#fireball – Halloween has gone.........it must be Frostbite Time! With the celebrations of ghouls and ghosts gone for another year, the Irish Fireball fleet can embrace the prospect of Frostbite and Sunday afternoon sailing for the next 5 months.

A modest fleet of eight Fireballs initiated the 2013/14 Frostbite Series in the company of RS 400s, RS 200s, Lasers, Lasers Radials, IDRAs and one 470.

On Saturday the wind was very strong and both the Met Eireann and XC Weather websites were suggesting that we were in for a battering on Saturday night, but that the winds would ease during the course of Sunday – so much so that by 18:00 on Sunday evening XC Weather was saying that there would be as little as 1 – 2 knots. The Race Committee went out into the main body of Dun Laoghaire's harbour under blue skies and a modest breeze out of the West. With the obvious intent of taking advantage of the benign weather a programme of two races was declared.

As the last start of the day, the Fireballs were clustered towards the pin-end of the line with a group of probably five boats fighting to be the pin end boat. Kenneth Rumball, with brother Alexander as crew (15058) was in the mix with Noel Butler and Joe O'Reilly (15061), Neil Colin and Margaret Casey (14775), Alistair Court and Gordon Syme (14706). The quest for the pin was to facilitate an early tack onto port to sail up the port-hand side of the course. There had to be a victim in this quest and so it was as an individual recall was signaled after the start. No-one went back.

Those boats who had not pursued the pin-slot were of course subject to the prospect of being sailed over by those who were to windward of them. One of these was Louis Smyth & Cormac Bradley (15007) who saw Court/Syme go over them. Others who were slightly to leeward of the ideal line to the first weather mark were Mary Chambers and Brenda McGuire (14865), Conor Clancy (14807) and Luke Malcolm and Shane Divenny (14790). An adverse wind shift as they approached the weather mark saw Smyth & Bradley round this mark in last place. In reverse order, the sequence was Smyth, Chambers, Clancy, Malcolm, Court, Colin, Rumball & Butler. Messrs Butler & Rumball tagged each other round the rest of the course with never more than a few boat-lengths between them. The lead changed hands a number of times, even on the same leg! This gave Colin & Casey a bit of leeway to do their own thing and on occasion they sailed a very different upwind leg to the rest of the fleet, staying right rather than going left immediately after the leeward mark.

Three laps were set for this first race of the Series to accommodate a second race so the pressure was on to recover places. The top three had a slight gap over the rest of us, so the bulk of the changes were among the 5-boat chasing group. Smyth got ahead of Chambers on the first downwind leg, but Malcolm, sailing with us for the first time since the last Frostbite Series, lost out to Smyth and Clancy as the race progressed. The lead alternated between Rumball and Butler but the brothers led at the critical stage – over the finish line. Colin & Casey went over the finish line to silence, meaning that those behind them were elevated by one place.

As XC Weather predicted, the wind then began to switch off and the plan to have a second race was abandoned. The mark-laying ribs helped to get the fleet ashore by offering tows to shore.

#fireball – Two regattas, two weeks apart, two provincial titles! The Irish Fireball regatta season closed with the re-scheduled Leinsters being sailed in Dun Laoghaire this weekend. The event, originally down for August, had to be postponed due a lack of personnel to run the event. In has been a busy close to the season with six Irish boats in Slovenia for the Europeans and Worlds in mid September, followed by the Munsters in Athlone the weekend after our return. Now two weeks on we have had the Leinsters.

Over the two days a total of nineteen boats turned out with Mike & James Murphy (14908) making the trip from Dunmore East and two boats coming from Clontarf on the north side of Dublin Bay, Hugh Johnson and Brian Nolan. We also saw the season debut of Owen Laverty and Ed Butler on Saturday.

The weather was kind over the two days with temperatures in the low teens on Saturday and winds out of the N – NE. Even the water temperature seemed to be quite pleasant. Four races were sailed on the first day in winds that started out at about 12 – 14 knots but eased marginally during the day. There was evidence of some rustiness with capsizes taking place and more than one set of penalty turns being taken.

Two Olympic courses started the day's proceedings and after these it was honours even at the head of the fleet with Barry McCartin & Conor Kinsella (1509) and Kenneth Rumball & David Moran (15058) sharing a first and second each. Noel Butler & Stephen Oram (15061) were not having the best of days by their standards as they opened their account with a 4, 3. The other third place on the Olympic course went to Class Chairman & Class Secretary, Neil Colin & Margaret Casey (14775).

On the start-line of the third race of the day, the first of two windward-leeward courses, there was a "Moses- like parting of the Red Sea" for Louis Smyth & Cormac Bradley (15007) which they took full advantage of to lead the fleet up the first beat. Adam Bowers would have loved his mantra of clear water and clear wind being exploited so successfully. Gavin Doyle and Dave Sweeney (14953) were next in the pecking order. Smyth & Bradley led the race until the short hitch to the finish at the conclusion of the race. McCartin and Rumball were keeping very close company and while Smyth cleared them on starboard tack, their attacking of the committee boat end of the line was enough for Rumball to take the win, though Smyth squeezed into 2nd.

The biblical advice of the first being last and the last being first was then applied to Smyth/Bradley as they could only muster a 10th in the next race. McCartin/Kinsella took that one to finish the day with a 2, 1, 3, 1 scoreline. Rumball/Kinsella dropped to 7th in Race 4 but joined McCartin/Kinsella at the top of the leaderboard by dropping this last score. The next best performance of the day belonged to Colin/Casey who blotted their copybook with an eleventh in the second race but rose to the (near) top of the class with a 3, 4, 3, in their other three races.

Butler/Oram were in slightly unusual territory in 4th overall on Saturday evening counting a 3 and two 4ths, but they also had a 7th. Conor Clancy & Hugh Butler kept their results to even numbers with a 10, 4, 6, 2 sequence, enough to give them 5th place overall.

The last two races of the regatta season were sailed in overcast and slightly damp conditions – it didn't rain, but there was a dampness in the air. The Race Officer gave us one Olympic course and one Windward-Leeward in breeze that had swung towards the NW quarter. However, there wasn't as much "oomph" in it as there had been on Saturday. Sailing in slack water at the bottom end of an ebbing tide, the logic would have been to head inshore but the one boat that stayed out rounded the weather mark in second place, behind Conor Clancy (14807) – Jonathan Evans and Aidan Caulfield (14748). Smyth/Bradley were also well up as was father and son Mike and James Murphy (14908). Frank Miller & Grattan Donnelly (14713) were also well placed until helm and crew temporarily parted company on the final approach to the weather mark.

The first reach was tight and too short, leaving a long very broad second reach. The leaders overall caught up as we made our way to the leeward mark – McCartin/Kinsella, Butler/Oram, from a long way back and Rumball/Moran. Evans & Caulfield persisted in going to sea on the second beat and were still in good shape at the second weather mark. The three afore-mentioned combinations with Clancy and Evans took the first five places.

And so to the last race of the season! For some this was to be their best race of the regatta, Alistair Court & Joe O'Reilly (14706) and Louise McKenna & Hermine O'Keeffe (14691) had good results, but it was too little too late for this regatta. McCartin and Kinsella changed roles in the boat – a sure sign that they had the regatta sewn up! Rumball/Moran took the win to share the wins with McCartin/Kinsella, Butler/Oram recovered from an average first beat to finish second, while Clancy spoiled the symmetry of his results by claiming the first odd-numbered finish of his regatta – a 3rd.

Irish Fireball Leinsters – DMYC, 12 & 13th Oct.

The Silver Fleet prize went to Jonathan Evans and Aidan Caulfield.

As this was the last regatta of the season, the Class AGM was held on the Saturday evening, immediately after racing. In an effort to promote a discussion of the health of the Class and the need to revive our numbers, the formal part of the AGM was kept to a minimum.

After two years at the helm, Neil Colin stood down as Class Chairman but has offered to stay on the committee. In addition to his management of the Class, Neil, and his crew Margaret, who is also Class Secretary, have put a lot of effort into Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club's hosting of Fireball events, the Nationals in 2011 and this weekend's Leinsters. Margaret will take another year as Secretary>

In what was billed as a promotion, but is in fact a natural succession, Marie Barry, our Treasurer up to Saturday evening, took over as Chairman. Marie has looked after our accounts exceptionally well and has kept them easy to understand. Hermine O'Keeffe takes over the position of Dun Laoghaire Class Captain, succeeding Louise McKenna, while Frank Miller and Cormac Bradley stay on as Trophy Secretary and Communications Officer respectively. Stephen Oram retains the management of our website. The Treasurer's position was the subject of some debate, with a number of candidates mentioned though none specifically said yes! In a welcome development, Conor Clancy indicated his willingness to come onto the committee.

A number of initiatives to revive our numbers were debated in the discussion that took place after the formal part of the meeting with a number of people making offers to help with a targeted marketing and recruitment drive. The Frostbite Series is our next engagement with the first round of races taking place on 3rd November. The Class prize-giving takes place on 23rd November in The National Yacht Club's Wet Bar.

#fireball – 17 Fireballs hsve convened in Dun Laoghaire for the last regatta of the season, the Leinsters.

After 4 races there is a tie at the top of thr leader bosrd between Barry McCartin and Conor Kinsella and Kenny Rumball and David Moran, each on 4 pts. They each enjoyed two wins.

Next in the pecking order are Neil Colin and Margaret Casey, counting a 3, 4, 3. Noel Butler and Stephen Oram are in fourth, with their best result a third and counting 2x4ths

Fifth place is occupied by Conor Clancy and Hugh Butler with a 6, 2, 4 scoreline.
6th place is shared between Gavin Doyle & Dave Sweeney and Louis Smyth & Cormac Bradley who were just barred entry to the winner's enclosure in Race 3 by Rumball/Moran, having led the entire race!

#fireball – Noel and Ed Butler enhanced their overnight Fireball lead at the Munsters in Lough Ree to take the title with a 5pt margin writes Cormac Bradley. Adding a 1, 3 to their score of 4pts they had the luxury of swapping roles for the last race, Noel taking to trapezing.

Another combination entered the winner's enclosure for Race 6, Team Rumball, Kenneth & Alexander and with a 4th in Race 5, this elevated them to 3rd overall.

Barry McCartin, recently back from Australia and Conor Kinsella had a 5, 2 to secure 2nd overall. These three sailed most consistently over the weekend, allowing them a comfortable points margin over fourth placed Conor Clancy and Stephen Campion, who weren't too shabby with a 2, 2, 5, 5, 7, 8 results sheet.

Niall McGrotty and Neil Cramer had a much better day with a 2, 5, Neil Colin & Margaret Casey had a 4th in the last race and Louise McKenna & Hermine O'Keeffe scored another 3rd.

Smyth &Bradley scored two 9ths to hold onto 5th place overall, but in the words of a (in) famous Scot it was a squeaky bum session as Murphy & Voye closed to 3pts.

Three boats contested the Silver fleet, Evans/Caulfield from Sligo, Power/Barry and Chambers/McGuire from Dun Laoghaire. The title went West by a margin of 6pts from Power/Barry.

1. Butler/Butler 15061 8pts
2. McCartin/Kinsella 15093 13pts
3. Rumball/Rumball 15058 15pts
4. Clancy/Campion 14807 21pts
5. Smyth/Bradley 15007 30pts
6. Murphy/Voye 14908 33pts
7. McGrotty/Cramer 14938 35pts
8. McKenna/O'Keeffe 14691 36pts
9. Miller/Donnelly 14713 40pts
10. Colin/Casey 14775 42pts

6 excellent races were set by Race Officer John Leech and his team, each of just about one hour duration. Courses were adjusted continuously to fit in with the 1 hour constraint.

Hospitality by LRYC was superb with soup and rolls after racing and a great meal on Saturday night. The prize giving was held outside today such was the mildness of the weather.

We convene again in DL in 2 weeks time for the rescheduled Leinsters, to be hosted by DMYC with the Class AGM down for the Saturday evening. Volunteers for the committee will be needed!

16 Fireballs have assembled in Lough Ree Yacht Club (LRYC) for the penultimate regatta of the season, the Munsters. Four excellent Olympic courses were set by Race Officer John Leech and race wins were shared by Noel Butler & Ed Butler (Jnr) 15061 and Barry McCartin & Conor Kinsella 15093. Team Butler added a 2, 3 to the two wins to open up a 2pt lead at the top of the ranking. McCartin/Kinsella had a 4, 5 to be 3pts ahead of Conor Clancy & Stephen Campion (2, 2, 5, 5) giving them a 1pt cushion over Team Rumball, Kenneth & Alexander. In 5th place are Louis Smyth & Cormac Bradley (3, 3, 6, 10).
Other notable individual race results include a third in Race 3 for Louise McKenna & Hermine O'Keeffe and a 4th in Race 4 for Frank Miller & Grattan Donnelly. Mike Murphy & Alex Voye are counting 2x6ths. Jon Evans & Aidan Caulfield had a 7 & 6 in the first two races.
Conditions were good despite a forecast of light easterlies, with trapezing conditions prevalent. Race turnarounds were kept to a minimum which meant that the session on the water was virtually entirely spent racing.
A further two races are scheduled for tomorrow.

Butler & Butler (1, 1, 2, 3) 4pts
McCartin & Kinsella (5, 4, 1, 1) 6pts
Clancy & Campion (2, 2, 5, 5) 9pts
Rumball & Rumball (4, 7, 4, 2) 10pts
Smyth & Bradley (3, 3, 6, 10) 12pts

#fireball – The 2013 Fireball Europeans in Slovenia came to a close earlier this afternoon when a third race, from the scheduled nine was completed writes Cormac Bradley. The fleet was afloat early today after a short postponement. The view from the Laguna restaurant terrace, which is providing the Race Office, wasn't that encouraging so there was a sense that the idea was to be afloat to facilitate a quick start if the wind did come in. A substantially sized sail-training vessel dominated the race area, but ultimately we didn't get close to it. After a number of aborted starts the fleet got away in what were to prove (for this correspondent at least) very difficult conditions. It seemed left should pay, but it didn't and we found ourselves significantly off the pace.

Dave Wade led the fleet until the downwind leg of the sausage when Matt Rainback took over the lead. However, Robert Gullan & Ben Ainsworth were lurking with intent and they went on to take the win!

Matt Burge blotted his copybook by finishing 9th, in contrast to his two 1st places on Wednesday & Thursday, but this was modest compared to Gillard's 12th. Wade's 2nd was enough to drag him up the pecking order to finish behind Burge overall. Rainback went into 3rd, Birrell 4th, Gillard 5th, Howarth 6th, Gullan 7th, Mermod 8th, Rumball 9th, Rush 10th.

1 Matt Burge & Richard Wagstaff - 1,1,9 = 11pts
2 Dave Wade & Tim Hartley - 6,5,2 = 13pts
3 Matt Rainback & Simon Foskett - 10,2,3 = 15pts
4 Christian Birrell &Sam Brearey- 2,9,7 = 18pts
5 Tom Gillard & Simon Potts - 3,7,12 = 21pts
6 Chips Howarth & Vyv Townend - 5,6,11 = 22pts
7 Robert Gullan & Ben Ainsworth - 24,3,1 = 28pts
8 Claude Mermod & Rudi Moser (SUI) - 7,20,5 = 32pts
9 Kenneth & Alexander Rum ball (IRL) - 4,19,14 = 37pts
10 Tim Rush & Dan Ellis 9,21,8 =38pts.

Other Irish

18 Noel Butler & Stephen Oram
36 Frank Miller & Marie Barry
38 Louis Smyth & Cormac Bradley
53 Louise McKenna

#fireball – After two days of scheduled races at the Fireball European Championships in Slovenia with an expectation of six races, we have two completed writes Cormac Bradley. Wednesday was wet and racing was delayed until late afternoon. Thursday was bright, sunny and hot and again racing was delayed until late afternoon.

Matt Burge & Richard Wagstaff (15093/GBR) have scored two first places to lead the fleet with an 8pt cushion. They led from start to finish on Wednesday and had a comfortable margin at the finish. Yesterday they were much closer to the fleet, but the result was the same!

In second place are Tom Gillard & Simon Potts (15091/GBR) who are counting a 3rd and a 7th. Three boats have 10pts - Christian Birrell & Sam Brearey (15089/GBR), Dave Wade & Tim Hartley (15083/GBR) and Chips Howarth &Vyv Townend (15096/GBR).

One point behind the logjam in 6th overall are Matt Rainback & Simon Foskett (15080/GBR), followed by the first non British boat, Joerg Nolle & Clay Poulson (14508/GER). Two Irish boats occupy the next slots, the Rumball brothers, Kenneth & Alexander, (15058/IRL) and Noel Butler and Stephen Oram (15061/IRL), separated by 2pts.

The top ten is closed out by Petr Koran & Milan Kvasnik (14827/CZE).

Race 1: Burge, Birrell, Gillard, Rumball, Howarth, Wade,

Race 2: Burge, Rainback, Skorepova (CZE), Dobson (GBR), Wade, Howarth, Gillard.

This morning's briefing is offering the prospect of an earlier start to proceedings, but already competitors are getting into conversation mode!

#fireball – The decision by the Race Committee to set a windward leeward course for tonight's DBSC race for the dinghies was probably the first overt sign that we were likely to have a difficult night! A practice downwind leg also showed that the angles we were sailing to didn't quite fit in with the symmetry of the course as laid at that stage. XCWeather has suggested SSW winds in the late teens with more substantial gusts, but the wind on the course was much less than that, though some trapezing was required on the way out to the race area.

The start was clean and three of the four boats went inshore, in theory out of the incoming tide. Early on in the first leg it appeared that the fourth boat had got it "more right" than the others by going out to sea – Louis Smyth & Cormac Bradley (15007) crossed ahead of the other three on their first shoreward hitch. Louise McKenna & Joe O'Reilly (14691) took their prompt from Smyth's forward position to go out to sea. Shortly thereafter Frank Miller & Grattan Donnelly (14713) did the same thing to leave the four boats sailing a parallel course with Noel Butler & Stephen Oram the most inshore boat of the group. At this stage the breeze was coming off the shore in pockets of slightly stronger gusts and Butler and Smyth took advantage of same to round first and second respectively. Miller & McKenna ended up sailing the great circle route to the weather mark in third and fourth. The first three boats headed out to sea to take advantage of the tide. McKenna took the inshore route. Miller closed on Smyth who closed on Butler and all three headed inshore towards the harbour wall with the boats stacked leeward to windward as Butler, Smyth and Miller, though this was also the straight line order in their approach to the wall.

Tacking onto starboard they kept company with each other for a short time before Smyth squeezed out from underneath Butler to open up a gap. Miller ended up outside Smyth, on the sea side of the beat. Meanwhile McKenna, who had rounded some distance behind the first three and tacked immediately, tacked again to join the other three. Smyth and Miller escaped from the other two to chase each other towards the weather mark.

Meanwhile...........Neil Colin & Margaret Casey (14775) who had been very late starters had rounded the first leeward mark and were closing the gap on the other four. In fact, about halfway up the second beat, the impression was that they had passed both Butler & McKenna.

Back at the front of the fleet, Smyth was picking up lifts to get inside the starboard layline to the weather mark. However, the lifts were spread out time-wise! Miller took a slightly looser approach to the "beat" and was unable to climb as high as Smyth. He would soon have his revenge!! Smyth rounded the weather mark without having to tack again, Miller had to put in another tack. Surely this would give Smyth an edge on distance. It did, but almost immediately on rounding Miller got into a completely different wind pattern and sailed away from Smyth under spinnaker, never to be seen again. Smyth was safe in 2nd as Butler in third was a long way back. Colin had closed on McKenna and they kept each other company down the 2nd downwind leg.

On their approach to the second leeward mark, Flag "V" was flying again – proceed directly to the finish. It seemed simple enough as the wind appeared to have filled in at this bottom end of the course. But first Miller & Donnelly and then Smyth & Bradley found that the combination of light winds and flooding tide made getting over the finish line was quite a challenge. They got there but it was a slightly odd sensation that it took as long as it did!

DBSC Fireball Series 3, Round 4
1 Frank Miller & Grattan Donnelly 14713 DMYC
2 Louis Smyth & Cormac Bradley 15007 Coal Harb.
3 Noel Butler & Stephen Oram 15061 DMYC
4 Neil Colin & Margaret Casey 14775 DMYC
5 Louise McKenna & Joe O'Reilly 14691 RStGYC

#fireball – With the double-header of the Fireball European and World Championships just over three weeks away, the International Fireball Class is in countdown mode to the pinnacle of the 2013 international regatta season in Portoroz, Slovenia writes Cormac Bradley.

The Europeans and Worlds will be hosted between the 9th and 20th of September with the Europeans taking up the first week. To date fifty-six boats are entered for the Europeans and seventy-one boats for the Worlds, with eleven countries represented and two continents. As with most international events in the Class, the UK contingent is the biggest with seventeen boats but they are being pushed hard by our hosts, the Slovenians with sixteen boats and the Czechs with fifteen boats. Thereafter, the pecking order is Italy (6), Ireland and Switzerland (5), Belgium & Shetlands (2) and Canada, France and Germany 1 each.

The entry list reads like the "Who's Who" of the Class with current World Champions, past World Champions, National Champions, Sailmakers, Class Officials and stalwarts of the class who appear at most World Championships.

The World Champions from 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 are on the entry list, as are the European Champions from 2012. One half of the winning combination from the recent UK Nationals is entered sailing with the defending World Champion crew. A significant number of the top ten crews at the UK Nationals, from a 49 boat fleet, will be in Slovenia.

The defending European Champions are Matt Burge and Richard Wagstaff who won the title in Bracciano, Italy in July 2012. At the recent UK Nationals they finished fifth overall in what the reports of the event describe as being a very competitive regatta. The defending World Champions from the December 2011/January 2012 regatta in Mandurah, Western Australia, Tom Gillard and Sam Brearey, have split for the Slovenia event with Tom sailing with Simon Potts and Sam sailing with Christian Birrell. They also won the 2010 Europeans sailed in the Czech Republic. Their predecessors as World Champions, Matt Burge & Richard Wagstaff (Sligo, Ireland) have already been mentioned, but their predecessors in turn, Chips Howarth & Vyv Townend (2009, La Rochelle and 2010, Barbados) are entered for both regattas. From the UK Nationals sailed in Looe, Cornwall, a couple of weeks ago the conspicuous absentee is the winning crew, Richard Anderton. Other top ten finishers from the UK Nationals include David Wade, 4th helm, Matt Rainback & Simon Foskett (6th overall) and Peter Gray & Tim Saunders (9th overall). And while the other countries may argue that a UK win shouldn't be a foregone conclusion, the reality is that if a team from outside the UK is to win, this is the pedigree of competitor they will have to beat.

The Czechs have shown in recent times that the standard of their fleet has improved significantly and, after a 37-boat Nationals at Lake Lupno in July, they will be doing their best to ensure they are at the front end of the fleet. Claude Mermod and Rudi Moser will probably lead the Swiss challenge and the Irish will look to the likes of new National Champion Kenny Rumball and his predecessor Noel Butler & Stephen Oram to front up their challenge. The French will be represented by perennial Worlds competitor Jean Francois Nouelle ("Cantona") sailing with Juin Franck and our German friends Joerg Nolle & Roger Leeman will do their best to upset the form horses. And the man who has probably sailed more Fireball international regattas that anyone else in the current fleet, Louis Smyth of Ireland will also be there.

If there is to be an award for the furthest distance travelled to the regatta, then the "shoe-in" for that award is the Canadian combination of Fireball International Commodore and Technical Representative, Joe Jospe and Tom Egli respectively. However, from within Europe, there are two entries from the Shetlands who would surely have the longest distance to drive to the event, never mind the most ferries to catch.

Our hosts have advised that we can expect good weather in Portoroz!

General: September is weather wise one of the most pleasant months in Portorož. The hottest summer days are already over but the weather can be still very nice and warm. The average maximum daily temperature is 23.9° C. Even if September is the month with the highest monthly precipitation average (120 mm of precipitation), the rainy events are rather short lasting and intensive. The average number of days with rain above 10 mm/day in September is 3.4. The atmosphere is already getting more stable thus the number of thunderstorms is relatively small (3.6 per month comparing with 8.2 in July).
The precipitation events and thunderstorms are mainly associated with the passages of cold fronts which are getting more frequent compared with summer months.

Table: Values for Portorož (September), period 1971-2000:
Average maximum daily temperature (°C) 23,9
Average minimum daily temperature (°C) 13,0
Average No. of days with the max. temp. > 25°C 10
Average monthly sunshine duration (hours) 223
Average monthly precipitation (mm) 120,5

Winds: The most relevant wind data for the race area in front of Portorož is the one from oceanographic and meteorological buoy Vida located a few miles from the racing area in front of Piran. The wind rose from meteorological buoy indicates that most frequent winds are sea breezes from WSW to NW. The general direction of the sea breeze depends on the general pressure gradient. It varies between WSW to NW. The sea breeze usually starts around 11 am, is the strongest around 2pm and it dies between 6 and 7pm. The strength of the sea breeze is usually from 8 to 14 kts. Land breezes in the morning are generally weak, stronger after the Bora episodes. Stronger gradient winds are expected from two dominant directions. S (SE in the Portorož bay) – jugo (Scirocco in Italian) and mainly from NE (Bora). SE-S winds are normally blowing before the approach of the cold fronts. Sometimes they mix with sea breeze resulting in the sea breeze from SW.
Bora is associated with the period after the passage of cold fronts and contrary to the winter and spring months doesn't last for longer periods. The longer episodes with Bora are associated with lows in the N Adriatic but the probability of their appearance is quite low in September. Bora is a
katabatic gusty wind and gusts can easily reach more than 30kts. The North Adriatic Sea is still quite warm in September, the average temperature is around 22 deg. C. Sea can get temporary colder after the intensive Bora episodes, but it regains the normal temperature in few days.

(Weather information by Jure Jerman, Environmental Agency, Republic of Slovenia & in Go Sailing Newsletter, Dec 2012 – available via the Fireball International website.)

#fireball – Six Fireballs came out for this evening's DBSC Series 3 race but only five of them made it to the start line by the scheduled time writes Cormac Bradley. 

Initially all five boats went off the line on starboard tack, but Louise McKenna & Hermine O'Keeffe (14691) took a modest hike inshore before returning to sail a parallel course to the rest of us. With the tide going out it seemed like the right thing to do – to stay left. Reading from right to left across the beat it was McKenna/O'Keeffe, Smyth & Bradley (15007), Miller & Donnelly (14713), Chambers & McGuire (14865) and Butler & Butler (Hugh) (15061).

Miller & Donnelly initially shot out from underneath the lee of Smyth & Bradley. Ditto Chambers & McGuire. Butler² seemed to be sailing a bit looser in the slightly lumpy conditions so therefore gave the impression of dropping off to lee. McKenna caught up with and passed Smyth who was enjoying lifts coming off the shore to sit inside the layline at times, but ultimately he was forced to take a hitch inshore to clear McKenna. At this stage, the weather mark was sticking with its description of a weather mark, but, as first McKenna and then Smyth rounded the mark, they gybed thus rendering the description of a weather mark as redundant. Miller was next round followed by Chambers which meant that Noel Butler was in a most unusual position for a Tuesday night!

Smyth initially caught, then passed McKenna, but Miller caught up on them both and at one stage, halfway down the second leg, all three were overlapped on each other. Miller dropped spinnaker first but the other two persevered and Smyth was initially rewarded by getting to within a boat length of what could be described as the gybe mark in terms of the original layout of the course. Butler² ghosted inside the four boats ahead of them to present themselves at the gybe mark as the first Fireball on the race track and after a lot of sail flapping by all four boats, the "rounding sequence" at the 2nd mark was Butler², Smyth, McKenna, Miller, Chambers. Almost immediately, McKenna was able to sail that little bit higher than the rest of us, Butler² footed off, as did Miller & Chambers, leaving Smyth to take up the rear. At the approach to the leeward mark, McKenna had the lead, Butler² had enough distance to cross everyone else on starboard. Chambers had outpaced Smyth who then tacked to put himself marginally in front of Miller at the mark.

The Race Committee at this stage gave up the fight against the elements and flying a V flag from a RIB, signaled to the fleet that they should proceed directly to the finish, which at this stage meant a spinnaker leg. McKenna/O'Keeffe and Butler² were comfortably ahead and the only way Smyth could catch Chambers was if she tried to take the OK dinghy from the PY fleet to windward. She didn't! Miller bumped Smyth in the rounding of the mark and graciously took his 720º immediately.

A night that defied the logic of the Race Committee and the aspirations of the competitors!