#dbsc – With one boat in for repairs and another absent due to its skipper being on holiday, the Dublin Bay Fireball turnout was down in numbers – only three boats made the start line for the three lap triangle-sausage-triangle course in what was the first wet Tuesday night we have had for a while writes Cormac Bradley. This correspondent was not on the water, but he did watch proceedings for this report.

The southerly breeze which XCWeather was predicting for 19:00 was in place and the predicted wind strength of 9 knots, gusting 14 knots was about right in terms of the base wind strength but was a bit generous in terms of the gusts. All three boats appeared to favour a starboard tack start to sail parallel to the shore initially before tacking onto port for a long hitch inshore to the weather mark which was laid inshore for the southerlies. Up the first beat the three boats were in close company, though at the post-mortem afterwards the suggestion was that Messrs Butler and Colin had "fun and games" on the start-line.
All three rounded in quick succession and a fast spinnaker hoist by Noel Butler & Stephen Oram (15061) saw them quickly pull away from the other two with Oram full out on trapeze. Neil Colin & Margaret Casey (14775) appeared to sail a more windward line to the gybe mark and the additional breeze allowed them to sail over Louise McKenna & Hermine O'Keeffe (14691), fresh from collecting trophies (First lady helm and crew respectively) at the Europeans in Shetland. The wind appeared to fade as these two approached the gybe mark and all three seemed to have a tight three-sailer on the bottom reach to a leeward mark that was located just off the East Pier.
Butler & Oram were comfortable ahead at this stage and proceeded to sail their own course on the next beat, initially sailing inshore on port tack until the other two rounded – with Colin & Casey taking at the leeward mark and McKenna & O'Keeffe adopting the same policy as the leaders. Once Colin showed his hand, Butler went the same way! The wind was already starting to ease so the trapezing of the first beat was replaced with the marginal variety. While Colin appeared to have distance on McKenna at the leeward mark, by the time they each cleared the committee boat on separate approaches, the distance between them had dropped significantly.
At the 2nd weather mark, Butler & Oram gybed immediately whereas the other two sailed around to go out to the seaward side of the course on starboard. This prompted Butler to gybe away from the shore and shepherd the other two from a very safe distance. Sailing a more windward course again, Colin loses out to McKenna who sails past him but doesn't match his gybe allowing Colin to regain 2nd spot. At the leeward mark they are separated by a boat-length, with Colin ahead and inside boat.
On the final beat, Butler & Oram crossed the course on starboard tack, awaiting the rounding by the other two. They adopted the same approach, but it is now "nip and tuck" between them and at the final weather mark, McKenna has got ahead again. The 1-2-3 remained as was for the remainder of the race with Butler & Oram having a 1:30 minute advantage at the last leeward mark and McKenna & O'Keeffe having 30 seconds on Colin and Casey.

DBSC Tuesday Nights: Series 3, Race 2.
1 Noel Butler & Stephen Oram 15061 NYC
2 Louise McKenna & Hermine O'Keeffe 14691 RStGYC
3 Neil Colin & Margaret Casey 14775 DMYC

DBSC Tuesday Nights: Series 3 Overall (2 races) Pts.
1 Noel Butler & Stephen Oram 15061 NYC 2
2 Louise McKenna & Hermine O'Keeffe 14691 RStGYC 8
3 Neil Colin & Margaret Casey 14775 DMYC 9

Note that Series 2 was a three way tie between Butler, O'Keefe and Colin, each having 11 points after discard.

#fireball – Tom Gillard & Richard Anderton (GBR 15081) are the new Fireball European Champions. In today's final day of racing they won two of the three races to win the regatta, after discard, by a 6pt margin writes Cormac Bradley.
In 2nd place overall are Matt Burge & Richard Wagstaff (GBR 15093), followed by David Wade & Tim Hartley (GBR 15113) with these two being separated by 3pts.
The young Irish combination, Barry McCartin & Conor Kinsella (IRL 15114) finished fourth overall, losing out to Wade by a solitary point. However, they will be buoyed by the fact that they took the last race of the regatta to break the stranglehold that the British boats had on racer wins.
In 5th place overall are the Czech combination Jaroslav Verner and Jakub Napravnik (CZE 15110).
Principle Race Officer, Bruce Leask and his team, produced a hat-trick of three-race days to give the fleet a second discard, to the relief of some. Wind today was out of the east and started a bit light but grew stronger as the day wore on, so much so that the "pumping flag" was broken out for the last race.
Burge and Wagstaff's day came unstuck with some wayward results but in truth two race wins today for Gillard & Anderton is where the damage was done to the former's campaign. Wade and Hartley too had a good day with a 2, 3, 3, suite of results.
Among the ladies, Louise McKenna & Hermine O'Keeffe (IRL 14691) in 17th were first with Maja Suter & Thomas Boehm (SUI 14921) 5pts adrift of the Irish combination.
In home fleet terms, Will'm Mouatt and Neil Fraser (SHE 14402) take the honours, their regatta highlight being a 4th place finish in Race 8.

Homecoming Scotland 2014 Fireball European Championships
Lerwick, Shetland. Sail No. R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 Nett
1 Tom Gillard & Richard Anderton GBR 15081 4 2 2 1 3 1 1 1 2 10
2 Matt Burge & Richard Wagstaff GBR 15093 5 1 1 2 1 2 7 5 4 16
3 David Wade & Tim Hartley GBR 15113 2 4 4 4 2 3 2 3 3 19
4 Barry McCartin & Conor Kinsella IRL 15114 1 6 6 3 4 5 4 2 1 20
5 Jaroslav Verner & Jakub Napravnik CZE 15110 3 3 3 5 6 6 8 6 5 31
6 Jiri Paruzek & Jakub Kosvica CZE 14551 8 7 5 6 5 14 3 27 6 40
7 Alex Taylor & Geoff Edwards GBR 15046 6 5 7 7 27 4 5 27 7 41
8 Will'm Mouatt & Neil Fraser SHE 14402 27 11 8 9 9 16 6 4 9 56
9 Scott Nicolson & Roger Goudie SHE 14513 15 8 10 8 7 8 10 9 11 60
10 Frank Miller & Ismail Inan IRL 14713 13 10 11 12 10 9 12 15 12 76

#fireball – Thursday's racing at the Homecoming Scotland 2014 Fireball European Championships didn't happen as Bruce Leask, Principle Race officer was beaten by the elements and was thus unable to get a race in writes Cormac Bradley. The fleet set out for the race course shortly after 12 noon for a scheduled 13:00 start, to the backdrop of a third cruise liner in Lerwick Harbour in as many days. With a forecast of dropping wind strength as the day wore on, the omens were not good. The presence of the second largest floating crane in the world would have influenced where the race course could be set but initially this enormous piece of engineering excellence didn't influence where we might be sailing.

However, the wind refused to co-operate and despite the persistent attention of the Race Team, they flew racing's equivalent of the white flag, "N over A" shortly after 15:00. A long sail home was shortened by the mark boats offering multiple tows to the competitors.

Tonight we have the UK Fireball Association "setting out their stall" for the 2015 Worlds in Pwllheli, Wales.

Tomorrow, Friday, is the last day of the regatta and there must be the prospect of an earlier start to the day to try and recover at least one of today's lost races.

For the present though, the scoreboard stays the same, which means that Matt Burge and Richard Wagstaff (GBR 15093) lead by two points from Tom Gillard and Richard Anderton (GBR 15081).

Attachments: pdf of results after Day 2 and six races.

#fireball – Although the seascape at 07:30 this morning suggested otherwise for the Fireball Europeans, Principle Race Officer Bruce Leask was able to get the three races he had programmed for the day completed here in Lerwick, thus allowing the regatta to get started writes Cormac Bradley. The day had started off with a postponement of one hour but shortly after 12 noon that came down and the fleet was advised to set out for the race area.
At midnight last night (Sunday), XCWeather was predicting that the wind would be WNW and very light initially but building during the day without getting into double figures. On the race course the wind direction was fluctuating around 260˚ but not be severe amounts on the start line. Three races were sailed in moderate trapezing conditions – not too severe – with the conventional Olympic course used in all three races. The first race was shortened after the downwind sausage leg but the other two, on a smaller physical course, ran their full length.
Race 1 honours went to the young Irish combination Barry McCartin and Conor Kinsella (IRL 15114) who initially were behind Dave Wade and Tim Hartley (GBR 15113), but pulled ahead on the second beat to lead and win by a comfortable margin. The podium had a three nation flavour with Wade and Hartley in 2nd and Jaroslav Werner and Jakub Napravnik (CZE 15110) in 3rd. Also included in the lead bunch that set the pace for everyone else were Tom Gillard and Richard Anderton (GBR 15081) with Matt Burge and Richard Wagstaff (GBR 15093) closing out the top five. The balance of the top ten were Alex Taylor & Geoff Edwards (GBR 15046), Maja Suter & Thomas Boehm (SUI 14921), Jiri Paruzek & Jakub Kosvica (CZE 14551), Ondrej Labuda & Karel Otto (CZE 14262) and Darren & Craig Forrest (SHE 14395). The racing was tight and there were skirmishes going on around the course but nothing excessive!
The PRO and his team had already modified the position of the weather mark in Race 1, but while we were sailing the sausage leg of that race, he also modified the position of the gybe mark, making the course smaller.
The "usual suspects" were at the front of the second race with an almost reversed order of finishing (relative to the first race). Going right seemed to pay most dividends, certainly from this correspondent's perspective. This time is was Matt Burge & Richard Wagstaff who came from behind to take the lead to win comfortably at the finish. Indeed the front five or six got away from the body of the fleet but none of them were able to close the gap on the boat in front of them. The sausage downwind produced a variety of approaches with some sailing round the mark and going right for a short distance before coming back left. Others gybed immediately. The breeze was a bit stronger but not by much. The two reaches of the triangle were challenging but the second one was by far the tighter.
After a race that lasted just less than an hour (or thereabouts) the finishing order was Burge/Wagstaff, Gillard/Anderton, Verner/Napravnik. Wade & Hartley and Taylor & Edwards were both scored 4th which must be a first! McCartin & Kinsella were 6th, Paruzek & Kosvica 7th, Scott Nicolson & Roger Goudie (SHE 14513) 8th, Louise McKenna and Hermine O'Keeffe (IRL 14691) 9th, and Frank Miller & Ismail Inan (IRL 14713) 10th.
Another quick turnaround by PRO Bruce Leask saw the third race started and delayed by the first General Recall of the day. Needless to say it was quickly followed by the first black flag start of the day though this stricter starting regime of starting claimed no miscreants! Again, going right was favoured by the "hot-shots" and this time my recall is that Tom Gillard & Richard Anderton set the pace before, yet again, Burge & Wagstaff took up the pace-setting duties. Also prominent at the head of the fleet were Alex Taylor & Geoff Edwards. This time, this correspondent was closer to the action to watch five boats fight each other for the lesser places. The downwind leg of the sausage was very competitive as boats went one way and then another is an attempt to gain an advantage. However, nobody could dislodge Burge & Wagstaff who sailed home to a second win and top spot after Day 1.
Behind them the order was Gillard, Verner, Wade, Paruzek and McCartin.
Bruce Leask and his team are to be commended for getting three races in, particularly when we only went afloat after 12 noon. Proceedings were finished around 17:30 and the completion of three races means that we are only one race behind schedule. Sunday's XCWeather prediction was for more wind on Tuesday which means there is a real chance that we could be back on programme this time tomorrow.

Homecoming Scotland 2014 Fireball European Championships Sail No. R1 R2 R3 Tot. Nett
1 Matt Burge & Richard Wagstaff GBR 15093 5 1 1 7.0 7.0
2 Tom Gillard & Richard Anderton GBR 15081 4 2 2 8.0 8.0
3 Jaroslav Verner & Jakub Napravnik CZE 15110 3 3 3 9.0 9.0
4 David Wade & Tim Hartley GBR 15113 2 4 4 10.0 10.0
5 Barry McCartin & Conor Kinsella IRL 15114 1 6 6 13.0 13.0
6 Alex Taylor & Geoff Edwards GBR 15046 6 4 7 17.0 17.0
7 Jiri Paruzek & Jakub Kosvica CZE 14551 8 7 5 20.0 20.0
8 William Mouatt & Neil Fraser SHE 14402 DNF 11 8 31.0 31.0
9 Scott Nicolson & Roger Goudie SHE 14513 16 8 10 34.0 34.0
10 Frank Miller & Ismail Inan IRL 14713 14 10 11 35.0 35.0

The fleet have gone clay pigeon shooting this evening. Some may have on the water frustrations to work out at that session. Tomorrow's plan is for another three races.

#fireball – The first day of the Fireball Europeans, sponsored by Homecoming Scotland 2014 and being hosted by Lerwick Boating Club in Shetland was lost to a combination of mist and very light wind. Principle Race Officer Bruce Leask has originally signalled a 1-hr postponement after the skipper's briefing but that became an indeterminate postponement.

An excellent fish lunch was then served at the host club before racing for the day was abandoned shortly after 15:00.

The fleet has now dispersed but many will reconvene later at the Club to make their way to a curry buffet at a local restaurant in Lerwick, the regatta's culinary choice for this evening.

Cormac.

#fireball – One of Ireland's Fireball top medal hopes, Barry McCartin and Conor Kinsella, have this week had the chance to tune their new boat even further while winning the Shetland Nationals event, a warm-up for the Europeans in which all visiting sailors who were there for the Europeans were invited to participate.

The guys are fresh from winning the Irish Fireball Munsters at Wexford Harbour Boat and Tennis Club last weekend, which gave them a clean sweep of the three Fireball major events to have taken place so far this season, the Ulsters and the Open Championship having gone their way as well.

With no racing on Thursday due to fog, Friday was the only race day available, Saturday being measurement day for the big one, so only four races were able to be sailed in total. McCartin and Kinsella dominated the fleet, posting results of 2,1,1,1 to take the title in style – and win a beautiful trophy as shown in the pic above!

As for the Europeans, the first race was due on Sunday, though again there were wind problems, but they're hoping for better conditions tue-fri this coming week. Here's hoping all the Irish crews who have travelled all that distance contribute to a great Irish result overall!

#fireball – Barry McCartin and Conor Kinsella christened their new boat, 15114, by winning the Irish Fireball Munsters at Wexford Harbour Boat and Tennis Club over this past weekend. In so doing they have now racked up their third regatta title of the season, the Ulsters and the Open Championship having gone their way as well.
Most clubs have a characteristic that makes them unique – be it a particular form of hospitality or a unique location or some interesting tradition. Wexford Harbour Boat & Tennis Club too has a unique feature and an even more unusual approach to resolving the implication of that feature! The unique feature is that they are cut off from their racing area by a bridge. Their unique approach to that feature is that depending on the state of the tide, boats are careened onto their sides with the assistance of club ribs to get under the bridge.
Sixteen Irish Fireballs made the trip to the SE corner of Ireland for the event, just over 1½hrs drive from Dublin. In addition to the christening of the newest boat in the fleet, the event saw the seasonal debut of Andy Boyle, crewed by Alexander Rumball (14934) and home debutants in the form of Ben Scallan and Ronan Wallace, sailing McCartin's previous boat (14820).
For the four Irish boats doing the Europeans this was their last session in a Fireball before they take to the roads. McCartin & Kinsella will go to the Shetlands showing good form and an ability to get out of poor situations on the course. A number of times this weekend they have been in places one wouldn't expect to see them but they always, with one exception, managed to keep biggish numbers of their score card.
The six race regatta had five race winners in McCartin & Kinsella (Races 1 & 3), Scallan & Wallace (Race 2), Boyle & Rumball (Race 4), Noel Butler & Stephen Oram (15061) (Race 5) and the Clancy Brothers, Conor and James (14807) (Race 6). Noticeable by their absences from this roll-call of race winners are Kenneth Rumball and David Moran (15058) who nevertheless put together a very consistent record of results with only one "blip".
Four races were sailed on Saturday in what were very difficult conditions. One race was shortened as it had become a soldier's course on the upwind leg but the Race Officer persevered and got four races in. Sailed in sunshine, the wind moved around constantly and saw a lot of effort going into the changing of the weather mark position and the limit mark for the start line. While the new boat won its first race, it was only late on that this looked possible as Scallan and Wallace, using local knowledge set the pace for everyone. What were to become the "usual suspects" populated the lead group, with Team Clancy, Rumball & Moran, Butler & Oram, Boyle & Rumball, Niall McGrotty & Neil Cramer (14938) and McCartin & Kinsella were at the front of the fleet as well but at the second weather mark it was Scallan and Louis Smyth & Cormac Bradley who were trying to lead the fleet around the course. Problem was that mist had enveloped the leeward mark to make matters interesting. Scallan went right on the downwind sausage, Smyth & Butler went left but Butler came back earlier and by the time the fleet got to the leeward mark, Smyth & Bradley's "fifteen minutes of fame" had elapsed. Scallan would finish fourth behind McCartin, Clancy and Butler, but he had laid down his marker.
Another Olympic course was set for Race 2, the mist lifted but the wind became a bit more fickle. The first triangle was completed with everything in order but a wind shift to the right hand side made a mockery of the second beat. Scallan leading again went to the RHS and in true "pied piper style" took a number of the lead boats with him – McGrotty & Cramer and Smyth & Bradley. The next two round, Butler & Oram and Rumball & Moran took a leftward hitch and then tacked again to sail parallel. While Scallan and McGrotty escaped the clutches of the fourth and fifth boats at the leeward mark, Smyth wasn't so lucky as both Butler and Rumball got to the finish at the second weather mark before him.
The RO then went for two windward leeward courses which made sense given that the wind had almost swung through 45˚ or more. McCartin took the first of these while the second was grabbed by Messrs Boyle and Rumball. In both races the fleet was quite compact and some new combinations were taking advantage of the more benign conditions to post good results. The stand-out result in this regard goes to Cariosa Power and Class Chairwoman Marie Barry (14854) who posted a 5,6 in the two windward leeward races. Father and son combination, Mike and James Murphy (14908) from Waterford scored a 3 in Race 3 and while one would never suggest that they needed "benign conditions" to record such a result, I'm sure they were quite happy to put such a low number on their score card.
The post-mortems in the club house afterwards were, as always, entertaining, but the best story of the night went to Glen Fisher who in the 2nd Olympic race found himself in 2nd place going round the first weather mark. Glen, crewed by Grattan Donnelly, found the experience "harrowing" particularly when he was chastised, in polite but loud terms for trying "to park the bus" halfway down the first reach.
WHBTC's BBQ was very well received by all.
Sunday morning and there were some sore heads that either manifested themselves first thing and were sorted on the water or worse still only manifested themselves on the water. The wind was now an offshore breeze and initially gave the impression that we might have some sustained trapezing. We got the trapezing but it wasn't sustained! In the first race, going left seemed to be what everyone wanted to do, especially when Scallan was seen to be going that way too. But then boats started to peel off to go right and soon it became apparent that hard left was not the place to be..........too late. Butler & Oram seemed to piece together a substantial lead that this correspondent could only admire from afar, but rounding the last weather mark it seemed that the horizon job I thought had been built was not quite what I had expected it to be. They did however hold out to win with McCartin second, to set up the most remarkable close to a regatta that I have seen for a while.
With the sixth race pending, Butler & Oram and McCartin & Kinsella were tied on 8pts after the discard was taken into consideration – it would come down to a last race decider, winner takes the spoils! Fourteen of the sixteen boat fleet became pawns on a chessboard being contested by the opposing kings. We saw these two circle each other America's Cup style, saw them sailing in the opposite direction to the start line, each trying to gain the upper-hand to shepherd their opposition into the least favoured position. It was fascinating. They entered the "mix" of the start with seconds to spare and then all hell broke loose with at least two other boats drawn into the melee. A General Recall was signalled which simply triggered an extension of the pre-race dance! Black flag starts had been the order of the regatta since the first aborted start of the first race and so the black flag came out again. At the second time of asking a general recall went up again but with the added significance of a black flag there had to be victims.........and so it proved. Butler and Oram were gone as were Neil Colin and Margaret Casey (14775). All McCartin & Kinsella had to do was keep their noses clean!
The last race of the regatta was more competitive than its predecessor which had seen the fleet strung out over two legs (and more) from 1st to last. In this race there was a much more compact bunch. But there was change at the head of the fleet. Team Murphy was up there, so was Team Clancy. Frank Miller & Ismail Inan (14713) were having their best race of the series and in addition to Power & Barry, Louise McKenna & Hermine O'Keeffe (14691) were flying the flag for the all-girl teams. At the first leeward gate, McCartin & Kinsella were back in the van, "with the plebeians". After the gate they had waltzed away from that position to be challenging the front runners who at this stage were Team Murphy, Team Clancy, Rumball & Moran and Boyle/Rumball. A range of approaches were adopted for the second beat such was the variability of the wind. Team Murphy led the fleet around the last weather mark of the regatta and held their lead to the leeward gate and into the body of the hitch to the finish. But they got caught, not once, but twice as first Team Clancy and then McCartin/Kinsella got the positions on the finish line ahead of them.
2014 Irish Fireball Munster Championships, Wexford Harbour Boat & Tennis Club, 19th & 20th July 1 2 3 4 5 6 Pts
1 Barry McCartin & Connor Kinsella 15114 RStGYC 1 6 1 4 2 2 10
2 Noel Butler & Stephen Oram 15061 NYC 3 3 2 2 1 17 11
3 Kenneth Rumball & David Moran 15058 INSC 8 4 4 3 3 4 18
4 Conor & James Clancy 14807 RStGYC 2 10 12 5 4 1 22
5 Mike & James Murphy 14908 ISA 6 8 3 9 5 3 25
6 Ben Scallan & Ronan Wallace 14820 WHBTC 4 1 7 8 9 6 26
7 Niall McGrotty & Neil Cramer 14938 Skerries 7 2 6 7 6 9 28
8 Andrew Boyle & Alexander Rumball 14934 RIYC 5 9 13 1 10 5 30
9 Cariosa Power & Marie Barry 14854 DMYC 11 13 5 6 11 8 41
10 Louis Smyth & Cormac Bradley 15007 Coal Harb. 9 5 8 11 13 11 44
11 Louise McKenna & Hermine O'Keeffe 14691 RStGYC 13 7 14 10 7 10 47
12 Frank Miller & Ismail Inan 14713 DMYC 10 14 9 13 12 7 51
13 Neil Colin & Margaret Casey 14775 DMYC 15 12 15 12 8 17 62
14 Mary Chambers & Brenda McGuire 14865 DMYC 14 11 10 15 14 13 62
15 Owen Clerkin & Hugh Johnson 14698 CYBC 12 16 11 16 15 12 66
16 Glen Fisher & Grattan Donnelly 14623 DMYC 16 15 16 14 16 14 75

#fireball – The 16-boat Fireball fleet for the Munsters have had a very challenging 4 race programme today with light variable winds and lots of snakes and ladders racing writes Cormac Bradley. Very few boats don't have one big number on their scorecard and Noel Butler & Stephen Oram (15061) are the only boat in the top five who don't. A 3, 3, 2, 2 score line leaves them in 2nd place behind Barry McCartin & Conor Kinsella (15114) who have scored 1, 6, 1, 4. In third place we find Kenneth Rumball & David Moran (15058) with a 8, 4, 4, 3 record for the day.
Ben Scallan & Ronan Wallace of the home club, sailing 14820 are fourth with a 4, 1, 7, 8 return and fifth overall is Andrew Boyle & Alexander Rumball who won the last race of the day to add to their 5, 9, 13 tally.

#fireball – After two gentle Tuesday night Fireball sessions in a row on Dublin Bay, the wind gods upped the ante for last night's DBSC racing writes Cormac Bradley. Viewing the Optimist Europeans on Dublin Bay (entry of 254 boats) during the day from the office window and comparing the forecast for the evening there seemed to be some confusion as to what we would be getting with my favoured website suggesting southerlies of 11 – 15 knots. Rigging up in the Coal harbour didn't help the wind assessment either as neither the flags in the harbour complex nor the wind in the rigging were consistent!

Having made our choice of rig setting, we went out to a lively Scotsman's Bay. Those trapeze wires, which had been redundant for the past two Tuesdays, were going to be worked tonight!

Wind direction - 160˚, ebbing tide, full-on trapeze conditions! Five Fireballs bid for a position on the short start line, all congregated at the committee boat end. Messrs Butler & Oram (15061) were shepherding the flock, keeping an eye on Smyth & Bradley (15007) and Colin & Casey (14755). The "all-lady" teams of McKenna & O'Keeffe (14691) and Chambers & McGuire (14865) were close to the action as well. All five boats flew of the start line on starboard tack sailing parallel to the shore for a 4-lap triangular course. All five boats used the right hand-side of the course but Butler & Oram led the charge to the weather mark followed by Colin and Smyth who were keeping close company with each other. Getting snagged on the boom in the penultimate tack to the weather mark didn't help Smyth's cause but having the "avoirdupois" of Bradley on board avoided a costly capsize!

At the weather mark the pecking order was Butler, Colin, Smyth, McKenna and Chambers. Butler went for spinnaker and screamed off. The next two were more cautious, but Smyth launched spinnaker halfway down the slightly short reach. He still didn't get to the gybe mark before Colin and when they each flew bag down the second reach which was more comfortable, Colin stayed ahead.

On the second beat, Smyth & Bradley went inshore in contrast to Colin and Casey, Butler & Oram being already gone! This allowed the former pair to close on the latter but down the sausage, Colin & Casey pulled out some distance though they would still be watching over their shoulder. McKenna & O'Keeffe also came back into the picture closing to within a few boat-lengths of Smyth at the second leeward mark. Again, Colin and Smyth adopted different approaches to the third beat, Smyth closed but couldn't overhaul the 2nd placed boat. The gybe mark had been relocated further out to sea giving a longer and tighter reach. Colin & Casey's spinnaker hoist got fouled allowing Smyth & Bradley to pass them out and sail into second place at the gybe mark. The second reach was now much tighter and while Butler & Oram and Smyth & Bradley flew bag, neither were able to make the mark, forcing early drops and a two-sail close out of the second reach. These two were of course flying the bag from very different positions on the leg! Colin & Casey had eschewed the spinnaker for the second reach and flew two-sailed down the second reach to round the leeward mark on Smyth's transom. Up the fourth beat Smyth & Bradley were able to open up a short distance on Colin & Casey but this would not be sufficient to provide any comfort for the heavier combination on the final downwind leg of the sausage. Initially they sailed together on starboard tack, heading offshore – playing chicken – Who would gybe back first. Colin was first to twitch his tiller prompting Smyth to do the same and they watched each other all the way down the leg.

At the rounding of the last leeward mark they were very close but the presence of a Mermaid, a Laser and a single-handed K1 complicated Colin's rounding and left him a boat-length to leeward of Smyth and a boat-length and a half behind. The two Fireballs quickly escaped the company of the other boats, but Smyth was in the preferred position – to windward and ahead. This gave him the freedom to dictate his final approach to the finish while still keeping an eye on the opposition.

A magic night – fast reaches, waves and a great race on the water, in keeping with the Harry Potter themed heading to this article!!

DBSC Tuesday Nights: Series 2, Day 5, 15th July 2014
1 Noel Butler & Stephen Oram 15061 NYC
2 Louis Smyth & Cormac Bradley 15007 Coal Harb.
3 Neil Colin & Margaret Casey 14775 DMYC
4 Louise McKenna & Hermine O'Keeffe 14691 RStGYC
5 Mary Chambers & Brenda McGuire 14865 DMYC

This combination of results has created an interesting three-way tie in the overall standings for Series 2.

DBSC Tuesday Nights: Series 2, Five races sailed, no discard.
1 Noel Butler & Stephen Oram 15061 NYC 11pts
1 Neil Colin & Margaret Casey 14775 DMYC 11pts
1 Louise McKenna & Hermine O'Keeffe 14691 RStGYC 11pts
4 Frank Miller & Grattan Donnelly & Francis Rowan 14713 DMYC 14pts
5 Louis Smyth & Cormac Bradley 15007 Coal Harb. 16pts

The Irish Fireball scene relocates this weekend to Wexford and the hospitality and race management of the Wexford Harbour Boat and Tennis Club for our Munster Championships. While the core of the fleet are expected to attend, if there are any readers of this column who are looking to put the bits and pieces together for a weekend of racing at the venue but who haven't got all these bits and pieces, please contact us to see how we can help.

Wexford will provide the last chance for practice before four Irish boats head off to the Shetlands for the European Championships. Shetlands Chairman John Manson has put a huge effort into the organisation of this event and promises the traditional Shetland welcome to all those who are making the journey..............including boats from the Czech Republic.

#fireball – Tuesday night order was restored for the Fireballs racing under the burgee of the Dublin Bay Sailing Club when Noel Butler, "fresh" from a 16th place overall in the Round Ireland Race and Stephen Oram, recently returned from holiday, won the Tuesday night race in Scotsman's Bay by a 3 min 30 sec margin writes Cormac Bradley.

Due to a work commitment, this correspondent was not out on the water, so I can't offer you an account of the first lap of the three lap triangular course. By the time I got into my observation position, onshore, with binoculars, Messrs Butler and Oram had a comfortable lead as they sailed up to the second weather mark. Later, in the DMYC clubhouse I established that their position was due to a pin end start that benefitted for the wind going left, giving them a substantial lift and allowing them to break free from the five boat fleet. Again, conditions were light with a wind that started in the NE and a flooding tide that had two hours to run. By the time I got to watch proceedings, the wind had gone northwards and crews were sitting to leeward on the upwind legs.

At the second weather mark, Butler (15061) led with the rounding order thereafter, Neil Colin & Margaret Casey (14775), Louise McKenna & Hermine O'Keeffe (14691), Cariosa Power & Marie Barry (14854) and Frank Miller & Francis Rowan (14713). At the weather mark the distances between the boats were such that none of them would have been anxiously looking over their shoulders, but they couldn't afford to ignore what was going on behind them..........with the exception of Butler & Oram.

These two headed inshore on starboard tack whereas the next three boats went offshore on port tack. Miller replicated Butler's approach. McKenna & O'Keeffe were the first ones to bail out of the offshore approach and this left them the furthest out on the right hand side of the downwind sausage. There was better breeze on this side (or just less where Colin/Casey were) because McKenna/O'Keeffe sailed round Colin & Casey to reach the leeward mark in 2nd place with a 20 sec advantage over Colin & Casey who also found their rearward horizon shortened by Power & Barry who had also crept up on them.
The approach to the final beat was to take a hitch to sea – the right hand side of the course – tack and sail across the course on starboard tack and wait for the header on the left hand side that prompted another tack to approach the last weather mark on port. This was executed to varying degrees by all five boats with Power & Barry seeming to close again on Colin & Casey.
The first reach of the 2nd triangle was tight, so much so that Colin & Casey didn't fly spinnaker and didn't seem to suffer distance-wise as a consequence. This leg was pretty straightforward. The second reach produced a very wide diversity of execution plans. Butler gybed and headed upwind in a direction that took him away from the shortest distance to the leeward mark. He would eventually end up to windward and to the east of the committee boat, necessitating a second gybe to approach the leeward mark on a tight reach on starboard. Still, he had the comfort of a big lead! McKenna, Colin and Power all gybed at the gybe mark and sailed low toward the shoreline – with McKenna covering/shepherding Colin so that she stayed between him and the leeward mark. This of course opened the door for Power to do her own thing but she was unable to upset the order. Miller, meantime was even more radical than Butler, seeming to take a line on port tack that would have delivered him to the position of the weather mark had it still been in position. As with Butler, he too ended up putting in another gybe to approach the leeward mark on starboard, but his game was long over by that stage. Butler's margin of victory was very comfortable and McKenna ended up being a minute ahead of Colin. Seven minutes spanned first to last in what was a seasonal race – evening sunshine under blue skies with a gentle breeze. Grey clouds were incoming from the west, but the showers that had populated the day stayed away for the race and one could believe that it was an Irish July!

DBSC Tuesday Nights: Series 2, Round 4.
1 Noel Butler & Stephen Oram 15061 NYC
2 Louise McKenna & Hermine O'Keeffe 14691 RStGYC
3 Neil Colin & Margaret Casey 14775 DMYC

With the Round Ireland, holidays, line duty and work commitments, the overall situation for Series 2 has an interesting look to it, and the three combinations that have been least upset in their Tuesday routine lead the series in overall terms.

DBSC Tuesday Nights: Series 2, 4 sailed, no discard.
1 Louise McKenna & Hermine O'Keeffe 14691 RStGYC 7
2 Neil Colin & Margaret Casey 14775 DMYC 8
3 Frank Miller & Francis Rowan 14713 DMYC 9
4 Noel Butler & Stephen Oram 15061 NYC 10
5 Mary Chambers & Brenda McGuire 14865 DMYC 13

This past Saturday saw the conclusion of the four one-day regattas of the Dun Laoghaire Waterfront Clubs with the Royal St George Yacht Club hosting their event which attracted close to 200 entries from Cruisers 1 all the way down to the dinghy classes. Five Fireballs contested the event on a dinghy course that was closer to the mouth of the River Liffey than Dun Laoghaire. In very difficult conditions that prompted a lot of "snakes and ladders" racing, Louis Smyth and Cormac Bradley "threw a six" at the right time to take the two race wins and a hat-trick of DL Club Regatta wins – Royal Irish Yacht Club, Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club and Royal St George Yacht Club. Louise McKenna and Hermine O'Keeffe won the National Yacht Club Regatta. Two of the regattas were decided by virtue of the winners of the second race and Conor Clancy lost two of those.
The weekend of 19/20th July sees the fleet re-visiting an old venue – Wexford Harbour Boat & Tennis Club. With ten days to go there is a "decent commitment" to boats for the event, but we would like to see even more boats make the trip. From Dublin the venue is about 1.5hours drive, (driveable on Saturday morning) there is free camping and camper-vanning at the club and they are very excited at our return. Discounted entry is available until 17:00 this Friday (11th July). We know that the south coast will be represented, we know that the west will be represented, there will be the usual Dublin contingent, but we would love to have some northern commitment and while the midlands might think it is a long haul, the more boats we have the better the event.