The Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC) Squib fleet had their annual prizegiving at the National Yacht Club on 25 February 2022.

The two-man keelboat fleet say they expect to increase the number of boats competing in Dublin Bay for 2022 by one or two above the number for 2021.

Prizewinners were as follows:

The Royal St. George Offshore Trophy was originally presented by Billy Mooney in 1963 to the winner of the Royal Ocean Racing Club Irish Sea race. Some time later the RORC declared that Wales was too close to Ireland and that the Irish Sea no longer qualified as an Ocean and that Offshore Ocean races could no longer take part there. The trophy is engraved with famous yacht names as Korsar, Tritch-Tratsch, Finndabar of Howth, Swuzzlebubble and Moonduster.

The trophy was represented to the Squibs in 2006 and is now awarded to the Squib which competes in the most regional events and was won by Dave Stewart and Brian Hare of the Royal Irish Yacht Club in Granat which competed in Howth at the East Coast Championship and at Dromineer in the Inland Championship.

Tonia McAllister from Pintail

The Lucky Wooden Block is awarded to anybody who has an unlucky incident during the year like falling overboard 50 yards from the finish line. It was awarded to Tonia McAllister who didn't fall overboard!

The Cocktail Shaker was presented by Alf Delany in 2006. He originally won this trophy in 1930 with a powerboat called Hold Everythin’ which was about 3m. long and had a 100 horse-power Johnson engine screwed onto the back. That event was organised by the North Dublin Motor Boat Club (which no longer exists) and racing took place between the Bull Island and the mainland at Dollymount. Today the trophy is awarded to the most successful Squib in the twenty-six Saturday races of the Dublin Bay Sailing Club- Green Fleet and was awarded to Noel Colclough and Rupert Westrup in Periquin.

Avril Mullett and Vincent Delany from Allsorts

The Eamon Leahy Memorial trophy was awarded to the most successful Squib in the seven Thursday evening races organised by Dublin Bay Sailing Club in Scotsman's Bay and was awarded to Allsorts which is owned by Avril Mullet and her dad Tony Mullet and steered by Vincent Delany.

There's no surprise that DBSC organisers have moved to cancel Sunday's third race of its AIB Spring Chicken Series due to a strong wind warning.

Fintan Cairns told competitors this morning "regrettably, having looked at all forecasts for tomorrow, it is obvious that we will be unable to get sailing with strong winds and even stronger gusts".

Gusts of up to 45 mph from the west are forecast for the start time on Dublin Bay.

The first race of the series on February 6th was also cancelled due to strong winds. Racing got underway last weekend (February 13th) with a 1720 sportsboat finishing on top of the 50-boat mixed cruiser fleet.

Racing continues each Sunday at 10.10 am until 13th March 2022 inclusive.

The 1720 sportsboat 'Conor K' was the winner of the first race of Dublin Bay Sailing Club's Spring Chicken Series in Seapoint Bay last Sunday morning.

Second in the 37-boat fleet was the Jeanneau 36, Sirocco. Third was the Royal St. George Yacht Club J80, George 7.

Racing for a mixed cruiser-racer fleet will continue each Sunday at 10.10 am until 13th March 2022 inclusive. 

Download results below

Despite holding out until just a couple of hours before this morning's First Gun, Dublin Bay Sailing Club was forced to cancel its first race of 2022. 

A six-race AIB sponsored DBSC Spring Chicken Series was due to start this morning off Dun Laoghaire Harbour at 10.10 hours.

A 50-boat mixed cruiser-racer fleet has assembled for the series following on from a highly successful edition of the 70-boat Turkey Shoot Series before Christmas.

Although a deceptively flat sea state on Dublin Bay appears 'sailable' (see live webcams here), strong offshore winds are gusting to over 30-knots forcing DBSC organiser Fintan Cairns to hoist the cancellation flags at 8 am.

The cancellation adds to the earlier scrubbing of the DMYC Dinghy Frostbites scheduled for this afternoon at the same venue. On the South coast, the first race of Kinsale Yacht Club's dinghy league in West Cork has also been scrapped due to the forecast.

Nine J80s will be on the line for the third start of Sunday's first race of the 2022 DBSC Spring Chicken Series.

The popular and easy to handle sportsboat makes up almost a fifth of the fleet and eclipses the 1720, another popular sportsboat type for the six-week series.

There will be five First 31.7s racing as well as four J109s. Also racing are at least two Sunfast 3600s and as regular Afloat readers will know, these Jeanneau skippers have already been out practising on the bay this month.

Racing for a mixed cruiser-racer fleet will continue each Sunday at 10.10 am until 13th March 2022 inclusive. 

Download starts and handicaps below

Dublin Bay race organiser Fintan Cairns expects a fleet of over 50 (with 48 to date) for what could yet be a very breezy first race of the Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC) Spring Chicken Series at the National Yacht Club this Sunday.

Racing for a mixed cruiser-racer fleet will continue each Sunday at 10.10 am until 13th March 2022 inclusive. 

Among the fleet already entered is a number of sportsboats including the regular 1720s, J80s as well as the league's first SB20 entry. 

Also racing are at least two Sunfast 3600s and as regular Afloat readers will know, these Jeanneau skippers have already been out practising on the bay this month.

Cairns issued sailing instructions for the AIB sponsored short and sharp, six-race series yesterday in anticipation of a breezy start to 2022 proceedings with westerly winds currently forecast to gust to 50 knots at race time.

Download sailing instructions below

Starts and handicaps will be issued shortly.

XC Weather forecast

Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC) has launched its 138th summer season with the publication today of the the Notice of Race for the 2022 Summer Season.

Ireland's largest yacht racing club organises racing all year round on Dublin Bay. It completed its six week Turkey Shoot in the run up to Christmas and has its annual Spring Chicken Series scheduled to start this Sunday.

The main Summer racing. with sponsorship from AIB, gets under way on Saturday, 23th April and runs right through to October 1st.  

The club provides weekly racing for upwards of 360 yachts, ranging from ocean-going forty footers to small dinghies for juniors.

The  2022 weekly race programme will comprise: 

• Tuesdays: Keelboats – From West Pier Hut Tuesdays:
• Dinghies - In the Harbour or the Bay depending on conditions
• Wednesdays: Water Wags – Harbour sailing
• Thursdays: Keelboats – Committee Boat starts Saturdays:
• Keelboats – Committee Boat starts and West Pier Hut starts Saturdays:
• Dinghies – In the Harbour or the Bay depending on conditions.

For full schedule of racing please see AIB DBSC Racing Programme 2022 on www.dbsc.ie

DBSC Membership Renewal and Boat Entry Forms for 2022 are here

Download the NOR below

Dublin Bay Sailing Club has published the Notice of Race for its 2022 Spring Chicken series.

Six races will be held on Sunday mornings from 6 February to 13 March (first gun 1010 hrs), using a progressive handicap on a time-to-time basis.

Cruisers, cruising boats, one-designs and boats that do not normally race are “very welcome”, DBSC adds. And after the sailing, prize draws, food and more will be kindly hosted by the National Yacht Club.

The entry fee is €60 which includes temporary membership of DBSC and the NYC. Entries can be made online at dbsc.ie.

Anyone experiencing issues with their entries is invited to contact Chris Moore, Hon Sec at 087 7626976 or Fintan Cairns at 087 2439208.

Sailing instructions will be available on Sunday 6 February and will be emailed to entrants beforehand.

DBSC advises that the last date for entries is Wednesday 2 February, and warns that handicaps of late entries will be adjusted accordingly.

The white-sailed Elan 333 White Lotus was the overall winner of the 21st DBSC Turkey Shoot Series on Dublin Bay on Sunday.

A final light air seventh race for the 75-boat fleet saw a change in the overall results, with third-placed White Lotus skippered by Paul Tully replacing the J109 Dear Prudence at the top of the leaderboard and winning by a margin of seven points under the modified (F)ECHO Handicap.

The 1720 sportsboat Conor K skipped by Kenny Rumball was second on 106 points, with Jay Bourke's Dear Prudence – twice a series leader – dropping to third overall on 107 points after a costly mark rounding incident in the final race.

In accepting the overall prize, Tully, a Turkey Shoot regular, told Race Organiser Fintan Cairns, "We participate most years and eagerly await results and FECHOs every week. This year we had a few sailors coming back from retirement and hopefully will grow crew participation for next season. We find [The Turkey Shoot] great for just keeping in contact with the crew and keeping the general interest going - I'm sure you know all this, but it's important to acknowledge how important this event is in keeping the whole show on the road".

The 21st edition, sponsored by AIB, was judged a great success with a whole series of seven races sailed and no race cancellations (for only the second time in Turkey Shoot history).

Competitors were largely Bay-based, but some notable exceptions included the Sigma 38 Wardance crew who drove down from Mullaghmore in Sligo and Ballybofey in Donegal on Sunday mornings to race,  a real testament to the success of the event's short and sharp fun formula.

The 21st anniversary AIB DBSC Turkey Shoot Series concludes this Sunday with a final race for the 75-boat mixed cruiser-racer fleet on Dublin Bay.

Race organisers say there will be no change to the starting order but there are handicap adjustments (below) for what forecasts indicate will be a light air race seven.

As previously reported, the J/109 Dear Prudence holds the lead going into the final race.

Race seven starts next Sunday at 10.10hrs.

The prizegiving will be held at the Royal Irish Yacht Club after racing.