#fireball – Thirteen Fireballs braved the waters of Dun Laoghaire harbour yesterday on what must have been the coldest day of the series thus far. The Wicklow hills, viewed from the harbour were covered in a thick blanket of snow, while the closer Dublin hills were also covered in white but not to the same intensity. While temperatures hovered at 3º for the afternoon, there was neither snow nor rain for the race duration. The east pier weather station was recording winds of approximately 20 knots from the SE with gusts getting up to 25 knots, but on the water the wind didn't seem to be quite that strong and crews later suggested an ambient wind strength closer to 15 knots. There were lots of squalls on the water which meant that capsizes were the order of the day – not so much in the Fireball class, but in the other classes quite a few impromptu baths were taken.

Given the weather conditions, the Race Officer set a four lap race for the Fireballs and they had a clean start with the entire fleet heading left initially, in contrast to the preceding class starts, PY Classes and Lasers, who went exclusively right and a mix of left and right respectively.

Alexander Rumball & Conor Kinsella (14820) worked the left-hand side to best effect to round the weather mark in first place, chased by Noel Butler & Stephen Oram (15061), Neil Colin & Margaret Casey (14775), Mick Creighton & Joe O'Reilly (14937) and Kenny Rumball & Dave Moran (15058). Down the first spinnaker reach, Rumball/Moran appeared to take Creighton & O'Reilly to weather, but as the fleet went around the gybe mark and sailed off to the leeward mark and away from my vantage point it was difficult to see whether they retained this position to the bottom of the course. The first gybe mark was treated conventionally by the fleet - tight gybe on the mark – but the line to the leeward mark soon showed up as having a number of variants.

Sitting just inside the harbour mouth, the gybe mark was in relatively heavy swell which would provide fun and games later in the race.

By the second weather mark Butler/Oram had taken over the lead. They had worked the middle and left of the beat. Rumball/Kinsella, more easily identified by the red spinnaker that was not fully into the spinnaker bag after the leeward mark, took more of a right hitch before chasing the leaders up the middle. Team Clancy, Conor and James, were well back, by their standards, on the first lap but worked hard/got the second beat right to pop into 3rd place at the second weather mark. Colin/Casey and Creighton/O'Reilly closed out the top five.

In their first appearance of 2013 Frank Miller & Grattan Donnelly (14713) made their seasonal debut and their position on the first lap suggested there might be some rustiness in their sailing. However, as the race progressed they made significant progress to join the group of boats chasing the lead bunch of five. An unscheduled bath on the third gybe mark put a halt to their progress.

The wind shifted as the race progressed so the gybe mark was no longer the significant turning mark of the first lap. Some boats chose to sail past it on starboard tack to the end of the west pier before gybing while others did the conventional thing, gybing immediately but then requiring another gybe to set themselves up for the leeward mark. Thus the fleet were criss-crossing each other (and the other fleets) on the second reach which had become that much broader. The growing swell at the gybe mark, with hulls disappearing in the troughs of the waves meant that gybe management took on extra emphasis. The off-wind legs were fast and furious without being overpowering.

Butler/Oram still had the lead at the third weather mark with two Rumballs chasing them, Alexander ahead of Kenny! The two "Rs" were then followed by three "Cs" Clancy, Colin and Creighton. Butler & Oram looked in a comfortable position but as the boats emerged from the melee of the leeward mark (from a visual perspective) it was the Clancy brothers who were in the lead, their distinctive 3-number main making identification easy. Where had Butler/Oram lost out? Post-race it turns out they had an interaction with a Laser in the approach to the leeward mark and rather than run the risk of disqualification they took turns. Team Clancy stayed hard right and rounded the fourth weather mark in the lead. Rumball/Kinsella, sailing a very consistent race, rounded in second followed by Butler/Oram with Alexander's older brother Kenny & David Moran in third. The battle of the remaining "Cs" was being led by Creighton in 4th with Colin in 5th.

These positions remained to the finish – a race that had taken less than an hour. Given the cold and wind chill factor there were no protests at the short duration of the race. Alexander Rumball has now sailed two races in this series and after last week's 5th place has followed it up with a 2nd. While we all know about the Rumball pedigree on the race course, these performances are significant for this fleet for a young man that we speculated afterwards is probably only 17 or 18! Unfortunately for Alexander, after yesterday's race a protest panel sat to hear the protest lodged by Team Clancy last week. Rumball & Kinsella were the protestees and the panel found in favour of Team Clancy.

42nd Frostbite Series, hosted by DMYC: Series 2, Round 3.

1 Conor & James Clancy 150** RStGYC

2 Alexander Rumball & Conor Kinsella 14820 INSC

3 Noel Butler & Stephen Oram 15061 DMYC

4 Kenny Rumball & David Moran 15058 INSC

5 Mick Creighton & Joe O'Reilly 14937 ISA/Coal Harbour

For the second week in a row, the Frostbite Mugs have gone to the northside of Dublin Bay and Howth Yacht Club. Luke Malcolm and Shane Divinney finished eighth on the water but were rewarded for their perseverance by getting the day's prizes.

42nd Frostbite Series, hosted by DMYC: Series 2 Overall.

1 Noel Butler & Stephen Oram 15061 DMYC 6pts

2 Conor Clancy & James Clancy 150** RStGYC 12pts

Kenny Rumball & Conor Kinsella/David Moran 15058 INSC

4 Andy Boyle & Brian Flahive 14934 RIYC 14pts

5 Neil Colin & Margaret Casey 14775 DMYC 16pts

6 Louise McKenna & Hermine O'Keeffe 14691 RStGYC 20pts

#DunLaoghaire - Dun Laoghaire Harbour Company chief executive Gerry Dunne made the case for a diapora centre in the South Dublin port town at a gathering in the House of Lords in London recently.

The meeting was hosted by Baroness Detta O’Cathain, a member of the leadership council of the Irish International Diaspora Trust which is working to create a diaspora centre at Dún Laoghaire Harbour.

In an opinion piece published in The Irish Times a few weeks ago, Baroness O'Cathain wrote that "by supporting the creation of a disapora centre... we will be paying tribute to our ancestors."

The proposed Irish International Diaspora Centre forms part of the Masterplan for Dun Laoghaire Harbour, which will involve an investment of more than €230 million over the next 10-15 years.

The €50 million diaspora visitor centre envisaged for Carlisle Pier would celebrate the “origins, diversity and influence of the Irish at home and abroad” at a place where thousands of Irish people left for new lives in Britain and beyond in decades past.

Baroness O'Cathain said she was pleased that the Programme for Government "seeks to support the creation of a diaspora centre", adding that "we must pass on to this generation and to future generations the importance of the Irish DNA of the soul.

"The sense of belonging to a very precious country brightens our lives. This is what, in strong terms, the diaspora centre will do."

Last summer The Irish Times reported that Peter Whittaker of Martello Media was been appointed creative director of the Irish International Diaspora Centre development team.

#vdlr – More than half of the champions from Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta 2011 have indicated (see table below) they will be back this July to defend their respective titles in Ireland's biggest regatta.

The biennial event features over 28 different racing classes and organisers are already predicting a strong turnout of up to 400 boats with UK entries part of the early entries to date. A separate bid has been made urging more Cork sailors to attend this year.

Among those returning for the battle of the bay inlcude IRC Class Zero winner (and the new ICRA commodore) Norbert Reilly at the helm of the Mills 37 Crazy Horse from Howth.

Class one winner, the j109 Something Else skippered by John Hall from the National Yacht Club is also back.

In the one design classes Ben Duncan is defending in the SB20s, Tim Goodbody in the Sigma 33s, David Gorman in the Flying Fifteens. In the dinghy classes John Ross Murphy will be racing Little Tern in the Water Wag class (one of the biggst dinghy classes on the bay).

The full list of 2011 VDLR champions (compiled by VDLR) is below.

Defending	Class		Boat Name	Owner	Club
Yes	IRC O	1st	Crazy Horse	Chambers/Reilly	Howth YC
Yes	IRC 1	1st	Something Else	John and Brian Hall, Sue McDonnell	National YC
Yes	IRC 2	1st	Impetuous	Fergal Noonan & Robert Chambers	Howth YC
Yes	J109	1st	Joker 2	John Maybury	Royal Irish YC
Yes-Entered	Laser SB3	1st	Sharkbait	Ben Duncan/Brian Moran	Howth YC
Yes	Sigma 33	1st	White Mischief	Tim Goodbody	Royal Irish YC
Hopefully	Beneteau 31.7	1st	Twister	Fletcher, Byers, Fair	Ballyholme Yacht Club / Royal Ulster Yacht Club
Yes-Entered	Water Wag	1st	Little Tern	J. Ross-Murphy,	Royal St George YC
Yes	Flying 15	1st	HY5ive	David Gorman	National YC
Yes	Howth 17	1st	Oona	Peter Courtney	Howth YC
Yes	Mermaid	1st	Tiller Girl	Jonathan O'Rourke	National YC
Yes	Squib	1st	Toy for the boys	Peter Wallace	Royal North of Ireland YC
Yes	Glen	1st	Glenluce	Donal O'Connor & Richard O'Connor	Royal St George YC
Yes	Ruffian	1st	Diane 2	Alan Claffey	Royal St George YC
Yes	Dragon	1st	Phantom	Peter Bowring,David Williams	Royal St George YC
Defending	Special Trophies		Boat Name	Owner	Club
Yes	Best IRC		Crazy Horse	Chambers/Reilly	Howth YC
Yes	Best One Design/Keelboat		White Mischief	Tim Goodbody	Royal Irish YC
Yes	Best Dinghy/Small Keelboat		Sharkbait	Ben Duncan/Brian Moran	Howth YC
TBC	Salamander Trophy - Best Visiting Boat		Black Pear	David Wade	Rock SC
TBC	Dublin Bay Non Spinnaker Trophy		Arwen	Philip O'Dwyer	Royal Irish YC
Sold?	Boat of the Week - Dubarry Shamrock Boot		Supernova	Syb McCormack / Ken Lawless / Pat Shannon	Royal Irish YC
TBC
	Non Spinnaker 2	1st	Bite the Bullet	Colm Bermingham	Howth YC
	Non Spinnaker 1	1st	Tsunami	Vincent Farrell	National YC
	IRC 1	1st	Xtravagance	Colin Byrne	Royal Irish YC
	IRC 3	1st	Relativity	Sean Flood	Wicklow SC
	IRC 3	1st	Supernova	Syb McCormack / Ken Lawless / Pat Shannon	Royal Irish YC
	IDRA 14	1st	Delos II	Patrick O' Neill	Clontarf Yacht & Boat Club
	Fireball	1st	El Rey del Fuego	Francis Rowan	National YC
	Shipman	1st	Curraglas	John Masterson	National YC
	Dublin Bay Sailing Club Cup	1st	Arwen	Philip O'Dwyer	Royal Irish YC

#RNLI – Lifeboats at Dun Laoghaire were called out yesterday following a distress call from a yacht with a suspected fire on board.

The incident took place shortly after mid-day while a second call for a kitesurfer in difficulty was received soon afterwards.

The yacht had been on a sail-training trip with a skipper and six crew on board when a high-temperature alarm and smoke alerted the crew. Fire extinguishers were used on the engine compartment and the skipper notified the Irish Coast Guard's Marine Rescue Co-Ordination Centre in Dublin (MRCC Dublin).

The RNLI All-Weather lifeboat (ALB) and Inshore lifeboat (ILB) launched immediately and were quickly on scene in the harbour where the yacht had moored.  The coastguard rescue helicopter from Dublin Airport and the Irish Lights vessel Granuaile also responded to the alert.

The lifeboat took the six crew-members off the 37-foot yacht while two RNLI crew-members boarded the casualty vessel to inspect for damage with the skipper.  An over-heating engine was the suspected cause and the vessel was taken in tow to Dun Laoghaire marina where all crew members were brought ashore.  Units of the Dublin Fire Brigade attended at the marina and checked the vessel. Nobody was injured in the incident.

Meanwhile, the ILB was diverted from the call to the sail-training yacht to a kitesurfer in difficulty off the South Bull Wall. The coastguard helicopter proceeded to the scene and spotted the casualty who had become separated from his board.

Although weather conditions were fine, a fresh Easterly breeze against the ebbing Spring tide had caused a moderate seaway and swell while the casualty was attempting the swim for shore. The ILB crew recovered the casualty and landed him at the beach beside the Pigeon House at Ringsend where he did not require medical attention.

#dunlaoghaire – Following yesterday's afloat.ie article on parking in Dun Laoghaire Harbour, Operations Manager Tim Ryan says 'everyone can now benefit from discounted parking throughout the Harbour and DLHC is offering some of the cheapest rates around'.

Ryan has supplied harbour parking zones (downloadable below as a pdf file) and also explained the background to harbour parking and the strategy for 2013:

'Parking in Dun Laoghaire Harbour in recent years has cost €2 per hour and annual permits traditionally cost €1000.

Members of sailing clubs could apply for a sailing permit which allowed them park for a daily rate of €8 if permit sticker was displayed on their window. Students could apply for a student permit which allowed them park for a daily rate of €8 if permit sticker was displayed on their window.

We have changed since 1st Jan 2013 to:

€2 per hour throughout the harbour

€4 per day for everyone in the West Harbour

€8 per day for everyone in the Underground Car Park, Marina Car Park or on the Carlisle Pier

€20 per week for everyone in the Underground Car park

Annual permit reduced to €800, but restricted to designated parking zones as per map attached (below)'

Vehicles parked in areas other than the Designated Zones will be clamped unless displaying a valid parking ticket, the company says.

#DunLaoghaire - The Dun Laoghaire Harbour Company has issued a tender for a design team to draft a vision for the proposed 'Marina Village Project' in the port town.

The Marina Village development is on the site of the former Shell Chemicals facility at the West Pier next to the Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club, at an area known as the 'Gut'.

It is also part of the Masterplan launched in mid-2011 intended to "position Dun Laoghaire Harbour as a marine, leisure and tourism destination of international calibre".

As per the Masterplan, the development is intended for residential and water-sports use, and the aim of this tender us to "identify the optimum development proposition for the site".

The tender document suggests that proposed water-sports facilities at the site "could potentially be occupied by users such as the Sea Scouts".

In their joint response to the launch of the Masterplan in June 2011, Dun Laoghaire's yacht clubs identified a "significant amount of shore space" ripe for development in the area earmarked for the Marina Village scheme.

The request for proposals is available to download as a PDF below.

#VOR - The Galway City Tribune reports that Taoiseach Enda Kenny has sanctioned a bailout for outstanding debts owed by the organisers of this summer's Volvo Ocean Race finale in Galway.

Minister for Tourism and Sport Leo Varadkar had previously ruled out any Government assistance to cover the €400,000 in debts owed by Let's Do It Global to numerous suppliers.

Let's Do It Global was subsequently moved to declare that a decision on bidding to host a third stopover is "postponed" while it concentrated on settling with its creditors.

But now unconfirmed reports suggest that Government funding will be provided in January to cover €360,000 of the debt.

Galway West TD Brian Walsh told the Tribune he is "confident that the issue in relation to debts will be sorted out, and that the creditors - many of whom are small businesses - will be paid."

Though it is unclear when Galway will be prepared to tender for a third hosting of the round-the-world yacht race, organisers for Dun Laoghaire have recently announced their intention to bid for the 2016 race - and cash in on the success of the event in the City of the Tribes this year.

#VOR - The Irish Independent reports that Dun Laoghaire is considering a tender for the Volvo Ocean Race to cash in on the success of the event in Galway this summer.

Despite attracting nearly one million spectators to the City of the Tribes and brining tens of millions of euro into the local economy, Galway is not expected to bid for the next edition of the race in 2014-2015, with race organisers Let's Do It Global citing the need to concentrate on paying off its outstanding debts to suppliers.

That decision paves the way for Dun Laoghaire to table its own bid for the round-the-world yacht race in 2016, after Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council passed a motion to enter consultations with Fáilte Ireland.

With both Fáilte Ireland and the Government potentially stepping up €5 million of the expected €8 million total cost, Dun Laoghaire's hosting of a VOR stopover would be predicated on raising the remaining €3 million.

Councillor John Bailey, who proposed the motion, told the Evening Herald in June: "We need to bring the 2016 race to Dun Laoghaire. It's too late to apply for 2014, but we could make it a great success in 2016."

It's not the first time Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown councillors have eyed the race.

In 2010 Cllr Gearóid O'Keeffe, seconded by Cllr Jim O'Leary, proposed that the council invite Volvo Ocean Race organisers "to designate Dún Laoghaire as a port of call".

However, the south Dublin town's gestures towards hosting this year's edition of the race were scuppered by a lack of available funding, and a tender was never submitted.

A council spokesperson said at the time that the costs associated with hosting the event were "substantial" and that the council wasn't "in a position to underwrite these costs".

Dun Laoghaire also reportedly failed to bid for the VOR in 2009, which sparked a row among councillors after it emerged that Galway's staging of the race that year generated €55 million for the city's economy.

#OLYMPICS - Windsurfing has been reinstated in the Olympic Games programme at the expense of new class kitesurfing after a vote by the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) yesterday, as Eurosport reports.

It had been expected that sailing's world governing body would reach a compromise of sorts at its annual general meeting in Dun Laoghaire by keeping both classes in the Rio Games in 2016.

The original decision to replace windsurfing with the new sport of kitesurfing back in May was considered a surprise move, but the ISAF has surprised again with its reversal of that decision.

Windsurfing's supporters were said to be "shell-shocked" by the original vote, and vowed to lobby the ISAF to overturn the decision in Dublin, for which they needed a two-thirds majority.

Israel's sailing head Yehuda Maayan told Reuters that delegates had likely been confused about the original vote because of language difficulties, noting that the Spanish delegate had voted for kiteboarding by mistake.

Among those expressing their disappointment at the about face was Virgin founder Richard Branson, who wrote on his blog that the ISAF had "have misled everybody and been very short-sighted in making this knee-jerk decision".

He added: "Their original decision was the right one and a brave one, although my own feeling is that there is room for both sports in the Olympics. If they had to drop anything it should have been one of the less exciting sailing races, which really don't capture the public's imagination."

The move is also a bitter blow for Irish kitesurfer Claudine Murphy, sister of Olympic star Annalise Murphy, who had been campaigning in the new class to make it a sister act at the Rio Games.

In other news from yesterday's ISAF AGM, new members of the ISAF Council have been announced.

Italy's Carlo Croce was elected president and chair of the council that also includes seven vice presidents: George Andreadis (Greece), Chris Atkins (UK), Adrienne Greenwood (New Zealand), Nazli Imre (Turkey), Gary Jobson (USA), Quanhai Li (China) and W Scott Perry (Uruguay).

Also on the council are a non-voting treasurer (yet to be confirmed), 28 representatives from member national authorities (MNAs) and individual representatives from the athletes' commission, the ISAF classes, offshore sailing and women's sailing. Sailing.org has full details on the new council HERE.

from ISAF

Kiteboards Out / Windsurfing Back In

Dun Laoghaire, Ireland: After three days of meetings, the ISAF Annual Conference drew to a close Saturday as the final decisions affecting the sport moving forward were made.

23 submissions relating to the events and equipment for Rio 2016 were received by ISAF in advance of the Conference. In accordance with the ISAF Regulations, before the detail of any of these particular submissions could be discussed, Council were required to vote on a motion to re-open the debate on the subject. The Regulations specify that 75% of members must agree to the motion.

The submissions were presented as six proposals and Council asked to vote on them in terms of the specific changes they proposed. The first proposal grouped. 26 Council members voted in favour and 12 were against.

Proposal 2, which featured Submission 063-12, related to Men's Kiteboarding, Women's Kiteboarding and 2nd One Person Dinghy - Finn. 14 Council members voted in favour and 23 were against and 1 abstained.

With 38 possible votes, the 75% requirement was not achieved on either proposal so the events and equipment as approved in May 2012 remain for Rio 2016.

However, at the ISAF General Assembly part of the business for the 106 Member National Authorities (MNAs) who were present was to review any regulations made or amended in any substantive way by Council since the last Ordinary Meeting which was in November 2011.

ISAF had been notified of three amendments proposed by MNAs which concerned the first two lines of Regulation 23.1.4 (Men's and Women's Kiteboarding).

As defined in the Articles of ISAF, decisions at the General Assembly shall be taken by a simple majority of votes of those present and entitled to vote. There were 114 possible voters, including the ISAF President and Vice-Presidents.

After a lengthy debate the MNAs approved the first proposal which reinstated Men's and Women's Boards - RS:X.

ISAF Regulation 23.1.4 now reads:

Men's Board - RS:X

Women's Board - RS:X

Men's One Person Dinghy - Laser

Women's One Person Dinghy - Laser Radial

Men's 2nd One Person Dinghy - Finn

Men's Skiff - 49er

Women's Skiff - 49erFX

Men's Two Person Dinghy - 470

Women's Two Person Dinghy - 470

Mixed Two Person Multihull - Nacra 17

sailing.org

#ISAF - In just a few hours the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) and Rolex will announce the 2012 ISAF Rolex World Sailors of the Year in Dublin.

The award ceremony will take place during a dinner hosted at the historic Mansion House in the heart of the capital, and will be attended by many of the world’s top sailors and delegates to the ISAF Annual Conference taking place in Dun Laoghaire.

This year's winners as always are selected by the ISAF Member National Authorities (MNAs), the national governing bodies for sailing around the world, who have been invited to vote for one male and one female nominee they believe most deserves the award for their efforts during the nomination period.

This year there are five male and four female nominees who have been shortlisted for the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards based on their achievements during the qualifying period of 1 September 2011 to 31 August 2012.

HM King Constantine, ISAF President of Honour, will announce the winners, each of whom will be presented with the prestigious ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year trophy and a distinctive Rolex timepiece.

The 2012 nominees are:

Male

• Ben Ainslie (GBR) - Finn - London 2012 Olympic Gold Medallist & 2012 World Champion
• Mathew Belcher & Malcolm Page (AUS) - Men's 470 - London 2012 Olympic Gold Medallists, 2011 and 2012 World Champions & 2011-2012 ISAF Sailing World Cup Champions
• Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen (AUS) - 49er - London 2012 Olympic Gold Medallists & 2011 and 2012 World Champions
• Loïck Peyron (FRA) - Outright Around the World Record
• Tom Slingsby (AUS) - Laser - London 2012 Olympic Gold Medallist & 2011 and 2012 World Champion

 

Female

• Támara Echegoyen, Ángela Pumariega and Sofía Toro (ESP) - Women's Match Racing - London 2012 Olympic Gold Medallists
• Helena Lucas (GBR) - 2.4mR - London 2012 Paralympic Gold Medallist & 2011-12 ISAF Sailing World Cup Champion
• Saskia Sills (GBR) - RS:X - ISAF Youth Sailing World Champion & European Youth Champion
• Lijia Xu (CHN) - Laser Radial - London 2012 Olympic Gold Medallist

 

Find out more HERE about the nominated sailors and their achievements.