First Frostbite of 2014 goes the same way as the closing Frostbite of 2013 – abandoned! writes Cormac Bradley. In the context of the severe storms and damage of the Christmas and New Year storms, reporting that the first Frostbite race of 2014 was abandoned might seem to be rather mundane and potentially insensitive, but in the context of sailing it is appropriate! However, this is the fate that befell the first race of 2014 when everyone put "2 and 2 together" and racing was abandoned. The Sea Area forecast on the Saturday night was intimidating as it was but with the direction of the wind, Dun Laoghaire harbour was on the lee shore, which might have meant that something was possible. However, with sever gusts being recorded in the harbour, the decision that no racing would take place was conveyed electronically via Facebook and E-mail as much as by word of mouth.
A quick trip to the harbour indicated that everyone had seen sense and the only "sailing" activity was an "N over A signal" flying from the clubhouse of the Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club. The attached photographs give a taste of the conditions in Dun Laoghaire Harbour yesterday.
So while there has been no Fireball activity to report on, there has been Fireball personality activity that I can bring to your attention.
The Irish National Sailing School's Kenny Rumball winged his way to Sydney for the Christmas break and a debut performance in the Sydney to Hobart Race which started on December 26th. With Barry Hurley also on board the Beneteau 40, Breakthrough, Kenny, Barry and the crew finished 6th in IRC Division 3, 27th in IRC overall and were 61st over the line in a fleet of 94 boats of which 10 retired.
In Australia, the Fireball fleet had their nationals in Warrnambool on the SW coast in the State of Victoria. Ben Schulz, who contested the 2011 Worlds in Sligo, finished 4th overall sailing with his brother Jeff.
Australian Fireball Nationals
1 Greg Allison & Allan Blenkie 15032 12pts
2 M. Thompson & R Watson 14777 15pts
3 John Heywood & B. Littledike 14786 22pts
4 Ben & Jeff Schulz 15062 33pts
5 P. Peverell & P. Jones 15027 35pst
The Blairgowrie Yacht Squadron, Port Phillip, Australia, hosted the 67-boat Tasar Nationals, in which former Irish Fireballer Conor Byrne, crewed by Michelle Mackie, was a contestant in a brand new Tasar which boasts an Irish sail number (IRL 2846) and enters under the burgee of the Northern Territory. Eventually finishing 13th overall, Conor and Michelle also boasted a race win. Perennial competitors on the international Fireball circuit, Australians Heather McFarlane and Chris Payne, finished 4th overall, behind three former Tasar World Champions.
And in South Africa, Anthony Parker, who enjoyed honorary Irish status with the Irish Fireball team in Barbados, won the South African GP14 Nationals with a clean sweep of race wins that allowed him to sit out the last two races of the regatta which was hosted on the Garden Route on South Africa's east coast (not for from the 2016 venue for the Fireball Worlds). Anthony was crewed by Ferdinand Holm, who I think is one of the driving forces in the SA 5o5 fleet.
