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Displaying items by tag: Windjammer

Windjammer crew members were in attendance for the Round Ireland Yacht Race lecture by Kenneth Rumball and John White at the Royal Irish Yacht Club last Thursday 7 February, which also highlighted a crew overboard incident on the J97 late last month.

Video of the incident on Sunday 27 January made available by the crew themselves showed how a heavy weather practice session on Dublin Bay went awry when one of their number slipped overboard during a tack — and also their subsequent successful rescue.

The crew on the day comprised former INSS sailing instructors Aisling O’Grady, Aonghus Byrne, Andrew Irvine, Conor Corson, Jeff Fahy and Saoirse Reynolds with Lindsay Casey, one of the boat’s owners — and Noel Butler, who told Afloat.ie that Rumball and White’s presentation was not intended as a ‘how-to’ but more “a description of what happened and how [the crew] dealt with it, so that others might benefit from their experience”.

Classic Sailor reports on the video footage as “a good example of how a well-drilled and experienced crew retrieved the casualty”, and the incident has also prompted discussion on social media. Video of the full training session is available on YouTube.

Sailing in lighter airs the following weekend, Windjammer sailed into the lead in the first race of the 2019 DBSC Spring Chicken Series with Saoirse Reynolds at the helm.

Update 12 February: This article was corrected to make clear that the main subject of the RIYC lecture was on the man overboard incident on Jedi during the 2018 Round Ireland Yacht Race.

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Dublin Bay Sailing Club Turkey Shoot Winter Series

Dublin Bay Sailing Club's Turkey Shoot Series reached its 20th year in 2020.

The popular yacht series racing provides winter-racing for all the sailing clubs on the southside of Dublin Bay in the run-up to Christmas.

It regularly attracts a fleet of up to 70 boats of different shapes and sizes from all four yachts clubs at Dun Laoghaire: The National Yacht Club, The Royal St. George Yacht Club, The Royal Irish Yacht Club and the Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club as well as other clubs such as Sailing in Dublin. Typically the event is hosted by each club in rotation.

The series has a short, sharp format for racing that starts at approximately 10 am and concludes around noon. The event was the brainchild of former DBSC Commodore Fintan Cairns to give the club year-round racing on the Bay thanks to the arrival of the marina at Dun Laoghaire in 2001. Cairns, an IRC racer himself, continues to run the series each winter.

Typically, racing features separate starts for different cruiser-racers but in fact, any type of boat is allowed to participate, even those yachts that do not normally race are encouraged to do so.

Turkey Shoot results are calculated under a modified ECHO handicap system and there can be a fun aspect to some of the scoring in keeping with the Christmas spirit of the occasion.

As a result, the Turkey Shoot often receives entries from boats as large as Beneteau 50 footers and one designs as small as 20-foot flying Fifteens, all competing over the same course.

It also has legendary weekly prizegivings in the host waterfront yacht clubs immediately after racing. There are fun prizes and overall prizes based on series results.

Regular updates and DBSC Turkey Shoot Results are published on Afloat each week as the series progresses.

FAQs

Cruisers, cruising boats, one-designs and boats that do not normally race are very welcome. Boats range in size from ocean-going cruisers at 60 and 60 feet right down to small one-design keelboats such as 20-foot Flying Fifteens. A listing of boats for different starts is announced on Channel 74 before racing each week.

Each winter from the first Sunday in November until the last week before Christmas.

Usually no more than two hours. The racecourse time limit is 12.30 hours.

Between six and eight with one or two discards applied.

Racing is organised by Dublin Bay Sailing Club and the Series is rotated across different waterfront yacht clubs for the popular after race party and prizegiving. The waterfront clubs are National Yacht Club (NYC), Royal Irish Yacht Club (RIYC), Royal St George Yacht Club (RSGYC) and Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club (DMYC).

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