A sea state post Storm Emma has been judged to be not suitable for sailing and led to the cancellation of tomorrow's popular Dublin Bay Sailing Club Spring Chicken Series. 

Easterly winds, that brought wild conditions to many Dublin Bay harbours yesterday, are also forecast to persist moderate to fresh tomorrow and not due to drop until later on Sunday.

The 32– keelboat fleet were scheduled to race from 10am from the National Yacht Club. 

As a further consideration, organiser Fintan Cairns says that 'with driving most likely hazardous tomorrow morning for a lot of people, getting to Dun Laoghaire could be a problem'. 

'Last but not least, we do not want to end up as frozen Spring Chickens!', Cairns added.

Dublin Bay Sailing Club has launched its first event of 2018 with the continuing sponsorship of the DBSC Spring Chicken Series by Rathfarnham Ford.

A series of six races to be held on Sunday mornings organised by Dublin Bay Sailing Club. The first race is on Sunday 4th February.

Racing under modified ECHO. Cruisers, cruising boats, one-designs and boats that do not normally race are very welcome, according to organiser Fintan Cairns.

First gun 10.10 hrs.

Entry fee €60.00 – includes temporary membership of Dublin Bay S.C. and National Y.C.

Attached is the Notice of Race and Entry Form for this year's series with a call from Cairns to enter by 31st January.

#DBSC - Dublin Bay Sailing Club has posted the dates for its 2018 sailing season, which kicks off in late spring.

The first Tuesday races of the year will begin on 24 April, running till 28 August.

Thursday racing starts on 26 April and continues through to 30 August.

Saturday races, meanwhile, have an extended scheduled, running from 28 April till 29 September.

He was in the key role of Commodore when Dublin Bay Sailing Club was successful in implementing the changeover from pier to Committee Boat starts which involved the complete re-structuring of its course programme in the Bay, and many other novel features. And he was right there when the Irish Cruiser Racing Association came into being as a very successful pioneering project to represent and work on behalf of one of the largest segments of the Irish sailing community, a sector whose unique needs had never been directly addressed before.

Then when Ireland became a force to be reckoned with in the biennial International Commodore’s Cup series in the Solent, he was a member of the support team which contributed to the smooth running of campaigns which saw our sailors achieve the overall victory in 2010 and 2014. Yet at the same time he enjoys his own active and varied sailing career in a wide variety of boats at a remarkable range of locations. W M Nixon gets together with a man who has been central to fundamental and successful changes in Irish sailing during the past 25 years and more.

Back around 2001, it was a vigorous time for Irish sailing. The new marina in Dun Laoghaire had recently opened, sailors and boat numbers were increasing at all centres, and new systems in established administrations were being created to meet a soaring demand for better facilities and race management.

Dun Laoghaire had become a very happening place, so one Saturday morning early in the Spring before the new season was properly under way, we sailed our Howth-based cruiser across Dublin Bay to the newly in-marina Royal Irish YC to grab a spot of bar lunch, have a bit of banter with the locals, and inhale the atmosphere in what had become Irish sailing’s liveliest place.

At the handing over of the new Dublin Bay SC Committee Boat Mas Lir, sponsored by Dublin Port. Commodore Fintan Cairns is fifth from right, with DBSC Honorary Secretary Donal O’Sullivan on his right and Captain Enda Connellan, CEO Dublin Port, on his left.

Berthed beside the club was the newest addition to the local fleet. It was Dublin Bay Sailing Club’s recently acquired Committee Boat, the catamaran Mac Lir sponsored by Dublin Port. This distinctive purpose-designed vessel was the symbol of the changeover to a much-greater emphasis on Committee Boat starts for all DBSC races, which in turn had required a radical re-design of DBSC courses.

For a club which had been central to Dun Laoghaire racing since 1884, it was a huge changeover in the way of doing things. But thanks to the quietly persuasive powers of DBSC Commodore Fintan Cairns, it had been achieved with skill and general approval, and this new way was going to be fully inaugurated the following week.

There’d been nobody aboard Mac Lir as we headed into the welcoming berth at the RIYC. But as we departed in good cheer, somebody was busy aboard, bent over at various jobs on the afterdeck. He straightened up as we headed seaward, and gave us a cheery wave and called a greeting. It was Commodore Fintan Cairns. And we thought it was altogether typical of the man, that he should be quietly checking out the club’s new boat and her systems himself, with no fuss or bother.

That’s the way it is with Fintan Cairns. He is a superb delegator and a quietly brilliant persuader. But when something that benefits best from personal attention comes up on the agenda, he’s ready and willing to look after it to his own satisfaction, and without fuss.

He does all this in such an affable and low key way, ready for everyone with a quiet greeting and his unflamboyant gift of friendship and genuine personal interest, that we all feel we know him well. At first glance, he seems a man of sombre demeanour. But his face lights up with good conversation and effective problem-solving discussion, and the real Fintan Cairns, bubbling with ideas and receptive to the notions of others, soon emerges.

So when the sunny images of the first race of the well-supported Turkey Shoot 2017 for the large DBSC fleet appeared a couple of weeks ago on Afloat.ie to blow away the November gloom in a splash of bright colour, it was recalled that this was yet another Fintan Cairns-inspired idea.

A flash of very welcome brightness in November. Such is the enthusiasm for the Fintan Cairns-inspired annual Turkey Shoot series in Dublin Bay that even a vintage Nicholson 32 is enthusiastically involved. Photo David O’Brien/Afloat

And he was right there for 2017’s Turkey Shoot, on the newer DBSC Committee Boat Freebird, ensuring that the most interesting courses were being set, and seeing to it that everyone was finished by 1230pm in time for that precious focus of concentrated après-sailing socializing which knocks for six the dark prospect of encroaching winter.

It’s a good example of the continuing success of a Fintan Cairns vision for making the Irish sailing scene more interesting. But in contemplating this success, we suddenly realized we didn’t really know Fintan Cairns at all. When somebody becomes as quietly important in Irish sailing as this, albeit in a very low key way which is only appreciated by true sailors, it’s intriguing to find out a bit more about their back-story, and how it has brought them to our sport with such a fresh attitude, receptive to new ideas, and central to Irish sailing’s development.

Although his earliest childhood was in Kilmacanogue in County Wiclow, he’d soon become a south Dubliner through and through. His grandfather owned a furniture-making factory with a large retail outlet in the city, and had a boating interest with an early glassfibre motor-cruiser on the Shannon. Young Fintan was mildly enthusiastic about boats himself, and enjoyed using them on family holidays to the sun. But his main interest in boyhood and early manhood was in rugby, and he went on to play and coach with Palmerstown.

First interest afloat – the grandfather’s early GRP motor-cruiser at Carrick-on-Shannon

Boy racer – a very young Fintan Cairns gets a taste for sport afloat on a family holiday in Elba in 1962

However, an acquaintanceship with Philip Smith blossomed into friendship with a sharing of Smith’s interest in sailing with his Dufour 27 Jasmin, and they became involved with Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club. They gradually were drawn into Cruiser 3 racing with the big fleet with Dublin Bay SC, but a life-changing experience was a cruise with this little boat round Land’s End and up the English Channel as far as Cowes, before crossing the channel to Jersey and then returning to Dublin Bay, with more confidence in their sailing and seagoing ability accruing with every passing mile. Sailing was now definitely the Number One leisure interest.

Back home again, they involved themselves with Cruisers 3 racing with even more enthusiasm, and Fintan became the Jasmin representative on the Cruisers 3 Committee. As his administrative and negotiating abilities became evident, he was soon appointed Class 3 Captain, and that in turn involved membership of the DBSC Committee.

Meanwhile, in shore life he’d made it clear that the furniture business was not for him. Instead, he trained as an accountant, and in time he made his career as the financial controlling partner in a private yet substantial builder of houses. Having made this his working interest, it probably explains why he is willing to get into the running of almost any organisation in sailing provided it doesn’t involve the maintenance of bricks and mortar……

Getting a taste for proper sailing – the young Fintan Cairns on Philip Smith’s Dufour 27 Jasmin during their key cruise to Cowes and the Channel Islands

Shore life had settled down with a happy marriage to Hilary and two sons, while the Smith-Cairns sailing partnership with Jasmin prospered further with the quietly enthusiastic support of old friend Gay Moloney. But with his increasingly active participation in the DBSC Committee and broadening of his already wide range of sailing friends, other sailing and crewing opportunities for Fintan Cairns presented themselves, and for several decades he was extraordinarily active in a wide variety of craft ranging from the International Dragon to Class 1 offshore racers, which was to eventually include his organisation of several notable campaigns with chartered cruise-racers in the Caribbean and Mediterranean.

At the top end of racing at home, he learned from the masters such as Tony O’Gorman in the Dragons, he went to the Dragon glamour events with folk like John Finnegan and his classic Jane, and he honed his offshore skills aboard Frank Elmes’ Marissa in major events like the Round Ireland Race, while Dublin Bay and Howth racing were also further experienced with Jack Kirwan in the Ruffian 23 and Tony Brown in the S&S 30 Sunshot. In another interesting twist, he became the de facto crew boss aboard the Tripp 40 Infinity jointly-owned by Nobby Reilly and Alan
Chambers.

Fintan Cairns crewing John Finnegan’s classic wooden Dragon Jane in the Regatta Royale in Cannes

Despite being a classic of a certain age, on a good day Jane could have more modern international competition tucked in neatly astern

While the boat was based in Howth – a port with which he’d many links – the two owners were so busy that at times there’d be a preponderance of DBSC people in the crew. But although Fintan had been a coach in rugby, he didn’t feel he yet had the experience and skills to do the same in sailing, so when it was decided that Infinity would aim for major events rather than longterm participation in club series, he called on the services of David Harte for the intensive coaching of Infinity’s crew, and has remained a David Harte enthusiast ever since.

Ashore, his progress up the administrative ladder saw him becoming Rear Commodore and then Vice Commodore of DBSC. As a DBSC Flag Officer he was entitled to Honorary Membership of all the waterfront clubs, and he increasingly found he was using the Royal Irish YC as a convenient base for sailing meetings. He felt comfortable there and they were comfortable with him, and he was soon to make the RIYC his home club.

The Tripp 40 Infinity. Having become crew boss “by accident”, Fintan Cairns became enthusiastic about the special talent shown by David Harte in coaching the team

Inevitably one of the most demanding positions in Irish sailing - Commodore of Dublin Bay SC - was being seen by many as his next step. That was despite the fact that he’d quietly made it clear that once the marina was up and running, DBSC would have to modernize its functioning to match the growing new demand. But he got on well with long-serving DBSC Honorary Secretary Donal O’Sullivan, and he had good working relations with other major figures in Dublin Bay sailing administration. Well before the turn of the century it was clear that DBSC was going to embrace to the full the fresh possibilities which the 21st Century and Dun Laoghaire’s marina would offer, and Fintan Cairns was going to be the man keeping things cool in the hot seat of Commodore, while being fully appreciative and supportive of the long tradition of volunteering which keeps the enormous Dublin Bay SC machine up and running.

Fintan Cairns during his years as Commodore of Dublin Bay SC

In addition to organising the funding of the new Committee Boat with sponsorship from Dublin Port, with whom DBSC was in any case in negotiations about the organisation of Dublin Bay traffic lanes and how their own sailing area could best accommodate the new reality of greatly increased shipping in and out of the port, Commodore Cairns and his Committee had to address how best to re-shape their courses to maximize the benefit of having the Committee Boat.

It was now that we saw the genius of his talent for delegation, for instead of looking within his own team, together with them he turned to Tim Goodbody, one of DBSC keenest and most successful racers, but one whose own administrative talents had been absorbed by being Commodore of the Royal Alfred YC when it was at a particularly active stage, and then Commodore of the RIYC.

Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Despite his long and trophy-winning sailing career in Dublin Bay as it had been, Tim Goodbody brought to the setting of the new courses an incisively fresh approach which reflected his successful national and international experiences.

In putting all this in train, Fintan Cairns is refreshingly frank about his readiness to learn from the experiences of other sailing areas. “Why reinvent the wheel?” is his attitude, and it was his observing of the success of catamarans as committee boats at major events in France which led to their introduction in Dublin Bay, while the style of the clear new colour-printed waterproof DBSC Race Programme based on Tim Goodbody’s work drew its finished appearance to some extent from the programme at Howth YC. There, they’d had to move to Committee Boat Starts well clear of the harbour after it had been re-developed in the 1980s as a sailing/fishing port complete with separate marina at one side and fish dock at the other, with specialist areas of activity clearly defined.

From being crew boss, Fintan Cairns has long since graduated to being a helmsman

The new course setup got fully on stream in Dublin Bay through 2001’s regular programme. It was well able to cope with increasing boat numbers, though at the height of the economic boom years seven or so years later, sage heads such as Donal O’Sullivan reckoned they’d just about reached optimum numbers, of which cruiser-racers were far and away the largest group.

This fact of sailing life was being replicated in sailing centres throughout Ireland, and in 2002, when he had barely had time to get used to having finally retired as DBSC Commodore, Fintan Cairns found himself being approached from Cork by Denis Kiely of Kinsale and Jim Donegan of Crosshaven. Thoughtful sailors who already ran the South Coast Offshore Racing Association, they reckoned that the very specific needs of the rapidly-growing cruiser-racer fleets in Ireland required their own dedicated national association which would defend their interests with other sailing bodies and the national authority, and would hope to organise a national championship to provide recognised national titles of real status for this very significant sector of the sailing population.

The creation of the Irish Cruiser Racing Association began in a very low key way in the autumn of 2002 with an exploratory meeting between Denis Kiely, Jim Donegan and Fintan Cairns in the Granville Hotel in Waterford, and the first conference was held in February 2003 in Kilkenny. While numbers of cruiser-racers were large, their specific locations were widespread, but there was simply no denying the numerical strength and majority power of the Cork-Dublin axis. To get what was then a very novel concept up and running, this strength of numbers had to be acknowledged, and the first National Championship in 2003 reflected this, as it was staged in Howth.

ICRA Nats 2017 at Crosshaven. First raced in 2003, this championship has become a major annual fixture. Photo Robert Bateman

ICRA was run by a dedicated group of volunteers each of whom brought their special talents to the organisation. Jim Donegan, the elder statesman, was so much more interested in the wellbeing of the new organisation than in personal advancement that he insisted on Fintan Cairns being the first Commodore, while the distinguished Cork sailor was more than content to be Vice Commodore.

Initially, the highlight of the ICRA season was the National Championship, which is essentially self-limiting, as it is restricted to boats which have or would be eligible for an IRC Rating. Boats not actually rated but eligible were catered for by ICRA’s ace number-cruncher Denis Kiely, who took Ireland’s long-established native rating system ECHO to new heights, thereby providing for extra entries which brought fleet numbers at most annual national championships to comfortably above the hundred mark, particularly at the height of the boom years.

With championships every year at different venues, they sometimes shared the event with established regattas. But increasingly this important national championship was seen purely as a stand-alone happening, and a strong element of continuity was required in the administration, so the first Commodore was expected to serve for a demanding six years.

After six years of growth and consolidation, with the hotly-contested national championship successfully staged at a range of venues, Fintan Cairns was able to hand over the Commodore’s role to Barry Rose of Cork in 2009. But the Dublin Bay man found his activities with ICRA were far from over, as the Association had for some years additionally taken on the management of the Irish team in the biennial international Commodore’s Cup. The quiet Fintan Cairns managerial style provided the ideally serene background to the sometimes very heated action on the water, where Ireland at the height of the economic boom years was putting out the boat big time.

Nevertheless Fintan Cairns is quick to point out that without the determined and generous owners and hyper-keen crews – however challengingly colourful they might be – these remarkable campaigns simply wouldn’t have taken place, and it was the duty of the management team to provide the essential background support and every other quietly-provided service they could think of, while high-lighting and encouraging the primary role of the owners and sailors.

Ireland finally won the Commodore’s Cup in 2010 after being within an ace of it in 2006. The win in 2010 was achieved in heavy weather conditions in which the young Irish crews handled their boats exceptionally well in the severe conditions, a matter of special pride to Fintan Cairns. And in the rapidly deteriorating economic circumstances of the time, ICRA’s very successful implementation of their programme at home and internationally had been a beacon of hope for all Irish sailing in 2010, and they became the acclaimed Mitsubishi Motors “Sailing Club of the Year”.

But with the economy fallen off a cliff in 2011, a defence in 2012 simply wasn’t viable. However, in 2014 a challenge was assembled primarily under the leadership of Anthony O’Leary of Cork, but Fintan Cairns was again there to provide Team Manager Barry Rose with support, and they secured the services of noted tactical expert/met guru Mike Broughton as on-site adviser. The daily team briefings and de-briefings in Cowes in John Corby’s offices played their role in the re-taking of the Commodore’s Cup by a very convincing margin in that memorable 2014 series.

The hyper-successful Commodore’s Cup team of 2014, captained by Anthony O’Leary, celebrate on the lawns of the Royal yacht Squadron

But while this was a highlight of Fintan Cairns’ international involvement, he’d remained active with Dublin Bay SC back home, and before standing down as Commodore he’d put in place a regular winter series, The Turkey Shoot, which he unashamedly based on the Brass Monkey series in Howth which had been running for years, and in which he had frequently competed.

However, while the Howth series has moved on a little from its light-hearted early approach – “anyone making a protest will not be eligible for a prize - with the current inclusion of serious IRC classes, the Turkey Shoot over which Cairns continues to maintain a direct personal interest is determinedly user-friendly, and of course with Dun Laoghaire’s huge home fleet, it effortlessly achieves significant numbers on Sunday mornings in the run-up to Christmas.

DBSC’s Freebird – Fintan Cairns and his team put to sea, November 2017. Photo David O’Brien/Afloat

But although he gives time to personally running it from the Committee Boat, for the past six years Fintan Cairns’ own sailing has taken a new turn, as he has finally become a yacht owner. Admittedy it is with four other regular shipmates in a five-way syndicate including longtime sailing friends such as Denis Hewitt and Paul Bradley, all of whom bring special skills to the maintenance and running of the boat. But then, this is one very special boat, as she is Raptor, originally Aztec, one of Mark Mills’ earliest designs, and built in 1996 in Malahide by David Harte and Garrett Connolly.

With such talents involved at a key period in their individual careers, Raptor is arguably a modern classic. She’s a big-hearted boat, and though a smidgin under 32ft in overall length, she seems much bigger, and certainly has a challenging rating. But then her loving owners have lavished all sorts of goodies on her such as a carbon mast, while sailmaker Des McWilliam has provided special attention for a team with which he empathises well, and there’s always original builder David Harte generous with helpful advice when it’s needed too.

Thus with the annual DBSC Turkey Shoot the only event in which Fintan Cairns is now administratively involved, he has stood well back from the hurly-burly of the year round commitment which was required with Dublin Bay SC – where Commodore Chris Moore presides over the annual Prize-Giving, a mega event - while ICRA is now several changes down the line since the hectic times of rapid growth when he was Commodore from 2003 to 2009.

His successor Barry Rose of Crosshaven having been succeeded by Nobby Reilly of Howth who in turn was succeeded by Simon McGibney of Foynes, it’s the successful Foynes skipper who will preside next year over the ICRA Nationals at Galway from 15th to 18th August in a linkup with the WIORA Nationals 2018, a combination which was last seen at Tralee in 2013.

It offers a potentially extremely busy season for a very active younger crew, but for the senior sailors with Raptor, user-friendly rather than heads-on hyper-competitive events is what they now seek. The boat operates in a manageable setup, as Fintan Cairns – having retired from business two years ago – has moved from his south Dublin suburban home, and he and Hilary have settled comfortably into a fourth floor apartment overlooking Dun Laoghaire Harbour where Raptor is within easy reach. Fintan is expected to co-ordinate the running of the boat, as his fellow syndicators have designated him the team’s desk jockey while they get on with their various specialist tasks in her maintenance.

Raptor – a modern classic, much-loved by her syndicate of five owners. Originally Aztec, she was designed by Mark Mills and built by David Harte and Garrett Connolly in 1996 for Peter Beamish

They’ll continue to do the Dublin Bay SC Thursday night racing, but as far as the big events are concerned, there’s a real change of pace in recent years which will be emphasised in 2018, as they’ll be doing Volvo Cork Week in July, but with new enthusiasm in the Coastal Division for the first time, and with old friend Barry Rose aboard with them. And then, as there’s just a chance that their hero Davy Harte might join them if they can get to Schull, Calves Week at the beginning of August - that perfect mixture of sport, holiday and a lovely rural setting - could well come up on the agenda.

For a young-hearted crew with decidedly senior sailors, it’s an ideal easily-implemented programme. And with his many (and continuing) quietly-made yet very effective contributions to the development of Irish sailing for more than three decades, it’s a rich fabric of sailing enjoyment which Fintan Cairns and his wide circle of friends and shipmates will very deservedly enjoy.

Dublin Bay Sailing Club Commodore Chris Moore, reviews the 2017 sailing season on the capital's waters that will be celebrated tonight (Friday, 17th November) at the annual DBSC prizegiving at the Royal St. George Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire. A full list of the 90 DBSC prizewinners are at the end of this story.

Ex-Hurricane Ophelia provided an appropriate footnote to the 2017 Dublin Bay sailing season. It was, in everyone’s recollection, an uncommonly windy year, with numerous races abandoned–or, for smaller boats, severely curtailed. Yet analysis of fleet turnouts, particularly of Saturdays, presents an oddly conflicting picture.

DBSC Commodore Chris Moore

For years we have been noting that on Saturdays, in contrast to Thursdays, turnouts rarely exceeded 36% of the boats entered. This year, despite what we remember as an exceptional abundance of wind and rain, the turnout remained exactly true to form – at 36%.

So, windy, yes, but on Saturdays during, the robust conditions did not deter the usual Saturday enthusiasts from venturing out as usual.

The J97 Windjammer (Lindsay J. Casey & Denis Power) are the winners of the Dun Laoghaire Harbour Trophy for Best New Boat on Dublin Bay. Photo: Afloat.ie

For Thursdays, on the other hand, the turnout figure, which in 2016 was 54% of the fleet, this year fell to 48%. Four Thursday days racing had to be abandoned, quite unlike 2016 when there were none at all. Average turnout of boats on Thursdays in 2017 was 110, (though there were days when it exceeded 130 and sometimes reached 140).

In 2016, by contrast, average turnouts on Thursday evenings was 125. Quite a notable fall-off in 2017, we must agree.

To be sure, Saturdays in the early part of the 2017 season were exceptionally cold and blustery. To no one’s regret, racing for the first two Saturdays had to be cancelled. And the first coastal race on the 27th May took place in wet, miserable conditions, only two boats reaching the finishing line.

A large fleet of Sigma 33s – including DBSC's own fleet – competed in July's Dun Laoghaire Regatta Photo: Afloat.ie

Thereafter, the weather settled down a bit, particularly after the second coastal race on the 17th June which took place in a minor heat wave. Many boats, in fact, struggled to get beyond Killiney Bay, like Ruffians, Shipmans and Cruisers 5. A few weeks later, the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta, with sunshine and benign winds, was a most agreeable occasion. As indeed was our own end of Season race day - a kind of mini-regatta, if you like, with beautiful weather and some new courses which seem to have pleased nearly everyone.

Courses
Mention of the end of season race on the 30th September reminds me that for some time we have been trying to arrest the decline in Saturday turnouts by introducing more interesting and more varied courses. First, we have had the coastal races which now include, for some classes, an annual trip down southwards to the Greystones regatta.

Then, this year, on the final day of racing, we had keelboats boats racing on windward-leeward courses, finishing the first race on one starboard side of the committee boat while boats were starting the second race on its port-hand side. It made conditions aboard the committee boat very interesting, to say the least, but sailors seem to have loved it. Particularly as it cut out the interminable waiting and hanging about which up to this seems inevitable with back-to-back racing.

The SB20 Venues World (Ger Dempsey) won the Lunasa Trophy for Saturday Series 2 Photo: Afloat.ie

There’s undoubtedly an appetite for this particular format, but, unfortunately, there’s a problem. It’s extraordinarily demanding of resources. Not only does it require two exceptionally good race officers on the two committee boat (or else one very, very experienced totally alert race officer with the proverbial eyes in the back of his/her head) but also a doubling up of the time-keeping and recording teams.

Reflecting on it, what we might consider next year is to sign-off each of the two Saturday series with similar such courses. As we will be having a Bloomsday regatta on the 16th June, we could use this format on that occasion and finish the first series at the same time.

Bluefin II (Michael & Bernie Bryson) was the winner of the Beneteau 31.7's Long John Silver Cup for Saturday Overall (Echo) DBSC racing Photo: Afloat.ie

Entries and Subscriptions
Subscriptions and boat entries held up well and indeed income was about 1% above what we budgeted for. For the record, boat entries came to 317 and membership subscriptions to 1217.

Within those generally satisfactory boat entry figures, there are some less positive trends. Whereas cruiser-racers continue to thrive in Dublin Bay the decline in one-designs continues. In 2016, there were 8 Dragons racing under the DBSC burgee. This year there were only 5. Squibs in 2016 numbered 14. This year they had fallen to 11, with turnouts averaging just three boats.

The DBSC Flying Fifteen fleet make the headlines in the Irish Times. The buoyant fleet is bucking the trend in one design numbers on the bay. The 25–boat class, largely based at the NYC, will stage the FF world championships in Dun Laoghaire in 2019

Volunteers
In 1963, Howard Knee a well-known artist of the day, painted a picture showing a DBSC start at the inside of the West Pier. The total race management effort at the time consisted of the race officer, an assistant, a megaphone and an open shed to protect them from the elements. We’ve moved forward a lot since then and on some Saturdays nowadays DBSC fleets sail in four separate race areas, served by two state–of–the art committee boats, the West Pier Starters Hut and- servicing the dinghies in the Harbour – Declan Traynor’s large rib.

All this requires the services of a considerable number of volunteers (now numbering close to forty, by a recent count). Managing even the rota for this group requires considerable personal effort on the part of the team coordinators, to whom we must be infinitely grateful, Ida Kiernan, Rosemary Roy and Barbara Conway - who is now, regretfully, leaving us to go back to racing.

Members murmuring about the accuracy of their results should be aware that life on board a committee vessel at anchor in seaway is not invariably the comfortable berth they might imagine. One Saturday last season, visiting the Freebird on a day with a very lumpy sea, someone noticed that three of the women members of the team were undoubtedly seasick. Yet they were able to pick out sail numbers from what seemed to be a flurry of white sail storming across the finishing line.

That said, we must recognise that there can be new or occasional members the team sometimes have an imperfect grasp of what is going on. Indeed, there is always the need for all us to update and share our knowledge of the mechanics of running club racing. It’s subject we intend to give some attention to during the winter with some training and briefing sessions.

We should not forget, either, the young– and, sometimes, not so young –people who man the Club’s RIB patrol boats. We depend a lot on them to lay accurately starting and finishing lines. Not to mention laying leeward gates and putting a windward mark exactly where it should be and not letting it float away with the tide. In this area, too, we will consider some upskilling, either in-house or by some specialist agency.

Hut
The DBSC starter’s Hut has been going onto its summer location on the seaward side of the West Pier since 1968.

In that year, according to the Club’s minutes, the first courses from this particular location were designed by Tim Goodbody. It’s clearly a life-time vocation, designing courses, for it was Tim, nearly half a century later, who this summer, produced a set of new and interesting designs for our coastal races. Our thanks once again to Tim for all the time and effort he continues to put into this very essential exercise.

The Hut has always been important asset for the Club even though its centrality in the scheme of things has declined a bit with the acquisition of committee boats. There is no intention to abandon it. It’s important for Tuesday racing and even though we could run Saturday races without it as we have done on Thursdays, it’s still a very useful, comfortable, not very expensive and totally dependable place to run races to run races from. Which, hand on heart, we can’t always say about committee vessels.

We’re grateful to Brendan Finucane for looking after it this year. It’s always a stressful exercise overseeing putting the Hut on station on the West Pier. Likewise, the return to the MGM yard on the crane/low-loader, along the narrow causeway from the Pier to the bridge, ever so carefully avoiding getting entangled in fences and road signs along the way. We never cease to marvel at the skill of the various drivers who so successfully carry it all off so professionally over the years.

DBSC Pier mark at the East Pier stayed on station but others disappeared Photo: Afloat.ie
Marks
Not unexpectedly, the bad weather seems to have taken its toll on the Club’s buoyage. Zebra Mark went adrift and ended up in Douglas in the Isle of Man. New Ross simply disappeared and has not been seen since. Marks are subjected to all sorts of conditions and many of them are beyond useful life. We have been considering a budget to fund a replacement programme. Expensive but necessary. My thanks to Philip Ferguson for his work on this activity.

DBSC committee boat Freebird at work laying courses in breezy conditions at this year's Turkey Shoot. Photo: Afloat.ie

Committee Boats
Always a significant item in the Club finances, the committee boats require unceasing and meticulous attention. Maclir is in constant use since we acquired her seventeen years ago and some time in the not too distant future we’ll have to see about replacing her. Freebird, which first came into full service in 2013, still requires some looking after. This autumn, for instance, anodes to protect the very valuable jet drives cost €1,500. Expensive, yes but not as expensive as replacing the jet drives.

I should here express our thanks to the drivers of the committee boats. (Skippers, I think, would be more appropriate designation). Not only do they drive the craft, they’re also part of the team - looking after the race sound signalling, for instance. Brendan Dalton take a particular interest in the maintenance of the Freebird, and spends long hours helping her get ready for service. My special thanks to them for all this.

Appreciation 

Looking back on the Club’s activities for this review, I cannot but think that in many ways DBSC is something very similar to what is now called a medium-sized enterprise. There is the same concerns about raising income, providing services, paying bills regularly, maintenance programmes, budgets, administration and enlisting the right people to do the work

With the addition, of course, that the workers are all volunteers, which are far, far too many to list here. But I must single out our hard-working flag-officers and committee. Not forgetting Not our hard-working Hon. Secretary, Donal O’Sullivan and our Hon.Protest Secretary, Ray Duggan who looks after protests with his usual tact and efficiency.

Ray will be leaving us at the end of next season when the then-incoming committee will be faced with the unenviable task of finding a worthy successor.

I thank also our sponsors and supporters – firstly our title sponsor Sherry Fitzgerald and also Viking Marine, MGM Boats, SagePay and Killen Marine. A special word of thanks to Rathfarnham Ford who have been generously supporting our winter racing for some years now.

Tim Goodbody's J109 White Mischief leads at the DBSC Turkey Shoot gybe mark. White Mischief was the winner of Cruisers One Saturday IRC overall racing; Photo: Afloat.ie

Which reminds me I must not forget either former commodore Fintan Cairns, who continues to run the Turkey Shoot and Spring Chicken series so successfully. This winter racing is great fun, as is the apres-sail jollifications, over which Fintan and Brian Mathews preside with much wit and aplomb.

Brian, who is our Technical Director - and also a very, very effective race officer - will be absent from Dublin Bay for about a year, having joined another former DBSC member, Eamonn Crosbie, in a world cruise aboard the latter’s boat, Pamela, a Discovery 55. We wish them both fair winds and happy voyaging.

DBSC Technical Director Brian Mathews is sailing round–the–world with Dun Laoghaire sailor Eamon Crosbie in Pamela, a Discovery 55 Photo: Afloat.ie

I must thank, too, the two Leonard brothers, Kevin and Ralph, who, after fifteen years on the job, are retiring at the end of this year. It’s not always sufficiently recognised, but producing regular results for the web within half an hour of receiving the record sheets of what is the equivalent of a full-scale regatta , is an achievement not easily matched elsewhere in the sailing world.

In recent years, in response to class requests, we have been adding complication after complication into the Club’s results system. It dates from 1983 when our then-Commodore, Michael O’Rahilly, talked to Colin McMullen about computerising the task. DBSC were very much ahead of the curve at the time and over a hundred clubs world-wide used it in its heyday. But it’s dated, the complications were slowing it down. The web adjunct added to it about 2006 was only a compromise – providing snapshots, so to speak, of print files produced by the underlying computing system.

As members are now doubt aware, Colin McMullen has been working on a full upgrade, bringing it into line with the new server-based technology. We all look forward keenly to seeing it on stream next season.

Outside DBSC I must remember at this time the management and staffs of the waterfront clubs who support DBSC members in so many ways. Also the boards of Dun Laoghaire Harbour and Dublin Port as well as the Harbour Masters, Captains Simon Coate and Michael McKenna. Not forgetting the national authority which regulates our sport, the Irish Sailing Association, which in recent times became Irish Sailing. To all our grateful thanks.

DBSC 2017 Prizewinners

Cruisers 0
Rockabill VI	Paul	O'Higgins	glasses	Saturdays Echo Series 1
WOW	George	Sisk Esq	Knox-Gore Cup (2)	Saturday IRC overall
			glasses	Thursday Series 1 Echo
			glasses	Thursday ECHO Series 2
			Knox-Gore Bowl (1)	Thursday ECHO Overall
			glasses	Thursday IRC Series 1
			glasses	Thursday IRC Series 2
			Martin Cup (3)	Thursday IRC overall
			glasses	Saturday IRC Series 1
			glasses	Saturday ECHO Series 2
			glasses	Saturday IRC Series 2
			John Rennie Trophy	Coastal Races
			Centenary Trophy (4)	Saturday Echo overall
Cruisers 1
Bon Exemple	Colin	Byrne	West Pier Officers cup (7)	Thursday IRC overall
Chimaera	Andrew & Deidi	Craig	glasses	Thursday Echo Series 1
Dear Prudence	Pierce	Tynan & others	Osterberg Cup (5)	Saturday Echo overall
Gringo	Tony	Fox	Tiamat Trophy (6)	Thursday ECHO Overall
Gringo	Tony	Fox	glasses	Thursday Series 1 IRC
Jalapeno	Paul	Barrington Esq	glasses	Saturdays Echo Series 1
Something Else	John & Brian	Hall	glasses	Thursday ECHO Series 2
			glasses	Saturday Echo Series 2
White Mischief	Timothy & Richard	Goodbody Esq	Weir Cup (8)	Saturday IRC overall
			glasses	Thursday IRC Series 2
			glasses	Saturdays IRC Series 1
			glasses	Saturdays IRC Series 2
			Cr.1 Royal Alfred Cup	Coastal Races
Cruisers 2				Cruisers 2
Enchantress	K Bonner, L Nicholl	& M Larkin	Silver Foam Trophy (77)	Most improved boat
Helter Skelter	Adrienne & Averil	Jermyn	glasses	Saturdays Echo Series 1
Leeuwin	Henry Leonard &	Bobbie Kerr	glasses	Thursday Series 1 Echo
			glasses	Thursday IRC Series 1
Peridot	J.McCann. P.Cadden. Y.Charrier	& H.O'Donnell	Silver Salver (12)	Saturday IRC overall
			glasses	Saturday IRC Series 1
			glasses	Thursday IRC Series 2
			Cr.2 Royal Alfred Cup	Coastal Races
Rupert	Richard & Philip	Lovegrove Esq	Lady Shamrock Trophy (13)	Thursday IRC overall
			Fireseal Sigma 33 Trophy (24)	Thursdays overall
			Rupert Bowl (26)	1st Saturday Series-Trophy
			Bective Lights Crystal Trophy (27)	Saturdays overall
			J.B. Stephens Trophy (25)	Thursday Saturday Combined
Windjammer	Lindsay J. Casey &	Denis Power	T.P. Early Cup (11)	Saturday Echo overall
			glasses	Saturdays Echo Series 2
			Centenary Cup (10)	Thursday ECHO overall
			glasses	Thursday ECHO Series 2
			glasses	Saturday IRC Series 2
			Briscoe Trophy (9)	Tuesday Echo overall
Cruisers 3
Cartoon	Sybil McCormack &	Ken Lawless	Mercia Cup (16)	Saturday Echo overall
			glasses	Saturday Series 2 IRC
			Mini- Sam Maguire Cup	Coastal Races
			glasses	Saturday ECHO Series 2
			Jack Kennedy Memorial Cup (15)	Saturday IRC overall
Dubious	Peter	Richardson	glasses	Saturdays Echo Series 1
Marlena	Grzegorz	Kalinecki	Annette Cup (90)	Tuesday overall
Running Wild	Brendan	Foley Esq	Viking clock Trophy	Thursday Echo overall
			glasses	Thursday IRC Series 2
			glasses	Thursday ECHO Series 2
			glasses	Thursday Echo Series 1
			Smalldridge Cup	Thursday IRC overall (3a)
			glasses	Thursday IRC Series 1
Cruisers 3(b)
Asterix	Frazer Meredith &	John Counihan	Sanderling Trophy (14)	Thursday IRC overall (3b)
			glasses	Thursday IRC Series 1
			glasses	Saturday IRC Series 1
Cacciatore	Mairead &Ann	Ni Cheallachain	glasses	Thursday IRC Series 2
Pamafe	Gerald	Costello Esq	glasses	Thursday ECHO Series 2
Saki	Paget Mc Cormack	Ml. & Ben Ryan	Whimbrel Rose Bowl (19)	Thursday Echo overall
			glasses	Thursday ECHO Series 1
B21s
Billy Whizz	Pat	Shannon	Old Baily Bowl	Coastal Races
			glasses	Thursday Scratch Series 2
Ventuno	Rowan	Fogarty Esq	Facet Jewellers Cup (95)	Thursday Scratch Overall
			glasses	Thursday Scratch Series 1
			glasses	Saturday Scratch Series 1
			glasses	Saturday Scratch Series 2
			Beneteau 21 Cup (94)	Saturday Scratch Overall
Cruisers 5 (a)
Persistence	Chas. Broadhead	Ian Stuart & Jerry Collins	Gerry Henry Salver (20)	Thursday Echo overall
			glasses	Thursday Echo Series 1
			glasses	Saturdays IRC series 1
			glasses	Saturday IRC Series 2
			White Sail Class Trophy (21)	Saturday IRC overall
White Lotus	Paul	Tully Esq	Burford Trophy (23)	Thursday IRC overall
			glasses	Thursday IRCSeries 1
			glasses	Thursday Series 2 Echo
			glasses	Thursday Series 2 IRC
Calypso	Howard	Knott	Anna Livia Trophy (22)	Saturday Echo overall
			glasses	Saturdays Echo Series 2
Cevantes	Paul	Conway	Royal Alfred Howth Trophy	Coastal Races
			glasses	Thursday IRCSeries 1
Sweet Martini	A.Bruce	Carswsell Esq	glasses	Thursday Echo Series 1
The Great Escape	Patrick & Denise	Rigney	Trevor Wood Trophy (92)	Thursday Echo overall
			glasses	Saturdays Echo Series 1
			glasses	Thursday Series 2 Echo
Vespucci	Sean & Kristina	O'Regan	Galileo Cup (93)	Thursday IRC overall
			glasses	Thursday Series 2 IRC
31.7s
Bluefin II	Michael & Bernie	Bryson	Long John Silver Cup (29)	Saturday Overall- Echo
			glasses	Saturday Series 1 Echo
			glasses	Saturdays Series 2 Echo
Fiddly Bits	P.J.Timmons,W.Quigley	G.Murray, D.Breen	glasses	Thursday Series 2 (Echo)
Levana	Jean	Mitton	glasses	Thursday Series 1 (Scratch)
Levante	Michael Leahy &	John Power	Horrigan Cup (28)	Thursday Overall -Echo
			glasses	Thursday Series 1 (Echo)
			glasses	Thursday Series 2 (Scratch)
			glasses	Saturday Series 2 One-Design
			Royal Alfred 31.7 Cup	Coastal Races
			Arandora Trophy (30)	Saturday Overall-One Design
Prospect	Chris.	Johnston	Feanor Trophy (31)	Thursday overall One-Design
			glasses	Saturday Series 1 One-Design
Dragons
Dcision	Joey Mason &	Greg Purcell	Old Time Cup (87)	Combined Saturday & Thursday
			glasses	Thursday Series 1
Phantom	Peter Bowring &	David Williams	Oxford & Cambridge Cup (33)	Thursday overall
			glasses	Thursday Series 2
			glasses	Saturdays Series 1
			glasses	Saturdays Series 2
			RIYC Cup (32)	Saturdays Overall
Zinzan	Tim Carpenter, Patricia	McGettrick & Adrian Masterson	Torry Cup (88)	Special conditions
Glens
Glendun	Brian Denham	D,Houlton, Alison OBrien	Pterodactyl Cup (34)	Thursday overall
			glasses	Thursday Series 2
Glendun	Alison	OBrien	Pair of Silver Vases (39)	Ladies Race
Glendun	Brian Denham	D.Houlton, Alison OBrien	Hamilton Reid (38)	Dalkey Island Race
Glendun	Stephen	Flood	Glen Challenge Trophy (35)	Crews races
Glenluce	Richard & Donal	O'Connor Esq	Royal Alfred Glen Trophy	Coastal Races
			glasses	Saturday Series 1
			glasses	Saturday Series 2
			Harry Maguire Memorial Cup (36)	Saturday overall
			The McMullen Cup (37)	Sts & Thurs combined + regatta
			Commodore O'Meara Trophy	Olympic races
Pterodactyll	Roderick & David	McCaffrey Esq	glasses	Thursday Series 1
Ruffians
Alias	David Meeke &	Martin McCarthy	Dr. O'Leary Memorial Cup	Coastal races
			John Donnelly Perpetual Cup (41)	Best Tuesday Boat
Bandit	Ann Kirwan, Brian Cullen	& Ciara Brown	Huet Trophy (43)	Thursday overall
			glasses	Saturday Series 1
			British Airways Trophy (44)	Saturday Overall
			J.Lamont Brown Trophy (42)	Sat & Thurs overall
Ruffles	Michael	Cutliffe Esq	glasses	Saturday Series 2
Shannagh	Stephen Gill &	Padraig Mac Diarmada	glasses	Thursday Series 2
			glasses	Thursday Series 1
Shipmans
Barossa	Brian Geraghty, Stuart Trotter	& Neill McSherry	The Malindi Cup (46)	Saturdays overall
			glasses	Saturday Series 2
Curraglas	John P. & Neill	Masterson Esq	Royal Alfred Shipman Bowl	Coastal Races
JOSlim	John D.Clarke &	B.J. Maher	The Shipman Perpetual Trophy (47)	Special Conds.(sats not major trophy
			glasses	Thursday Series 1
			glasses	Saturday Series 1
Viking	Brian Glynn, \Monica McWeeney	Fergus Mason	The Midweek Trophy (45)	Thursdays overall
			glasses	Thursday Series 2
SB20
Bad-Kilcullen	Jerry	Dowling	glasses	Thursday Series 2
Bango	James	Gorman	Bealtaine Trophy (49)	Special Conditions
			glasses	Saturday Series 1
Sacre Bleu	Colin Galavan	Richard Hayes &	Equinox Trophy (50)	Special Conditions- 3rd series)
Sin Bin	Michael	O'Connor	Saturday SB3 Cup (51)	Saturday overall
			glasses	Thursday Series 1
			Crichton Trophy (52)	Thursday overall
Sin Bin	Michael	O'Connor	glasses	Saturday Series 3
Venuesworld.com	Ger	Dempsey	Lunasa Trophy (48)	Special Conditions (Saturday Series 2 etc)
			glasses	Saturday Series 2
Mixed Sportsboats
Jambiya	Vincent	Lattimore	glasses	Saturday Series 1
			Sporstboat Saturday Cup	Saturday overall
			glasses	Saturday Series 2
Jester	Declan	Curtin	glasses	Thursday Series 2
			Sporstboat Thursday Cup	Thursday overall
Jester	Declan	Curtin	glasses	Thursday Series 1
Water Wags
Mariposa	Cathy	MacAleavey	G.Pugin Melden Trophy (53)	Wags Series 2
Mariposa	Cathy	MacAleavey	glasses	Wednesday Series 2
Moosmie	McFarlane Esq	RIYC	Goldsmith Cup (54)	Wednesday Overall
Moosmie	David	McFarlane Esq	Blue Bird Trophy (55)	Wags Series 1
Moosmie	David	McFarlane Esq	glasses	Wedneday Series 1
Flying 15s
As Good as it Gets	Ben	Mulligan Esq	Brian S.Ryan Trophy (57)	Saturday overall
Deranged	Neil	Colin	Flying Fifteen Gun (56)	Thursday overall
Deranged	Neil	Colin	Fifty Something Cup	1st Thursday Series
Deranged	Neil	Colin	glasses	Thursday Series 2
Deranged	Neil	Colin	glasses	Thursday Series 1
Elena	Ross	Doyle	Blake Cup (89)	Special Conditions
Ignis Caput	David	Mulvin	glasses	Saturday Series 2
The Gruffolo	Keith	Poole	glasses	Saturday Series 1
Mermaids
Aideen	Brendan Martin &	Dan Brennan	Stella Cup (60)	Thursdays: special conditions
Aideen	Brendan Martin &	Dan Brennan	J.B.Kearney Shield (61)	Saturday-special conditions
Jill	Paul Smith &	Pat Mangan	Iolar Cup (59)	Saturday overall
Jill	Paul Smith &	Pat Mangan	glasses	Saturday Series 1
Jill	Paul Smith &	Pat Mangan	glasses	Tuesday Series 1
Jill	Paul Smith &	Pat Mangan	glasses	Tuesday Series 3
Jill	Paul Smith &	Pat Mangan	glasses	Tuesday Series 2
Jill	Paul Smith &	Pat Mangan	glasses	Saturday Series 2
Jill	Paul Smith &	Pat Mangan	Amy Cup (58)	Tuesday Overall
Squibs
Little Demon	Sheila	Power	glasses	Thursday Series 1
Perfection	Jill	Fleming	glasses	Saturday Series 1
Periguin	Noel	Colclough	Shannon Cup (62)	Saturday Overall
Why Not	Derek & Jean	Jago	Minx Trophy (63)	Thursday Overall
Why Not	Derek & Jean	Jago	glasses	Saturday Series 2
Why Not	Derek & Jean	Jago	glasses	Thursday Series 2
Fireball Incubus	Cariosa Power &	Marie Barry	The Saturday Cup	Saturday Overall
Incubus	Cariosa Power &	Marie Barry	glasses	Saturdays Series 2
No. 15061	Stephen	Oram Esq	Nuits St.George Trophy (64)	Tuesday overall
No. 15061	Stephen Oram &	Noel Butler	glasses	Tuesday Series 1
No. 15061	Stephen	Oram Esq	glasses	Tuesday Series 2
No.15061	Stephen	Oram Esq	glasses	Tuesday Series 3
IDRA14s
Dart	Pierre	Long	Melampus Cup (78)	Special conditions
Doody	Jennifer Byrne &	John Fitzgerald	Half-Way Trophy (80)	Special Conditions
Dunmoanin'	Frank	Hamilton Esq	Bay Cup (67)	Tuesday overall
Dunmoanin	Frank	Hamilton Esq	glasses	Saturday Series 3
Dunmoanin'	Frank	Hamilton Esq	The Kennedy Cup (66)	Saturday Overall
Dunmoanin'	Frank	Hamilton Esq	glasses	Tuesday Series 3
Dunmoanin'	Frank	Hamilton Esq	glasses	Tuesday Series 2
Dunmoanin'	Frank	Hamilton Esq	glasses	Saturday Series 2
Dunmoanin'	Frank	Hamilton Esq	glasses	Saturday Series 1 Series 1
Slipstream	Julie	Ascoop	glasses	Tuesday Series 1
Spray	Shane	McNamara	Crews Challenge Cup (79)	Special Conditions
Portsmouth YS
No.59	Tom	Murphy	The Windmill Cup (68)	Tuesday overall
No. 59	Tom	Murphy	glasses	Tuesday Series 3
No.6	Richard	Tate	Early Bird Trophy	1st series Tues, & Sat.combined
No. 6	Richard	Tate	glasses	Saturday Series 3
No.6	Richard	Tate	glasses	Tuesday Series 2
No.6	Richard	Tate	glasses	Saturday Series 1
Sail No. 2	Des	Fortune Esq	glasses	Tuesday Series 1
816	Patrick	McGoldrick	glasses	Saturday Series 2
Lasers
No. 155068	Ross	O'Leary	glasses	Tuesday Series 2
No.173111	Darach	Dinneen	The Lanaverre Trophy	Tuesday overall
No.173111	Darach	Dinneen	glasses	Tuesday Series 3
No.173133	D.	Maloney	Sailcraft Tray (69)	Tuesday overall-2nd place
No.173133	D.	Maloney	glasses	Tuesday Series 1
Juniors
No. 190754	Oisin	Cullen	Jimmy Mooney Goblet (86)	Laser Radial September Series
No 47493	Hugh	O'Connor	Lawson Cup (84)	Topper September Series
No. 1475	Conor	Gorman	Seapoint Cup (82)	Optimist September Series
No. 1649	Tim Norwood &	Finn Cleary	Mitchell Cup (83)	RS Fever September Series
No. 190754	Kate	Fahy	Pioneer Trophy (85)	Laser September Series
No. 601	Patrick	Hassett	PY Junior Trophy	PY September Series
Premium prizes
As Good As It Gets	Ben	Mulligan	Newsom Cup (74)	Best one -design boat
Declan Traynor	Declan	Traynor	Viking Trophy (76)	Notable contribution to sailing
Dunmoanin'	Frank	Hamilton	Dr Alf Delaney Cup (73)	Best Boat on dinghy course
Ruffians	Michael	Cutliffe Esq	Brendan Ebrill Memorial Cup (81)	Special conditions
White Mischief	Timothy &	Richard Goodbody	Waterhouse Shield (75)	Best Cruiser on handicap
Windjammer	Lindsay J. Casey &	Denis Power	Dun Laoghaire Harbour Trophy (72)	Best New Boat

In a second week of strong winds and exhilarating sailing, leading J109 yachts competing in the Rathfarnham Ford sponsored DBSC Turkey Shoot recorded speeds of 15–knots today.

After a short upwind leg and a gybe at the outfall mark off the West Pier, a reduced fleet, due to the conditions, set a course downwind to the Muglins Rock off Dalkey Island in the southern end of Dublin Bay.

There were very few spinnakers flown in the early stages of the long downwnd leg as gusts of 32–knots from the north-west hit the mixed cruiser and sportsboat fleet that includes 1720s and a sole SB20.

Windjammer was one of the first to pop the kite on the downwind leg to the Muglins

Exhilarating sailing at the DBSC Turkey Shoot Photo: Afloat.ie

Today was the second in a series of seven races is held on Sunday mornings from 5th November to 17th December. An entry fee of €70.00 for the series includes temporary membership of DBSC and the Royal Irish Yacht Club. 

Last year the series was dominated by J109s who took the top three places overall. This year the Js have a grip of the lead again with the JPK 10.80 Rockabill (that did not sail today) also in the frame after race one.

The Sigma Golden Fleece (51215) to leeward makes her start

'I was tactician last week on Rockabill VI and tactician today on Joker II this week. We got Joker II up to 15.8 knots on the windy run to Muglins', Prof told Afloat.ie

In addition to the title sponsor, DBSC's Fintan Cairns has also secured continued support from weekly sponsors North Sails and UK Sailmakers Ireland. Also lined up as sponsors are two new weekly sponsors Drumshanbo Gin and Windyridge Garden Centre.

See Afloat.ie's photo gallery from the second race below. Results update to follow.

Calypso prepares to gybe

In an exciting days racing in a strong westerly wind Flying Fifteen class Captain John O’Sullivan with UK guest crew Ben Longstaff stunned the fleet in Race 2 with a fantastic win to record his first ever race victory. It was well deserved and well celebrated!

This was the first day of the traditional six week frostbite series run by the NYC with Ian Matthews as PRO. The fleet set out in about 18-20knots from the west with a surprisingly strong flooding tide. A great turnout of sixteen boats got off at the first time of asking and most headed towards the shore, it was all very close and all very exciting. As they approached the weather mark it was Green, fresh back after getting second in the UK Nationals in Falmouth with Charles Apthorp, who led from Mulvin & Beirne closely followed by a cluster of boats. It was a three lap race and although it was close racing not a lot changed as Green read the shifts well and maintained his lead to take the gun with Mulvin second and Colman & Quinn third.

Race 2 followed shortly after, the wind was steady but PRO extended the beat and added a triangle so thrills and spills were sure to occur on the downwind legs! Off they went at the gun but Green was a bit too quick out of the blocks and had to go back as the rest of the fleet sailed on up the beat. The majority went towards the shore with O’Sullivan to weather of the other boats, meanwhile Coughlan & Marshal went right, these two fierce rivals rounded the mark together but O Sullivan kept his nerve and his head to take the lead and sailed a solid race to win his first race ever! Behind places were changing right up to the last leg. Mulvin, Coleman and Dooley were battling it out, Sherry was unlucky as his spinnaker went under his bow at the drop, Green was slowly catching up and at the last weather mark has nipped into third place but Dooley over took them and Mulvin on the last leg to get a second place with Mulvin finishing third.

It was a great start to the series, thanks to Ian Matthews and his team who worked hard on a breezy lumpy day providing great racing and great courses. The series continues next Sunday.

Rathfarnham Ford will continue its support of the country's biggest winter yacht racing when Dublin Bay Sailing Club's (DBSC) Turkey Shoot Series resumes next month.

A series of seven races will be held on Sunday mornings from 5th November to 17th December. An entry fee of €70.00 for the series includes temporary membership of DBSC and the Royal Irish Yacht Club. 

Last year the series was dominated by J109s who took the top three places overall. 

In addition to the title sponsor, DBSC's Fintan Cairns has also secured continued support from weekly sponsors North Sails and UK Sailmakers Ireland.

Attached below is a Notice of Race and Entry Form for the league that last year attracted over 74 mixed cruiser–racers ranging from Flying Fifteen one designs right up to 50–ocean going yachts.

B21S - 1. CHINOOK (A BRADLEY), 2. VENTUNO (R FOGARTY), 3. SMALL WONDER (H KELLY & J MCSTAY)

B21S - 1. VENTUNO (R FOGARTY), 2. CHINOOK (A BRADLEY), 3. SMALL WONDER (H KELLY & J MCSTAY)

B21S - 1. VENTUNO (R FOGARTY), 2. CHINOOK (A BRADLEY), 3. SMALL WONDER (H KELLY & J MCSTAY)

BENETEAU 31.7 - 1. Crazy Horse (F Heath & I Schuster), 2. Prospect (Chris Johnston), 3. Levante (M.Leahy/J.Power)

BENETEAU 31.7 - 1. Thirty Something (Kavanagh\Gaffney\Lubliner), 2. Kalamar (Power et al), 3. Attitude (Milner Sugars Owens)

BENETEAU 31.7 - 1. Thirty Something (Kavanagh\Gaffney\Lubliner), 2. Attitude (Milner Sugars Owens), 3. Bluefin Two (M & B Bryson)

CRUISERS 0 - 1. ROCKABILL VI (PAUL O'HIGGINS), 2. Lively Lady (Derek Martin), 3. Wow (George Sisk)

CRUISERS 0 - 1. ROCKABILL VI (PAUL O'HIGGINS), 2. Wow (George Sisk), 3. Lively Lady (Derek Martin)

CRUISERS 0 - 1. ROCKABILL VI (PAUL O'HIGGINS), 2. Wow (George Sisk), 3. Lively Lady (Derek Martin)

CRUISERS 0 - 1. ROCKABILL VI (PAUL O'HIGGINS), 2. Wow (George Sisk), 3. Lively Lady (Derek Martin)

CRUISERS 1 - 1. Jump The Gun (M.Monaghan/J.Kelly), 2. Powder Monkey (C Moore), 3. Indecision (Declan Hayes et al)

CRUISERS 1 - 1. Something Else (J.Hall et al), 2. Juggerknot (A Algeo et al), 3. Powder Monkey (C Moore)

CRUISERS 1 - 1. Something Else (J.Hall et al), 2. Chimaera (A Craig), 3. Raptor (D.Hewitt et al)

CRUISERS 1 - 1. Something Else (J.Hall et al), 2. Juggerknot (A Algeo et al), 3. White Mischief (Tim Goodbody)

CRUISERS 2 - 1. Borraine (D Butler), 2. Peridot (Jim McCann et al), 3. Kamikaze (P.Nash/B.McIntyre)

CRUISERS 2 - 1. Peridot (Jim McCann et al), 2. Windjammer (L Casey & D Power), 3. RUPERT (R & P LOVEGROVE)

CRUISERS 2 - 1. RUPERT (R & P LOVEGROVE), 2. Red Rhum (J Nicholson), 3. Helter Skelter (A & A Jermyn)

CRUISERS 2 - 1. RUPERT (R & P LOVEGROVE), 2. Windjammer (L Casey & D Power), 3. Peridot (Jim McCann et al)

CRUISERS 3 - 1. Asterix (Boushel/Meredith/Counihan), 2. Cartoon (McCormack/Brady/Lawless), 3. Enigma (J MONAGHAN ET AL)

CRUISERS 3 - 1. Cartoon (McCormack/Brady/Lawless), 2. Enigma (J MONAGHAN ET AL), 3. Maranda (M Kelly)

CRUISERS 3 - 1. Cartoon (McCormack/Brady/Lawless), 2. Enigma (J MONAGHAN ET AL), 3. Gung Ho (G & S O'Shea)

CRUISERS 3 - 1. Maranda (M Kelly), 2. Asterix (Boushel/Meredith/Counihan), 3. Wynward (W McCormack)

FLYING FIFTEEN - 1. FFantastic Mr Fox (N Meagher & N Matthews), 2. Snow White (Frank Burgess), 3. The Gruffalo (K Poole)

FLYING FIFTEEN - 1. The Gruffalo (K Poole), 2. Perfect Ten (A Balfe), 3. Ignis Caput (David Mulvin)

GLEN - 1. Glenluce (R & D O'Connor), 2. Glendun (B.Denham et al), 3. Glencoe (Rose Mary Craig et al)

GLEN - 1. Glenluce (R & D O'Connor), 2. Glendun (B.Denham et al), 3. Pterodactyl (R & D McCaffrey)

IDRA 14 FOOT - 1. Dunmoanin (Frank Hamilton), 2. Dart (Pierre Long), 3. Sapphire (Lorcan O'Sullivan)

IDRA 14 FOOT - 1. Dunmoanin (Frank Hamilton), 2. Doody (J.Fitzgerald/J.Byrne), 3. Diane (B Murphy)

IDRA 14 FOOT - 1. Dunmoanin (Frank Hamilton), 2. Dart (Pierre Long), 3. Spray (Chris & Oisin Corrigan)

MERMAID - 1. Jill (P Smith/P Mangan), 2. Aideen (B.Martin/D.Brennan)

PY CLASS - 1. Richard Tate (), 2. P Ter Host (Laser Vago), 3. S Gordienok (Laser Vago)

PY CLASS - 1. Richard Tate (), 2. P Ter Host (Laser Vago), 3. S Gordienok (Laser Vago)

PY CLASS - 1. Richard Tate (), 2. P Ter Host (Laser Vago), 3. S Gordienok (Laser Vago)

RUFFIAN 23 - 1. Ripples (Frank Bradley), 2. Ruff Nuff (D & C Mitchell), 3. RUFFLES (M CUTLIFFE)

RUFFIAN 23 - 1. Ruff Nuff (D & C Mitchell), 2. Ripples (Frank Bradley), 3. Alias (D.Meeke/M.McCarthy)

SB20 - 1. Sin Bin (Michael O'Connor), 2. AlertPackaging.com (J Burke & D Burke), 3. Sunday Brunch (P O'Brien & D Dwyer)

SB20 - 1. Sin Bin (Michael O'Connor), 2. AlertPackaging.com (J Burke & D Burke), 3. Sunday Brunch (P O'Brien & D Dwyer)

 SB20 - 1. Sin Bin (Michael O'Connor), 2. AlertPackaging.com (J Burke & D Burke), 3. Bango (J Gorman)

SHIPMAN - 1. Viking (Brian Glynn et al), 2. Invader (Gerard Glynn), 3. Ruadh (J.O'Callaghan)

SHIPMAN - 1. Viking (Brian Glynn et al), 2. Invader (Gerard Glynn), 3. Ruadh (J.O'Callaghan)

SHIPMAN - 1. Viking (Brian Glynn et al), 2. Poppy (A Deladiennee), 3. Invader (Gerard Glynn)

SQUIB - 1. Periguin (N Colcough), 2. Tais (Michael O'Connell), 3. Fox (M Moran & M Shiel)

Sportsboat - 1. Jawesome III (M Dyke & B Darcy), 2. Jester (D Curtain), 3. Jheetah (A Sarratt)

 Sportsboat - 1. Jester (D Curtain), 2. Jawesome III (M Dyke & B Darcy), 3. Jambiya (M Ryan & V Lattimore)

WHITE SAIL CRUISERS - 1. Sweet Martini (B Carswell), 2. Vertigo (M Muldoon), 3. The Great Escape (P Rigney)

WHITE SAIL CRUISERS - 1. Just Jasmin (P Smith), 2. Vespucci (Sean O'Regan), 3. Persistence (C Broadhead et al)

WHITE SAIL CRUISERS - 1. Vespucci (Sean O'Regan), 2. Cevantes (P Conway), 3. White Lotus (P Tully)

WHITE SAIL CRUISERS - 1. Just Jasmin (P Smith), 2. Persistence (C Broadhead et al), 3. Vespucci (Sean O'Regan)

Dublin Bay Sailing Club is gearing up for Saturday's End of Season Race Day. Two races will mark the conclusion of the 2017 Summer season and racing will start approximately one hour earlier than usual. 

The following SI amendments been put in place: 

1. Boats in the Blue Fleet will start and finish at MacLir (displaying a blue pennant) and boats in the Red Fleet will start and finish at the Freebird (displaying a red pennant). Green Fleet boats will race with the Red Fleet. There will be no starts or finishes at the West Pier (Hut) line. MacLir will be stationed in the northern quarter of the racing area, the Freebird in the southern.

2. Two races will be sailed for each class. Both qualify for Series 2 points. The starting sequence for the first race will be as follows:

Blue Fleet at MacLir (VHF Channel 74)
Class Flag Warning Signal
Cruiser 5 No.5 12:00
Cruiser 0 No.0 12:05
Cruiser 1 No.1 12:10
31.7 Cruiser No.9 12:15
Cruiser 2 No.2 12:20
Cruiser 3 No.3 12:25

Red Fleet at Freebird (VHF Channel 72)
Class Flag Warning signal
SB20 No. 7 12:00
Sportsboat 3rd Sub 12:03
Dragon Flag D 12:06
Flying 15 Naval 6 12:09
Squib/Mermaid Flag G 12:12
B21 No. 4 12:15
Ruffian Flag Q 12:18
Shipman Flag W 12:21
Glen Flag K 12:24

3. Boats (both one-designs and handicapped) will be scored up to 20 minutes after the finish of the class leader. Thereafter they will be scored DNF.

4. Boats in the starting area that do not cross the starting line within four minutes of their starting signal will be scored DNS.

5. Race 2 will commence as soon as possible after the conclusion of the Race 1. For this race, Flag R will be displayed, with two sound signals, to indicate that racing is about to begin.

Download the full amendment as a PDF file below.