#DBSC – After four races sailed and one discard applied a Jezequel 116 and a Beneteau First 36.7  share first place in the popular Dublin Bay Sailing Club Spring Chicken series, the first racing of the 2012 season.

The club's only Jezequel 116 marque, Cri-Cri is skippered by Paul Colton who last November picked up the trophy for 'the best new boat on the DBSC racing scene' at the annual DBSC prizegiving.

Colton now shares the lead with Lula Belle, a First 36.7 that has had success offshore. Last season the Dun Laoghaire yacht won an ISORA overnight race to North India buoy.

Full fleet results for the 40-boat Viking Marine Spring Chicken results are available for download below.

#SPRING CHICKEN – Inspite of winning last Sunday's race Calypso, a Beneteau Oceanis 361 from the Royal St. George Yacht Club, lies 21st overall in the 43-boat DBSC Spring Chicken Series fleet, some 30–points behind overall leader Legally Blonde.

Second overall and joint eighth last Sunday is White Knight. Full results are attached below for download.

The fourth race of the Viking Marine sponsored series takes place on Sunday morning.

#WHITE SAILS – Dublin Bay's White Sails fleet meets at the Royal Irish Yacht Club on March 6th to discuss new progressive ECHO and the 2012 racing schedule. The meeting will also include details of training days for the class, now one of the biggest on Dublin Bay. The DBSC White sail season kicks off Saturday, April 21st.

#DBSC – Peridot leads the overall standings in the Viking Marine sponsored Spring Chicken Series on Dublin Bay. The Mustang 30 leads Lula Belle (Beneteau 36.7) by a single point as the series approaches the half way point this Sunday. Joint third in the 42-boat fleet are two J109 designs; early leader Indecision and Joker 2. Full results are downloadable below in word format.

#DUBLIN BAY SAILING – There were cheers for an Archambault A34 design last Sunday when Another Adventure was declared winner of the first race of the Viking Marine sponsored DBSC Spring Chicken Series. The local yacht beat Indecision, a J109, for race honours under the modified ECHO handicap rule. 38 boats are competing in the annual warm-up series that precedes the main DBSC season starting in April.

The results are downloadable below.

#DBSC – Dublin Bay Sailing Club will kick off the 2012 sailing season with a Spring Chicken series starting in two week's time on Sunday, February 5th.

A series of six races will be held on Sunday mornings under a modified ECHO handicap. Cruisers, cruising boats, one-designs and boats that do not normally race are very welcome. The event is sponsored by Boatshed.com.

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

Entry forms are in Dun Laoghaire's waterfront clubs or are available to download here.

Sailing instructions will be available on Sunday 5th February and will be emailed to entrants beforehand.

After sailing, food will be available to competitors in the National Y.C.

Entries should be sent to Donal P. O'Sullivan, 72 Clonkeen Drive, Foxrock, D.18 before Tuesday 31st January.

#SAILING–A new sailing league for 2012 to bring an 'extra focus' to yacht racing in Dublin Bay was the talk of last night's Royal Alfred Yacht Club (RAYC) black-tie awards dinner in Dun Laoghaire. The RAYC racing club will re-launch the 'Superleague' concept – first staged in the 1990s – to a new generation of sailors in 2012 with the aim of 'rewarding the best boats, skippers and crews', across the whole season, in each class in Dublin Bay, the country's biggest sailing centre.

The Superleague will be open to all classes of keelboats in Dublin Bay. In 2011 there were 15 keelboat classes with 300 boats. Visitors from Howth or elsewhere will also be welcomed in to the league. 

The Superleague will consist of 10 individual events/races - six club Regattas - Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club, Royal Alfred Yacht Club, Howth Yacht Club, National Yacht Club, Royal Irish Yacht Club and Royal St George Yacht Club - together with four Dublin Bay Sailing Club Saturday races - 1 in May, July, August and September. There will be four discards with six results to count. 

Royal Alfred Commodore Peter Beamish believes the Superleague will bring an extra focus to racing in Dublin Bay without adding to an already cluttered event fixture list. It will increase the incentive to all boats to participate in the individual events which make up the Superleague. The club will also be awarding crew prizes which they hope will help boats build and motivate crew panels.

The hope is to provide very close overall results with final results in the balance right up to the last race in the series.

Full details of the RAYC superleague are being finalised and will be available in mid-December. 

#DBSC–The winner of one of Dublin Bay Sailing Club's (DBSC) Premier Awards last Friday was also the winner of last Sunday's Turkey Shoot race. In a weekend of wins for the club's only Jezequel 116 marque, Cri-Cri skippered by Paul Colton beat a fleet of up to 66 Turkey Shoot competitors for another excellent race in the pre-Christmas series sponsored by Ian O'Meara from Boatshed.com. Last weekend's results are below.

Last Friday night Cri Cri's performance was proclaimed as 'the best new boat on the DBSC racing scene' at the 118th DBSC prizegiving at the Royal St. George Yacht Club.

Cri-Cri is now fifth overall trailing overall leader Jura, a J109 skippered by Peter Boucher, by 10 nett points. Second overall is Michael O'Neill's X-37 Axiom just one adrift of the leader on 22. Third is the James McCann skippered Mustang 30 Peridot on 28 points.

The third race in the series is on Sunday and follows the National ICRA conference on Saturday. All Cruiser-racers are urged to attend at the Royal Marine Hotel in Dun Laoghaire where handicaps for 2012 is one item on the agenda.

DBSC Turkey Shoot (Second Race) Results

1 Cri-Cri
2 Emir Herr
3 Guillemot
4 Peridot
5 Axiom
6 More Mischief
7 Eden Park
8 Legally Blonde
9 White Knight
10 Act Two
11 Muglins
12 White Lotus
13 Jura
14 Asterix
15 Rubicon
16 30 Something
17 Pink Ladies
18 Mermaid V
19 Free Spirit
20 Just Jasmin
21 Karukera
22 Lazy Bones
23 African Challenge
24 Indecision
25 Miss Behavin
26 Yahtzee
27 Sea Safari
28 Violet Flame
29 Calypso
30 Pippa IV
31 Arwen
32 Syzrgy
33 Sapphire
34 Fiddly Bits
35 Lula Belle
36 Kamikaze
37 To Infinity and Beyo
38 Hyflyer
39 Orna
40 Teal
41 Jedi
42 Jabiru
43 Lady Rowena
44 Annabella
45 Obsession
46 Diamond
47= Elandra
47= Jump the Gun
49= Jalapeno
49= Nauti Gal
51 Adrenalin
52 Fflogger
53 Another Adventure
54 Xerxes
55 Jammie Dodger
56 September Song
57 The Great Escape
58 Zephyr
59 Windshift
60 Yoke
61 Vespucci
62 Attitude
63 Great Knots
64 RIYC 1
65 Coumeenole
66 Lara

UCD Sailing
Joker 2
Sirocco
Frutti Di Mare
Phtha
Chouskikou
Two Fried Eggs
Blue Spirit
Nirvana
Crookhaven
Jetstream
Adelie
Isolde

90 trophies as well as 509 pieces of glassware were awarded at last Friday's Dublin Bay Sailing Club prizegiving, the 118th prize giving of the club. Top of the trophy cabinet are DBSC's premier awards, presented to boats that in the judgement of the committee have been sailed over the Dublin Bay season with particular distinction. Here, in his citation from last week's prizegiving,  DBSC Honorary Secretary Donal O'Sullivan salutes the 2011 winners.

Firstly, there is the Dun Laoghaire Harbour Trophy, awarded by the Harbour Company, for the best new boat in DBSC racing. This year's winner is Cri-Cri, sailed by Paul Colton, the best new boat on the DBSC racing scene.

Next is the George Arthur Newsom Cup, first awarded in 1934, to commemorate the Club's Hon.Treasurer, who had died the previous year. He was one of early Dublin Bay pioneers, active in many roles, president of the Wag Club, member of the Royal Irish, co-owner of the famous Dublin Bay 25 footer, Punctillio. This year's winner is Prospect, sailed by Chris Johnston, who dominated 31.7 racing as he and the Johnson family did earlier in the Dublin Bay 24 footer, Harmony. Chris Johnston, then, in Prospect.

We come now to the Waterhouse Shield. Waterhouse was a jewellery firm in Dame St, who used to do the engraving for Dublin Bay before Weir's. The family were active in DBSC and in 1886 presented us with the first shield. It was won outright, after three consecutive wins, by Wm. Randall Cecil Richardson, whose descendants re-presented to the Club in 1951..

This year's winner is Xtravagance, which won almost everything before it in Cruisers 1. It was sailed by Colin Byrne, no stranger to the DBSC prize list. In fact, the Byrne family have been winners of the Waterhouse Shield on at least three other occasions. Growltiger, sailed by his father, Philip, won it in 1994, 1998 and 2000. Philip, I understand, still crews on the Byarne boat. Xtravagance, then, the winner of the Waterhouse Shield.

Next, the Dr. Alf Delaney Memorial Cup, which commemorates a pioneer Dublin Bay dinghy sailor who joined the Club in 1932 and who raced in club races until - I think - about ten years ago. He was also on the Irish Olympic team in 1948. This year's winner - for the most successful boat racing on the DBSC dinghy course- was Laser 153827, sailed by Paul Keane in the PY class, now dominated by its very thriving Laser section. Paul Keane in Laser 153827.

The Brendan Ebrill Memorial Cup commemorates our late Hon Secretary who for many years organised this function. This year it is awarded to Bluefin Two, a 31.7 sailed by Michael and Bernie Bryson., who, I think, won it before when they sailed the original Bluefin.

The last of the premier prizes is the Viking Award, by which DBSC marks its recognition and gratitude to someone who has made a notable contribution to sailing. Those of you who sail in the Blue fleet will be familiar with the clear, bell-like tones of the lady who does out the countdown on the radio. 90 seconds from the start she will call out "one and a hawf" and the rest of the MacLir dutifully repeat it "One and a hawf". The voice, of course, belongs to Ida Kiernan, one-time Commodore of the NY, a former Mermaid sailor who this year in the absence of the usual team leader, organised the manning of MacLir. She has been involved in the organising of many other sailor events as well. So, to Ida Kiernan, of the MacLir team, the Viking Award.

#DUBLIN BAY – Tonight's Dublin Bay Sailing Club Annual Prizegiving 2011 is taking place at the Royal St George Yacht Club and among the top award winners is the X-34 Xtravagance skippered by Colin Byrne from the Royal Irish Yacht Club.

The prizegiving celebrates a season of successes on the bay and Afloat.ie published the roll of prizewinners in September and tonight over 40 trophies will be presented. See the DBSC 2011 Trophy Winners here.

Xtravagance skippered by Colin Byrne won the Waterhouse Shiled at tonight's DBSC Prizegiving for the top performance in a handicap class

Xtravagance won the overall IRC on Saturdays and Thursdays this season as well as the overall Thursday Echo (although the Royal Irish entry failed to make a clean sweep by two points in Saturday Echo).

Byrne's boat is a standard X-34. He sails with a purely amateur crew including his father, Philip, who is 81 years of age and his brothers among the crew. Xtravagance is the first Class 1 boat to win it for a number of years, it's also an award won on at least two occasions in the 1990s by his father in his yacht Growl Tiger.