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)

On the last midweek night of the DBSC season – truncated by a delayed start but extended by two weeks, both due to the understandable restrictions imposed by Covid-19, thirteen Flying Fifteens enjoyed a genteel night on Dublin Bay.

The first start was abandoned due to a General Recall with IRO Con Murphy adjusting the pin to allow the fleet away at the second time of asking. A variety of approaches were adopted for the first beat, Mulligan & Bradley (4081), Murphy (4057), Dumpelton (3955), Mulvin & Beirne (4068) and Mr & Mrs Colman (4008) all favouring a RHS approach. Colin & Casey (4028), Green & Mathews (3970) working the middle and the balance working the LHS. Hugh Meagher with dad Niall (3938) crewing was also giving it a go on the LHS.

Mulligan & Bradley were struggling a little bit on the RHS, but some judicious tacks and a couple of lifts got them out of trouble and into a favourable position in the RHS bunch. However, the first to round the weather mark, an inflatable located in the approximate location of Bay was Colin & Casey. They had a few boat-lengths to spare over the chasing bunch of Green, Dumpelton, Ryan (4045) Mulligan and Mulvin. Ryan and Dumpelton had a difference of opinion on how the former rounded the weather mark and they went right to get that resolved!

After spinnakers were hoisted for the downwind led to Molly, the breadth of the fleet was quite significant. Spotting Colin gybing ahead, Mulligan did the same and held the port-tack course to deep down the down-wind leg. It paid dividends as they closed on Colin in terms of distance to the mark even if they were on opposite sides of the rhumb line. Green and Murphy were lurking with intent behind these two but there was a bit of distance between the lead two and the others. By the leeward mark, Mulligan was able to claim the lead and went right up the second beat. Colin tacked off and favoured a middle and left approach. The further right he went the more Mulligan got lifted and the closer Colin got. By the weather mark, Colin had restored a healthy lead and while Mulligan was still comfortable in second, he now had to watch Green/Mathews and Fraser/Gabriel (3790) either side of him. Mulligan again gybed out to the left-hand side of the run, but the dividends weren't as generous this time round.

Colin rounded the leeward mark in a comfortable and clear position while Mulligan had to be wary of SB20s (Smoke on the Water) and Glens – a hail of water being used to confirm his right to be where he was relative to a Glen. For Mulligan the challenge was now to keep Green/Mathews behind him; and a slightly late spinnaker drop by Green helped in that regard. Mulligan went left after a short port tack hitch away from the leeward mark. Green worked the RHS but was unable to close the gap.

1. Neil Colin & Margaret Casey; 4028 Ffuzzy, DMYC
2. Ben Mulligan & Cormac Bradley; 4081 Enfant de Marie, DMYC
3. Alan Green & Nicki Mathews; 3970 Frequent Flyer, NYC
4. Niall & Susan Colman; 4008 Flyer, NYC
5. Fraser & Gabriel; 3790, NYC

DBSC has posted the series results with the conclusion of tonight's race.

1. Alan Green & Chris Doorly/Nicki Mathews; 3970 Frequent Flyer, 11pts
2. Neil Colin & Margaret Casey; 4028 Ffuzzy, 17pts
3. David Mulvin & Ronan Beirne; 4068 Ignis Caput Duo, 22pts
4. Niall & Susan Colman; 4008 Flyer, 25pts
5. Alistair Court & Conor O'Leary; Ffinisterre, 28pts.

"Fifteeners" are reminded that the National Yacht Club will host the East Coast Championships on the weekend of 19th/20th September and Neil Colin's Captain's Prize will be contested this Saturday – both races to count, no discard, tie-break on the outcome of the second race.

An excellent fleet of 114 Dublin Bay Sailing Club boats turned out for the final Thursday of the Covid-extended mid-week racing on Dublin Bay in a light to moderate SW'ly.

Results are below

DBSC Results for 10/09/2020

Cruiser 0 IRC: 1. Rockabill VI, 2. Wow, 3. Prima Forte

Cruiser 0 Echo: 1. D-Tox, 2. Wow, 3. Rockabill VI

Cruiser 1 IRC: 1. Jalapeno, 2. Ruth, 3. Raptor

Cruiser 1 Echo: 1. Raptor, 2. Ruth, 3. Jalapeno

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

31.7 One Design: 1. Prospect, 2. After You Too, 3. Levante

31.7 Echo: 1. Kernach, 2. Attitude, 3. Levante

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

Cruiser 2 Echo: 1. Leeuwin, 2. Peridot, 3. Windjammer

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

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

Cruiser 3 Echo: 1. Maranda, 2. Krypton, 3. Eleint

Cruiser 5A NS-IRC: 1. The Great Escape, 2. Persistance, 3. Edenpark

Cruiser 5A Echo: 1. Katienua, 2. Playtime, 3. Shearwater

Cruiser 5B Echo: 1. Setanta, 2. Nauti-Gal, 3. Gung-Ho

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

Sportsboat: 1. George/Riordan/Simington, 2. Jester, 3. Joyride

Dragon: 1. Phantom, 2. D-Cision, 3. ZinZan

Flying 15: 1. FFuZZy, 2. Enfant de Marie, 3. Frequent Flyer

Ruffian: 1. Ruffles, 2. Carmen, 3. Alias

Shipman: 1. Poppy, 2. Invader, 3. The Den

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

B211 Echo: 1. Billy Whizz, 2. Ventuno, 3. Small Wonder

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

Ian Mathews and Keith Poole's 'The Gruffalo' was the winner of last night's Flying Fifteen Race, the final DBSC Tuesday of 2020. Second was The Flyer and third was Perfect Ten. 

Full results are below:

DBSC Results for 08/09/2020

Cruiser 1 IRC: 1. Gringo, 2. Jalapeno

Cruiser 1 Echo: 1. Gringo, 2. Jalapeno

31.7 One Design: 1. Levante, 2. Fiddly Bits

31.7 Echo: 1. Levante, 2. Fiddly Bits

Cruiser 3 IRC: 1. Starlet, 2. Maranda

Cruiser 3 Echo: 1. Maranda, 2. Starlet, 3. Grasshopper 2

Sportsboat: 1. RIYC 2/G. O'Connor

Flying 15: 1. The Gruffalo, 2. Flyer, 3. Perfect Ten

Ruffian: 1. Alias, 2. Ruffles, 3. Carmen

B211 One Design: 1. Ventuno, 2. Yikes, 3. Beeswing

B211 Echo: 1. Ventuno, 2. Isolde, 3. Beeswing

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

PY Class: 1. B Sweeney, 2. B Foley, 3. R Tate

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

Fireball: 1. F Miller, 2. O Sinnott, 3. C Power/M Barry

Laser Standard: 1. D Maloney, 2. R Wallace, 3. L Murphy

Laser Radial: 1. H O'Connor, 2. C Clancy, 3. S Craig

Laser 4.7: 1. E O'Sullivan, 2. S Gorman, 3. C van Steenberge

Today's National Yacht Club 150th anniversary regatta saw a large fleet of 152 dinghies and keelboats complete a full programme of races for NYC Sesquicentennial medals. 

Raced in moderate to fresh North Westerly breezes, up to three races were sailed in some of the 22 competing classes that was managed on the water by Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC).

Prima Forte from the Royal Irish Yacht Club was the Cruisers Zero winner on IRC and the NYC's own Gringo was the Class One winner. 

Chimaera won the J109 division and the NYC entry Prospect was the 31.7 winner.

As Afloat reported earlier, last night a small but important ceremony was held at the NYC where waterfront Commodores gathered to receive special NYC burgees as a token of appreciation for the support in staging today's special event. 

Full results are below

DBSC Results for 05/09/2020

Race 1

Cruiser 0 IRC: 1. Prima Forte, 2. Wow, 3. D-Tox

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

Cruiser 1 IRC: 1. Gringo, 2. Chimaera, 3. Joker 2

Cruiser 1 Echo: 1. Joker 2, 2. Gringo, 3. Chimaera

Cruiser 1 J109: 1. Chimaera, 2. Joker 2, 3. Jalapeno

31.7 One Design: 1. Prospect, 2. Levante, 3. Attitude

31.7 Echo: 1. Attitude, 2. Levante, 3. Fiddly Bits

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

Cruiser 2 Echo: 1. Rupert, 2. Enchantress, 3. Springer

Cruiser 2 Sigma 33: 1. Rupert, 2. Springer, 3. Enchantress

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

Cruiser 3 Echo: 1. Papytoo, 2. Pamafe, 3=. Dubious, 3=. Eleint

Cruiser 5 NS-IRC: 1. Gung Ho, 2. The Great Escape, 3. Act Two

Cruiser 5 Echo: 1. Sweet Martini, 2. Spirit, 3. Katienua

SB20: 1. Ted, 2. Sneaky B, 3. Carpe Diem

Sportsboat: 1. Jamiroquai

Dragon: 1. Phantom, 2. D-Cision

Flying 15: 1. The Gruffalo, 2. 4083 (JL), 3. FFuZZy

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

Shipman: 1. Viking, 2. Jo Slim, 3. The Den

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

Glen: 1. Glen Luce, 2. GlenDun

PY Class: 1. R Tate, 2. B Foley, 3. S Dwyer

IDRA 14: 1. Dart, 2. Diane

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

Laser Standard: 1. G Murphy, 2. R Wallace, 3. F Walker

Laser Radial: 1. H O'Connor, 2. S Craig, 3. R Geraghty-McDonnell

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

Race 2

SB20: 1. Ted, 2. So Blue, 3. Carpe Diem

Sportsboat: 1. Jamiroquai

Dragon: 1. Phantom, 2. D-Cision

Flying 15: 1. 4083 (JL), 2. Enfant de Marie, 3. FFuZZy

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

B211 Echo: 1. Beeswing, 2. Billy Whizz, 3. Ventuno

PY Class: 1. M Gavin, 2. B Foley, 3. R Tate

IDRA 14: 1. Dart, 2. Diane

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

Laser Standard: 1. F Walker, 2. R Wallace, 3. T Lyttle

Laser Radial: 1. R Geraghty-McDonnell, 2. S Craig, 3. C Gorman

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

Race 3

PY Class: 1. B Foley, 2. R Tate, 3. S Dwyer

IDRA 14: 1. Diane, 2. Dart

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

Laser Standard: 1. R Wallace, 2. F Walker, 3. C Arrowsmith

Laser Radial: 1. R Geraghty-McDonnell, 2. S Craig, 3. J O'Driscoll

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

 The National Yacht Club's David Mulvin and Ronan Beirne sailing the Flying 15 Ignis Caput were the winners of tonight's DBSC race from Alan Green and Chris Doorly in Frequent Flyer. Third was FFuZZy (Neil Colin & Margaret Casey).

107 boats turned out across all DBSC's 22 classes for the penultimate Thursday of the Covid-extended mid-week racing on Dublin Bay.

Conditions were gusty enough to lead to a dismasting in DBSC Cruisers Zero

Dismasted

Full results below

DBSC Results for 03/09/2020

Cruiser 0 IRC: 1. Rockabill VI, 2. Prima Forte, 3. Wow

Cruiser 0 Echo: 1. Prima Forte, 2. Rockabill VI, 3. Wow

Cruiser 1 IRC: 1. White Mischief, 2. Chimaera, 3. Gringo

Cruiser 1 Echo: 1. White Mischief, 2. Gringo, 3. Chimaera

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

31.7 One Design: 1. Prospect, 2. Levante, 3. After You Too

31.7 Echo: 1. Levante, 2. Kernach, 3. Fiddly Bits

Cruiser 2 IRC: 1=. Windjammer, 1=. Peridot, 3. Antix

Cruiser 2 Echo: 1. Peridot, 2. Antix, 3. Boojum

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

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

Cruiser 3 Echo: 1. Maranda, 2. Saki, 3. Wynward

Cruiser 5A NS-IRC: 1. The Great Escape, 2. Edenpark

Cruiser 5A Echo: 1. The Great Escape, 2. Playtime, 3. Just Jasmin

Cruiser 5B NS-IRC: , 1. Gung-Ho, 2. Vespucci

Cruiser 5B Echo: 1. Gung-Ho, 2. Sweet Martini, 3. Vespucci

SB20: 1. Ted, 2. So Blue, 3. Carpe Diem

Sportsboat: 1. George/Riordan/Simington, 2. Jeorge 5/J Craig, 3. Jester

Dragon: 1. Phantom, 2. ZinZan

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

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

Shipman: 1. Invader, 2. The Den, 3. Jo Slim

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

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

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

A year ago, the Irish Flying Fifteen community was gearing itself up for the Subaru World Championships in Dun Laoghaire Harbour when a 72-boat fleet contested the Championships in what was considered, post-event, to have been a very successful regatta. Of course, the fact that Race Officer Jack Roy managed to get enough races completed in conditions that embraced the full spectrum of wind strengths to give everyone a second discard helped enormously. But in addition to the wind, we had sunshine and a well-organised shore team to make sure that launching and recovery went as smoothly as possible when 72 boats are trying to get onto and off the water. Socially, the National Yacht Club and the organising committee put together a schedule that kept everyone happy.

In the build-up to the Worlds, we saw several new boats added to the fleet, Tom Murphy's 4057, "Fflagella" (late 2018), David Mulvin's 4068, "Ignis Caput II" (2019) and Bryan Willis' 4074 "Pure Gold". (2019) However, it is in the post-Worlds environment that the state of health of a class is most precarious. The Dun Laoghaire Harbour Flying Fifteen fleet has bucked the trend and seen a further injection of new boats in this Covid-19 ravaged season which only got underway in late July.

The first of these to hit the water was 4081, Phoenix, saw the return of John Lavery to the fleet with Alan Green at the pointy end. Their debut on the DBSC circuit saw them open their account with a 1, 2 on 8th August and followed it up with a 1,3 on 15th August. Since then they have added the Championship of Ireland to their haul, winning a four-race Championship in a very breezy Dunmore East with a three-day event reduced to a single day of racing. In another indication of the rude health of the Class, a significant number of boats from N Ireland contested the regatta, significant because of the combined effects of Covid-19 and the adverse implication of an unseasonal August storm that saw Friday's racing cancelled by WhatsApp at 08:00 (approx.) that morning. Saturday's racing went the same way, but the fleet went sailing on Sunday in big seas generated by the storm. Downwind was exhilarating we are told!

Ben Mulligan and article author Cormac Bradley (left)

The second of the new boats to be added to the 2020 fleet arrived later than intended due to Covid-19 and a relaxed delivery schedule. Ben Mulligan's 4081, "Enfant de Marie" hit the water on the Saturday of the Championship of Ireland, but in Dublin Bay, not Dunmore East. With the Fifteens' DBSC race cancelled, Mulligan and Cormac Bradley tested the new boat in high, blustery winds and found all systems to be working well. Their race debut in DBSC came in a fifteen-boat fleet last Saturday. The forecast was for breeze out of the north, quite strong in the early morning, but forecast to drop as the day wore on – at least to manageable strengths. Race Officer Barry O'Neill set a long course to blow away the cobwebs and was "rewarded" by the fleet misbehaving at the start, necessitating a General Recall. It would be unfair to cast dispersions as to who may have jumped the gun, but the author's sense was that it just wasn't one or two boats. It prompted Mulligan & Bradley to review which way to go up the beat, and that saw them at the opposite end of the start line to the aborted start – the committee boat. Negotiating a course around Neil Colin and Margaret Casey (4028 – Ffuzzy), they were closest to the committee boat and free to tack out to the right-hand side of the beat. Our sense was that while there was more tide out there (ebbing), there was also more breeze. Colin & Casey appeared to agree with that synopsis, and from a poor start by their standards, their decision was vindicated when they rounded the weather mark in the peloton. Mulligan/Bradley having committed from the "get-go" to that side found themselves in a healthy position as they came across on starboard to close on the mark. With the whole fleet bar those as mentioned above two going left, the debutants found themselves with a healthy gap to the chasing pack, led by Ian Matthews and Keith Poole, 3864, "The Gruffalo". Also featuring prominently was David Mulvin and Ronan Beirne (4068) and Tom Murphy with Karl (4057). Joe Coughlan and Andrew (Ash, 3913) were also well up the pecking order.

Ian Matthews (left) and Keith Poole, 3864, "The Gruffalo" 

It is testimony to the course accuracy that everyone had to gybe at least twice to make their way to the leeward mark. Mulligan/Bradley enjoyed a healthy gap to the chasing pack and maintained that distance to the second weather mark. Down the second run, Matthews & Poole closed when the leaders got themselves out of synch with the gybes, but they regained their distance when Matthews got the finish configuration wrong, going for the leeward mark, rather than rounding up to a finish line set to weather of the committee boat. They managed to save their second place, followed home by Murphy (4057), Coughlan (3913) and Colin (4028). Thus Mulligan/Bradley enjoyed a maiden win in their new boat.

The second race produced a more orderly start, Mulligan favouring the same approach as Race 1, but having to manoeuvre around Coughlan to achieve that objective. However, not all the fleet were committed to the left as had been the case in the first race and at the top mark, the leaders were Matthews & Poole. The chasing pack consisted of Mulvin, Colin, Murphy, with Mulligan back in 5th place. The run saw little change in the pecking order, but there was an element of "concertina-ing" at the leeward mark and a gap opened for Mulligan to sneak in. A quick tack on to starboard for a short hitch to the left followed by another tack saw Mulligan/Bradley virtually pointing at the weather mark, albeit from the bottom end of the beat. That short tack allowed three places to be gained over the length of the beat and saw Mulligan/Bradley chasing Matthews/Poole down the final run. They appeared to be closing at one stage, but Matthews pulled away again to maintain his lead to the finish. Mulligan/Bradley held the chasing boats off to finish second, followed by Colin, Mulvin and Murphy.

As it stands, the Saturday Series is as follows;

1. David Mulvin & Ronan Beirne 26pts
2. Ian Matthews & Keith Poole 35pts
3. Alan Green & Chris Doorly 36pts
4. Ken Dumpelton & Crew(s) 43pts
5. Neil Colin & Margaret Casey 50pts

Twenty-two Flying Fifteens are on the DBSC register for Saturday, and a fleet of fifteen boats from that cohort is healthy by any measure. Outside the classes that sail to a handicap, this makes the Class the largest in Dublin Bay. We know a third new boat is destined for Dun Laoghaire, bought by an individual who is of the view that if you want regular two-handed competitive sailing, this is the only fleet that can provide it on the East Coast. We also note that the Afloat website has another Flying Fifteen (4060) advertised for sale.

Regatta-wise the fleet will sail the National Yacht Club regatta this weekend coming and two weeks later will contest the East Coast Championships at the same venue. DL Class Captain Neil Colin encourages as many boats as possible to support these two events.

Royal St. George's Sean Craig was the Laser Radial division in last night's winner of Dublin Bay Sailing Club Laser Radial division race.

I McNamara was second to the former Irish Masters champion with Rian Geraghty-McDonnell in third place.

An excellent turnout of 114  boats at Dun Laoghaire Harbour, comprising 65 dinghies and 49 keelboats, took part in the Covid-extended Tuesday evening series on Dublin Bay last night, in a good SSE breeze.

Tuesday Series wins in PY Class & Fireball classes appear to be sewn up but first place is still up for grabs in many classes in next week's final race Tuesday race of the season.

DBSC Results for 01/09/2020

Cruiser 1 IRC: 1. Gringo, 2. Jalapeno, 3. Ruth

Cruiser 1 Echo: 1. Gringo, 2. Jalapeno, 3. Ruth

Cruiser 1 J109: 1. Jalapeno, 2. Ruth, 3. Something Else

31.7 One Design: 1. Mayfly, 2. Levante

Cruiser 2 Echo: 1. Boojum, 2. Estrellita

Cruiser 2 Sigma 33: 1. Pastiche, 2. Boojum

Cruiser 3 IRC: 1. Starlet, 2. Maranda

Cruiser 3 Echo: 1. Saki, 2. Maranda, 3. Papytoo

Sportsboat: 1. Jeorge 5/J Craig, 2. George/Riordan/Simington

Dragon: 1. Phantom, 2. ZinZan

Flying 15: 1. Ignis Caput, 2. The Gruffalo, 3. Perfect Ten

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

B211 One Design: 1. Yikes, 2. Billy Whizz, 3. Ventuno

B211 Echo: 1. Ventuno, 2. Isolde, 3. Billy Whizz

Glen: 1. Glenroan, 2. GlenDun

PY Class: 1. Allsorts, 2. N Butler, 3. R Tate

IDRA 14: 1. Diane, 2. Dart, 3. Dutch Courage

Fireball: 1. F Miller, 2. O Sinnott, 3. C Power/M Barry

Laser Standard: 1. R Wallace, 2. D Maloney, 3. F Walker

Laser Radial: 1. S Craig, 2. I Mc Namara, 3. R Geraghty-McDonnell

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

Ben Mulligan's brand new Flying Fifteen 'Enfant de Marie' was launched from the DMYC in time for today's first DBSC Saturday Race and was rewarded with a maiden voyage victory.

A fleet of 121 boats across all the DBSC classes enjoyed a fresh NW TO N'ly breeze on Dublin bay today.

All scheduled races were completed, something of a rarity as an August of decidedly mixed weather comes to an end.

DBSC Results for 29/08/2020

Race 1

Cruiser 0 IRC: 1. Wow, 2. Prima Forte

Cruiser 0 Echo: 1. Wow, 2. Prima Forte

Cruiser 1 IRC: 1. Something Else, 2. Jalapeno , 3. Chimaera

Cruiser 1 Echo: 1. Raptor, 2. Indecision, 3. Jump the Gun

Cruiser 1 J109: 1. Something Else, 2. Jalapeno , 3. Chimaera

31.7 One Design: 1. Levante, 2. Prospect, 3. Attitude

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

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

Cruiser 2 Echo: 1. Peridot, 2. Leeuwin, 3. Rupert

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

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

Cruiser 3 Echo: 1. Eleint, 2. Saki, 3. Dubious

Cruiser 5 NS-IRC: 1. Gung Ho, 2. Vespucci, 3. The Great Escape

Cruiser 5 Echo: 1. Gung Ho, 2. Act Two, 3. Spirit

SB20: 1. Ted, 2. venuesworld.com, 3. So Blue

Sportsboat: 1. George 1/McNamara, 2. Joyride

Dragon: 1. Phantom, 2. D-Cision

Flying 15: 1. Enfant de Marie, 2. The Gruffalo, 3. Fflagella

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

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

B211 One Design: 1. Yikes, 2. Chinook, 3. Beeswing

B211 Echo: 1. Ventuno, 2. Beeswing, 3. Chinook

Glen: 1. GlenDun, 2. Glencree

PY Class: 1. M Gavin, 2. Allsorts

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

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

Laser Standard: 1. G Murphy, 2. G O'Hare

Laser Radial: 1. A Robinson, 2. H O'Connor, 3. C Gorman

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

Race 2

SB20: 1. Ted, 2. venuesworld.com, 3. So Blue

Sportsboat: 1. George 1/McNamara, 2. Joyride

Dragon: 1. D-Cision

Flying 15: 1. The Gruffalo, 2. Enfant de Marie, 3. FFuZZy

B211 One Design: 1. Chinook, 2. Beeswing, 3. Yikes

B211 Echo: 1. Beeswing, 2. Ventuno, 3. Chinook

PY Class: 1. M Gavin, 2. Allsorts

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

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

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

Laser Radial: 1. H O'Connor, 2. A Robinson, 3. K Walker

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

Cruiser 0 IRC: 1. Rockabill VI, 2. Tsunami, 3. Lively Lady

Cruiser 0 Echo: 1. Tsunami, 2. Lively Lady, 3. Rockabill VI

Cruiser 1 IRC: 1. White Mischief, 2. Jalapeno, 3. Juggerknot 2

Cruiser 1 Echo: 1. Indecision, 2. Raptor, 3. Boomerang

Cruiser 1 J109: 1. White Mischief, 2. Jalapeno, 3. Something Else

31.7 One Design: 1. Levante, 2. After You Too, 3. Prospect

31.7 Echo: 1. Levante, 2. Kernach, 3. Attitude

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

Cruiser 2 Echo: 1. Leeuwin, 2. Rupert, 3. Peridot

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

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

Cruiser 3 Echo: 1. Maranda, 2. Saki, 3. Eleint

Cruiser 5A NS-IRC: 1. Persistance, 2. Edenpark

Cruiser 5A Echo: 1. Persistance, 2. Playtime, 3. Katienua

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

Sportsboat: 1. Riordan/Simington, 2. J Craig, 3. Jamiroquai

Dragon: 1. ZinZan, 2. D-Cision

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

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

Shipman: 1. Jo Slim, 2. The Den, 3. Poppy

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

B211 Echo: 1. Billy Whizz, 2. Beeswing, 3. Chinook