After two years as Commodore of Ireland's largest yacht racing club that runs over 1,000 races each summer, Ann Kirwan completed her term in office last night at Dublin Bay Sailing Club and handed over the tiller to Eddie Totterdell after his election. Here Afloat publishes Kirwan's AGM farewell to members

It has been such an honour and a privilege to act as Commodore of DBSC for the past two years and for a total of 10 years on the committee. It’s been busy, and there have been some ups and downs, but it has been very enjoyable and rewarding. The past three years have been particularly challenging with Covid, but I think that has brought out the best of DBSC’s strengths. I’d now like to run through some of the highlights of the two years:

I covered 2021 in my address at last year’s AGM; however, here’s a recap of some of the main highlights:

• We were awarded the Mitsubishi Sailing Club of the year 2021.
• We revamped our website early in 2021 and have been refreshing its content regularly since.
• Our 2021 programme commenced in early June after a 3-week training period.
• We held 3 separate prize-giving functions in the summer to present the 2020 prizes.
• The hut returned to its rightful position in July after a year’s absence.
• The magnificently restored DB21s returned to Dun Laoghaire in July and raced on Tuesdays.
• The Turkey shoot and Spring Chicken series were run last winter after a Covid-enforced year off.
• We moved our prize-giving to the National Maritime Museum in November.
• We rounded off 2021 with our AGM last December – on Zoom for the second year in a row.

Tribute to those we lost

Before moving on to a review of 2022, I want to pay tribute to some of our long-standing volunteers who sadly passed away during my term as Commodore. Larry Martin, Pat McGloughlin, and more recently Ben Mulligan, all DBSC volunteers. And to 3-of our long-standing stalwarts who gave so much to DBSC – Carmel in June 2021, Jack in December 2021 and just three months ago, our beloved Ida Kiernan. All three were contributing to DBSC right to the end – Carmel keeping us on the straight and narrow, Jack redesigning courses and acting as Red Fleet RO on Thursdays, and Ida commanding the keelboat volunteer forces with her unique sense of fun, enthusiasm and efficiency. They are all sorely missed.

Now to the 2022 season

We spent last winter planning for what we hoped would be a full season in 2022. Our sailing committee redesigned some of the courses to cater for the hut coming back for Saturdays in the 2022 season. Thanks in particular to Tim Goodbody who led the redesign of the Blue and Red fleet Saturday courses.

Following the two years of curtailed racing we started our season on schedule at the end of April and ran right through to October 1st. It took 22 race officers, nine committee boat drivers, and a team of over 50 race management volunteers to work together during our 23-week season, to provide you our members with more than 1,000 races. Heartfelt thanks to the DBSC Committee and to all our fabulous volunteers for making this happen. We are lucky to have such a large pool of volunteers – it is them that make DBSC what it is. Providing 1000-plus races in a single summer sailing season could not be done without them giving so generously of their time and experience. Incidentally, yesterday was International Volunteers Day.

It took 22 race officers, nine committee boat drivers, and a team of over 50 race management volunteers to work together during our 23-week season, to provide DBSC members with more than 1,000 races Photo: Afloat

We enjoyed some great racing in warm sunny weather in what was generally a season of light airs and it was great to see the hut back in use on Saturdays.

As well as our 1,000 plus DBSC races, there was a full schedule of events around the bay in which included the Dun Laoghaire waterfront club regattas, the SB20 World Championships as well as many regional and national championships, and the Women at the Helm regatta. Well done to the Dun Laoghaire waterfront clubs for successfully hosting all of these challenging events.

DBSC Results

We implemented a new DBSC results system using HalSail in 2022. It has proved very successful in its first year thanks to Ian Bowring’s meticulous planning and set-up work in advance of the season. Thanks to Therese and Jen for making sure the results were available in a timely manner each race day.

Inaugural End of Season Dinner

We held the inaugural DBSC end-of-season dinner in the National Yacht club in early October. It was a sell-out and thoroughly enjoyed by all 110 who attended and was a great way for boat crews to round off the season. I hope that this becomes an annual event.

The Flying Fifteen keelboat is one DBSC's 22 racing classes on Dublin Bay Photo: Afloat

Prize-giving

Following the success of our prize-giving in 2021 and the positive feedback we received from you our members on the location, we held our 2022 prize-giving in the wonderful setting of the National Maritime Museum again a few weeks ago. We presented over 100 beautiful trophies to the many worthy winners. Michael Chester’s photos of the prize winners are available on our website and on Afloat. Thanks to Pat Shannon, who looks after all our magnificent trophies - without Pat, we would struggle to hold the prize giving.

Turkey Shoot and Spring Chicken

The AIB DBSC Turkey Shoot is going well and finishes on December 18th. The Spring Chicken will be run in February and March. Thanks to Fintan Cairns and his team for running these two winter series.

DBSC Committee

A very special word of thanks to DBSC Flag Officers Ed and Jacqueline and to all who have served with me on the DBSC Committee for the past 2 years. Thanks to Chris Moore, who retired as Honorary Secretary in June, and to Rosemary Roy, who has taken on this mammoth since then. Thanks to Philip Ferguson, who has organised the deployment, retrieval, storage, and maintenance of marks for the past number of years – it’s no mean feat. Thank you, Philip.

DBSC Committee from left: Honorary Secretary Rosemary Roy, Vice Commodore Keith Poole was elected Rear Commodore, outgoing Commodore Ann Kirwan, newly elected Commodore Eddie Totterdell, Jacqueline McStay was elected as Vice Commodore and Jonathan Skerritt remains as Honorary Treasurer

As well as our experienced Race Officers and Committee boat teams who turn out many times each week to run our racing, other volunteers work behind the scenes to make the DBSC machine run smoothly. Thanks to Declan Traynor and Joanne Sheehan, who look after the rib crews, to Gerry and Suzi who look after sponsorship, to Ian on results, to Louise on dinghy matters, to Sabrina, our children’s officer who manages the Garda vetting process, to Jonathan Skerritt who looks after our finances, to Keith and Kevin who serve on the sailing sub-committee, to Jacqueline who looks after the website and of course to Rosemary who sends all the emails and did such a great job at the prize giving. Thanks to Brian, Brendan and Chris for looking after our committee boats, to Declan for looking after our ribs, to Michael for looking after protests, and to Jonathan O’Rourke, who works on the grant application process on our behalf. Sincere thanks to all of you for your efforts in the many aspects of running DBSC, I’ve really enjoyed working alongside you over the past two years.

A very special thank you to our PRO and incoming Commodore Ed, who heads up the sailing sub-committee and is the Race Officer for the Blue Fleet on Thursdays. Ed has been a rock of sense and great support to me over the past two years and we’ve had some laughs along the way.

With Gratitude

We are extremely fortunate and very grateful to have AIB on board as our title sponsor. Thanks also to our supporters Viking Marine, MGM Boats, Facet Jewellers, Killen Marine and Gunpowder Gin.

To the Commodores and the management and staff of the Dun Laoghaire waterfront clubs, to Irish Sailing, to the Harbour Masters of Dun Laoghaire Harbour and Dublin Port – thanks for your support throughout my term as Commodore. Thanks also to Afloat for great coverage of DBSC racing and events.

Final Comments

Finally, I am confident in the knowledge that DBSC is in very safe hands with Ed taking over as Commodore and the strong committee and band of race management volunteers who will work with him.

I wish you and your families a very healthy and happy Christmas and the very best for 2023 and I look forward to seeing you on the water next season.

Dublin Bay Sailing Club has announced that the AIB DBSC Prize-Giving will be held on Friday 11 November from 7.30pm at the National Maritime Museum of Ireland in Dun Laoghaire.

“We hope to see as many members as possible at this special event to mark the successes of a great AIB DBSC 2022 season,” Rear Commodore Jacqueline McStay says.

Any queries should be directed to the club’s hon sec Rosemary Roy at [email protected].

Westerly winds of up to 24 knots made for a thrilling final race of the 2022 AIB DBSC Summer Series on Dublin Bay on Saturday. 

In a 1,2,3 for the Royal Irish Yacht Club, Barry Cunningham's Cape 31 Blast took the IRC gun in a four-boat Cruisers Zero division from Patrick Burke's First 40, Prima Forte. Third was Tim Kane's Extreme 37, Wow. 

In a six-boat Cruisers One fleet, John Hall's National Yacht Club Something Else was the winner from the J109 sistership, White Mischief (Tim Goodbody) from the Royal Irish. The RIYC Xp33 Bon Exemple (Colin Byrne) was third. 

Lindsay J. Casey's J97 Windjammer from the Royal St George Yacht Club was the Cruisers Two IRC winner. The final Cruisers Three race of the DBSC season was won by Kevin Byrne's RStGYC Formula 28, Starlet.

As Afloat previously reported, Dublin Bay Sailing Club has  already issued the advance notice of its popular 'Turkey Shoot' winter sailing series that starts on Sunday, 6th November.

Now in its 22nd year, the AIB-sponsored seven-race series will be hosted by the Royal Irish Yacht Club.

Results in all classes are below.

In an eight-boat turnout in IRC One, Tim Goodbody's White Mischief from the Royal Irish Yacht Club repeated last Saturday's win in the AIB DBSC Summer Series by taking the gun again in race 13.

Breaking into the pack of J109s that occupied all but one of the top seven places was Fintan Cairn's Mills 31 Raptor in second place in the one-hour and ten-minute race.

A northeasterly sea breeze for the cruiser courses on Dublin Bay was eight knots in strength. 

Overall series leader Lindsay J. Casey's J97 Windjammer was the Cruisers Two IRC division winner. The Royal St. George yacht took the gun from Jim McCann's Peridot.Third, in the four-boat race was Dick Lovegrove's Sigma 33, Rupert. 

Aurelia was the winner of the three-boat Cruisers Zero race finishing ahead of Tim Kane's WOW. 

In a three-boat turnout, Kevin Byrne's Royal St. George Formula 28 Starlet was the IRC 3 winner from Frazer Meredith's Asterix. Third was Edward Melvin's Ceol an Mara.

In the One Design keelboat fleets, James Gorman's Black was the winner of race 25 in a six-boat SB20 fleet. Winds on the one design course were north-easterly five or six knots. 

The 31.7 fleet were competing for national honours in the RIYC-hosted championships on the Bay, and the Flying Fifteens were racing for the class south coast title at Dunmore East.

Full results across all DBSC classes are below.

In an eight-boat turnout in IRC One, Tim Goodbody's White Mischief from the Royal Irish Yacht Club won in Saturday's AIB DBSC Summer Series race 12 on August 6th.

Second was Colin Byrne's XP33 Bon Exemple in a two-hour race.

Southeasterly breezes for the cruiser courses on Dublin Bay were 11 knots in strength. The Race Officer was Barry MacNeaney.

Overall series leader Lindsay J. Casey's J97 Windjammer was the Cruisers Two IRC division winner. The Royal St. George yacht took the gun from clubmate Ian Bowring's Sigma 33 Springer. Third, in the three-boat race, was Jim McCann's Peridot.

In a four-boat turnout, Frazer Meredith's Asterix was the IRC 3 winner from Myles Kelly's Maranda. Third was Kevin Byrne's Royal St. George Formula 28 Starlet. 

In the One Design keelboat fleets, Davy Taylor's Ted was the winner of the single race in a ten-boat SB20 fleet. Winds on the one design course, under race officer Neil Murray, were westerly five or six knots.

In the nine-boat 31.7 fleet, Chris Johnston's Prospect won from John Power's Levante. Third was Brian Geraghty's Camira.

Full results across all DBSC classes are below.

After an extended run of light wind conditions for Thursday night racing, Flying Fifteen Race Officer John McNeilly had some wind to play with on Thursday night (August 4).

The DBSC results sheet for the night suggests we had 10–18 knots on the course, but post-race John made the comment that he had recorded 10 – 16 knots. My sense was that the higher wind strength was at the start of the evening. Fifteen boats made their way out to the start and as the wind was behaving in accordance with the forecast – N-Westerly, a race from the QW suite of races was chosen – QW2. It appears that this caused some confusion later on the course, with one person citing dyslexia pre-start as their excuse for getting the course wrong.

QW2 – Harbour-Island-Pier-Island-Omega-Island-Finish was a course that involved lots of spinnaker and upwind sailing and resulted in one of the longer races we have had on a Thursday night for some time. Another observation of the night was that there was very little tactical sailing on the night and that the only tactical beat was the leg to Harbour. Aside from that comment, most people seemed to have enjoyed a night where we had good breeze throughout the evening and there were incidents aplenty on the course. There was a port/starboard on the first beat with turns having to be taken, there were two boats who decided to go trawling with their spinnakers, there was an emergency gybe to recover a cherished and distinctive piece of headgear that had blown off its owner’s head – a very commendable gesture by the helm, wearing a more secure hat!! The same boat also had the night’s second port/starboard incident. And to finish off the evening an attempt to squeeze over the finish line at the pin end caused the boat in question to loose the boat closest to him and certainly one other place. And as for the racing…………

A brisk NW wind, an ebbing tide, a relatively short first beat, a consideration as to which side the spinnaker would fly on the leg to Island and determining where to start in a fifteen-boat fleet gave everyone food for thought. Mulligan & Bradley (4081) attempted to commandeer the pin and were marginally too early. They sailed through the line, gybed and restarted finding a gap not too far from the pin to wend a way out onto the course side. Others in the area of the pin were Tom Galvin & Keith Poole (4093), Alistair Court & Conor O’Leary (3753) and possibly Peter Murphy & Ciara Mulvey (3774). In close proximity to this bunch could be found Class Captain Jill Fleming sailing with Joe Coughlan (3913). On the opposite side of the start, working a more offshore passage were Alan and Caroline Green, sailing Phoenix (4083) and David Mulvin & Ronan Beirne (4068). As the fleet closed out the latter stages of this leg, Mulligan found himself being pushed to the wrong side of Harbour mark by Adrian Cooper & Joe McNamara (3896). A hail to the effect that Harbour was to be rounded to starboard, like all the other marks on the night, had the desired effect. At Harbour, Galvin & Poole had a good lead, with Mulligan and Bradley in second. However, with spinnakers finally set, the chasing pack was spread across the course with Neil Colin & Margaret Casey (4028), the Greens, Murphy & Mulvey and Court & O’Leary almost in a row from inshore to offshore. Most people put into a number of gybes on the way to Island which Galvin & Poole rounded in first place. Mulligan played greyhound to Galvin’s rabbit while behind Mulligan, Green, Colin, Murphy P and Court played greyhounds to Mulligan’s rabbit.

With the ebbing tide, the universal view was to go inshore with Galvin leading the charge. Mulligan appeared to be closing the gap in straight line terms while he occupied a position slightly to windward of Galvin. An inboard tweak of the genoa caused Mulligan to drop to Galvin’s lee, but Mulligan’s speed was not compromised so that the straight-line distance between the boats continued to reduce. Galvin went offshore first while Mulligan hung on to the inshore route for that bit longer. The wind was now showing some fluctuation so lifts and headers came into the equation to an enhanced extent. Mulligan’s passage to the right-hand side of the beat showed that he had closed considerably on Galvin, because although the latter crossed him on starboard, the gap between the boats was down to a couple of boat-lengths. Behind, Colin, Green, Court and Murphy were still in close company but Mulligan had enhanced his lead over them.

At Pier, Galvin & Poole’s lead was down to a few boat-lengths and they and Mulligan & Bradley sailed the leg to Island in reasonably close company until late on in the leg when the lead pair eked out a few more metres of a lead. Mulligan was requested to execute a rounding that would leave them sitting to windward of Galvin for the start of the leg to Omega. He duly obliged to put some more visual pressure on Galvin. With a lead that allowed Mulligan to concentrate on hauling in Galvin rather than looking over his shoulder at Colin, Green, Murphy and Court, 4081 progressively bit into 4093’s lead and by Omega, Mulligan had taken the lead by an 80m margin. Galvin’s approach to Omega went a little awry which allowed Colin to get to very close quarters and indeed, Colin may have rounded in second place. Behind these two, Court & O’Leary were not too far away and Mulvin and P Murphy were also in striking distance. Omega to Island was executed safely by Mulligan with Galvin, Colin and Court staying in close company. The Greens may still have been here, but Alan advised that they had a hiccup on the water and it may have been on this leg, as I can’t place them at this stage of the race.

The leg to the finish, upwind of Pier, again meant getting out of the tide, now running out at its strongest. So, heading inshore was the best policy which everyone adopted. However, as one sailed towards the shore and the harbour, the numbers on the compass made it obligatory to take the highs and try and mitigate the lows. And so, approximately halfway up the leg, Mulligan as leader, started to play the shifts, encouraged by the crew not to stray too far from a loose cover on the rest of the fleet and wherever possible to occupy a weather slot relative to the chasing pack.

A little bit later, Colin & Casey broke ranks and put in a tack to the offshore side of the beat. Ever wary of Colin’s tactical nous, Mulligan & Bradley decided that he should be given more attention than the others simply because he had done something different to everyone else. They sailed across on a favourable number to make sure there were no “eleventh-hour” surprises as the finish came into view. They were still in the “pound seats”!

Mulligan & Bradley took the gun at the pin-end of the line in close company with a Beneteau 21, while Colin finished closer to the committee boat. Galvin and Court were very close closing in on the pin, and from our perspective Court was slightly to leeward of the pin and in danger of not making the finish line. He then appeared to tack to get over the line on port tack, but extremely close to Gavin who was on starboard. Court may then have clipped the pin so had to go back to the course side and re-finish which cost him a place to Mulvin & Beirne. The excitement never stops!

DBSC Flying Fifteens Thursday Night Series

Thursday 4th August.
1. Ben Mulligan & Cormac Bradley 4081
2. Neil Colin & Margaret Casey 4028
3. Tom Galvin & Keith Poole 4093
4. David Mulvin & Ronan Beirne 4068
5. Alistair Court & Conor O’Leary 3753

Thursdays Overall Series B.
1. Neil Colin & Margaret Casey 14pts
2. Niall, Susan & Laura Coleman 18pts
3. Ben Mulligan & Cormac Bradley 19pts
4. Peter Murphy & Ciara Mulvey 24pts
5. Adrian Cooper & Joe McNamara 27pts

Thursdays Overall (All season)
1. Neil Colin & Margaret Casey 30pts
2. Ben Mulligan & Cormac Bradley 54pts
3. Ian Mathews, Tom Galvin & Keith Poole 56.5pts
4. Niall, Susan & Laura Coleman 70pts
5. Peter Murphy & Ciara Mulvey 78pts.

In a five-boat turnout in IRC One, the DP Partnership's J109 Dear Prudence beat Tim Goodbody's White Mischief from the Royal Irish Yacht Club in Saturday's AIB DBSC Summer Series race on August Bank Holiday weekend (July 30th).

Third was Colin Byrne's XP33 Bon Exemple in the one-and-a-three-quarter-hour race.

Dublin Bay's winds were light and up to 11-knots from the southeast. The Race Officer was Barry MacNeaney.

Lindsay J. Casey's J97 Windjammer was the Cruisers Two IRC division winner. The Royal St. George yacht took the gun from Jim McCann's Mustang Peridot. Third, in the three-boat race, was Ian Bowring's Sigma 33 Springer.

Kevin Byrne's Royal St. George Formula 28 Starlet was the IRC 3 winner from Frazer Meredith's Asterix. Third was Myles Kelly's Maranda.

In the One Design keelboat fleets, Peter Carvill's Leviathon was the winner of the first race in a six-boat SB20 fleet.

In the seven-boat 31.7 fleet, Chris Johnston's Prospect came from behind at the last mark to squeeze Attitude ((Trina Milner) be five seconds ahead at the finish.

As previously reported, DBSC dinghy racing on Saturday was scrubbed due to a forecasted low turnout on the bank holiday weekend.

Full results across all DBSC classes are below.

In the Beneteau 211s, Royal Irish Yacht Club boats filled the podium of today's AIB DBSC Saturday race 16 with Andrew Bradley's Chinook winning from Patrick Shannon's Beeswing. Third was James Conboy-Fischer's Billy Whizz. Overall, in the Saturday Series, after nine races sailed and counting seven, Billy Whizz on nine points leads from Chinook on 15 with Beeswing third on 17.

Seabreeze conditions on Dublin Bay provided 10 to 12 knots of wind from the southeast.

Three SB20s contested race 16 which saw James Gorman's Black from the NYC take the win from Barry Glavin's Sea Biscuit from the RSt.GYC. In third place was Nick Doherty's Rubadubdub of the NYC. Overall, in the Saturday Series, Richard Hayes Carpe Diem of the RSt.GYC on ten points leads by three points from Sea Biscuit with Ger Dempsey's Venuesworld of the Royal Irish on 16 in third. Ten are entered. 

Michael Cutliffe's Ruffles of the DMYC was the winner of today's nine-boat Ruffian 23 race 18 from national champion Ann Kirwan's Bandit of the National Yacht Club. In third place was Cutliffe's clubmate, Frank Bradley's Ripples. Overall in the Saturday Series, Ruffles leads from David Meeke's Alias. Bandit lies third.

James McCann's Mustang 30 Peridot of the Royal Irish Yacht Club was the winner in Thursday night's (race 12) six-boat IRC One division of the AIB DBSC Sponsored Summer Series on Dublin Bay.

Second by 13 seconds on corrected time was Dick Lovegrove's Sigma 33, Rupert, from the Royal St. George Yacht Club. Third was Sigma sistership Boojum (Stephanie Bourke)

Winds were southeasterly and ten knots. 

Tim Goodbody's J109 White Mischief of the Royal Irish took the winning gun in the six-boat IRC One division. 

Goodbody beat Paul Barrington's sistership Jalapeno by just over a minute on corrected time in the one-hour 18-minute race.

Third was Barrington's clubmate, Tony Fox's A35 Gringo. 

At Cork Week Regatta in Crosshaven, the DBSC J109s hold sway in IRC Division Two this week with the Royal Irish's Joker II (John Maybury) in a commanding position going into Firday's final races. Third is Royal Irish's Chimaera skippered by Barry Cunningham. More, as Afloat reports, here.

Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC) presented its outgoing Honorary Secretary Chris Moore with a 3-D chart of Dublin Bay in the National Yacht Club, Dun Laoghaire on Friday evening.

The presentation follows Moore's retirement as DBSC Honorary Secretary on Thursday, June 30th.

He served three terms as Rear Commodore, Vice Commodore, and Commodore, followed by a further three and a half years as Hon. Secretary.

Moore also previously served as Commodore of Bray Sailing Club and Commodore of the National Yacht Club and is regarded as a stalwart of the Dun Laoghaire sailing community.

He is the Irish Commissioner of the World Sailing Speed Record Council and authenticates all Irish record bids including high-profile Round Ireland speed attempts.

As Afloat previously reported, the busy role of Hon Sec at the country's biggest yacht racing club has been taken over by Rosemary Roy.