#insc – Clear skies, 15 kts from the South West and a flat sea greeted all competitors for the fourth race of the Dublin Bay Sailing Club Rathfarnham Ford Turkey Shoot series writes Kenny Rumball. Fintan Cairns laid the course we all love in the Turkey Shoot, a quick beat to the outfall mark off the west pier with then a long run down to round the Muglins Island off Dalkey Island, not to mention a small kink of a dog log in Scotsmans bay which was there to test boat handling as kites needed to be dropped for the short fetch. Starts and Handicaps for yesterday are downloadable below.

In start three or what is commonly looking like the 1720 start, the level of competitiveness has been building throughout the series. Despite INSC1's (Skipper Kenneth Rumball) efforts to push the fleet above the barging line failed and in a questionable 'Clear Start' INSC1 was down the pan up the first beat. INSC2 Alexander Rumball tustled with Brain Matthews and crew from the NYC and Collie Byrne and crew aboard Lady A up the left hand side of the race track hugging the harbour walls to get a few crucial lifts from the wind bends. Martin Byrne and crew from the RstGYC kept out of trouble up the right hand side of the course.

At the top mark, INSC2 was right in the mix of the top boats, followed by a quick hoist and a gybe out to clear breeze looked to be a good option for the team as opposed to the rest of the fleet who took a track closer to the Harbour walls. Some tight sailing especailly between Martin Byrne and Niall O'Neill tested crew's boat handling at Fintan's kink in the course into Scotsman's bay. Niall ONeill was an unfortunate casualty of the test with a spinnaker wrap causing valuable time. INSC2 (skipper Alexander Rumball) suffered some technical issues with their tack-line on the re-hoist causing them to loose some valuable time sailing under main and jib on the long downwind.

While most boats sailed a course in under the Forty Foot and Loreto Dalkey, the team on INSC1 sailed dead down the rhumb line towards the Muglins with excelent rrimming from the crew keeping the baot moving at full tilt. The more direct course paid off at the bottom mark as INSC1 had moved to third 1720 aroundthe Muglins only a hairs breath behind Brian Matthews and team with both boats not leaving an inch to spare around the iconic mark. The beat home was mainly a tight fetch with only a handful of tack along the 2.25nm leg back to the harbour mouth. The kink was still there to contend with but Martin Byrne and team sailed fast to finish first 1720 across the line followed by Brian Matthews and team in second and INSC1 taking third.

It was a fantastic last leg with the 1720s revelling in perfect conditions for the boats sailing higher and faster than the lfeet with only Wow (Farr42) and Mermaid V (First 50) beating them for line honours.

INSC race skippers, Kenneth and Alexander Rumball then went on to coaching/racing duties in the DMYC Frostbite series.

Our junior teams competing in the PY fleet in their double handers and adult sailors competing in their Laser dinghies enjoyed a thrilling two races with Kenneth and Alexander giving a thorough de-brief and answering tactical and other questions at the end of the day in the INSC clubhouse.

#dbsc – The latest Turkey shoot results for Dublin Bay Sailing Club have been published this afternoon and reveal a new overall leader in the 51–boat fleet.

The 1720 sportsboat 'Third time Lucky' has a 2.5 point winning margin over the ILC 30 'Incorrect'. 

Third overall is DBSC regular, the Mustang 30 Peridot.

Full overall results to date are availabe to download below as a word document.

#dbsc –The Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC) prizegiving is a highlight of the Dun Laoghaire sailing season with an array of magnificent and ancient yachting silverware. This year's event was especially so because it marked the close of DBSC's 130th season.

Prizes were awarded in all of DBSC's 22 classes by Commodore Pat Shannon at a packed Royal St.George YC clubhouse last Friday night.

DBSC historian and Hon Sec Donal O'Sullivan provided insightful commentary to the award winners – and the trophies –  and we reproduce a sample flavour of this with Donal's citations for the club's 'Premier awards' below.

In its 130th season, the club – one of the largest yacht racing clubs of its type in Europe – was acclaimed by Afloat blogger WM Nixon who posed the question: Is Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC) The Most Effective Sailing Organisation in the World?

Scroll down for awards photography of the evening by DBSC photographer Joe Fallon plus the full DBSC 2014 awards table.

PREMIER AWARDS

Dun Laoghaire Harbour Trophy
This is for the best new boat racing in the DBSC fleet. Cruisers I, with its strong contingent of J109s, is a vigorous, competitive fleet. Though a newcomer, the winning boat more than held her own in a very competitive racing environment – Jigamaree, Ronan Harris.

The George Arthur Newsom Cup
An important figure in the Dublin commercial life of his day, a director of Jacobs, of biscuit fame, Newsom was one of the early Dublin Bay pioneers who raced competitively in a number of fleets and contributed much to the development of DBSC. When he died in 1933 his wife presented this cup in his memory.
The owner and skipper of the winning boat in 2015, through her family has deep roots in the Dublin Bay sailing community. Besides racing locally, she has also sailed off-shore, bringing and navigating a boat on one occasion, I recall, to Iceland. The winning boat this year is the Shipman Gusto, Christine Heath.

The Waterhouse Shield
There has been a Waterhouse Shield at this event since the 1890s. Waterhouses were jewellers in Dame St and they used to do the engraving of the club's trophies in its early days. There are great names among the winners of the Waterhouse Shield and this year it's our pleasure to add a very competitive Cruiser 2 to the list- Red Rhum, sailed by the Nicholson brothers, Jonathan and Chris.

The Dr.Alf Delaney Cup
Dr Delaney first joined DBSC in 1932 and raced competitively until a few short years ago.This cup commemorates Alf's achievements as a sailor, both locally and elsewhere- he was one of the Irish team in one of the post-war Olympics. It's for the best boat on the dinghy course and this year it goes to the almost unbeatable Fireball 15061, sailed by Stephen Oram.

The Brendan Ebrill Cup
Brendan was my predecessor as hon secretary and organised this event over many years. The Ebrill trophy commemorates Brendan's' life-long commitment to DBSC. It's awarded to the highest-scoring boat with the highest attendance not winning a major trophy. The owners of the winning boat frequently grace this event, but this year they are without their partner, who died earlier this year. So, the winner of the Brendan Erill trophy in 2015 was Something Else – John and Brian Hall and the late Sue McDonnell.

The Viking Award
This award is for a notable able contribution to sailing. The recipient this year is an occasional DBSC Flying 15 sailor when he has the time but his greatest achievement in sailing was in a Fireball in 1995 when with John Lavery they won the Fireball Worlds. He is mostly known today as a marine journalist and publisher, performing a valuable public service in bringing maritime matters to public attention. He is chairman of the Irish Marine Federation, which inter alia, organises the boat show.
As publisher and editor of Afloat Magazine, despite a daunting publishing environment, he has continued over many years to maintain the magazine's high journalistic, typographical and design standard. Its associated web site is an extraordinary achievement - drawing news, information and comment from a wide range of sources in the maritime world. It's DBSC's pleasure this year to present the Viking Award to David O'Brien

All prizegiving photos by Joe Fallon

#dbscturkeyshoot – It was a tough day for INSC teams in DBSC Turkey Shoot Race three but a better day for the INSC dinghy teams in the DMYC Frostbite series yesterday afternoon. From last week's dominant performance in the Turkey Shoot, both INSC teams were in top spirits heading out into a sloppy north easterly race track with wind against tide and around 10-15 kts of wind speed. A shifty breeze was changing the bias of the line rapidly and despite a start where most were over, the team got away in the middle of the bunch on the more port side of the ine.

Up the beat, INSC1 (Kenneth Rumball) went initially left but then came out to the right hand side while INSC2 (Alexander Rumball) held on out to the left a bit longer coming into the weather mark a bit below the port layline. It was the closest race so far in the 1720 fleet racing on the bay with Brain Matthews around first on the NYC boat, followed by INSC2, then INSC 1 with a tight gap of the Colin Byrne's entry from the RIYC rounding just below INSC1 and Niall O'Neill and Martin Byrne sailing Merlin from the Royal St George just behind.

On the downhill leg of the two lap windward leeward, Brian Matthews and team got away cleanly allowing them to gybe out to the left early followed quickly by Lady A from the RIYC and INSC2. At this stage Martin Byrne used his prior 1720 experience, powering through at high angles to get up to third by the next bottom mark. The usual tight 1720 racing followed on afterwards with small place changing but tow boats in particular gained mostly being Martin Byrne and Niall O'Neill.

INSC1 suffered on poor spinnaker work with a wrapped kite on the next downhill putting them at the back off the 1720 pack. Despite this, some great sailing and surfing in cracking conditions had a smile on all crews on the way home after another faultless race by the DBSC race committee team.

Moving to the afternoon, our INSC teams took to the water for the DMYC frostbite series in the INSC dinghy fleet. A smart move by Olivier Prouveur and team to run the race outside the harbour in 'cleaner' breeze gave all a five lap trapezoid style race track. Junior racers from the INSC were competing primarily in the PY fleet and all enjoyed considerable success compared to the initial race over two years ago.

Race coaches Alexander and Kenneth were competing in their boats in the RS400 and Fireball class respectively. Kenneth and crew Brian Byrne made it two from two while Alexander managed a credible 3rd in his first race of the series.

#dbscturkeyshoot – With the tweets from the Dublin Bay Buoy giving an average wind speed of 10kts and gusts of 16kts, the two INSC teams (INSC1 skippered by Kenneth Rumball, INSC2 skippered by Alexander Rumball) headed out to the second DBSC Turkey Shoot race with smiling crews after the baptism of fire from the previous week writes Kenny Rumball. Such light southerly winds meant most 1720s thumbed a tow from passing engine driven yachts to hitch a lift to the outer harbour. As the training days for both INSC teams were mostly blown out, the two teams took advantage of the lighter conditions to practise a few hoists gybes and drops of the bigger mast head spinnakers on the 1720s.

Shifty conditions gave Fintan Cairns and his team on Freebird a tricky course to lay, so shifty that between the second and third start, there was almost a 50 degree shift from the south to south east turning a square start line into a heavily biased pin end line inside the sequence. INSC2 lined up for a run in on port tack at the pin end whereas INSC1 took a more conservative start on starboard tack near the pin end. INSC2 pulled off a great start but with a narrow infringement with a RIYC boat forcing the INSC2 team to do a few penalty turns. INSC1 got buried in the line and immediately set about rolling into a few tacks in the shifty conditions to pull back into the race. It was anybody's guess as to what was the best track up the beat, INSC2 went out towards the left side with one of the Royal St George 1720s, Merlin, helmed by Ben Cooke and the National Yacht Club entry helmed by Brian Matthews. INSC1 took a route more up the middle of the track availing of the puffs and shifts coming in from the right hand side of the beat. The boats on the left ended up in a hole near the top mark with the other Royal St George entry helmed by Hugh Butler storming in on the starboard lay line in a lovely little bit of pressure. INSC1 tacked out to fall in behind the Royal St. George boat around the top mark, a quick hoist in almost no wind on the top reach allowed INSC1 to roll most boats by the next mark on the trapezoid course. At this stage INSC1 had managed to squeeze through and find some breeze to gain a dominant lead over the rest of the fleet. INSC2 after struggling in the hole on the top left of the beat had managed to work through the fleet in the downwind legs using some smart sailing to get up into the top end of the fleet.

INSC1 continued with its lead massively reduced up the last beat as the breeze died off again towards the top of the course but still managed to claim line honours followed in a very close finish between the NYC's Brian Matthews and the RstGYC's team lead by Ben Cooke with Brian Matthews and team claiming the narrow spot for second over the water.

The INSC race team then returned to the water in a horrendous downpour before the start of the DMYC Frostbite series which was unfortunately abandoned today due to lack of wind.

#turkeyshoot – The champion Sigma 33 White Mischief was the winner of a drama–filled first race of the 2014 DBSC Turkey Shoot on Dublin Bay last Sunday. Second was Black Velvet with the A35 Another Adventure third. Full results for the Rathfarnham Ford sponsored series is downloadable below.

#dbscturkeyshoot – The sailor at the centre of Sunday's air-sea rescue drama on Dublin Bay has been released from hospital. Rescue services who responded to the emergency suspected a spinal injury to a crew member after they were called to the dismasted yacht Elandra, a competitor in the Rathfarnham Ford Sponsored DBSC Turkey Shoot series.

Race organisers said last night no spinal or major injuries were sustained. Happily, the injured male sailor, who was kept in hospital overnight only for observation, is said to be making a good recovery.

The organisers have thanked rescue services including the Coast Guard and the RNLI.

#glensailing – The Glens are celebrating 50 years sailing and racing together as a class in Dublin Bay Sailing Club, writes 'Glenshane' skipper Pete Hogan. As a very successful season draws to a close for the 12 or so Glens in Dublin Bay there seems all prospects that the fleet can continue for a further 50 years.

The story of the Glens is worth repeating. Designed by the celebrated Scottish Marine architect Alfred Milne in 1945 the Glens were built by the Bangor boatyard over the following 20 years. Possibly 39 Glens, at least, were built which gives them claim to be Milne's most successful design and also one of the last of Alfred Milne Senior's designs. The firm still exists. He also designed the Dublin Bay 21's and the 24's which were recently in the news on Afloat.ie

At first the Glens were confined to the North but started appearing in Dublin over 50 years ago. Glenluce G67 celebrated last year being 50 years in the sole ownership of the O'Connor family. They started racing together as a class under DBSC organisation in 1964 and have been racing ever since.

Glens are classic little yachts, retaining their looks up to today as reminders of what sailing boats looked like before the era of plastic mouldings, high freeboards and self-draining cockpits. 25 ft. long with a full keel and sensible sail plan they represent state of the art pocket cruisers of the period.

Glens were often compared to Dragons. They are heavier, shorter and carry a bit more sail. But they were never allowed to become the development class which the Dragons became and never made the seismic shift into fibreglass construction. Their handy size however, has allowed them to survive just as the 17's in Howth survive and thrive. There is a mini wooden boat building fraternity centred on the Glens and their needs. The Brennan boatbuilding family in Dun Laoghaire, all three generations of it, being its mainstay.

Moored out in front of the Royal St George YC and each painted a distinctive different colour, the Glens have become as iconic a fixture in Dun Laoghaire as the bandstand, Teddy's ice cream shop or the fishermen casting their lines from the pier. Long may they continue.

The Glen keelboat. Illustration by Pete Hogan

Anyone interested in getting involved in the Glen Class in Dublin could contact Pete on 087 930 9559 or click HERE

#turkeyshoot – The 2014 Dublin Bay Sailing Club Turkey Shoot Series sees the third time the INSS has entered two 1720 Sportsyachts into the exciting winter series writes school principal Kenny Rumball. The 1720s are skippered by Kenneth and Alexander Rumball as part of our race training programme where we aim to teach our crews the techniques and intensity required to race at the top of the fleet. With a training weekend having been blown out the previous weekend and the reserve day being the Saturday afternoon before racing also blown out, our teams had little practise time ahead of stepping on to the boats on Sunday morning. Initial forecasts and the weather in the morning was a manageable 16-18kts.

Boats rigged, masthead spinnakers plugged in, the two teams headed out into slightly more breeze than forecast, a quick change down from mast head to fractional kites prior to the start as we now saw gusts up pas t 20kts. Both teams started well with INSC1 (Kenneth) more towards the starboard end of the line and INSC2 (Alexander) more towards the pin end of the line. Neither INSC teams made the mistake of going to the far right of the bay where the prior two fleets mistook the Flying Fifteen windward mark as our windward mark despite assurances from the committee boat that the mark was 'well left'. INSC1 sailed up the middle of the beat covering Colin Byrne and his team on RIYC and Brian Matthews skippering a 1720 from the NYC. INSC2 went the best way up the beat and went well left, popping around the top mark ahead of most of the the two fleets that started prior to us. INSC2 attempted to fly the masthead spinnaker on the top reach but were wiser and doused it before taking an early bath. INSC1 rounded as third 1720 and could not catch INSC2 or the experienced crew racing the NYC boat with Brian. The pecking order at the top of the fleet stayed much the same with Brian and his team from the NYC claiming the spot of first 1720 across the line followed by INSC2 and then INSC1. A thrilling start to the series in challenging conditions with some breakages and an injury to which both INSC teams express their best wishes to the injured crew member.

'Big Boat' racing over, and the attention turned to the DMYC Frostbite Series where for the first time, the INSC/INSS gave our club members the opportunity to race in this fantastic series in our fleet of performance dinghies backed up by on the water support and coaching and a de-brief after every race. With views from the team INSC skippers Kenneth and Alexander sailing their Fireball and RS400 respectively and on the water support given by Glyn Williams, our new programme give a unique perspective on how to improve your dinghy racing. We have four adult members sailing Laser dinghies with one of our dinghy instructors also chartering one of our lasers before forgetting the four double handers we have entered crewed by members of our Junior Club programme.

Following on from the mornings racing the conditions had somewhat moderated slightly for the afternoon. Our new racers thoroughly enjoyed the intensity of the new experience with big smiles and a steep learning curve ahead of them. Also racing were other members of our junior club in their RS Feva dinghies. All sailors enjoyed a thorough debrief after racing in the INSC Clubhouse where Kenneth gave his inside view on how to win the days race after a close battle with long time competitor Noel Butler a former INSS pupil. Alexander was able to give his view and answer questions from the perspective of the coach RIB for the day due to a parts delay for his RS400.

All our sailors then made their way to the DMYC Clubhouse for some coffees and hot soup with Carlos and Fiona behind the bar and kitchen delighted to see some new faces.

Our winter racing programmes are now full but if you are interested in these programmes, we will have some spots available after the Christmas break.

rnli – A sailor with suspected spinal injuries on a dismasted yacht is receiving hospital treatment this afternoon after a rescue operation on Dublin Bay involving the Dun Laoghaire RNLI lifeboat and Irish Coast Guard helicopter.

The incident occurred shortly after 11am when the 33-foot yacht was taking part in a regular Sunday morning race on Dublin Bay. The mast snapped in the breezy conditions and hit the crew-member leading to concerns for a possible spinal injury.

The Marine Rescue Co-Ordination Centre (MRCC) in Dublin was alerted and the RNLI lifeboat at Dun Laoghaire was requested to launch along with the Irish Coast Guard helicopter at Dublin Airport at 1108am. The disabled yacht was located midway between the West Pier and the South Bull Wall.

The operation was complicated by the collapsed rigging hanging over the side of the boat that prevented the crew from using the engine. Lifeboat crew were able to board the vessel to deliver first aid treatment and the winchman paramedic from the helicopter was transferred on board to assess the casualty.

To minimise movement and prevent a worsening of the suspected injury, it was decided that the yacht would be taken in tow by the lifeboat to shore where a waiting ambulance transferred the casualty to hospital for full assessment and treatment. The yacht was towed to a yacht club in Dun Laoghaire where the Dun Laoghaire Coast Guard unit winched the casualty to the waiting ambulance.