sb20 – Eight SB20s battled it out on Dublin Bay this evening in a northerly, easterly, and southerly breeze (depending where you were on the race course at any given moment in time) in a wind ranging in strength from 0 to 15knts (again depending where you were and when you were there!). Warning - Those easily confused should probably look away now...

Initially, the fleet prepared to start in 6knts of wind coming from the east with an ebbing tide pushing the fleet over the start line. The OOD had set a short line with a pronounced pin end bias, normally a recipe for disaster with an SB fleet not shy at coming forward... However, approximately 1 minute before the start, the wind died away to about 3 knts and backed, making the line practically impossible to cross on starboard, even with the help of the ebbing tide. Spotting the opportunity, Bad (Jerry, Jimmy et al) started on port at the pin and nailed it, owning the entire fleet. Just to leeward of them, Bomchickawahwah (John, Ed et al) and Alert Packaging (Justin et al) tacked onto port just as the gun went and kept their bows out from Bad. The remainder of the fleet also tacked onto port as the gun went and the entire fleet started heading out right in the very fickle easterly breeze.

Should Be... (Michael, Gavan and newest SB fleet member Andy Gale) were forced to tack back onto starboard shortly afterwards and head left once again but they found a rich (4knts!?!) vein of wind as they separated from the fleet going towards the opposite side of the course. Not long after, they were joined by Bad and Smoke on the Water (Bob et al) on the left side of the course as the remainder of the fleet continued right.

As the boats made their way slowly towards East mark, disaster struck the boats on the right hand side of the beat as the wind swung further left to the north, allowing the boats out left to reach into the mark while the boats out right were left struggling back against the tide to get to the mark. Particularly badly hit were SacreBleu (Richard, Ben et al) and Manamana (Doug, Ronan et al) who had been looking good for a time on the right. At the top mark, Should Be... led from Smoke on the Water and Bad and the three boats set their kites expecting a reach inshore towards Omega mark. However, as soon as they set their kites and looked up, they were greeted with the site of boats reaching under spinnaker heading directly towards them, on the same gybe! The boats that had gone right up the beat were now in a 12knt southerly breeze about 50 metres away from the weather mark! The three leaders dropped their kites and waited for the new breeze to hit them with Should Be and Bad going right and Smoke on the Water heading left into what had turned into a beat to Omega in the now southerly breeze.

Smoke on the Water did very well out left and took the lead from Should Be... in second and Bad in third. Unfortunately for Smoke on the Water, they overstood the lay line to Omega in the ebbing tide allowing Should Be... to sneak inside them at the mark and retake the lead. A fetch to Pier mark followed by a gybe and a close spinny reach to Poldy mark didn't provide much opportunity for overtaking, but with some very slick boat handling, Bad managed to sneak in front of Smoke on the Water at Poldy mark. By now, Venuesworld (Ger, Chris and Rory) were in hot pursuit of Smoke on the Water followed closely by Alert Packaging and Bomchickawahwah. Another fetch to Pier followed by a close spinny reach to Omega meant that once again passing was not going to be easy and by Omega mark, Should Be... had extended on Bad in second, Bad in turn had extended on Smoke on the Water in third and Venuesworld had closed to within a boat length of Smoke on the Water...

With only a fetch to finish, it looked like it would stay that way but as the boats rounded Omega mark before heading for Harbour mark and the finish, Smoke tacked straight away while Venuesworld continued on a couple of boat lengths to avoid the Squib, Dragon and Glen fleets heading towards and away from Omega mark. This move was to provide great dividends with Venuesworld managing to pass Smoke on the Water as Smoke contended with the added disturbed air and sea... alert Packaging and Bomchickawahwah battled it out to the very end with Alert Packaging appearing to squeeze Bomchickawahwah out at the finish line.

At the finish it was Should Be... in first, Bad in second, Venuesworld in third, a very hard-fought and well deserved fourth for Smoke on the Water, Alert Packaging in fifth, Bomchickawahwah in sixth, Manamana in seventh and SacreBleu in eighth. Timber (Alan et al) unfortunately appear to have missed the start but we hope to see them out next Thursday along with the return of some Thursday regulars (Probably, Seriously Bonkers) to make the magical double figures on a DBSC Thursday...

Saturday is the RStGYC regatta and by the latest head count we are approaching double figures so it looks like we have another great days racing ahead of us. Next SB Sunday is the following weekend, 13th July, only two weeks before the nationals... See you all out there...

Michael O'Connor

dbsc – BENETEAU 31.7 ECHO - 1. Fiddly Bits (Timmins/Quigley/Murray/Breen), 2. Extreme Reality (P.McSwiney/E.O'Rafferty), 3. Prima Nocte (Patrick Burke et al)

BENETEAU 31.7 - 1. Levante (M.Leahy/J.Power), 2. Prima Nocte (Patrick Burke et al), 3. Fiddly Bits (Timmins/Quigley/Murray/Breen)

CRUISERS 1 ECHO - 1. Jigamaree (R Harris), 2. Dear Prudence (B Lyons & J Given), 3. Something Else (J.Hall et al)

CRUISERS 1 - 1. Something Else (J.Hall et al), 2. Jigamaree (R Harris), 3. Raptor (D.Hewitt et al)

CRUISERS 2 ECHO - 1. Bendemeer (L Casey & D Power), 2. Antix (D Ryan), 3. Peridot (Jim McCann et al)

CRUISERS 2 - 1. Bendemeer (L Casey & D Power), 2. Red Rhum (J Nicholson & C Nicholson), 3. Jester (Declan Curtin)

CRUISERS 3 A ECHO - 1. Hard on Port (F O'Driscoll), 2. Huggy Bear (Doyle & Byrne), 3. Papytoo (M.Walsh/F.Guilfoyle)

CRUISERS 3 A - 1. Quest (B Cunningham/J Skerritt), 2. Hard on Port (F O'Driscoll), 3. Cartoon (McCormack/Brady/Lawless)

CRUISERS 3 B - 1. Asterix (Counihan/Meredith/Bushell), 2. Taiscealai (B Richardson), 3. Maranda (Myles Kelly)

CRUISERS 3 B ECHO - 1. Eezee Tiger (O Prouvier), 2. Maranda (Myles Kelly), 3. Taiscealai (B Richardson)

DRAGON - 1. Zinzan (Daniel O'Connor et al), 2. Phantom (D.Williams)

FLYING FIFTEEN - 1. Perfect Ten (A Balfe), 2. Frenetic (H & M Cahill), 3. Gulfstream (A Cooper)

GLEN - 1. Glenshesk (Walker\Faulkner\Henderson), 2. Glendun (B.Denham et al), 3. Glenroan (T O'Sullivan)

RUFFIAN 23 - 1. Diane ll (A Claffey/C Helme), 2. Shannagh (S.Gill/P.MacDiarmada), 3. Alias (D.Meeke/M.McCarthy)

SB20 - 1. Should be... (Michael O'Connor), 2. Bad - Kilcullen (J Dowling), 3. Venuesworld.com (Ger Dempsey)

SHIPMAN - 1. Gusto (C Heath/G Miles), 2. Curraglas (John Masterson), 3. The Den (A. Costello/G.Millar)

SIGMA 33 - 1. Moonshine (R.Moloney), 2. Springer (I Bowring), 3. Rupert (R & P Lovegrove)

SQUIB - 1. Glassilaun (D O'Neill), 2. Why Not (Derek & Jean Jago), 3. Tears in Heaven (M Halpenny & G Ferguson)

WHITE SAIL CRUISERS ECHO - 1. Menapia (J Sweeney), 2. Aurora (Ray Conway), 3. Jama (J Moyney)

WHITE SAIL CRUISERS - 1. White Lotus (Paul Tully), 2. Menapia (J Sweeney), 3. Vespucci (S & K O'Regan)

#fireballsailing – For the second Tuesday in a row the Tuesday night Dinghy DBSC racing was kept inside the Dun Laoghaire harbour, for the same reasons as last Tuesday (24th) – light winds and a strongly ebbing tide.

Light winds are also afflicting one half of the Tuesday night kings as Noel Butler and his crew battle their way around Ireland in the J109, Adelie. Having started last Saturday afternoon, leader-board predictions are that Noel will only reach the finish line sometime tomorrow.

Five Fireballs answered the starter's call last night with Frank Miller, crewed by Francis Rowan (14713), Conor and James Clancy (14807) and Louis Smyth & Cormac Bradley (15007) bunched tightly on the line. These three worked the middle and left of the projected four-lap triangular course which had a weather mark under the east pier and a gybe mark close to the end of the west pier at the harbour mouth. The leeward mark had a minimal amount of water surrounding it so close was it to one of the inner breakwaters – a fouled spinnaker drop could not be contemplated!
The other two Fireballs, Margaret Casey & Joe O'Reilly (14775) and Louise McKenna and Hermine O'Keeffe (14691) worked the middle and right hand side of the first beat. For those who are familiar with Dun Laoghaire harbour you will know that there is a busker who plays the banjo at the end of the east pier. The wind was so genteel last night that we could hear tunes such as "Boolavogue" and other favourites from his repertoire as we approached the weather mark and went down the first reach.
Team Clancy, probably the lightest of the all-male crews took the lead at the first weather mark and pulled away from Miller & Rowan down the first reach. "Pulled away" in this instance only means opened a gap because with the light winds there was no speeding on this course. Smyth & Bradley rounded third and chased the other two without making any real headway. Louise & Hermine rounded fourth with Margaret & Joe fifth.
On the second beat, Team Clancy seemed to increase their lead but the downwind leg of the sausage became a challenge to stay in wind rather than a tactical challenge. This had the effect of prompting early gybes to take boats in directions away from the leeward mark or further to the right hand side of the course towards the harbour mouth. But at the leeward mark, at the second time of rounding, the order was still the same, though the distances between the leading three had reduced.
On the third beat, Team Clancy and Miller & Rowan went left towards the harbour mouth. Smyth & Bradley went hard right and at one stage looked very good, seeming to have more breeze and better boat speed than the other two on the opposite side of the harbour. Team, Clancy bailed first to come back towards the middle, but Miller/Rowan went as far as they could while still keeping inside the confines of the harbour. While Smyth & Bradley were being lifted on port tack, the challenge was to cross the harbour to get to the weather mark. When this latter passage was undertaken, the gap to Clancy was substantially reduced and Miller/Rowan only reached the weather mark a boat length ahead of them.
Clancy got away again on the first downwind leg of the triangle – calling it a reach would be too prescriptive and a transgression of the "Trades Description Act" and initially Miller & Rowan got a couple of boat-lengths up on Smyth & Bradley. An early gybe was executed by the latter two to get into a little better breeze and this had the effect, with a second gybe, of the two boats approaching the gybe mark on opposite tacks. Miller & Rowan gybed again leaving them as windward boat and outside boat at the mark giving water to Smyth. They continued outwards towards the harbour wall (west pier) while Smyth & Bradley came back inside the course towards the breakwater. With the blue flag flying from the committee boat to indicate it was on station for a finish, the shortened finish line then became "no-go" territory. Thus, the two boats approached the leeward mark from either end of the finishing line...........except that going so close to the wall had left Miller & Rowan with less breeze than Smyth & Bradley who rounded the leeward mark in relative comfort with a short hitch to the finish for 2nd place.
Casey/O'Reilly & McKenna/O'Keeffe kept a close watch on each other down the two downwind legs of the second triangle and found themselves on the left-hand side of the committee boat on their approach to the leeward mark. Casey & O'Reilly did not look to be in a particularly favourable position but the results show that they got themselves out of that precarious position to finish behind Miller & Rowan in fourth place.
Officials results posted on the DBSC website show that Team Clancy did not get the first place they had on the water (as they are not registered for DBSC), so everyone gets a paper bonus of an elevation of one place.

DBSC Tuesday Night: Series 2, Round 3, 1st July 2014
1 Louis Smyth & Cormac Bradley 15007 Coal Harbour
2 Frank Miller & Francis Rowan 14713 DMYC
3 Margaret Casey & Joe O'Reilly 14775 DMYC

With three races sailed in Series 2 and absentees due to holidays, the Round Ireland Race and line duty commitments (your correspondent last Tuesday), the overall situation is quite surprising;

DBSC Tuesday Nights: Series 2, Three races sailed, no discard. Pts
1 Frank Miller & Grattan Donnelly & Francis Rowan 14713 DMYC 9
1 Neil Colin & Margaret Casey & Joe O'Reilly 14775 DMYC 9
3 Louise McKenna & Mick Creighton & Hermine O'Keefe & Joe O'Reilly 14691 RStGYC 11
4 Mary Chambers & Brenda McGuire 14865 DMYC 14
5 Louis Smyth & Cormac Bradley 15007 Coal Harb. 14
6 Noel Butler & Stephen Oram 15061 NYC 17
7 Cariosa Power & Marie Barry 14854 NYC 26

Saturday 5th July's focus will be the Royal St. George Yacht Club's Regatta which is the fourth and final summer regatta of the four waterfront clubs. The Fireball turnout for the last two regattas, the National Yacht Club Regatta and the Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club's Regatta has been five boats and there is a distinct possibility that there will be a similar turnout for the RStGYC. Louis Smyth & Cormac Bradley have taken two titles, the Royal Irish and the DMYC while Louise McKenna and Hermine O'Keeffe took the NYC event. Two of the three events were decided by tie-break and Conor Clancy must feel hard done by as he lost both tie-breaks.
Thereafter, the Fireball scene will take us to Wexford Harbour Boat & Tennis Club on the weekend of 19/20th July for the Munster Championships. This is a new(ish) venue for the fleet as we haven't been there for quite some time.

#dbsc – CRUISERS 2 - 1. Borraine (Ean Pugh), 2. Black Sheep (E Healy), 3. Bendemeer (L Casey & D Power)

CRUISERS 3 Tuesday - 1. Grasshopper II (K & J Glynn), 2. Asterix (Boushel/Meredith/Counihan), 3. Maranda (M Kelly)

FIREBALL - 1. Licence to Thrill (Louis Smyth), 2. Blind Squirrel (Frank Miller), 3. Elevation (N.Colin/M.Casey)

GLEN - 1. Glendun (B.Denham et al)

IDRA 14 FOOT - 1. Dunmoanin (Frank Hamilton), 2. Slipstream (Julie Ascoop), 3. Dart (Pierre Long)

PY CLASS - 1. R Kenneally (Laser), 2. D O'Connell (Laser), 3. Colin Galavan (Laser)

RUFFIAN 23 - 1. Blue Moon (C Collins & B McCormack), 2. Ruff Diamond (D.Byrne et al), 3. Ripples (Frank Bradley)

SQUIB - 1. Free Trader (Margaret Hannan), 2. Periguin (N Colcough)

#dbsc – The SB20 OOD brought the fleet in towards Scotsman's Bay in search of some wind in the dying easterly breeze and some respite from the strong flooding tide that was beginning to rip through the race course writes Michael O'Connor. An unusually long line was set with a heavy pin end bias which posed an interesting conundrum for the sailors: the upwind pin end in more adverse tide or the downwind committee boat end in less tide? Bad (Jerry, Jimmy et al), Venuesworld (Ger, Chris and Rory) and Smoke on the Water (Bob et al) opted for the committee boat end while Alert Packaging (Justin, Darren et al), Seriously Bonkers (Peter, Caroline et al), SacreBleu (Richard, Ben and Peadar) and Should Be... (Michael, Dave and Gavan) went for the pin. Mananmana (Doug, Ronan and Ainsley) hedged their bets and went for a more mid-line approach.

As soon as the gun went, the majority of the fleet peeled off onto port and drag raced towards shore to get out of the tide. Initially, as the boats approached the shore, those that had started closer to the committee boat began to gain as they made their way out of the strongest tide. However, a big left hand shift and more breeze offshore favoured those boats that had started closer to the pin and they would lead as the fleet started tacking up the shoreline. Alert Packaging and Seriously Bonkers led from the chasing pack as the boats went "rock-hopping" en route to Bullock mark. There were big gains and losses to be had as the fleet worked their way up the shoreline and it was still all to play for. Alert Packaging and Seriously Bonkers skilfully walked the tightrope between the flat calms close to shore and the vicious tide offshore and they squeezed around the mark ahead of a pack including Should Be..., Bad, Manamana and Venuesworld, with SacreBleu and Smoke on the Water close behind. A fetch across to Poldy followed by a broad reach down to Pier mark didn't offer much opportunity for passing and the fleet settled into those positions to the finish. Although another round was scheduled, the OOD wisely shortened the course and finished the fleet at Pier mark before the wind shut off entirely.

After racing, the fleet got together in the George for the regular end-of-month sailing supper. 27 sailors and guests attended the supper, preceded (and followed!) by pints on the balcony. We were delighted to be joined at the dinner by the newest members of the growing Dun Laoghaire SB fleet, Ronan Murphy, Niall O'Carroll and Ainsley Gibney. We will be holding the next SB Sailing Supper in the Royal Irish Yacht Club on Thursday 31st July, all welcome. Put it in your diary now!

This Sunday (29th June) is SB Sunday No. 5

#dbsc – BENETEAU 31.7 Echo- 1. Prima Nocte (Patrick Burke et al), 2. Kernach (Eoin O'Driscoll), 3. Fiddly Bits (Timmins/Quigley/Murray/Breen)

BENETEAU 31.7 - 1. Prima Nocte (Patrick Burke et al), 2. Levana (Jean Mitton), 3. Magic (D.O'Sullivan/D.Espey)

 

CRUISERS 0 Echo - 1. Loose Change (P Redden & M Mitton), 2. Lively Lady (Derek Martin), 3. Wow (George Sisk)

 

CRUISERS 0 - 1. Loose Change (P Redden & M Mitton), 2. Wow (George Sisk), 3. Lively Lady (Derek Martin)
CRUISERS 1 Echo - 1. Rockabill V (Paul O'Higgins), 2. Dear Prudence (B Lyons & J Given), 3. Raptor (D.Hewitt et al)

 

CRUISERS 1 - 1. Rockabill V (Paul O'Higgins), 2. Dear Prudence (B Lyons & J Given), 3. Raptor (D.Hewitt et al)

 

CRUISERS 2 Echo - 1. Red Rhum (J Nicholson & C Nicholson), 2. Black Sheep (E Healy), 3. Jester (Declan Curtin)

 

CRUISERS 2 - 1. Red Rhum (J Nicholson & C Nicholson), 2. Black Sheep (E Healy), 3. Jester (Declan Curtin)

 

CRUISERS 3 A Echo - 1. Hamilton Bear (S Hyde), 2. Solidarity (Whelan/McCabe/Cary/Cramer), 3. Hard on Port (F O'Driscoll)

 

CRUISERS 3 A - 1. Hamilton Bear (S Hyde), 2. Solidarity (Whelan/McCabe/Cary/Cramer), 3. Hard on Port (F O'Driscoll)

 

CRUISERS 3 B Echo - 1. Maranda (Myles Kelly), 2. Eezee Tiger (O Prouvier), 3. Yikes (J Conway)

 

CRUISERS 3 B - 1. Maranda (Myles Kelly), 2. Chouskikou (R Sheehan & R Hickey)

 

FLYING FIFTEEN - 1. Frequent Flyer (C Doorley/A Green), 2. Mellifluence (T Leonard & B Mulligan), 3. Thingamabob (T Galvin)

 

RUFFIAN 23 - 1. Diane ll (A Claffey/C Helme), 2. Ruff Nuff (D & C Mitchell), 3. Bandit (Kirwan/Cullen/Brown)

 

SB20 - 1. Alert Packaging (J Burke D Burke), 2. Seriously Bonkers (P Lee), 3. Should be... (Michael O'Connor)

 

SHIPMAN - 1. Twocan (David Freeman), 2. Jo Slim (J.Clarke et al), 3. Whiterock (Henry Robinson)

 

SIGMA 33 - 1. Rupert (R & P Lovegrove), 2. Popje (Ted McCourt), 3. Moonshine (R.Moloney)

 

SQUIB - 1. Why Not (Derek & Jean Jago), 2. Chillax (Colin Galavan), 3. Little Demon (Sheila Power)

 

WHITE SAIL CRUISERS Echo - 1. Sweet Martini (Bruce Carswell), 2. Nauti-Gal (J & J Crawford), 3. Edenpark (Liam Farmer)

 

WHITE SAIL CRUISERS - 1. Nauti-Gal (J & J Crawford), 2. Menapia (J Sweeney), 3. Edenpark (Liam Farmer)

 

#rsgyc – Entries close next Thursday (July 3rd) for Dun Laoghaire's Royal St. George Yacht Club regatta sponsored by Frank Keane BMW. The country's biggest yacht club will stage racing for all local classes plus visitors from Howth YC and across the Bay area for the annual event on July 5th.  

Flying fifteens, Squibs and dinghy classes will have two races back to back as will other one design classes such as the SB20, Dragons and Ruffians. Cruisers and keelboats will have a fixed mark course.

Howth visitors, the Howth 17s and Puppeteer classes, will race from a Howth line to a RStGYC committee vessel. 

Online entry is mandatory here.

#fireball– Last night's DBSC race for the Fireballs and other fleets was held inside the harbour due to very light breezes and an ebbing tide, both factors persuading the race management team that staying inside the walls of the harbour might allow a race to be provided. There was certainly little incentive to go outside as the Race Officer was recording as little as 4.5 knots of wind in the main body of the harbour in advance of the committee boat leaving the pontoons at the Royal Irish Yacht Club.
The Fireballs had a reduced turnout of only four boats, a fifth combination and this correspondent were on line duty and two other combinations may have been absent due to people being on holiday. A three-lap triangular course was set for the Fireballs with the weather mark off the east pier and a gybe mark in the mouth of the harbour.

Neil Colin and Margaret Casey pulled off an amazing start by coming in a half boat-length to windward of the other three boats at the committee boat end and crossed the line right on the button. According to the comments of the Race Officer, they left very..........very little to spare. Initially I thought this had set them up for a premium first beat! The fleet split in two with Mick Creighton & Hermine O'Keeffe (14691) and the aforementioned Colin/Casey going left and Mary Chambers & Brenda McGuire (14865) and Grattan Donnelly & Joe O'Reilly (14713) going right.
From the committee boat we knew that there was some fluctuation in the breeze – it flicked left and right with the weather mark in a median position and obviously Creighton/O'Keeffe worked this to their advantage to round the weather mark first. However, Colin/Casey were very close behind and Chambers/McGuire were close behind them in turn – three red spinnakers broke out as they sailed towards the gybe mark but all three gybed halfway down the leg, leaving Colin & Casey in the windward berth. This allowed them to close even further on Creighton/O'Keeffe, but these two rounded the gybe mark with their lead intact.

At the leeward mark they rounded transom to bow with Colin/Casey on the outside. They tacked immediately and after a short hitch of a couple of boat-lengths, Creighton/O'Keeffe did the same. For the balance of the race these two stuck to each other "like glue" with Creighton/O'Keeffe doing most of the covering. Pointing and boat speed varied between the two which, on occasion, allowed Colin & Casey to get marginally ahead, but at those critical milestone events, mark-roundings, the Creighton/O'Keeffe combination held the upper hand. The attention these two gave each other allowed Chambers & McGuire to close the gap somewhat, but they never really got close enough to mount a serious challenge to the lead two. Colin & Casey revel in the light airs and Creighton & O'Keeffe clearly had the "bit between their teeth" last night and weren't going to let this one slip through their fingers.

DBSC Tuesday Series: Series 2; Round 2, 24/06 Overall Pts & (Position)
1 Mick Creighton & Hermine O'Keefe RStGYC 14691 7pts (Tied 3rd)
2 Neil Colin & Margaret Casey DMYC 14775 6pts (2nd)
3 Mary Chambers & Brenda McGuire DMYC 14865 5pts (1st)

#dbsc – CRUISERS 3 Tuesday - 1. Grasshopper II (K & J Glynn), 2. Cacciatore (M Ni Cheallachain), 3. Saki (McCormack/Ryan/Ryan)

Ensign - 1. INSC1 (K Rumball), 2. INSC2 (A Rumball), 3. RIYC 1 (Tim Goodbody)

FIREBALL - 1. Goodness Gracious (Louise McKenna), 2. Elevation (N.Colin/M.Casey), 3. No Name (B McGuire)

GLEN - 1. Glendun (B.Denham et al), 2. Pterodactyl (R & D McCaffrey), 3. Glenshesk (Walker\Faulkner\Henderson)

IDRA 14 FOOT - 1. Dunmoanin (Frank Hamilton), 2. Doody (J.Fitzgerald/J.Byrne), 3. Sapphire (Lorcan O'Sullivan)

PY CLASS - 1. David Dwyer (Laser), 2. Colin Galavan (Laser), 3. D O'Connell (Laser)

RUFFIAN 23 - 1. Ruff Diamond (D.Byrne et al), 2. Alias (D.Meeke/M.McCarthy), 3. Different Drummer (D Tonge)

SQUIB - 1. Periguin (N Colcough)

#flyingfifteen – As the Flying Fitteen's get close to the longest day of the year, the DBSC PRO certainly made sure they had the longest race of the year in light N/NE winds with an extremely strong ebbing tide. After the excitement of going to the FF Northerns at Cushendall last weekend it was back to bread and butter racing on the Bay. This first series was won by Tom Galvin, with Alan Dooley second aided by guest driver Jonathan ORourke finishing one point ahead of Doorly/Green, Tom Leonard finished fourth.

Back to last night's race, the pin end was favoured, there appeared to be more wind uptide out on the left and the two boats that stayed left came in to the first mark first and second. Green missed the mark allowing Jonathan & Carol in to take the lead. Downwind Green went right and got through to lead but it was to be short lived as Jonathan regained it on the next beat.

The wind was light and it looked like we wouldn't finish within the time but we all kept going. On the last beat out to East mark, Jonathan covered Green all the way up the beat on the right side allowing Tom & Geraldine to hit the left side, where there was consistently more wind, Tom came in at the mark into second place and this was how it stayed, Jonathan first, Leonard second and Green third with series winner Tom Galvin fourth. Well done Tom!

This Saturday the NYC regatta takes place and we are expecting a large turnout.