#flyingfifteen – Betty sailed by Dave Gorman & Chris Doorly won the two races at the weekend where 17 Flying Fifteen fleet turned out in the DBSC Saturday series. Tom & Eamon Galvin also had a great day getting two seconds. Race Officer Barry O'Neill and his team on Freebird set great windward- leeward course's in a building southerly wind. The start line was long enough this week and the bias was at the committee boat for both races.
Race 1: the tide was flooding and the wind was oscillating, there appeared to be slightly more wind upon the left towards the harbour, this proved correct as Tom Murphy reached the weather mark first just ahead of the Galvin brothers and Gorman with Mulligan & Green in Frequent Flyer just behind. Downwind Galvin took the lead and it was only on the next beat that Gorman got ahead by going in to the right for more pressure. It remained close up to the finish, Gorman first, Galvin second, Mathews third and Mulligan fourth.
Race 2 the committee boat end had a slight bias and the tide had started to ebb, Mulligan tacked to the right as the main fleet went left, it was shifty and Mulligan was looking good, suddenly there was another shift, those on the left got a lift and Murphy again lead at the weather mark followed by Gorman, Mulligan and Galvin. Downwind Gorman took the lead, on the remaining beats the wind had shifted slightly to the right and going towards the shore paid each time. Gorman led the way to the line, Galvins were second with Mulligan third and Mathews fourth.
A feature of the racing was how close it is between all the boats, It was great to see so many boats out racing. This Thursday the DBSC series continues this week.

#sb20 – Strong and gusty north westerlies on Dublin Bay have led to the cancellation of the SB20 DBSC racing today. The Dublin Bay buoy located next to the SB20 race track showed an average wind speed of 
23–kts and gusts of 30kts from 311 °(NW) leading race officer Barry O'Neill to cancel this afternoon's racing. SB20 Class captain James Gorman plans to reschedule the planned three races for later in the season.

#dbsc – Dublin Bay Sailing Club Results for 30 MAY 2015

BENETEAU 31.7 ECHO - 1. Attitude (T Milner J Sugars M Branigan), 2.

Prospect (Chris Johnston), 3. Levante (M.Leahy/J.Power)

BENETEAU 31.7 - 1. Prospect (Chris Johnston), 2. Levante
(M.Leahy/J.Power), 3. Attitude (T Milner J Sugars M Branigan)

CRUISERS 0 ECHO - 1. Wow (George Sisk), 2. Tsunami (Vincent Farrell),
3. Lively Lady (Derek Martin)

CRUISERS 0 - 1. Wow (George Sisk), 2. Tsunami (Vincent Farrell), 3.
Lively Lady (Derek Martin)

CRUISERS 1 - 1. Something Else (J.Hall et al), 2. Rockabill V (Paul
O'Higgins)

CRUISERS 1 ECHO - 1. Something Else (J.Hall et al), 2. Rockabill V
(Paul O'Higgins), 3. Bon Exemple (C Byrne)

CRUISERS 2 - 1. Graduate (D O'Keeffe), 2. Peridot (Jim McCann et al),
3. Jambiya (Ryan & Lattimore)

CRUISERS 2 - 1. Graduate (D O'Keeffe), 2. Peridot (Jim McCann et al),
3. Bendemeer (L Casey & D Power)

CRUISERS 3 ECHO - 1. Hard on Port (Flor O'Driscoll), 2. Taiscealai (B
Richardson), 3. Asterix (Boushel/Meredith/Counihan)

CRUISERS 3 - 1. Hard on Port (Flor O'Driscoll), 2. Asterix
(Boushel/Meredith/Counihan), 3. Supernova
(McStay/Timbs/Monaghan/Costello)

Combined Classes ECHO - 1. Rupert (R & P Lovegrove), 2. White Mischief
(Timothy Goodbody), 3. Leeuwin (H&C Leonard & B Kerr)

Combined Classes - 1. Rupert (R & P Lovegrove), 2. White Mischief
(Timothy Goodbody), 3. Leeuwin (H&C Leonard & B Kerr)

FLYING FIFTEEN Race 1 - 1. Betty (D & S Gorman), 2. Thingamabob (T
Galvin), 3. The Gruffalo (K Poole/I Mathews)

FLYING FIFTEEN Race 2 - 1. Betty (D & S Gorman), 2. Thingamabob (T
Galvin), 3. Frequent Flyer (C Doorley/A Green)

GLEN - 1. Glenluce (D & R O'Connor), 2. Glenshesk
(Walker\Reid\Henderson), 3. Glendun (B.Denham et al)

RUFFIAN 23 - 1. Bandit (Kirwan/Cullen/Brown), 2. Ruffles (Michael
Cutliffe), 3. Alias (D.Meeke/M.McCarthy)

SHIPMAN - 1. Gusto (Heath, Miles, Crisp, Duggan), 2. Jo Slim (J.Clarke
et al), 3. Euphanzel lll (M Muldoon)

SIGMA 33 - 1. Rupert (R & P Lovegrove), 2. White Mischief (Timothy
Goodbody), 3. Leeuwin (H&C Leonard & B Kerr)

SQUIB Race 1 - 1. Femme Fatale (V Delaney), 2. Perfection (Jill
Fleming), 3. Pintail (T McAllister)

SQUIB Race 2 - 1. Femme Fatale (V Delaney), 2. Perfection (Jill
Fleming), 3. Pintail (T McAllister)

WHITE SAIL CRUISERS ECHO - 1. Cevantes (Paul Conway), 2. Calypso
(Howard Knott), 3. Fortitudine (D & A Clarke)

WHITE SAIL CRUISERS - 1. Cevantes (Paul Conway), 2. Calypso (Howard
Knott), 3. Xerxes (Dan O'Neill)

#flyingfifteen – On a great evening for sailing on Dublin Bay with an incoming tide and winds from the west varying from 10–knots to gusts of 25 the Flying Fifteen fleet turned out in good numbers again with 13 boats competing. The pin end appeared to be biased at the start but the wind flicked which made it more square. Murphy, Colman and Balfe were quick off the start at the pin end with Ben Mulligan sailing with Chris Doorly tonight in Frequent Flyer starting in the middle of the line.

The boats all headed towards the shore up towards Harbour mark. Mulligan went closest to the shore on the lay line and got to the mark first, with the spinnaker up quickly they pulled ahead in the strong gusts. Behind Colman was next followed by Balfe and Mulvin. Mulvin also caught the gusts and overtook Colman on the way down to Island mark. On the long beat to Bay mark Mulvin went inshore but Mulligan decided not to cover and stayed on the right playing the shifts and heading towards some dark clouds which brought plenty of wind.

This is how it remained as the fleet sailed out to East mark and up to the finish. Mulligan took the gun comfortably, Mulvin was second, Colman third and Murphy just pipped Balfe on the line to take fourth place. Colman & Quinn still lead the Series with consistant sailing in the first month.

Well done to the PRO Jack Roy and his team on Freebird for a good race in great conditions. After racing the Fleet has an organised dinner at the NYC where class captain Ronan Beirne presented some spot prizes.

This Saturday the DBSC series continues. Results here.

#dbsc – Dublin Bay Sailing Club Results for 28 MAY 2015

BENETEAU 31.7 - 1. Levana (Jean Mitton), 2. Prospect (Chris Johnston),
3. After You Too (Michael Blaney)

BENETEAU 31.7 Echo- 1. Levante (M.Leahy/J.Power), 2. Prospect (Chris
Johnston), 3. Extreme Reality (P.McSwiney/E.O'Rafferty)

CRUISERS 1 Echo - 1. Adrenalin (J McDonald & J Balfe), 2. Boomerang
(Paul Kirwan), 3. Rockabill V (Paul O'Higgins)

CRUISERS 1 - 1. Bon Exemple (C Byrne), 2. Rockabill V (Paul
O'Higgins), 3. Gringo (Tony Fox)

CRUISERS 2 Echo - 1. Peridot (Jim McCann et al), 2. Ruthless (Conor
Ronan), 3. Antix (D Ryan)

CRUISERS 2 - 1. Peridot (Jim McCann et al), 2. Ruthless (Conor Ronan),
3. Bendemeer (L Casey & D Power)

CRUISERS 3 A Echo - 1. Hard on Port (F O'Driscoll), 2. Grasshopper 2
(K & J Glynn), 3. Yehaa (Whelan/McCabe/Cary/Cramer)

CRUISERS 3 A - 1. Hard on Port (F O'Driscoll), 2. Yehaa
(Whelan/McCabe/Cary/Cramer)

CRUISERS 3 B - 1. Gung Ho (G & S O'Shea), 2. Taiscealai (B
Richardson), 3. Asterix (Counihan/Meredith/Bushell)

CRUISERS 3 B Echo - 1. Small Wonder (H Kelly), 2. Taiscealai (B
Richardson), 3. Chinook (A Bradley/P Morgan)

Combined Classes Echo - 1. Rupert (R & P Lovegrove), 2. White Mischief
(Timothy Goodbody), 3. Peridot (Jim McCann et al)

Combined Classes - 1. Rupert (R & P Lovegrove), 2. Peridot (Jim McCann
et al), 3. White Mischief (Timothy Goodbody)

FLYING FIFTEEN - 1. Frequent Flyer (C Doorley/A Green), 2. Ignis Caput
(David Mulvey), 3. Flyer (Niall Coleman)

GLEN - 1. Glenmarissa (F.Elmes), 2. Glencoe (Rose Mary Craig et al),
3. Glenshane (P Hogan)

RUFFIAN 23 - 1. Diane ll (A Claffey/C Helme), 2. Ruff Diamond (D.Byrne
et al), 3. Bandit (Kirwan/Cullen/Brown)

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

SHIPMAN - 1. The Den (A. Costello/G.Millar), 2. Gusto (Heath, Miles,
Crisp, Duggan), 3. Jo Slim (J.Clarke et al)

SIGMA 33 - 1. Rupert (R & P Lovegrove), 2. White Mischief (Timothy
Goodbody), 3. Leeuwin (H&C Leonard & B Kerr)

SIGMA 33 - 1. Rupert (R & P Lovegrove), 2. White Mischief (Timothy
Goodbody), 3. Leeuwin (H&C Leonard & B Kerr)

SIGMA 33 Echo - 1. Rupert (R & P Lovegrove), 2. White Mischief
(Timothy Goodbody), 3. Leeuwin (H&C Leonard & B Kerr)

SQUIB - 1. Perfection (Jill Fleming), 2. Sidewinder (R&R Westrup), 3.
Absolutely Fabulous (M Kennedy/P Reilly)

WHITE SAIL CRUISERS Echo - 1. More Mischief (Eamonn Doyle), 2.
Cevantes (Paul Conway), 3. Menapia (J Sweeney)

WHITE SAIL CRUISERS - 1. White Lotus (Paul Tully), 2. Vespucci (S & K
O'Regan), 3. Cevantes (Paul Conway)

The DBSC SB20 fleet had champagne sailing conditions on Dublin bay last Sunday. 8 boats lined up for 3 fantastic windward leeward courses set by Con Murphy of the National Yacht Club. Davy Taylor onboard Yachtsman.ie with a 2nd, 1st, 2nd had the best results of the day. Davy below describes the 3 races.

Race 1 saw most of the fleet starting at the committee boat end of the line in search for pressure on the right hand side of the course. Probably (Mark Nolan, Ian Simington & Gavan Murphy), positioned in the middle of the line were the quickest to make gains following the gun. After dealing with shifty conditions on the first beat, Yachtsman.ie (Davy Taylor, Marty O'Leary, Lisa Neary & Rachel Williamson) lead the fleet into the windward mark followed by Bad-Kilcullen (Stefan Hyde, Jerry Dowling & Jimmy Dowling) and Venuesworld.com (Ger Dempsey, Chris Nolan & Rory Groves). For the first downwind leg, the fleet returned to the right side of the course for more breeze. The fleet split at the leeward gate and boats who favoured the port mark gained an advantage on the rest. Bad-Kilcullen made their second windward mark rounding in first place followed by Yachtsman.ie and Sin Bin (Michael O'Connor, Owen Laverty & Kevin Johnson). The final downwind saw a final attempt from the fleet to take the lead position from Bad-Kilcullen without success. Crossing the finish line in first was Bad-Kilcullen, 2nd Yachtsman.ie and 3rd Sin Bin.

In race 2 the breeze shifted slightly right and all boats hovered around the starboard end of the line. An overly eager fleet led to a general recall (hats off to James Gorman on Bango for being the only boat not over the line). A quick pin reset and the boats were off again. A square line allowed for a good start apart from Sin Bin getting dizzy for fouling Yachtsman.ie and both boats giving the fleet a head start. For the first beat, the fleet went left and Yachtsman.ie went right, benefitting from a wind shift which saw the fleet under Yachtsman.ie's boom at the top of the course. Venuesworld.com slipped into a very close first at the windward mark followed by Yachtsman.ie and Bango (James Gorman, Ted Laverty & Henrik Olerud). Bango gained from an early set over Yachtsman.ie rounding the spreader mark. The fleet headed right with Yachtsman.ie gybing off for pressure. All of the fleet lined up for the leeward mark on port apart from Yachtsman.ie who came in on starboard getting around the port mark in front of the pack. For the next windward leg, the fleet played the unrelenting shifts and on the second downwind leg Yachtsman.ie repeated the gybe set routine in search of more pressure on the right hand side of the course. This didn't pay however, and Sin Bin and Bad-Kilcullen caught up at the finish with Yachtsman.ie winning by seconds over Sin Bin in 2nd and Bad-Kilcullen just pipping Bango on the finish line for 3rd.

The start line for Race 3 had a slight port bias but most boats chose the committee boat to begin. Sin Bin won the first windward leg profiting from stronger pressure on the port side of the course. They had a good lead over Yachtsman.ie in second and Venuesworld.com in third. Most of the fleet gybed early for pressure on the first downwind leg chasing Sin Bin. The fleet then split at the leeward gate and in challenging shifty conditions, the lead changed hands between the top 4 boats with Sin Bin eventually slipping back into first. There was a decrease in wind for the final downwind leg and an early gybe for pressure by Venuesworld.com and Yachtsman.ie allowed the two boats jump into 1st and 2nd as they reached the leeward gate. Crossing the finish line was 1st Venuesworld.com, 2nd Yachtsman.ie and Sin Bin 3rd.

Great to see Bob Hobby and his crew on Smoke on the Water back in action for their first sail of the season and Michael Galvin who normally does front on Seriously Bonkers helming. It was also great to see Ted Laverty back on the water for the first time since the birth of his first child.

This Sunday sees the final 3 races of series one taking place. Bad-Kilcullen hold just a one point lead over Sin Bin with Bango back in third & Venuesworld.com in fourth.

#dbsc – After a "blow-out" last week and no Fireball racing the previous week, due to a combination of Mother Nature and a cruise liner visit, Tuesday nights DBSC race reverted to form last night.
And with more balmy weather than the past few Tuesday's the bay returned to its seasonal oddities! Despite a forecast of North-westerly, the wind was blowing 8 -10 knots from Dalkey Sound, giving it more of an easterly flavour. The race committee wisely selected the windward/leeward course and on end of the flood tide, racing commenced on time for the PY's Fireballs and after some recalls the Lasers got away a bit later.
With some boats over enthusiastic on the line, as crossing on Starboard was marginal due to the tide effects on the committee boat, Noel & Stephen (15061) led around the first mark, but an early inshore gybe allowed the fleet to overtake them. Neil & Margaret (14775) took over and extended their lead into the downwind run to the finish when the wind started its evening tricks, as the convergence zone moved onto the course area. Despite a nail biting finish, as the fleet closed from behind, Neil & Margaret held on to win on their first DBSC outing of the season.
Fortunately or unfortunately, the delayed Laser start, delayed the commencement of a second race. As the wind then proceeded to become "cyclonic and very variable", a second race would have been a complete lottery! Enough said! Wisely, the race team headed for the bar.

#laser – Older competitors (and there are a few of us) in the DBSC Tuesday night series will remember the cartoon series "Whacky Races", produced by Hanna Barbera in the 60s and 70s. Well, last night was just like that on a glorious, warm evening when a rather extraordinary game of snakes and ladders ensued. Did any of the 12 Lasers out there not lead at one stage !? No matter, it's the finish line that counts and Ross O'Leary played a blinder to ease home first on the downwind finish after some very tricky runs into an ebbing tide.

It's good to see the older guard take a bullet, although Ross is neither one of our young guns nor one of our really crusty old "Masters". Just behind him the original "Milky Bar Kid", Dan O'Beirne, showed his usual raw speed and slick boat handling to come through very well to second and he easily maintains the overall lead.

All of the above was rather eclipsed by the only Radial out last night (we're very hopeful for more post-exams). Shirley Gilmore, sporting a new sail, sailed a fantastic race and crossed 3rd which will easily adjust to best time on corrected. We collate results both on a scratch and adjusted basis to put Radials on a completely fair footing. Finally, thanks to Flying Fifteen supremo Dave Gorman for officiating on a tricky night when he got us away well after one general recall. With the wind increasingly light and unstable, he wisely scrapped the second race.

#dbsc – Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC) Results for Tuesday, 26 May 2015

CRUISERS 2 - 1. Borraine (Ean Pugh), 2. Bendemeer (L Casey & D Power), 3. Jambiya (Ryan & Lattimore)

CRUISERS 3 Tuesday - 1. Asterix (Boushel/Meredith/Counihan), 2. Jiminy
Cricket (M Tyndall), 3. Yeehaa (McCabe Cramer Carey Whelan)

Ensign - 1. INSS 2 (G Williams), 2. NYC2 (B Mathews), 3. INSS (K
Rumball)

FIREBALL - 1. Elevation (N.Colin/M.Casey), 2. Incubus (C Power/M
Barry), 3. No Name (S Oram)

GLEN - 1. Glendun (B.Denham et al), 2. Glenshane (P Hogan), 3.
Glenmiller (P Cusack)

IDRA 14 FOOT - 1. Dunmoanin (Frank Hamilton), 2. Dart (Pierre Long)

RUFFIAN 23 - 1. Cresendo (L Balfe), 2. Ruff Diamond (D.Byrne et al),
3. Alias (D.Meeke/M.McCarthy)

SQUIB - 1. Perfection (Jill Fleming), 2. Sidewinder (R&R Westrup), 3.
Where's Woolly (Conor O'Leary)

#dbsc – The missing Dubin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC) mark that led to the cancellation of a Thursday night yacht race a fortnight ago has been recovered. Merrion mark that is located in the western Bay area broke its anchor chain and was washed ashore on Sandymount beach during recent north–easterlies that produced steep seas, leading to the buoy breaking its anchor chain.

DBSC race officers however were unaware of Merrion's sudden absence and continued to set courses for the AWOL eight-foot high buoy. The mishap led to the scrubbing of one race from the Class two and Sigma race series. Happily, a replacement mark is now in place for this Thursday night and the hope is that the original, pictured above temporarily 'berthed' in Dun Laoghaire marina, can be back on location shortly.

DBSC provide racing on the captial's waters for over 200 boats and up to 2,000 sailors every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday and is one of Europe's largest yacht racing organisations. The club lays 23 racing marks across the bay for yacht racing under different wind directions. 

It's not the first time a DBSC mark has gone missing. Others have been found previoulsy in Scotland, the Isle of Man, Wales and at various points around Dublin Bay and the Irish East Coast too.