As DBSC saw out July 2025 with the last Thursday race of the month, sixteen Flying Fifteens made their way to the start area for the last race of the month. Despite there having been little wind earlier in the afternoon, there was wind in the early part of the evening, though it would fade as the clock ticked by.
Race Officer, John McNeilly, was early in his advice to the fleet that the tide was ebbing but he had less luck with the wind. The XCWeather App had suggested a wind that would be slightly west of north, but John was early in his suggestion that the wind was moving around and hadn't settled. A number of attempts were made to anchor the committee boat and when he got that sorted the initial suggestion was that we would be sailing a course that would have East as the first mark. However, by the time a start sequence was initiated the wind had gone further east and the new weather mark was Poldy with a course of Poldy, East, Bay, Battery, Poldy, Battery – Finish.
The four or five SB20s got away at the first time of asking and a mixed fleet of Sportsboats and Dragons, of which there were a few also got away with two individual recalls. The 16-boat fleet of Flying Fifteens however, found themselves on the naughty step, not once, but twice. After the first General Recall, the RO gave them a second chance to get away after a three-minute countdown, but having succumbed to another General Recall, they were then relegated to the end of the queue – behind the Beneteau 21s, the Shipman 28s and the Glens all of whom have a more relaxed approach to starting.
So, at the third time of asking, the Fifteens got away with the lesser group sailing off on an early port tack parallel to the Dun Laoghaire shore. Included in this group were Keith Poole & Tom Galvin (4093), Alan Green & Caroline Hanniffy (4026) and Niall Coleman & Cormac Bradley (4008). By this stage, there were already signs that the wind was fading, which meant that the tide would have a more prominent impact on the fleet.
The leg to Poldy was definitely influenced by the tide. Green & Hanniffy were the first to tack onto starboard to make the seaward passage to Poldy, though not so far along the port tack, Coleman & Bradley did likewise, whereas Poole & Galvin seemed to leave it later. Green & Hanniffy were progressing well in this vein until they came into closer company with the slower boats that had started before the Fifteens. Coleman & Bradley found themselves being swept up towards the mark, so having started off needing two tacks to get round Poldy, they were soon in a position to be able to round it without a tack. At the mark, some of these who had gone left at the start of the beat came into the frame. Most prominent of these were David Mulvin & Ronan Beirne (4068), Niall Meagher & Nicki Matthews (4128) and possibly Tom Murphy & Carel LaRoux (4057), all three of whom rounded ahead of Coleman & Bradley.
Poldy to East was a difficult spinnaker leg with various approaches taken to get to East. At one stage Meagher & Matthews were the closest boat to Howth on that side of the leg and indeed looked as though they were heading for Sutton. Other boats went to the Dun Laoghaire side of the leg and sailed various angles to get to the mark. The challenge was to keep the boats moving and as East got closer it was apparent that Mulvin and Coleman had been the most successful in this endeavour. They both sailed a more direct line to East in close company with Mulvin in the front position.
However, having been asked by Mulvin for "room" at East, Coleman was able to just get ahead of Mulvin on the actual rounding. A J80 threatened to make the rounding for the two Fifteens more complex, but they got in and out without impacting on the other two. The leg to Bay had more apparent wind on the water and was a tight spinnaker reach for the majority of the leg, tightening up as Bay got closer. While Mulvin was behind Coleman he had initially managed to get to weather of Coleman, but as we sailed on, he fell to leeward and Coleman was able to gain some more distance on him.
As the leaders approached Bay it became apparent that Race Officer John McNeilly had shortened the course at Battery so for the two Fifteens the focus was heavily on not losing what had been gained, particularly between Poldy and East.
Coleman sailed for the shore and Mulvin did likewise. Once Mulvin tacked onto starboard for the approach to the finish, Coleman did likewise in a loose cover on his chaser. Behind these two, Neil Colin & Margaret Casey (4028) had fought back into the race and tacking immediately at Bay set off for the finish on a more offshore course. Coleman & Bradley held on for their first win of the Thursday Series and a welcome fillip after three successive second-last finishes on the previous Thursday and Saturday. Mulvin & Beirne closed on them, but time-wise, Coleman had some comfort. Colin & Casey claimed third, Green & Hanniffy fourth and Meagher & Matthews fifth.
With the wind dying almost completely, it was a long paddle home from Battery, and I only spotted three Fifteens getting a tow home.
DBSC Thursdays: Flying Fifteens; 31 July.
- Niall Coleman & Cormac Bradley, 4008
- David Mulvin & Ronan Beirne, 4068
- Neil Colin & Margaret Casey, 4028
- Alan Green & Caroline Hanniffy, 4026.
DBSC Thursdays Overall: Flying Fifteens.
- Peter Murphy & Ciara Mulvey, 37pts.
- Neil Colin & Margaret Casy, 37pts
- Ken Dumpleton & Joe Hickey, 38pts
- Alan Green & Caroline Hanniffy, 41pts
- David Mulvin & Ronan Beirne, 45pts.
At the July fleet supper, hosted in the National Yacht Club, the fleet prizes for the Eastern Championships, sailed as part of the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta, were handed out.
Eastern Championships (sailed as part of the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta)
Bronze Fleet, 1st Alastair Court & Conor O'Leary, RStGYC, 3753.
Silver Fleet, Alan Green & Caroline Hanniffy, NYC, 4026.
1st Lady Helm, Geraldine O'Neill.
1st Lady Crew, Margaret Casey.
Alan Green (centre) accepts the Silver Fleet prize for the Eastern Championships from David Gorman, Class Captain (left) and Nicki Matthews. [Caroline Hanniffy wasn’t in attendance.)
Conor O’Leary (R) accepts the Bronze Fleet prize for the eastern Championships from David Gorman and Nicki Matthews. (Alastair Court wasn’t in attendance.)
Geraldine O’Neill (R) accepts the First Lady Helm for the Eastern Championships, from David Gorman (L) and Nicki Matthews (C).
Margaret Casey accepts the First Lady Crew for the Eastern Championships from David Gorman and Nicki Matthews.
Additionally, fleet prizes for DBSC racing were awarded at the dinner. Class Captain David Gorman had paired off boats in an effort to promote coaching within the fleet, with the "senior boat" tasked with coaching and encouraging the "junior boat".
Alan Green accepts the Team Prize for June from Class Captain David Gorman (R). (Tom Murphy wasn’t in attendance.)
June winners – Alan Green (4026) and Tom Murphy (4057)
July winners – Ken Dumpleton (3955) and Alan Balfe (3995).
Alan Balfe (L) and Ken Dumpleton (C) accept the Team Prize for July from David Gorman.
