#fireball – A smaller Fireball fleet than we would all prefer have made their way to the island's north coast and Cushendall Sailing Club, to contest the Irish Fireball Ulster Championships. Three races have been completed on Day 1 and current National Champions Barry McCartin & Conor Kinsella (15114) took all three bullets. They are being chased by Noel Butler & Stephen Oram (15061) who took three second places and Kenny Rumball & Brian Byrne (15058) who scored three third places.
Competing correspondent, Frank Miller (14713) reports that winds were of the order of 12 – 18 knots from the NW, with sunshine, but air temperatures were a bit on the cool side. A strengthening ebb tide meant that going offshore was risky but the offshore shifty breeze meant that it was necessary to take that route on occasion.
Miller & Ed Butler (14713) scored two fourths and a fifth.
Cushendall have been exemplary hosts and this evening the fleet was treated to a hearty chilli dish. It would appear that a hard session was had on the water as Frank advises that weary limbs are being rested this evening.

#fireballdbsc – Tuesday night's DBSC Fireball race was predictably tricky as one might have expected from the forecast of light winds dropping even lighter. The race committee wisely set up in the harbour and dropped marks for a windward-leeward course. Before the start the easterly wind shifted 20 degrees left creating a major port end bias on the quite long line and making the first beat a reach. The eight boat fleet got quite tangled up near the pin but a few got away cleanly notably Neil Colin and Margaret Casey who led to the windward mark. Those who sailed a bit high on the reach closed the gap but on the run the fleet spread out as boats picked their angles and placed their bets on where there might be a better puff or two.

Where there are ladders there are snakes and several fell into lighter holes including race leaders Colin/Casey. The Clancys took advantage and sailed a conservative but intelligent race staying ahead of the pack with Butler/Oram on their heels. The only other highlight on the course was provided by Cariosa Power sailing with her young son Odhran who was not tall enough to get the pole on and off the mast. In its place he became a human pole standing on the sidedeck with arm extended.

It may not be top class ISAF stuff but it was very effective and the lightweight family pairing pulled away from some of the heavyweights, and provided entertainment to boot on a pleasant Tuesday outing. Top three downwind finishers were the Clancys, Butler/Oram and McKenna/O'Keeffe.

#fireball – From early on in the day, XCWeather was suggesting that at 19:00, the scheduled start time for Tuesday night racing, wind would be from the west, blowing 23 knots, gusting 33 knots, but that it would be sunny with an air temperature of 12˚ writes Cormac Bradley.
That might explain why, at 18:10 the dinghy park of the Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club and the Coal Harbour were devoid of any dinghy activity or personnel. A quick check of the Dun Laoghaire Harbour website weather gave the wind strength as westerly, 16.9 knots with a gust of 27.2 knots. It had a more favourable temperature of 14˚, but that wasn't sufficient to persuade anyone out onto the water. Beyond the harbour walls, viewed from my 2nd floor office window, Dublin Bay to the west of the harbour – the city side – was windswept and covered in white caps even though it was slack water at the bottom of the tide.
So while the DMYC yardarm was not flying the flags of surrender to Mother Nature, it was apparent that everyone had worked out for themselves that racing wouldn't be happening.

As this short report is being typed, it is a lot quieter outside my front room window, too late for racing now!

#dbsc – After a "blow-out" last week and no Fireball racing the previous week, due to a combination of Mother Nature and a cruise liner visit, Tuesday nights DBSC race reverted to form last night.
And with more balmy weather than the past few Tuesday's the bay returned to its seasonal oddities! Despite a forecast of North-westerly, the wind was blowing 8 -10 knots from Dalkey Sound, giving it more of an easterly flavour. The race committee wisely selected the windward/leeward course and on end of the flood tide, racing commenced on time for the PY's Fireballs and after some recalls the Lasers got away a bit later.
With some boats over enthusiastic on the line, as crossing on Starboard was marginal due to the tide effects on the committee boat, Noel & Stephen (15061) led around the first mark, but an early inshore gybe allowed the fleet to overtake them. Neil & Margaret (14775) took over and extended their lead into the downwind run to the finish when the wind started its evening tricks, as the convergence zone moved onto the course area. Despite a nail biting finish, as the fleet closed from behind, Neil & Margaret held on to win on their first DBSC outing of the season.
Fortunately or unfortunately, the delayed Laser start, delayed the commencement of a second race. As the wind then proceeded to become "cyclonic and very variable", a second race would have been a complete lottery! Enough said! Wisely, the race team headed for the bar.

#fireball – Fireball dinghy champions Barry MacCartin and Conor Kinsella won the Fireball Open Event at Skerries Sailing Club in a lively two day event. Their narrow victory was won on countback against Noel Butler & Stephen Oram after six races in a competitive 12–boat fleet. The Irish National Sailing Club's Kenneth Rumball was third. Results downloadable below.

When twelve Fireballs rolled up at Skerries sailing club on Saturday it was a tad breezy, in fact the kind of day when you couldn't put anything down for a second as it would instantly be blown away. Many visitors had forgotten that the club faces almost due west into the eye of the prevailing wind. At 10am Saturday the live WindGuru Skerries hotspot was showing spikes of 34 knots. With the first gun scheduled at a leisurely 12.30pm and no worries about getting quickly to the race area many left their masts down, stuffed anything loose into hedges and behind a high wall and headed indoors for coffee and homemade scones and marmalade courtesy of the Commodore Kieran Branagan's wife Mary. The commodore went further above and beyond the call of duty as he headed out in a RIB when one RIB crew cried off at short notice – and then got a soaking for his trouble slipping between RIB and committee boat. As sailors looked out to sea and wondered what the excess was for broken masts on their insurance policy the wind abated a notch. The race committee took to the water and after a while word came back to launch, conditions were deemed sailable.

So it was that about eight boats ventured out and three very decent windward-leeward races were had in lively conditions with wind averages in the early twenties and the very odd gust spiking thirty knots. The three races each had different winners from amongst the usual suspects with Noel Butler/Stephen Oram, Barry MacCartin/Conor Kinsella and Kenny Rumball/Tedz each taking a bullet. Unfortunately the race committee took a couple of scalps in the first race as an unusual addition to Fireball SI's included an instruction not to sail downwind through the finish line. While the conditions were very windy they were manageable with plenty of rake and cunningham and for those with struts a bit of extra mast bend lower down – it is to the great credit of the Winder Fireball build quality and design that there was no gear failure despite the conditions. Generally it paid to head in left out of the tide but there were fairly big shifts in the mini squalls and the ideal was probably to head in at the least sign of a header on port. In the conditions several people headed out to sea just happy to be going fast and upright. As the afternoon wore on and the wind dropped a notch further some of the lighter teams headed out into the fray including Neil Colin/Margaret Casey and Louise McKenna/Hermine O'Keeffe. Heavyweights Frank Miller/Ed Butler had two good races scoring a 3rd and a 4th but were DSQ in race one for sailing through the finish line.
Day two had an earlier start and less wind than day before but still very gusty & shifty between 10-18 knots.

Racing got underway about 11am this time using the Triangular courses. Race 1 had a heavy pin-end bias so most boats opted for that end with Mick Creighton 14698 getting the best start as most boat headed out to the left. From this group McCartin/Kinsella got to mark first with Butler/Oram and Rumball/Byrne a bit behind setting off on reaching legs. The leaders extended on the fleet in the 18knot conditions on next beat but on the 3rd lap Butler/Oram closed up from 40 boat lengths to 10 boatlengths playing the shifts better however McCartin/Kinsella held on for the win with Rumball/Byrne in 4rd and Clancy brothers a distant fourth and Jon Evans/Aidan Caulfield in 5th.

Noel Butler and Steven Oram were second overall

Kenny Rumball and Ted Byrne were third

The next race followed with slight easing in conditions and another pin end bias opting to get onto port as early as possible with McCartin/Kinsella and Rumball/Byrne getting away followed by Butler/Oram at top mark. The top reach proved tight with leaders requiring an Aussie-drop to make mark with 3rd overtaking 2nd place into the leeward mark. the top 3 were only separated by 10 seconds for the entire next beat keeping the same order down the run and on 3rd lap 3 boats had less than that between them as each boat worked tirelessly to gain over the other as places changed on the upwind. McCartin/Kinsella though squeaked in just ahead at the windward as all boats set down the reaches for a finish in gusty high speed planing conditions. Positions held in that order to the close finish with Clancy brothers in 4th and again Jon Evans rounding out top 5.

Heading into the last race, the title was still not secure due to the closeness of points between top 3 and a race win by Butler/Oram would have given them the title from McCartin/Kinsella. Knowing this the top 2 locked hornsa bit before the start even including a collision and some damage to McCartin/Kinsella's boat near the committee end. Penalty turns were completed by Butler/Oram who made the start albeit at the unfavoured end of line, and then were forced right by McCartin/Kinsella. That duo covered forcing them into a big header as rest of fleet went left to favoured side so that by time next shift came the two leaders were all but dead & buried, playing into McCartin/Kinsella's hands. This time at the front Rumball/Byrne comfortably lead followed By Clancy brothers, McGrotty/Cramer, McKenna/O'Keefe and Colin/Casey. McCartin/Kinsella got back to 3rd at bottom of triangle but playing the middle of course next beat along with Clancys fell way back again to rest of fleet and Butler/Oram who had gone hard left coming back with a 30deg shift back near the top. On next leg Rumball/Byrne continued to have a healthy lead going into last lap with Butler/Oram now in 2nd needing 1 more place for overall win Rumball/Byrne held on to their lead to finish with Colin/Casey coming 3rd, McCartin/Kinsella 4th (and owing some thanks to Rumball) and Clancys in 5th place.

Overall winners on countback with three firsts were McCartin/Kinsella over Butler/Oram in 2nd and Rumball/Byrne just 1 point further back. The Clancys were fourth with Colin/Casey in 5th. Another extremely close regatta especially among the top 3 as the build up to the Worlds in Wales August 2015 continues. Next Fireball event is the Ulsters in the stunning location of Redbay in Glens of Antrim Cushendall and the fleet is hoping for a good turnout there.

Top lady pairing and silver fleet winners Louise McKenna & Hermine O'Keeffe

Tonight's Fireball dinghy racing in Dublin Bay, under the burgee of DBSC was cancelled due to a combination of factors - natural and man-made writes Cormac Bradley

The advent of the cruise liner season saw another mega-sized vessel anchored in the race course area of Scotsman's Bay. The inability of such vessels to enter Dun Laoghaire's harbour means that passengers are ferried ashore and "back to base" by a combbination of smaller boats and the cruise liner's own lifeboats. This heightened traffic meant that racing inside the harbour was not a possibility. Hence the man-made intervention!

Mother Nature "pitched in" with a stiff westerly that generated whitecaps for most of the day on Dublin Bay and while there was evidence of this dropping in strength as boats were being rigged, a decision to "blow" the evening was taken.

This forthcoming weekend sees the first of our summer regattas, The Open Championships, being sailed out of Skerries, further up the East Coast from Dublin Bay. Breeze, as usual for this location, is forecast. Numbers are a little low with 4 days to go. Thus far it looks like it will be a substantially DL fleet contesting the event. So to the readership of this column (of which there seen to be many), if you have a Fireball, we'd love to see you on the water!

#fireballdbsc – For the second Tuesday Fireball race in a row the wind refused to play fair but DBSC triumphed despite the adverse conditions writes Frank Miller. The forecast had been looking dodgy but when Fireballers arrived at their respective clubs conditions looked good. The force 4-6 SW was nowhere to be seen, the evening was relatively balmy with medium conditions and the odd spikey gust. By the time boats launched however a squall had gone through and there seemed to be more where that came from out west. Sure enough on the way out of the harbour at about 18.45 the wind cranked up and boats surged down towards the committee boat in Scotsman's Bay.

Later research shows DLH weather recorded 33 knots at that point. Boats were reaching around the start area, more or less under control, but there was no doubting it was very windy. At this stage the race committee upped sticks and sailors were ordered back inside the harbour. There a windward-leeward course was quickly set and racing got underway. Four Fireballs hung around for the racing while others decided to return to the slip. There followed two races in tricky conditions - the main challenge being some very big shifts rather than the actual wind strength which while lively was manageable. Special mention must go to Tim Crowe a relative novice to sailing who found himself competing in his first race in interesting conditions, sailing with Frank Miller. The main competition on the night was between Noel Butler/Stephen Oram and the Clancy Brothers. Race one saw Butler/Oram pull ahead when the Clancys had a near capsize in one of the huge shifts.

A twisted hoist however saw the Clancys pull through on the downwind leg but Butler/Oram clawed their way back on the next windward leg and they stayed ahead to take the gun. Miler/Crowe managed to beat Louise McKenna and Hermine O'Keeffe when the latter had trouble with a kite drop. Race 2 saw three Fireballs start as the ladies retired following a capsize but with black clouds building to the west Miller/Crowe also decided to head for home while the going was good. Of the two remaining Butler/Oram pulled away from the Clancys and led to the finish. For the second week in a row hats off to DBSC for getting two races away in challenging conditions when it would have been so easy to throw in the towel. The reward for the fleet was great racing and for DBSC it is growing credibility for excellent race management in tricky conditions.

Results HERE

#dbscfireball – Six Fireballs rocked up for the first DBSC Tuesday race last night and were treated to two snappy W–L races in the harbour writes Frank Miller. Earlier the signs were not looking good, the day was very gusty and wind guru at one point was predicting 38 knot gusts for the evening.

There were deep black clouds to the west but conditions in the harbour were almost balmy with the odd challenging gust. The race committee decided to go ahead and set two windward leeward races in the harbour, an excellent call in the circumstances as it got the Tuesday series off with a bang. The wind was flicking more and more southerly which caused a slightly delayed start but when the fleet got away there was a significant pin bias.

The Clancys took their chances on a port start approach from amongst cruisers and pulled away sweetly and quickly chased by the pack with Butler/Tedz closest on their heels. The leeward spreader pin caught at least on boat out as Miller/Butler had to return for a proper rounding in a thicket of lasers.

The run rewarded those who went a bit high and gybed back at a fast angle rather than the straight rhumb line though gusts changed ideal angled frequently. On the water this correspondent thought the Clancys got the gun just ahead of Butler/Tedz but the official results don't reflect their presence, perhaps a bit of tidying up to be done on paperwork.

For race 2 the W mark was moved further left giving a cleaner beat though once again left seemed to pay as it was feeding in some welcom gusts. This time there was no doubt that Butler/Tedz were in control pretty well from start to finish followed by the Clancy brothers. The downwind finish was a novelty which worked well. Hats off to DBSC for the innovation of allowing for 2 races on a Tuesday which despite some reservations in the fleet certainly paid off last night. Roll on next Tuesday and we look forward to a fuller complement and more red dots on the water.

DBSC results HERE

#fireball – Having had their boats re-weighed in accordance with a change in Fireball Class rules last weekend (18th), the Irish Fireball fleet had a weekend of honing their boat-handling techniques this past weekend under the expert eye of World and European Champion crew, Richard Wagstaff.
A glorious (working) week of sunshine weather here in Dublin prompted the thought that the training would be conducted under blue skies and in warm sunshine. Nothing could have been further from the truth on the Saturday morning with grey skies, rain and breeze. Indeed, so unpleasant was the weather that the original plan to get on the water early gave way to looking at boat set-ups in the dinghy park. In addition to Richard's racing pedigree, we all know of his work in boat-building and boat set-ups so the advice he was able to provide those who had assembled for the training was invaluable.
The rain eventually gave way to drizzle and after a short classroom session to set out the training plane for the morning – short windward-leeward races – 7 boats went out to Scotsman's Bay as the harbour was deemed to be too busy with the first Saturday racing of the DBSC summer racing.
With big seas running due to the northerly wind direction, the sailing was fast and furious, with enough wind to give full-on trapezing conditions upwind and great surfing conditions downwind.
After lunch, we stayed inside the harbour confines where the exercise was to have tactics called by a single voice in each boat – either the crew or the helm. Again a series of short races were held under these conditions. While the tactics were called by one voice, the idea behind the exercise was to promote communication between the helm and crew. A similar division of policing the start line was suggested with the crew taking responsibility for things to windward, allowing the helm to police what was going on to leeward. As the day progressed, the grey skies gave way to the brighter blue colours we had enjoyed during the working week.
After a debrief session with videos, a group of students and the teacher retired to one of the local restaurants for dinner and despite a suggestion that there would be a quick turnaround due to table requirements, the party left after 23:00. Richard's host for the weekend, Neil Colin advised that the "chat" went on to the early hours of the morning.
Sunday morning couldn't have been more different to the preceding day – sunshine, blue skies and a gentler breeze. This allowed time to be spent ashore working on spinnaker handling techniques – hoists, gybes and drops. In recent years we have enjoyed coaching from three different individuals – including Richard – but their mantras on spinnakers are consistent – practice, practice, practice and when you are on the water, preparation and execution. The latter two come from the former. Video footage of the UK's Olympic 470 crew and Richard and Matt Burge in their Fireball, later in the day, showed the virtue of perfecting the techniques and what can be achieved, when the manoeuvres are successfully undertaken.
Sunday morning was taken up with the "gut-buster" exercise – multiple tacks, either side of a mid-course marker on a windward-leeward course, going upwind, with a rounding of the mid-course mark and multiple gybes either side of the same mark and a rounding of the mid-course mark going downwind. Some of the traffic management at the mid-course mark was a bit frenetic! Tacking and gybing techniques then came into focus in this session as the wind started to go light. Commitment to the roll tack was emphasised, minimising rudder movement was a focus (where have we heard that before) and slowing down the techniques to avoid forcing the boat to go through the tack faster than it wants to were the outcomes of this on-the-water impromptu session. Later, the impact of not sailing the boat flat were discussed with the benefit of video footage form the day's proceedings.
Sunday afternoon was rounded off, after lunch, with short races around a "P-shaped" course.
Each of the boats taking part got personal time from Richard on the water and by his own admission there was evidence, within the time-frame of the weekend, of the benefits of his coaching.
As with all such events there are a number of people and organisations who deserve our collective thanks. Richard Wagstaff gave up his weekend to be in Dun Laoghaire with us so we owe him a very big thanks – he gave of his expertise readily and patiently. Neil Colin did all the communications work to bring Richard here for the weekend and hosted Richard. Thanks to Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club we had the use of their clubhouse and two ribs and from a national authority perspective we enjoyed financial support from the Irish Sailing Association, who has revised their funding mechanisms for these types of events to make them more viable for Classes.
We had volunteer rib drivers in Alistair Court, Dave Coleman, Glen Fisher, Mick Creighton, Cariosa Power and Cormac Bradley.
But a coaching weekend also needs participants – so a big thank you to those Fireballers who turned out over the weekend.
With re-weighing out of the way and boat-handling techniques re-visited this weekend, the Irish Fireball fleet can put their time from this weekend into quick use – the first Tuesday night race of the summer takes place tomorrow evening!

#fireball – Normally the start of the Irish Fireball summer season is heralded with a coaching session by a leading UK Fireballer doing the honours. For a few years this weekend session was undertaken by Adam Bowers of ABC for Winning. Last year, Adam was succeeded by Simon Potts who with Tom Gillard won the 2013 Fireball Worlds in Portoroz in Slovenia (15091). Simon's circumstances have changed so this year the training will be undertaken by Richard Wagstaff who is also a former World and European Championship winning crew.

In tandem with Matt Burge, Richard won the World Championships hosted by Sligo Yacht Club in 2011 (15036) and won the Europeans the following years in Bracciano in Italy (15084), and Portoroz, Slovenia, again with Matt (15093).

The weekend of coaching takes place this weekend at the Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club with a 09:00 start on the Saturday morning. Topics that are down for discussion include;

• Boat review & set up (in the dinghy park)

• Spinnaker hoist and acceleration on the top reach

• Straight line speed

• Crew tips and techniques

• At the start

• On the beat

• The hoist/gybe/drop

• Boat preparation – control lines set-up, rigging

• Regatta preparation, research.

Rigging and introductions will start off the proceedings on Saturday morning. Supper is proposed for the Purty Kitchen after the day's teaching is concluded. Sunday has a 09:30 start and it is expected that the Porsche Cup will be contested again.

The funding of the weekend avails of a scheme promoted by the Irish sailing Association and the Irish Fireball Class would like to acknowledge the support of the ISA in allowing us to offer this weekend of coaching to our members.

A recent class rule change however, prompted an earlier triggering of thoughts of summer racing. A reduction in the all up weight of the Fireball (hull, permanent fittings and weight correctors) from 79.4 to 76.4kg led to a very well organised weighing session that took place last Saturday, 18th April.

Approximately, fourteen Fireballs underwent a reweighing of either of two varieties – a full re-weighing in accordance with Class rules or a weighing of the correctors in individual boats. The Class rules require the boats to undergo a period of drying before the weighing takes place and Stephen Oram was able to organise premises for this purpose through work connections. Stephen also organised for appropriate scales to be available on the day. Irish Class Measurers, Eddie Ferris and Owen Sinnott documented the process which was a specific requirement of the rule change implantation and individual boat certificates of measurement were adjusted accordingly.

The statistics made for interesting discussion with some of the older boats putting relatively modest amounts of lead back into their boats. Most interestingly was the fact that one of the newest boats in the fleet was in actual fact carrying too much lead, so we can expect them to have an upturn in speed through the water. Despite a work schedule that embraced the prospect of weighing fourteen boats, a conveyor belt approach was taken to the weighing process and each boat was also checked for material left behind accidentally in the buoyancy tanks.

Class Chair, Marie Barry made sure that all those in attendance were properly looked after with sandwiches, biscuits, chocolate cake and tea/coffee available for all the participants.

Our thanks therefore go to Marie, Stephen, Eddie and Owen for giving of their time to the Class cause, and to Stephen for organising the premises and scales. The statistics of the day will be fed to Tom Egli, Technical Representative of Fireball International so that an assessment of the exercise worldwide can be undertaken.

A leaner Irish Fireball fleet is the favourable outcome of the day's proceedings!

With boats re-weighed last weekend and coaching this weekend, the advent of racing can be eagerly looked forward to and this gets underway with the first Tuesday night race next week, 28th April.