry fee. Race Officer for the Southerns is Barry O’Neill.

On completion of the Southerns the focus will fall on the final preparations for the Worlds. As with all international events, volunteers are critical; So, if you have some free time over the period 31 August to 13 September and want to get involved in the hosting of a World Championship, please get in touch with the Flying Fifteen Class or the National Yacht Club.

Very few sailors can ever have experienced anything comparable to the elation of discovering that their racing pride-and-joy has been declared “Boat of the Week” from within the 498-boat fleet at Ireland’s biggest regatta.

But this is what happened to David Gorman and Chris Doorly of the National Yacht Club when their clear overall victory in the large Flying Fifteen class was declared the event’s peak of achievement at the marathon prize-giving at the conclusion of Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta 2019, making them unrivalled for the accolade of Afloat.ie “Sailors of the Month (Senior)” for July.

It was just as if they had never been away! After a break from major championship racing in the Flying Fifteen, Graham Vials and Chris Turner sealed another UK Championship by winning the last two races on the final day in some style.

The results coming just a couple of months before the World Championships on Dublin Bay in September will be of keen interest to the Irish home fleet, yet only one Irish sailor managed to compete; Alan Green of the National Yacht Club crewing for former World Champion and regular Dublin Bay visitor, Charles Apthorp who finished 12th overall.

For the final days racing, Poole Bay delivered a typical July summer morning with warm sunny skies and a gentle NW offshore breeze that wafted down the racecourse in patches with an abundance of shifts.

The PRO set a 3 lap windward/leeward course with the usual target race time of 50 minutes. After one false start the fleet got underway at around 1230hrs. At the first windward mark it was the familiar blue spinnaker of Vials and Turner representing Derwent Reservoir/Lyme Regis SC, that popped out in front. They were closely followed by another multiple world f15 champion in Steve Goacher and crew Tim Harper from the Lake district. Steve and Tim were back on form today challenging and sometimes leading the champions elect, however they lost both races to Vials and Turner on the final lap.

Richard Lovering and Matt Alvarado (HISC/WYC) pulled through the fleet to take third ahead of Richard Whitworth and Ben Scroggie (Parkstone YC/Hollingworth Lake SC). Richard and Ben were the only team with a chance to usurp Vials and Turner and their 4th meant they had effectively conceded the championship lead.
Notably the first four boats each used different sailmakers!

The final race of the regatta took three attempts to start. Late wind shifts and a couple of recalls later, the final race was started around 1230hrs. This time the Goach popped out in the lead and held it throughout lap 1 but with Vials and Turner breathing down his neck. Behind them the race for the minor placings provided quite a tussle between another returning champion, Greg Wells, now sailing with Andrew Jameson, and Nathan Batchelor from Ovington Boats, sailing with Ricky Rigg and Hamish Mackay crewed by Andrew Lawson.

By lap 3 Vials and Turner had edged into a few boat lengths lead, sufficient to cover their opposition to the finish line. They cruised over the line for their fifth race win of the regatta and a clear margin of 18 points overall.

On the last lap, the Batchelor/Rigg combo pulled through to snatch second place from Wells/Jameson in third pushing Goacher/Harper back to fourth. Meanwhile, the battle for third overall was still in play, David Tabb and Chewey Sherrell (Parkstone YC) maintained top ten consistency all regatta to hold off the sprint finish of the Goach.

Bobby Salmond crewed by Will Morris won the Classic division in his f15 number 627. 

Top 6 overall of 47 boats

1. 4071 Graham Vials / Chris Turner - Derwent Reservoir/Lyme Regis SC - 19pts
2. 4020 Richard Whitworth / Ben Scroggie - Parkstone YC/Hollingworth Lake SC - 37pts
3. 4052 David Tabb / Chewey Sherrell - Parkstone YC - 49pts
4. 4021 Steve Goacher / Tim Harper - RWYC/WLSC - 52pts
5. 4002 Richard Lovering / Matt Alvarado - HISC/WYC - 55pts
6. 4030 Greg Wells / Andrew Jameson - Hayling Is SC - 55pts

Full results here

Dublin Bay Flying Fifteen sailors at the National Yacht Club are preparing for the annual 'Facet Trophy' races on Dublin Bay next month, the venue for the Class World Championships this September.

Presented by Pat Shannon of Dun Laoghaire's Facet Jewellers, the trophy, first raced for in 2013, is competed for over the two DBSC races on the Bank Holiday weekend of Saturday 3rd August.

Shannon, who is also Vice Commodore of the Royal Irish Yacht Club, will present the prizes for second and third in the Flying Fifteen gold fleet too.

The Flying Fifteens boasted one of the biggest one-design classes of this month's Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta. With 24-boats competing, the regatta winners, David Gorman and Chris Doorly also won the Volvo Boat of the Week trophy for their top performance. It was a great fillip for the Class in their World-Championship hosting year and a fitting acknowledgement of David and Chris’s domination of the fleet.

In advance of the Subaru sponsored Flying Fifteen World Championships in Dun Laoghaire in September, the local fleet had the small matter of the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta to attend to writes Cormac Bradley

Except, that in 2019, the event was no small matter with two short of five hundred boats entered across a wide range of Classes, from Zero all the way down to the Myths from Wales. In between there were, GP14s, sailing a Leinster Championship, Lasers, IDRA 14s, Wayfarers, Dragons, RS Elites, sailing a UK Nationals and twenty-four Flying Fifteens sailing on the waters that will host a Worlds that to date has an entry list in the high seventies.

A ten-race programme was on offer for the Fifteens over the four days of Thursday to Sunday with all but two of the races under the management of an International Race Officer and the other two under the management of a very popular National Race Officer who probably had the most challenging wind conditions of the entire four days. The Fifteens sailed on a different course each day, sharing Friday’s course with the 30+ fleet of RS Elites in which there were two Olympic medallists from the UK.

Thursday’s proceedings opened on a light winded Salthill course and a trapezoid course and the first bullet of the day went to a new combination of John O’Sullivan (Rhubarb, 3762), a former DLFF Class Captain, crewed by Adrian Cooper (Gulfstream, 3198). Second went to our second-youngest boat in the fleet, Tom Murphy’s “Fflagella”, 4057, crewed by Carel la Roux, and in third was David Gorman & Chris Doorly in “Betty” 3920.

If Race 1 was difficult for the fleet and the Race Officer alike, Race 2 was, even more, trying as the wind faded and came in from the completely opposite direction. The race winner was Peter Murphy, sailing “Hera”, 3774 and his win was not down to the vagaries of the wind. Gorman & Doorly finished second while third went to another combination who have come in from the Fireball Class, Frank Miller and Ed Butler, sailing “Glass Half Full”, 3845.

Thus, at the end of a difficult session, two boats were tied at the top of the table, Gorman and O’Sullivan, each carrying five points. Murphy slotted into third on nine points, just one ahead of Ben Mulligan and Cormac Bradley, “As Good as it Gets” 3688 carrying ten points, courtesy of 2 x 5^th. Miller & Butler closed out the top five with thirteen points. O’Sullivan & Cooper took the prize of the day!

Friday saw the fleet sharing the course with the RS Elites with a programme of three Windward-Leeward races. The wind strength was much stronger than any of the forecasts suggested and a healthy day of racing ensued, with tired bodies hitting the shore later in the day. An error by the Race Management Team saw the first race extend to three laps of the course in an area just to the west of the approaches to the Liffey River and Dublin Port and while the RS Elites would seek redress for the error, the Flying Fifteens stoically sailed the three laps and let the results stand. Gorman & Doorly and Mulligan & Bradley hit the highs, with the former pair scoring 3 x 1^st and the latter pair scoring 3,3,2, only losing to the former combination late on in the last race. Elsewhere, a good position for Neil Colin & Margaret Casey (“No Name” 4028) in Race 1 evaporated when the “soft shackle” on their jib sheets gave way, dropping them from a single digit position to 20^th. They recovered later with a 6,4. Murphy & la Roux enjoyed a 4,2 in the latter two races but a 14^th in Race 1 would have taken the shine off their day. Others who had to take the rough with the smooth included Alistair Court & Gordon Syme (“ffinisterre, 3753), scoring 2,7,10 while Niall Meagher & Nicki Matthews (ffantastic Mr Fox, 3912) put together a useful 9,5,9. Bodies were tired by the close of play on Friday afternoon. Gorman & Doorly took the day’s prize.

Saturday saw another course and another mix of classes on the start line. This time we were under the management of Volvo (Round the World) Race Officer, Bill O’Hara and a course area to the north of Dun Laoghaire harbour. Having got “their groove”, Gorman & Doorly saw a “perfect score day” slip away when they were beaten in the middle race of the day by Mulligan & Bradley who led from start to finish on another Windward-Leeward course. This result appeared to get them the day’s prize. To this, they added a 9,5 to consolidate second place overall after the day’s “close of play”. Needless to say; Gorman & Doorly were “untouchable” in 1^st place overall. However, the attention now was all on 3^rd place overall

Meagher & Matthews were in the “hot seat” with 45 points, followed by Court & the returning Conor O’Leary on 45.5, Colin & Casey on 46 and Miller & Butler on 47.5! All to play for!! With two races scheduled for the Sunday, the fleet were a bit more relaxed and ready to socialise on Saturday night.

Sunday saw the Fifteens move further north and a very busy race area where there were three starts ahead of them, two cruiser classes and “mixed sports-boats”. However, conditions were light, and this was the area closest to the ebb tide sweep out of the Liffey River. While the pre-race deliberations between some boats was that the tide would be even across the course this did not manifest itself in the racing. Two “sorties” up the right-hand side of the beat left Mulligan & Bradley with their worst score of the week, 12^th, while others took advantage to post their best scores. David Mulvin and Ronan Bierne (Ignis Caput Duo, 4068) counted a 4,2 to jump up the rankings, Court & O’Leary counted an 8,3, Gerry Ryan & Peter Dolan (“No Name, 4045) scored a 3,7 and Louise McKenna & Hermine O’Keeffe (Fandango, 3697) saved their best to last with a 5^th in the lightest wind race of the entire regatta. After a poor third day, Murphy & la Roux redeemed themselves with a 2,9. Gorman & Doorly won the first one with some ease but had to come from behind to seal the race win in the second. Mulligan & Bradley also scored better in the last race with a 6^th, to get back on track in consolidating 2^nd overall. Others would be less satisfied – Meagher & Matthews scored a 9,12, Colin & Casey a 13,14 and Miller & Butler a 5,15. This combination of results across the four boats contesting 3^rd place overall saw Court and O’Leary take the last podium spot.

At the formal prize-giving Tipperary Crystal prizes were awarded to the 1-2-3 and David Gorman and Chris Doorly won the “Best Boat of the Regatta” prize – a great fillip for the Class in their World-Championship hosting year and a fitting acknowledgement of David and Chris’ domination of a very competitive 24 -boat class. In David’s own words, “the points don’t reflect the tightness of the racing”.

To the organisers and our four-race officers; Harry Gallagher, Peter Crowley, Bill O’Hara and David Lovegrove – our thanks for a great four days!

After five races sailed at the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta, Flying Fifteen National Champions David Gorman and Chris Doorly clearly broke the overnight points tie in their favour today when they won all three races to stamp their authority on the 24-boat fleet.

The National Yacht Club duo now lead the regatta by a cool 10-point margin at the halfway stage. 

Second overall is the Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club's Ben Mulligan sailing with Cormac Bradley. Third is Fflagella, Tom Murphy and Carel La Roux also of the National Yacht Club.

Racing continues tomorrow.

Ben Mulligan and Cormac Bradley are second overall

Tom Murphy and Carel La Roux are third

In one of the biggest one design fleets of the massive 500-boat of Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta, John O'Sullivan's Rhubarb leads the Flying Fifteens after two races.

In some neat sailing on the Salthill Course, O'Sullivan of the National Yacht Club scored a 1 and a 4 to lead club mates and FF National Champions David Gorman and Chris Doorly but they are tied on the same 5 points in the 24-boat fleet. Third is Peter Murphy in Hera, also from the NYC.

The One Design keelboat class is in warm-up mode for its Subaru-sponsored World Championships that will be staged on Dublin Bay in two months time.

Racing continues on Friday.

Tom and Eamonn Galvin lead at the first mark of Race Two Photo: Afloat

Tom Murphy and Carel La Roux lead a bunch of boats at the weather mark Photo: Afloat

Ben Mulligan and Cormac Bradley set the pole Photo: Afloat

DMYC's Neil Colin at the front of a pack of FFs downwind Photo: Afloat