#dbscspringchicken – After three races sailed and three to go, the Hanse 341 Coumeenole leads the Rathfarnham Ford sponsored DBSC Spring Chicken series on Dublin Bay.

The modified ECHO series handicap regatta series has attracted over 40 sailing cruisers and sportsboats for the Dublin Bay 2015 warm–up event.

Attached below are results from last Sunday along with Starts & Handicap information for next Sunday.

#dbsc – Greeted with a foggy Dublin Bay yesterday morning and a gentle breeze due to a huge high pressure sitting over Ireland, team INSS were one of the first boats to head out to the DBSC Spring Chicken race course in a lovely 10-12 knots of breeze writes Kenneth Rumball. Our crew were keen to get to grips with the intricacies of handling the mast head spinnaker on our race prepared 1720 prior to the start of racing, giving us the best possible opportunity to win the day's race.

A great race course was set with a start line just off the harbour mouth and a 'Z' style course incorporating a laid weather mark, yellow mark as gybe mark, another laid gybe mark and then the pin end of the line as the leeward which we had to round to starboard. The 1720 fleet as always started in the third start with a biased committee boat end. Team INSS gave a lesson on how to control the fleet on a committee boat start and won the highly competitive start.

Up the first beat Merlin pulled ahead due to her dominant speed with Third Time Lucky also having a speed edge. Lady A from the RIYC rounded in third place with Team INSS rounding in fourth. A fumbled hoist saw Team INSS catching a few mackerel n anticipation for lunch, however the tem didn't lose too much and was soon catching the rest of the fleet.

On approach to the yellow mark there were many discussion on whether or not the 1720s could hold their kite on the tight reach, the small Sonata 'Asterix' had showed the fleet it can be done. All the 1720s apart from Merlin took the risk and tried to hold the kites which was to be a mistake. Merlin used the advantage and increased their lead as the remainder of the fleet struggled to douse kites on the fetch.

Team INSS also benefitted from some slick spinnaker work and was up to second place by the second gybe mark.

Despite their best efforts TEAM INSS could not manage to hold off Lady A even though at the finish there was barely two seconds between the hooters as the two 1720s cross the line.

Back ashore in the INSS centre we had a busy day with a full First Aid course for dinghy instructors as well as an ISA Dinghy Instructor Pre-Entry Assessment run by ISA Regional Development Officer Ciaran Murphy where all 7 candidates passed.

The afternoon saw our dinghy sailors out sailing in the DMYC Frostbites.

#springchicken – We're back into 2015 already and Team INSS kicked off their 2015 racing with the Dublin Bay Sailing Club Spring Series sponsored by Rathfarnham Ford. It was a cold windy start to the season with ice having to be scraped off the deck of our 1720 before we could safely rig for sailing.

Towing out, there was a cold breeze in form the West, Fintan Cairns and his team laid a triangular course with a start line just off the harbour mouth and a windward mark near Sandymount strand with the outfall mark being the gybe. Team INSS had a completely new team out of which one person had only competed with the team in the series before. Due to the stormy weather we have had over the past month, a training day was not able to happen prior to the event so our crew were totally fresh out of the blocks so to speak.

A heavily biased pin end saw all the 1720s in the third start converged with all getting off the line with no bumps or bashes. From here the pecking order quickly established itself with 'Third Time Lucky' and 'Merlin' both hailing from the George, duelling for the lead. Team INSC settled into third with 'Lady A' the fourth 1720 and the two other 1720s from the Irish in fifth and sixth.

There were no major changes across the race track but the gusty conditions did catch a few boats out including a 1720 going into a full capsize.

A great start to 2015 on the bay with the new Team INSS looking forward to a fantastic season ahead!

#dbsc – Results from last Sunday's first race of the Rathfarnham Ford sponsored DBSC Spring Chicken series on Dublin Bay together with starts and handicaps for next Sunday are downloadable below.

Dublin Bay Sailing Club's first event of 2015 begins on Sunday morning with the first of its 'Spring Chicken' Series, a series of six races to be held on Sunday mornings from 1st February to 10th March.

Handicaps and start times are downloadable below. 

The weather forecast for the first race for the handicap cruiser fleet looks set to blow the cobwebs away. According to the latest Dun Laoghaire marina forecast it will be another day of sunshine and snow showers, most of the showers in the Irish Sea. High cloud may thicken later as fronts associated with a small area of low pressure to the west of Ireland passes south-east toward Biscay. Visibility will be good away from showers, but reduced to moderate or poor during precipitation. Sea state will be moderate near the Marina, but widely rough in the Irish Sea. Winds will be  NW 25-30kt NNW 33-45kt!

The entry fee for the series is €60.00 – including temporary membership of DBSC and National YC.

Entries are accepted at the sole discretion of the Race Committee. An entry form and Notice of Race are both downloadable as Word documents on Afloat's earlier Spring Chicken post HERE

#dbsc – At five minutes past one, the INSS Sailors competing in the DMYC Frostbites as part of the INSS Race Training Programme, were rigging their boats on the Coal Harbour Slipway, raring to go in a big breeze writes Kenneth Rumball. However it was not to be, the DMYC Frostbites race committee took the understandable decision that strong winds and swell from the Northerly wind in the harbour made attempting racing too difficult.

The trainees were disappointed, according to our race coach Alexander Rumball who was accompanying them in his RS400. So it was decided, Magnos and Laser IIs were put away in favour of Laser Picos with reefed sails. One of the Irish National Sailing Club members launched his Laser, accompanied by an INSS instructor in a school radial. With Alexander's RS400 included, there were the makings of a fleet large enough to get some racing done.

A triangle was set with the weather mark near the top of the West Pier, which according to the sailor's reports was a challenge to get around cleanly in the swell. On the start line we were joined by three more RS400's, a couple of Lasers and a Solo dinghy. The INSS support RIB acted as committee boat and two races were held. Unfortunately we aren't able to publish results as the Race Officer for the day doubled as safety boat driver and was called on to give a hand to a Laser which had dropped its rig during a capsize. While the rig was successfully put back up, the safety boat didn't quite make it back to be a committee boat in time to record the finishers.

No one seemed to mind though, everyone was just glad to be out on the water and enjoying the challenge the conditions posed. Our racing programme trainees were delighted with the chance to practice in stronger winds, and we were equally as happy to be able to provide the course, flags and a few horns so that the Dun Laoghaire dinghy sailors who braved the weather could join in too.

#dbsc – Following on from DBSC's successful pre–Christmas Turkey Shoot Cruiser series, Dublin Bay organisers have unveiled the '2015 Spring Chicken', running from 1st February to 8th March. It's a series of six races that does not impact on St. Patrick's weekend holidays. A Notice of Race and Entry Form are attached below. Rathfarnham Ford are series sponsors. 

#dbscturkeyshoot – The forecast leading up to the final race of the Dublin Bay Sailing Club Rathfarnham Ford Turkey Shoot Series was not looking overly promising writes Kenny Rumball! Windguru was showing gusts of 37kts for Sunday morning. Regardless of this, the INSC made preparations for the forecasted conditions by digging out and dusting off some of the older 'working jibs' a smaller headsail for the 1720s should we be sent racing on the Sunday morning. The reality on the Sunday morning was of a much more sedate wind as the two teams were rigging up which prompted skippers Kenneth and Alexander Rumball to opt for the usual headsails and getting the crews to rig up to more powerful and bigger mast head spinnakers!

The decision as the teams sailed out appeared to be the right one with boat boats taking a spin upwind and then sailing back downwind with the big chutes up. However once these had been dropped, conditions changed dramatically! The beginning of the 37knot forecast ripped down the race track. There was enough time to change the spinnakers to the more manageable fractional kites but the larger jibs had to stay in place...

With a laid weather mark and using the yellow outfall as the gybe mark followed by the pin end as a leeward mark, Fintan Cairns and his team laid an excellent course once again of a triangle, sausage, triangle. The wind being from the West gave a flat sea which the 1720s are much more comfortable in allowing them to power up through the fleets. Initially, INSC1 (Kenneth Rumball), INSC2 (Alexander Rumball), Lady A (Colin Byrne RIYC) and Brian Matthews and team all went out to the left of the course while Martin Byrne and Niall O'Neill both sailing from the Royal st George, took a track out to the right handside, the advantage were minimal but the rounding order at the top mark was Matthews followed by Martin Byrne, INSC2, INSC1, Niall O'Neill &team, Lady A.

With the breeze hard on at this stage none of the 1720s flew kites on the triangular course, few place changes took place up the next beat, however INSC1 which had been struggling for pace up the beat needed to catch up and so threw caution to the wind and hoisted their fractional spinnaker! Niall O'Neill and INSC2 followed suit and the three boats took off, powering their way downwind and reeling in the leaders.

The last beat saw a tight battle at the front with Martin Byrne and Brian Matthews duking it out all the way to the finish! INSC2 came home, 3rd 1720 across the line with INSC1 5th 1720 across the line.

What is fantastic is the majority of crew on both INSC boats were mainly inexperienced racers with little to no experience on race boats or having raced and pushed a performance boat so hard in the extreme weather. All participants on the INSC boats were blown away by the experience with all exclaiming how much they learnt over the 7 weeks of racing and the training day.

With competition amongst the 1720s in the DBSC winter racing hotter than ever, the INSC race training programme is really proving its worth for customers in boats where there is 'no where to hide'. Both INSC boats are planning to compete in the Spring Series so if you want to improve your crewing skills, there is no better racing programme to sign up to.

#dbscturkeyshoot – A break in yesterday morning's westerly gale gave a 61–boat  Rathfarnham Ford–sponsored DBSC Turkey Shoot fleet the chance to sail its final race of the seven race series. The Beneteau 50, Mermaid IV (Seamus Fitzpatrick) emerged as overall winner for the second year running, only narrowly beating the Mustang 30, Peridot by half a point. In third place was the Poolbeg based J109 Wakey Wakey on 66 nett points. 

Winds gusted up to 44–knots during yesterday morning's racing but the 43–starters who braved the gusty conditions enjoyed a shortened course over two beats and two high speed runs with plenty of surfing opportunities. 

#frostbites – For the second Sunday in succession DMYC frostbites was cancelled due to strong winds. 

N over A is flying from the DMYC flagpole (at 12:32) with a confirming Facebook post that Frostbite racing is cancelled again - too gusty writes Cormac Bradley.

Contrary to my report last week, there is racing on the programme next Sunday - as advised/confirmed in the NoR and SI.

But for today there will be no water borne action!!

From my office view Dublin Bay is deceptive - it is an offshore breeze so the water is flat, but there are "catspaws" of harder wind skirting across the water. Further out there are whitecaps though they are not particularly big. XCWeather had been forecasting 16 knots with gusts in the mid-twenties.

It is a bright day with grey clouds over this part of the Bay with a brighter skyline to the north and east. A rainbow has just appeared over Poolbeg to the West!

TV time then? Scarlets v Ulster in Champions Cup Rugby or Utd v Liverpool in the Premier League!!