#FIREBALL – For the second Sunday in a row, the Frostbite racing was held outside Dun Laoghaire harbour. Weather conditions defied the time of year with sunshine, clear blue skies and extremely mild temperatures. Despite missing a number of regulars, there was a healthy turnout of up to 12 boats.
Tidal management on the first beat was the key to success and Noel Butler & Stephen Oram and Frank Miller & Grattan Donnelly particularly got it perfect to round first and second respectively. Behind them was a 3-boat chasing pack of Owen Laverty & Ed Butler, Kenny Rumball & David Moran and Louis Smyth & Cormac Bradley. This was the running order for the first half of the 4-lap race using a separate weather mark for the Fireballs.
On the first reach of the third triangle, a troubled hoist of the spinnaker by Miller & Donnelly cost them 2 places when first Rumball/Moran and then Laverty/Butler got through. At the leeward mark of the same lap Laverty, Miller and Smyth indulged in some close quarter manoeuvring with the former two shutting the door on the latter. However, on the next beat Smyth got through to fourth and held on to the finish.
Behind Miller/Donnelly were Andy Boyle & Barry Hurley.
In the race for the days mugs the participants were Mary Chambers & Brenda Maguire and Dave Coleman & Glen Fisher. At. regular intervals in the race these two were in close company, but the ladies won out.
1 Noel Butler & Stephen Oram
2 Kenny Rumball & David Moran
3 Owen Laverty & Ed Butler
4 Louis Smyth & Cormac Bradley
5 Frank Miller & Grattan Donnelly
