The Royal Irish Yacht Club (RIYC) took the lion’s share of IRC prizes at the recent Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC) prizegiving for the 2020 AIB sponsored season with wins in Cruisers Zero, One divisions and two of the club's premier awards.

DBSC broke with long-established tradition this year due to COVID-19 and its popular and long-established prizegiving for 300 boats in 22 different classes was not held, but that did not stop the award of the usual glittering array of trophies as Afloat reported here. 

On top of the DBSC premier award of the Dun Laoghaire Harbour Trophy for the best new yacht in 2020 won by the club's Prima Forte (Patrick Burke) there were RIYC class wins for the JPK10.80 Rockabill VI (Paul O'Higgins) who won the Martin Cup for Thursday IRC racing in IRC Zero big boat class. The Club's XP44 Wow (George Sisk) won the ECHO trophy for Saturday racing in this class and Burke's Prima Forte took the Centenary Cup for Saturday ECHO racing.

DBSC Dun Laoghaire Harbour Trophy winner, Prima Forte

The Royal Irish J109 father and son team of Tim and Richard Goodbody were Thursday IRC winners in Cruisers One, winning the West Pier Officer's Cup for Thursday racing and in Saturday ECHO racing, Paul Bradley and Fintan Cairns lifted the Osterburg Cup sailing the Mills 31 Raptor. 

In Class Two, Jim McCann's Peridot, was Thursday's champion on ECHO winning the Centenary Cup and in another ECHO victory for the club, Paget McCormack's Saki won the Cruisers Three Mercia Cup for Thursday racing.

In Class Five, Charles Broadhead's Persistence was the winner of the Burford Trophy for his win in Thursdays IRC Overall Div A while Grainne O'Shea's Gung-Ho was the victor in Sats A and B IRC Overall winning the White Sail Class Trophy.

DBSC Osterburg Cup winner, Raptor

RIYC One Designs & Dinghies

It didn't stop there for the RIYC fleet as there were some top results in the one-design divisions too. As Afloat reported previously, Jimmy Conboy Fischer sailing Billy Whizz was awarded the club's Geroge Arthur Newsom Trophy for the best result in the one-design divisions. It was the first time the top prize had been awarded to the B211s.

In the SB20s, the Lunasa Trophy for Saturday Div B was won by the club's Ger Dempsey and Chris Nolan sailing Venuesworld. Dragon racing victory on Thursday's went to Zin Zan, skippered by Adrian Masterson. In the Mixed Sports boats class, the Saturday Sportsboat Cup went to Martin Ryan's J80, Jambiya.

In the dinghy classes, Guy Kilroy's Swift was the Goldsmith Cup winner for Wednesday Racing in the Water Wag class.

Full DBSC winners here.

Dun Laoghaire's Beneteau 211 class has won Dublin Bay Sailing Club's (DBSC) Premier George Arthur Newsom Cup for the first time.

The Cup is awarded to the boat which performs best compared to all One Design classes in Dublin Bay.

It was a clean sweep for Jimmy Fischer on his boat Billy Whizz, with two different crews taking the following trophy haul that, regrettably, the club did not get the chance to present as the annual prize-giving had to be deferred due to the Covid-19 restrictions.

• The George Arthur Newsom Cup - for the most successful boat in one-design racing
• The Facet Jewellers Cup - for Thursdays scratch overall
• The Beneteau 21 Tray - for Thursdays ECHO overall
• The Beneteau Cup - for Saturdays scratch overall

The feat was achieved by Jimmy with two different crews, one on Thursdays comprising Joe Smyth, Annette Ni Murchu and her brother Brian Murphy. Not only did they win Thursdays on scratch, but they managed the rare feat of winning Thursdays on ECHO also. Joe, Annette and Brian are all longterm members of Blessington Sailing Club.

Sailing with Jimmy on Saturdays, Peter Duggan and Les Richards won the series on scratch. Peter is another graduate of Blessington Sailing Club and has foredeck experience on J109 Jalapeño, with Paul Barrington et al. Les is a partner in a Trapper 501 in Bray Sailing club..

Jimmy says Afloat magazine's David O'Brien is the direct reason why he joined the B21s when he came back into sailing after a twenty-year absence while Catherine and Jimmy raised their two daughters. David and Jimmy know each other from way back in their IDRA 14 sailing days.

When Jimmy suggested he might take up sailing again, David recommended the B21s as he knows Jimmy's first love has always been one-design sailing. He also suggested there was good camaraderie and a helpful bunch in the class.

Jimmy crewed with current RIYC Commodore Pat Shannon in 2017 and bought Pat's boat, Billy Whizz, at the end of that season.

Seasons 2018 and 2019 were spent getting back in the groove, leading to success in 2020. Jimmy commented that the North Sails mainsail and jib that Prof O'Connell supplied proved to be both powerful and fast, adding to Billy Whizz's results on the water.

Watch this fleet, the B21s are growing fast and there's great fun and competition throughout the fleet.

Read more on the Beneteau 211 here

Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC) will hold a virtual event next Thursday, 12th November 2020 at 19.30hrs to welcome its exciting new sponsorship with AIB Private Banking.

As Afloat previously reported, Ireland's largest yacht racing club is hosting the live panel discussion on “Stories of resilience from Irish Professional sailors…on and off the water”

DBSC's Gerry Jones told Afloat he chose the topics for the online event 'as it's a really interesting one & particularly relevant now in these COVID times'.

Fergal Keane of RTE’s Seascapes radio show will chat with four of Ireland’s top professional sailors.

Sports psychology has traditionally been viewed as only having application to high performance or professional sports. However, many of the techniques in sport psychology have just as much relevance for recreational athletes and can be applied to our personal and professional lives. We will hear from these professional sailors about their approach to sports psychology and how resilience forms an essential part of this.

Jones says 'This will be an exciting event, to hear how participants use sports psychology techniques and resilience in shaping their professional and personal lives'.

The contributors are:

Annalise Murphy Olympic Silver Medalist

Annalise Murphy is nominated in the Laser Radial to compete at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021

Annalise Murphy competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the Women’s Laser Radial class, she finished in 4th, her personal best at a world-class regatta.

Annalise won her first major medal at an international event when she won gold at the 2013 European Sailing Championship. On 16 August 2016, she went on to win the silver medal in the Laser Radial at the 2016 Summer Olympics In December 2016, she was honoured as the Irish Times/Sport Ireland 2016 Sportswoman of the Year and the 2016 Afloat Sailor of the Year.

Annalise was a crew member on ‘Turn the Tide on Plastic’ in the 2017/2018 Volvo Ocean Race and is the only Irish sailor nominated so far for the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Regatta.

Damian Foxall, six-time Volvo Ocean veteran

County Kerry's Damian Foxall has competed in ten round-the-world races

Damian Foxall has competed in ten round-the-world races including four wins.

In 2008, he won the Double-handed non-stop round-the-world Barcelona World Race, with Jean Pierre Dick on Virbac

He has competed in 6 Volvo Ocean races with a win in 2011 with Team Groupama and an outright Round the World Record circumnavigation in 2004 with Steve Fossett.

In 1997 Damian became the first non-French entry to win the rookie class in the Single-handed offshore race – La Solitaire du Figaro, he went on to confirm his success in 1998-1999 with a leg win, before changing to the ORMA 60` Trimaran class.

Over the last ten years, Damian has been focusing on the implementation of sustainability within our sport and is currently Sustainability program manager for the 11th Hour Racing team entered in The Ocean Race.

Tom Dolan, Figaro Solo Sailor

Tom Dolan (right) is preparing to compete in the 2024 Olympics Games where double-handed offshore sailing will make its debut

Tom Dolan is a professional sailor, based in France, who competes in the Figaro Class.

He has competed in 3 Solitaire Du Figaro on his boat “Smurfit Kappa”. The Solitaire du Figaro lasts just over three weeks and is made up of four races totalling 1800 miles: it is considered to be the most competitive offshore race in the world. The boats are all identical meaning the skipper makes the difference.

Tom finished in 5th place in 2020 and only four places behind Armel Le Cleac’h who was the winner of the 2016/2017 Vendée Globe. Tom is preparing to compete in the 2024 Olympics games where double handed offshore sailing will be a medal event for the first time.

Dr. Kate Kirby, Sports Psychologist

Dr Kate Kirby is the lead psychologist of the Irish Olympic team for Tokyo 2021

Dr. Kate Kirby has worked in high-performance sport for over 15 years and has been the consultant sport psychologist to multiple Olympic, World, and European medallists. She attended the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Games as a member of Annalise Murphy’s support team. In 2019 she was appointed as the lead psychologist of the Irish Olympic team for Tokyo 2020.

Attendees can join using any device, questions and comments during the live talk are welcome and will be answered by the participants at the end.

This is a free public event but you need to join here

Dublin Bay Sailing Club is already starting to plan its racing for the 2021 summer season next week and it's racing sub-committee is taking on board suggestions from the 22 different classes it provides racing for every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday off Dun Laoghaire Harbour.

There have been many plaudits for how the umbrella racing organisation for all Dun Laoghaire's Yacht Clubs handled the massive changes in pandemic and, as it transpires, some of those changes appear to have taken root for 2021.

The Flying Fifteens, the club's biggest one-design class with a 20-boat fleet, has been asked to canvass members to carry forward the 2020 practice of setting courses over windward/leeward instead of traditional club courses.

"These were most enjoyable, simple to "navigate" and great fun", one senior FFer told Afloat.

"The old practice of struggling with course cards, bearings and damp writing materials, whilst at the same time attempting to steer clear of other boats in gusting breezes and choppy conditions are not routines I would look forward to next year having enjoyed the simplicity of this year's format", he added.

It remains to be seen, however, what transpires for DBSC 2021.

Laser dinghy class praise

DBSC's popular single-handed Laser dinghy class have also been quick to praise the club for how it handled this year's curtailed season and recently made a presentation to its DBSC race officer. 

Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC) will launch its AIB sponsorship with a sailing psychology evening featuring some of the country's top sailors online.

RTÉ's Fergal Keane from Seascapes will host a live chat with top professional sailors Tom Dolan, Annalise Murphy and Damian Foxall as well as leading sports psychologist, Dr Kate Kirby.

Annalise Murphy training in her Laser dinghy in Dun Laoghaire Harbour Photo: Afloat

The sailors will outline their own approaches to sport psychology and how resilience forms an essential part of their make-up.

Sports psychology has traditionally been viewed as only having application to high performance or professional sports. However, many of the techniques in sport psychology have just as much relevance for recreational athletes and also can be applied to our personal and professional lives.

The free DBSC virtual event to highlight its partnership with AIB is on Thursday 12 November at 19.30hrs.

The Notice of Race has been published for November's eight-race DBSC Turkey Shoot that is sponsored by the club's new title sponsor, AIB.

Running each Sunday from the 1st November to 20th December and hosted by the Royal Irish Yacht Club, 2020 is the 20th edition of the popular Winter Sailing series in the capital

The short, sharp format of racing has earned a strong following on the capital's waters under race organiser Fintan Cairns and the series regularly attracts up to 60 or 70 boats.

As Afloat reported previously, racing is under modified ECHO. Cruisers, cruising boats, one-designs and boats that do not normally race are very welcome, especially those who may be seeking some more racing given this cut-short COVID-19 hit 2020 season.

In 2019, the 66-boat Dublin Bay-based series was won by the Trapper Eleint with 1720 sportsboats taking second and third overall. 

The Notice of Race for the Series is downloadable below.

There will be no further Dublin Bay Sailing Club Summer Series racing due to the continuing Government Level 3 restrictions and Irish Sailing guidelines.

At the start of the partial lockdown in the capital, it had been hoped that Dublin might emerge from Level 3 conditions at midnight this Friday to enable the final race of the summer to be sailed this Saturday (October 10) on Dublin Bay as per 2020's revised AIB sponsored race schedule.

Unfortunately, however, the continuing restrictions have led DBSC to announce 'there will be no further racing in the above race series', according to DBSC honorary secretary Chris Moore.

DBSC Turkey Shoot

Ireland's largest racing yacht club, is, however, looking forward to its annual Turkey Shoot Series with the first race scheduled for this November 1st, as Afloat previously reported here.

A Notice of Race and online entry forms will be available in the near future.

Dublin Bay Sailing Club has 'suspended' its AIB DBSC 2020 Summer Sailing Series in light of this evening's latest government Level 3 restrictions that impact sailing activity.

As the Level 3 partial shutdown is expected to extend beyond the last race of the DBSC season in October it effectively ends the 2020 summer racing season for the largest yacht racing club in the country. 

Dublin Bay Sailing Club is the umbrella organisation for all four waterfront clubs in Dun Laoghaire Harbour and this year had seen regular turnouts of over 100 boats for Thursday and Saturday racing.

As Afloat reported earlier, the suspension follows the earlier cancellation of the Laser Masters Championships at the Royal St. George Yacht Club also at Dun Laoghaire.

DBSC's Honorary Secretary, Chris Moore says "We take the opportunity of thanking all our members and volunteers for their input during 2020, and look forward to more normal times in the future. Stay Safe, and respect social distancing".

132 boats across 20 classes turned out for Saturday's Dublin Bay Sailing Club Race. 

In the big cruiser division, the First 40 Prima Forte was the IRC Zero winner from  XP 44 WOW and the Beneteau 44.7 Lively Lady. 

IRC One was dominated by J109s. White Mischief won from Chimaera and Something Else.

In the One Design classes, many of which had two races, Frequent Flyer was the winner of both Flying Fifteen races. Likewise in the SB20s where Ted won two from two.

Full results below

DBSC Results for 12/09/2020

Race 1

Cruiser 0 IRC: 1. Prima Forte, 2. Wow, 3. Lively Lady

Cruiser 0 Echo: 1. Prima Forte, 2. Lively Lady, 3. D-Tox

Cruiser 1 IRC: 1. White Mischief, 2. Chimaera, 3. Something Else

Cruiser 1 Echo: 1. Something Else, 2. White Mischief, 3. Jump the Gun

Cruiser 1 J109: 1. White Mischief, 2. Chimaera, 3. Ruth

31.7 One Design: 1. Levante, 2. Prospect, 3. Bluefin Two

31.7 Echo: 1. Fiddly Bits, 2. Bluefin Two, 3. Levante

Cruiser 2 IRC: 1. Windjammer, 2. Peridot, 3. Rupert

Cruiser 2 Echo: 1. Boojum, 2. Enchantress, 3. Leeuwin

Cruiser 2 Sigma 33: 1. Rupert, 2. Leeuwin, 3. Boojum

Cruiser 3 IRC: 1. Starlet, 2. Dubious, 3. Maranda

Cruiser 3 Echo: 1. Pamafe, 2. Krypton, 3. Starlet

Cruiser 5 NS-IRC: 1. Gung Ho, 2. Persistance, 3. Act Two

Cruiser 5 Echo: 1. Act Two, 2. Sweet Martini, 3. Sea Safari

SB20: 1. Ted, 2. Carpe Diem, 3. SeaBiscuit

Sportsboat: 1. George/Riordan/Simington, 2. Jambiya, 3. George 1/McNamara

Dragon: 1. Phantom, 2. D-Cision

Flying 15: 1. Frequent Flyer, 2. Ignis Caput, 3. Flyer

Ruffian: 1. Bandit, 2. Ripples, 3. Ruffles

Shipman: 1. Poppy, 2. Jo Slim, 3. Invader

B211 One Design: 1. Ventuno, 2. Small Wonder, 3. Beeswing

B211 Echo: 1. Ventuno, 2. Small Wonder, 3. Plan B

Glen: 1. Glen Luce, 2. GlenDun, 3. Glenroan

PY Class: 1. N Butler, 2. B Foley, 3. Allsorts

IDRA 14: 1. Slipstream, 2. Dart, 3. Chaos

Fireball: 1. F Miller, 2. P ter Horst, 3. N Miller

Laser Standard: 1. F Walker, 2. R O'Leary, 3. B Maguire

Laser Radial: 1. G Fisher, 2. C Gorman, 3. R Geraghty-McDonnell

Laser 4.7: 1. A Daly, 2. L Turvey, 3. F McDonnell

Race 2

SB20: 1. Ted, 2. venuesworld.com, 3. Carpe Diem

Sportsboat: 1. Jambiya, 2. George 1/McNamara, 3. G. O'Connor

Dragon: 1. Phantom, 2. D-Cision

Flying 15: 1. Frequent Flyer, 2. FFuZZy, 3. Phoenix

B211 One Design: 1. Billy Whizz, 2. Chinook, 3. Beeswing

B211 Echo: 1. Ventuno, 2. Small Wonder, 3. Beeswing

PY Class: 1. N Butler, 2. Allsorts, 3. B Foley

IDRA 14: 1. Chaos, 2. Dutch Courage, 3. Slipstream

Fireball: 1. F Miller, 2. N Miller, 3. P ter Horst

Laser Standard: 1. G Murphy, 2. R O'Leary, 3. F Walker

Laser Radial: 1. J Murphy, 2. R Geraghty-McDonnell, 3. C Gorman

Laser 4.7: 1. L Turvey, 2. A Daly, 3. H Turvey

Even Dublin Bay Sailing Club, with all its remarkable expertise and sheer firepower, has been unable to slow Planet Earth in its daily rotation, let alone alter the steady changing of our little solar satellite's endlessly shifting tilt as it manifests itself through the unstoppable advance of the seasons. In other words, the nights are closing in, Autumn seems to be upon us sooner than ever in the accelerating temporal perceptions of life in this time of coronavirus, and Thursday inevitably saw the last Dublin Bay Sailing Club evening race of this truncated 2020 season.

But it was a gentle Autumn evening of sweet sailing at its best, with a light to moderate sou'westerly to provide smooth sea racing with completed races for a 2020 record of 114 boats. And everything functioned with such experienced competence that Colin McMullen, inventor of much in modern race administration in systems now used worldwide, and longtime DBSC Results Secretary with it, had the multi-class analysis made and posted before many crews had got themselves ashore.

Yet far from being a time of thoughtful reflection on the problems of a truncated season in a country facing multiple troubles, for many involved, it was a time for quiet and socially-distanced yet heartfelt celebration. For not only does regular DBSC sailing continue on Saturdays until 10th October – five busy Saturdays starting today - but by then the gallant band who sally forth under the leadership of former DBSC Commodore Fintan Cairns on one of the club's Committee Boats to provide the regular Turkey Shoot series will have gathered themselves for action, and that will provide sailing-starved aficionados with healthy sport until Christmas. 

The 1884-founded Dublin Bay Sailing Club's motley fleet in 1884. Despite its modest beginnings, by the 1890s, it had already become the key organisation in structuring Dun Laoghaire's race programme and in commissioning new One Design classes, and today it regularly organises racing for one of the world's largest locally-based fleets. 

Beyond that, the same team are also ready and willing to provide another Spring Chicken series in 2021, which in the early months of 2020 was providing Sunday morning races for 50 to 60 boats. They're the visible expression of the Dublin Bay sailing motto that life goes on - life must go on. But when you have an organisation with the size, power and influence of DBSC, the key organisers and administrators have to tread a very careful path between encouraging whatever sailing is possible and permissible, while complying in exemplary style with complex and changing regulations.

With the Club's official and approved racing season not getting underway until Tuesday, July 7th, it has been a case of stacking the programme such that 95% of the races completed in 2019 were raced again in some form in 2020, an achievement made possible by the unique Dun Laoghaire setup. For as we've said here many times before, there is no other sailing venue really comparable anywhere else in the world to Dun Laoghaire Harbour, with its convenient and very focused access to good open sailing water coupled with its notably affluent immediate hinterland

We get an idea of the setup when we realise that many of those who go afloat for racing with DBSC one or two or even three times a week actually live nearer to where their boat is berthed than they do to their place of work in the Greater Dublin area. Quite how much that state of affairs will be continuing after such an extensive experience of home-working remains to be seen. But there are many who have to be physically on the job in some specialized workplace, and there are many who are frankly fed up with working from home – they want the workplace or office to thrive as clearly separate places for sociable productivity and the buzz of ideas, while they want home to be a place of escape from the demands of work.

Chris Moore, Honorary Secretary of Dublin Bay SC, is owner-skipper of the J/109 Powder Monkey, and a former DBSC Commodore. Although the club has been active for 136 years, he is only the 14th Honorary Secretary

Either way, in Dun Laoghaire there are many workers-in-Dublin who are actually getting nearer to home when they head directly from the office to their waterfront club to get changed for evening sailing, whereas in many other countries, work would be in one place, home was distantly in another, and the boat was at least equally distant in a third location.

Thus Dublin Bay Sailing Club, founded in 1884 and now the overall organisation for all of Dun Laoghaire's regular racing in the open waters of the bay and the spacious harbour itself, was faced not with the problem of how people could get to their boats in a regulation-compliant manner, but rather how soon they could get out of their marina berths or off their mooring and use those boats in a meaningful and competitive yet regulation-compliant way.

Paul O'Higgins' JPK 10.80 Rockabill VI has added the DBSC 2020 Cruisers 0 Thursday Series to her recent overall win in the ISORA 2020 Championship. Photo: Afloat.ie/David O'Brien

Dun Laoghaire's capacity to cope with such complex demands is further facilitated by the fact that DBSC acts on behalf of four different bricks-and-mortar waterfront clubs and clubhouses. Thus after racing the infection threat is further diminished by group reduction as people disperse themselves to their clubs, a process aided by the fact that many simply go the short distance directly home after coming ashore.

Everyone who sails in Dun Laoghaire is well aware of this general setup. But we feel that our many readers elsewhere deserve some sort of explanation as to why it is that, for the past two months and more, Dublin Bay Sailing Club has been running a busy programme which has regularly seen turnouts which would be regarded in other places as a very fine annual regatta fleet.

This is despite the fact that a small but significant cohort of the Dun Laoghaire sailing population reckoned that the pandemic challenge, and its endlessly changing frames of reference and limitations, made the business of going sailing just too much of a hassle regardless of the presence or otherwise of risk, and they simply shelved their sailing for 2020.

Jonathan Nicholson, Commodore DBSC. In 2020, he had to lead his club through the maze of organising racing for all of Dun Laoghaire within the pandemic regulations, while at the same time cementing the new sponsorship relationship with AIB Private Banking

Against that, there were hyper-enthusiastic sailors who felt that some sort of ad hoc racing should have been put in place after the first slight easing of restrictions on May 24th. For DBSC Commodore Jonathan Nicholson and Honorary Secretary Chris Moore and their ready team of volunteers, it was a question of drawing the balance, while carefully complying with the maximum activity that Irish Sailing's interpretation of the different phasings permitted.

With a club as large and complex and as DBSC, any alteration in course to the long-established ways of doing things and their timing is akin to altering the course of a super-taker. But the Commodore - when interviewed in Afloat.ie on May 23rd – revealed that he'd really been alerted to the developing realities of the situation in early March, when the world was rudely awoken by the news that the gala launching of the latest James Bond movie had been delayed from April to November because of the COVID-19 threat.

Jonathan Nicholson's reckoning was that although many liked to think that the infectious peaks would be over by Easter, the hard-headed folk who make their billions out of the Bond fantasies were a much more reliable source for the facts than politically-controlled agencies, and he immediately advised his committee that they were heading into real battle stations.

The Alfred Mylne classic Glendun (David Houlton) is the DBSC Thursday Glen Class Champion for 2020

Looking back now, we have all become accustomed to the total changes which have been brought about in every aspects of our lives. But in February and early March, things felt very different, as DBSC had just secured a gold-plated three-year sponsorship deal with AIB Private Banking, yet they'd to move very quickly from an up-beat fully-resourced optimism about the coming season into totally unknown territory, where what might be possible - and what was definitely not - had become the dominant topic.

For clubs organising major fixed-duration events at specific times, the choices were more clearcut. The usual course of action was to wait for a month or two, then as the grimness of the picture became clearer, a postponement would be announced, but where a significant shoreside element was involved, in due course cancellation was the only option.

Thus we then got sea-based, virtually shore-free races - such as those successfully organised by ISORA - going ahead provided that they stayed within Irish territorial waters. And then as the annual programme devastation and limitations definitions became more clearcut, pop-up events such as the Kinsale-Fastnet-Kinsale Race and the Fastnet 450 filled part of the void.

Lasers away! With DBSC dinghy racing brought back within the harbour, the Lasers came into their own. Photo: Afloat.ie/David O'Brien

But by the time such events were floated as ideas and quickly converted into successful reality, Dublin Bay Sailing Club's key officers had been working long and hard in devising means of providing as much racing as possible for defined crew pods in a fixed location which, in a sense, was a large covid-free balloon in itself.

Within that Dun Laoghaire harbour balloon, everyone is familiar with the extraordinary esprit de corps and ready volunteerism which is the essence of the success of DBSC. But even within that exceptional group, the effort made by the very hands-on Honorary Secretary Chris Moore and the ever-present Vice Commodore Ann Kirwan played key roles in working out a system whereby the club complied with its obligations to agreements with Dublin Port by having enough marks laid to define courses in reduced race areas, while the basic programme was re-shaped to give more emphasis to the Tuesday evening racing, with much greater use being made of the dinghy racing possibilities provided within Dun Laoghaire Harbour.

It was the second week of July by the time regular club racing in Ireland was permissible within some very strictly defined limitations. And Dublin Bay Sailing Club had to accommodate additional changes afloat, as long-serving Senior Race Officer Jack Roy and his indispensable timekeeper Rosemary were standing down with retirement cruising in mind, but they weren't departing the scene without seeing through the first Thursday race on July 9th.

The diversity of the large DBSC fleet is exemplified by the keen racing among the Beneteau 211 class including Ventuno (pictured above) from the RIYC. This year the overall Thursday winner was James Conboy-Fisher sailing Billy Whizz

Taking over Jack and Rosemary's exceptional role was solved with DBSC having a Race Officer panel, and through the short but very busy main part of the 2020 season, the racing has been managed by selections from a group in which the main participants have been Brian Matthews, Eddie Totterdell, Suzanne McGarry, Harry Gallagher, Neil Murphy, Barbara Conway and Jonathan O'Rourke, while the special Water Wag Racing on Wednesday night (in which a best turnout of 25 classic boats was achieved) has generally been overseen by Con Murphy and Cathy Mac Aleavey.

In talking of turnouts, we're getting ahead of ourselves, for it was on Tuesday, July 7th that the crucial evening had arrived when all could see how the meticulously-constructed DBSC 2020 system would begin to work with the mainly-dinghy fleet focused on the harbour, Yet frustratingly, it was a non-event with a flat calm. So the focus now swung forwards to Thursday, July 9th and the beginning of the main keelboat programme.

If ever anyone writes a history of how Irish sailing lived through the days of COVID-19, Thursday 9th July will be a key date. It's unlikely anyone will wish to write such a thing any more than anyone ever felt inclined to write how sailing came through the Spanish flu of 1919. But let it be said that the evening of Thursday, July 9th 2020 was a real and very welcome milestone.

For sure there'd been some club dinghy sailing and other short notice events in the days and even weeks before that. But Thursday, July 9th was when the big beasts swung into racing action. Down in Crosshaven the Royal Cork cruiser fleet slipped seaward in a light air on a grey evening, but then a brisk nor'wester brought sunshine and great sailing with superb sport, and spirits rose.

Up in Dublin Bay meanwhile, the brighter weather was not to arrive until later, and the racing was in a frustratingly light nor'easter. But 90 boats took their first tentative racing steps of 2020 out in the bay. Ninety boats. This was regatta material….

Although they have their own separate programme of racing early on Wednesday evenings, the venerable Water Wags come within the DBSC remit, and their final race of 2020 will be on Wednesday, October 7th to fit in with DBSC's concluding race on Saturday, October 10th. Photo: Con Murphy

Then the following Tuesday, the "dinghy and others" fleet got their first proper chance, and 92 boats took part, with Lasers everywhere in that magic atmosphere which racing within the old granite pond uniquely generates. Suitably encouraged, the cruisers and keelboats stepped out with more confidence on DBSC's Thursday 16th July and mustered an impressive 104 boats.

Thereafter, it was onwards and upwards in an extraordinary season which has seen DBSC functioning successfully afloat and under virtual contact ashore to such good effect that when the National YC's very re-jigged 150th Anniversary Regatta came up on the agenda last Saturday, September 5th, DBSC and the other waterfront clubs were able to out their full support behind it, and in a brisk breeze the NYC Sesquicentennial was an event worthy of the occasion.

Dick & Philip Lovegrove's Rupert is the 2020 DBSC Sigma 33 Thursday Champion Photo: Afloat.ie/David O'Brien

With five Saturday races still in prospect, Dublin Bay Sailing Club already has a very worthwhile sailing year logged in 2020, even if it all happened in the space of just two months. The reflective mood around the harbour on Thursday evening was one of quietly delighted surprise. Despite everything stacked against them, they'd done it, and done it well. And although all will be revealed in its full complex glory at the gala virtual prize-giving in November, we're allowed to reveal the names of the DBSC 2020 Thursday Evening Championship Series overall individual winners in order to underline the variety and calibre of those boats and crews who have contributed their skill and enthusiasm to support the dedication of the DBSC's many volunteers, to whom everyone feels hugely grateful.

Dublin Bay SC Thursday Champions 2020:

Cruisers 0 IRC: Rockabill VI (JPK 10.80, Paul O'Higgins)

Cruisers 0 ECHO: Hot Cookie (Sunfast 3600, John O'Gorman)

Cruisers 1 IRC: White Mischief (J/109, Goodbody family)

Cruisers 1 ECHO: White Mischief

J/109: White Mischief

First 31.7 OD: Prospect (Chris Johnston)

First 31.7 ECHO: Kernach (Power/Russell/Sastre/O'Donnell/Harper/Malin)

Cruisers 2 IRC: Windjammmer (J/97, Linday Casey & Denis Power)

Cruisers 2 ECHO: Peridot (Mustang 30, Jim McCann)

Sigma 33: Rupert (Richard & Philp Lovegrove)

Cruisers 3 IRC Starlet (Kevin Byrne)

Cruisers 3 ECHO: Saki (Nich 31, P.McCormack and B & M Ryan)

Cruisers 5A NS IRC: Persistance (Broadhead/Stuart/Collins)

Cruisers 5A ECHO: Katienua (Dunnne, Grace, Fitzsimons,McGuinness/Fahy).

Cruisers 5B IRC Gung-Ho (G & S O'Shea)

Cruisers 5B ECHO: Gung-Ho

SB 20: Ted (Michael O'Connor)

Sportsboat: Jester (J/80, Declan Curtin)

Dragon: ZinZan (Tim Carpenter & Adrian Masterson)

Flying Fifteen: Frequent Flyer (Alan Green & Chris Doorly)

Ruffian 23: Shannagh (Stephen Gill & Padraig MacDiarmada)

Shipman 28: Jo Slim (Clarke & Maher)

Beneteau 211: Billy Whizz (James Conboy-Fischer)

Beneteau 211 ECHO: Billy Whizz

Glen OD: Glendun (David Houlton)