#fireballsailing – Despite a Sea Area forecast on Saturday night that suggested sailing would not be an option on Sunday, nine Fireballs took to the start line for the first Frostbite race of the 2014/15 Series. My on the water reporter, Neil Colin (IRL 14775) advises that the combination of the southerly wind direction and a low tide meant that Dun Laoghaire harbour was sheltered from most of the wind, but experienced "mega-shifts".

Earlier in the day the Flying Fifteen experiences and reports from the Turkey Shoot for bigger boats along with the sight of the big red chopper and lifeboat activity suggested there was greater wind offshore.

It seemed like almost all the 75+ entries to date were there to take advantage of the exceptionally mild weather, with boats everywhere!

The standard frostbite square was used, with the committee boat just inside the harbour mouth and the weather mark close to the marina breakwater, to maximise the course size, and maintain some separation between boats close hauled and those downwind. The result was great variances in pressure and direction at the weather mark, tending to support those on the edges of the course, rather than those in the centre.

4 laps were sailed, with great place changing on lap one on every leg, until Kenny Rumball, crewed by Teddy Byrne (IRL 15058) and Noel Butler & Stephen Oram (IRL15061) powered through on lap 2 to make a gap, leaving Neil Colin & Margaret Casey (IRL 14775), Frank Miller & Grattan Donnelly (IRL 14713), Louise McKenna & Hermine O'Keeffe (IRL 14691) and Alistair Court & Gordon Syme (IRL 14706) to tussle for the mid fleet slots.

This group did not see the dice between Kenny & Noel, but expect it was a two way battle, with Kenny & Teddy winning out!

New players Peter Doherty and Ciaran Fitzgerald, sailing IRL 14120, and the re-appearance of IRL 14790 (Shane McCarthy & A.N. Other) made up the fleet.

(Report by Neil Colin, modified words by Cormac Bradley.)

#fireball – With a forecast of rising wind strengths for the day, which did manifest themselves, IRO Jack Roy and his team set three Windward-Leeward races for the Irish Fireball fleet to close out the regatta season for 2014 writes Cormac Bradley.

Barry McCartin & Conor Kinsella won two of these to allow them to retire from the last race of the day without compromising their march to a clean sweep of regatta wins in the 2014 season.

The consistency of Noel Butler & Stephen Oram (15061) on this second day, with three second places was enough to secure 2nd place overall, ahead of Kenneth Rumball & Finn Bradley (15058), even though the latter combination won the last race of the day.

Behind Rumball & Bradley were the Clancy Brothers, Conor & Jame (14807), followed by another family combination, father and son Michael & James Murphy (14904).

Windwise, this was the exception to the 2014 rule with strong wind on both days. Results wise, the 2014 rule is unbroken with a fifth regatta win for Barry McCartin & Conor Kinsella (15114). They won two of the day's three races to be able to retire from the final race without compromising their first place.

The second most consistent combination of the weekend, Messrs Butler & Oram (15061), "banged in" three second places on day 2 of the regatta to consolidate 2nd place overall ahead of Kenneth Rumball & Finn Bradley (15058) who though they won the last race also scored a three and a four.

The Clancy brothers, Conor and James (15807), put up identical scores on both days, 3,4, 4 to secure fourth place. In fifth place was another family combination - father and son Michael & James Murphy. An OCS was their discard fro a scorecard that boasted a 3, 4,, 5 and 2 x 6ths.

Next up were Neil Colin and Margaret Casey (30pts) followed by Niall McGrotty & Neil Cramer (34pts).

1. B Mc Cartin & Conor Kinsella 7pts
2. N Butler & S Oram 9pts
3. K Rumball & F Bradley 12pts
4. C & J Clancy 18pts
5. M & J Murphy 24pts.

Winds for racing were of the order of 12 - 15 knots but with an adverse forecast sailing was finished promptly. When this correspondent passed the seafront at 15:30, there was no sailing activity on Dublin Bay.

The Irish Fireball season now changes from regatta mode to the Sunday Frostbites but only after a break of a few weeks. This regatta saw a number of new combinations on the water which is very encouraging.

At the AGM on Saturday night an embryonic fixture list was discussed with differing views on the date and venue for the Nationals. There was also confirmation that the practice of sharing venues with other classes will contiinue to be pursued in 2015.

The Class prize-giving will take place at the end of November.

#fireball – For the first time in a very, VERY long time there are more letters than numbers on the first day score sheet of the Fireball Leinsters being sailed out of the National Yacht Club in tandem with the Flying Fifteens writes Cormac Bradley.
A strong westerly clearly took its toll on the fleet so that by the time the third race started only seven of the seventeen registered entries were left on the water. A plethora of "DNCs" marked the bottom end of the score sheet with some boats not getting wet at all.
IRO Jack Roy managed proceedings for the Fireballs and the Fifteens of which there were 24 contesting the last race of the day - sailing their Eastern Championships.
Two Windward-Leewards started proceedings and in the conditions even these were challenging. An easing of the wind meant that the last race reverted to an Olympic configuration.
While an alphabetic rather than a numeric theme to the score sheet was unusual, the names at the head of the points log weren't.
Barry McCartin & Conor Kinsella (IRL 15114) lead with 5pts courtesy of a win and two seconds.
Noel Butler & Stephen Oram (IRL15061) are in second place with six points (2, 1, 3).
Kenneth Rumball & Finn Bradley (IRL 15058) occupy third place on eight points (5, 3, 1).
Though this correspondent wasn't sailing the reports were that the action was fast and furious.The individual race wins were comfortable for each of the crews who took that honour. However, Finn Bradley indicated that they had a good "dice" with McCartin & Kinsella in the last race. By that stage they had gone down to medium setting.
After racing the Class AGM was held, attracting an attendance of 20 people. The incumbent committee will remain in place for another year with Marie Barry retaining the Chair, Margaret Casey staying as Secretary and (though he was absent) Conor Kinsella retaining the Treasurer's portfolio.
A further three races are scheduled for today, Sunday. From my bedroom window the wind appears to have eased but the RTE weather forecast on the radio at 09:00 suggests it may be returning with a vengance as the day progresses.

#Fireball - As previously reported on Afloat.ie, Royal St George pair Barry McCartin and Conor Kinsella were triumphant at the Irish Fireball Nationals on Lough Ree yesterday (14 September), needing two win only one of two races sailed on the day to claim the title after a dominant weekend. Below, Cormac Bradley gives us an extended report on all the action over the three days' sailing:

The 2014 Irish Fireball Nationals were sailed at Lough Ree Yacht Club this past Friday, Saturday and Sunday, involving nine races in very challenging conditions – not heavy duty sailing but light conditions that on a freshwater lake made picking the right way to go all the more challenging.

The forecast for the weekend was for lightish winds but on Friday we started proceedings in slightly more than 12 knots, though race officer John Leech was not convinced that the wind would stay long enough at that strength to warrant flying the 'pumping flag'. He was correct in his assumption as the wind progressively dropped off as the afternoon wore on. However, we did get three good races in.

On Saturday we were joined by the Wayfarers who were sailing a two-day Nationals with six races. On arrival at the club, what wind there was appeared to be coming from the opposite direction and was very fickle. Nevertheless, it was better than we had been expecting so both fleets took to the water for what turned out to be a long sail to the start area where we were greeted – understandably – with a postponement flag.

Four races were sailed on Saturday, the last of which saw the leading bunch stay in what breeze there was all the way round. The middle and back of the fleet weren’t so lucky in that their wind supply was temporarily reduced. This led to a very strung out fleet.

By Saturday evening, the die seemed to be cast as far as the overall 1-2-3 was concerned and had this been a betting event, the bookies’ money would have been safe. The predicted and usual suspects were at the head of the fleet – McCartin and Kinsella, Butler and Oram and Rumball and Bradley (Finn). McCartin had a four-point cushion on Butler, who had a point on Rumball, so the real action on Sunday would be between Butler and Rumball for the secondary placings on the podium. Could/would McCartin stuff it up?

Sunday appeared to give better breeze initially after a one-hour postponement posted the evening before – John Leech using his knowledge of the venue to very good effect. Yes there was trapezing to be had but it was an on-and-off exercise.

Race 8 got off cleanly with McCartin initially further back than he would have wanted but ultimately coming back to take the race win and therefore the regatta. Rumball finished second and with McGrotty getting into third to Butler’s fourth, Rumball now had the one-point advantage.

An impeccably behaved fleet then went 'off the radar' for the final race of the regatta with three attempts at a start before we got away. First the 'I' flag came out, then we had two starts under the 'U' flag regime. The suggestion post the race was that the leading three were involved in mind games, providing great entertainment for the committee boat crew.

Having secured the overall win, McCartin donned the trapeze harness to allow Kinsella an opportunity to drive. However, by the second leeward mark, after a modest transgression of the 'water at the mark' rule, they retired ashore for an early celebratory shower.

On the water, Rumball and Bradley stormed away to a very convincing win while Neil Colin and Margaret Casey 'slummed it with the upper echelons' by recording a second place, following another 'trek' to the right hand side of the course. (Their first had resulted in a win on the Saturday.) Butler and Oram finished third.

This was the penultimate event of the Irish Fireball Regatta season. In three weeks’ time we sail our final event of the season, the Leinsters out of the National Yacht Club, sharing with the Flying Fifteens. The AGM of the Class will take place on the Saturday night of this event.

The weekend before, on Saturday 27 September, Dublin Bay Sailing Club celebrates its 130th year of operation with a dinner in the National Yacht Club. As a member Class of DBSC, Irish Fireballers are encouraged to attend.

Irish Fireball Nationals 2014

Overall Results:
1 Barry McCartin & Conor Kinsella (RStGYC; IRL 15114)
2 Kenneth Rumball & Finn Bradley (INSC; IRL 15058)
3 Noel Butler & Stephen Oram (NYC/DMYC; IRL 15061)

Silver Fleet:
1 Mary Chambers & Brenda McGuire (DMYC; IRL 14865)
2 Pat O’Neill & Tiarnan Dickson (CYBC/LRYC; IRL 14849)

Classic Trophy:
Owen Clarkin & Tim (CYBC: IRL 14244)

#fireball – Barry McCartin & Conor Kinsella only needed one of the two races sailed yesterday, to win the Irish Fireball National Championships writes Cormac Bradley.
Winning the eighth race of the series meant they could not be beaten and for the ninth race they swapped roles with Conor taking the helm. At the second leeward mark they took their leave of the fleet.
The 1-2-3 overnight finished 1-2-3 in Race 8 which gave Kenny Rumball & Finn Bradley a 1pt advantage over Noel Butler & Stephen Oram.
The last race saw three attempts to get it started, an I Flag and two U Flags being put to use. Rumball & Bradley stormed away (proverbially) to win by a country mile, thus securing 2nd overall. Butler & Oram worked very hard to come back from a poor first beat to record a third place finish behind Neil Colin & Margaret Casey who elevated themselves to 6th overall.
Rumball's win secured 2nd overall with Butler taking 3rd. Team Clancy took 4th overall while Niall McGrotty & Neil Cramer were fifth.
Lough Ree served up a very challenging regatta with predominantly light winds. Race Officer John Leech kept to his promise of turning races around quickly and was responsive to the requests for course modifications from the two fleets. His club colleagues also did their best to make both the Fireball & Wayfarer fleets welcome at what is a great location.

#fireball – Four races were sailed at the Irish Fireball Nationals on Lough Ree today in light conditions and as usual when it goes light, not to everyone's satisfaction writes Cormac Bradley.
The day's honours go to Kenneth Rumball & Finn Bradley (15058) with a 3, 3, 1, 1 day. This leaves them in third place overall, a point behind Noel Butler & Stephen Oram (15061) who had a 5, 2, 2, 2 day. In the front of the fleet are Barry McCartin & Conor Kinsella (15114) who were a little off the pace, by their standards, and scored a 7, 1, 3, 3. With the first discard kicking in their points cushion is 4.
For the rest of the fleet the most encouraging result of the day was the win in the first race by Neil Colin & Margaret Casey (14775). They hit the biggest right hand corner I have seen for some time and rounded the top mark with a huge lead that they extended during the race.
The perennial debate of sailing four races to try and get the full suite completed tomorrow raised its head again. Do you persist with races in light conditions or sail three and run out of time tomorrow to get in the third race of the day. Who'd be a Race Officer?

In fourth place overall is Team Clancy, Conor & James (14807) who scored 2, 5, 7, 4 today. This gives them a 3 point cushion on Niall McGrotty & Neil Cramer (14938) who, as usual, are sailing very consistently (3, 7, 2, 4, 4, 5). There is then a huge 14 point jump to 6th overall where we find Colin & Casey (37pts). 7th place is filled by the father and son combination of Michael & James Murphy (14908) (38pts), 8th goes to the all-lady team of Louise McKenna & Hermine O'Keeffe (45pts), 9th to Louis Smyth & Cormac Bradley (15007) (51pts) and the top ten is closed out by Mick Creighton & Hugh Johnson (14698) (55pts).
Sunday will see two races attempted to give the Fireballs a 9-race series and the prospect of a second discard.
Cormac.

#dbsc – The last Tuesday night race of the 2014 season of Dublin Bay Sailing Club was a frenetic affair with a small course, a very lumpy sea, a curious breeze and lots of inter-class traffic writes Cormac Bradley. At 08:00 yesterday morning the seascape in Dublin Bay was such that I didn't think we would be racing. However, as the day wore on the wind moderated and the sky began to turn blue again. However, we still went out on heavy setting!
XCWeather was suggesting that we could expect 10 knots gusting 17, but it was neither of these – more a case of somewhere in the middle, but with full trapezing upwind. Wind direction was a bit difficult to determine on the water such was the rate at which the compass was fluctuating.
Five boats were present – Stephen Oram, helmed by Phil Lawton (15061), Louis Smyth & Cormac Bradley (15007), Neil Colin & Margaret Casey (14775), Frank Miller & Joe O'Reilly (14713) and Louise McKenna & Hermine O'Keeffe (14691).
Miller & O'Reilly got intimate with the pin on what was a curious start line so that cost them an early 360˚ turn. That would be the first of the night! Again the fleet spit 60:40 with Lawton & Colin taking the inshore track up the (very) short beat. Again, with an incoming tide, one would have thought that this was the way to go, but at the first weather mark, Smyth & Bradley were first, followed by the two boats that had gone inshore, McKenna & Miller.
All five boats sailed around with each trying to work the waves on the downwind leg of the 4-lap Windward-Leeward course. But there was no real "oomph" or, to quote our coaching friend from the UK, Adam Bowers, "Woompeta" in the surfing. It may have been that the distance between the waves was too short. The leeward mark was just off the east pier again and sea conditions there were that bit lumpier – possibly influenced by the onshore waves bouncing back off the pier wall.
Smyth rounded first, a short distance ahead of Lawton, with Colin in third. Smyth went inshore up the beat, Lawton went offshore. The other three varies their approaches. This time Smyth stayed ahead of Lawton but the approach to the weather mark was too tight and with the tide washing them onto the mark, Smyth & Bradley took a waltz with the mark – another 360˚ penalty taken, Lawton lost and Colin closed in! The trick with the downwind leg was to sail the majority of the leg on starboard, gybe and put in a late hitch to the mark. This allowed Smyth to get ahead of Colin by the leeward mark. Lawton never relinquished the lead thereafter but behind him the fortunes of the fleet ebbed and flowed. Smyth and Colin sailed a parallel course offshore at the start of the third beat with Colin to leeward – a consequence of independent and simultaneous tacking rather than a covering manoeuvre. But when they tacked back onto port to go up the beat, Smyth had pulled out.
By the third weather mark, McKenna & O'Keeffe were threatening Smyth & Bradley's 2nd place on the water and these two sailed down the downwind leg barely half a boat-length apart. Behind them both Colin and Miller had closed so that with the exception of Lawton & Oram, who had a few more boat-lengths to spare, everyone was watching everyone else. For the 2nd downwind leg in a row, Smyth & Bradley were able to get enough breathing space from their immediate pursuer to round the leeward mark clear, but McKenna was very close. They split tacks with Smyth going inshore again. They met again in the proximity of the committee were a hail of "Starboard" from Smyth & Bradley put McKenna & O'Keeffe about. Miller & Colin had in the meantime gone offshore and this time Miller & O'Reilly were charging up the port layline to threaten Smyth's 2nd place. Another hail of "Starboard" was made but Smyth was able to clear Miller with half a boat length to spare. These two went down the last offwind leg three to four boat-lengths apart with Miller slightly inside Smyth. Behind them, Colin, who was having a strangely inconsistent "yoyo" night had fallen back into fifth place. Smyth & Bradley rounded the last leeward mark without too serious a physical threat from Miller. However, a Laser now entered the fray in the hitch to the upwind finish. Pinching excessively to try and stop Smyth's Fireball going over the top of him, he effectively stalled Smyth and then put in a tack onto starboard. A quickly executed tack called by Bradley avoided entanglement, but Miller suddenly loomed larger than had been the case. Fortunately the Laser was also going for the finish and when he tacked back to cross the line on port Smyth was able to do the same and shut the door on Miller who though he was still a "few paces away" was a lot closer than had been the case at the leeward mark.
McKenna took 4th and Colin 5th. The race had lasted just over 30 minutes but it had been frenetic!

DBSC Tuesday Nights: Series 3; Round 5
1 Phil Lawton & Stephen Oram 15061 NYC
2 Louis Smyth & Cormac Bradley 15007 Coal Harb.
3 Frank Miller & Joe O'Reilly 14713 DMYC
4 Louise McKenna & Hermine O'Keeffe 14691 RStGYC
5 Neil Colin & Margaret Casey 14775 DMYC

The overall Series 3 results are as follows;
DBSC Tuesday Nights: Series 3 Overall.
1 Noel Butler/Phil Lawton/Mick Creighton & Stephen Oram 15061 NYC 4pts
2 Louis Smyth & Cormac Bradley 15007 Coal Harb. 11pts
3 Neil Colin & Margaret Casey 14775 DMYC 14pts
4 Mary Chambers & Brenda McGuire 14865 DMYC 19pts
5 Cariosa Power & Marie Barry 14854 NYC 21pts
Louise McKenna & Hermine O'Keeffe 14691 RStGYC 21pts

This concludes eighteen (18) weeks of Tuesday night racing. The Noel Butler/Stephen Oram combination has again confirmed their status as Masters of Scotsmans Bay for they have lost very few races over the eighteen weeks. From a wind perspective we have the full suite of conditions from light wind sessions inside the harbour to avoid foul tides to one or two slightly hairy races.

From a Class perspective we would like to thank all those volunteers who give of their time so that the rest of us can go racing – Race Officers, Committee Boat personnel, Rib drivers and crews and the secretariat of DBSC who collate all the results and post them to the website.

#fireball – Royal St. George Yacht Club Fireball pairing Barry McCartin & Conor Kinsella continue to knock on the door of the international Fireball scene. After a hat–trick of domestic titles, the Dun Laoghaire duo won the pre-Europeans, were fourth at the Europeans in the Shetlands and have just finished fifth at the UK Nationals at Tenby Sailing Club in Pembrokeshire, only narrowly behind a number of pro–teams.

With the event already in the bag for Tom Gillard & Richard Anderton, the final day could have been an anticlimax and in terms of the podium places it probably was. However the Fireball Nationals always offers more, and with prizes to play for across the fleet there was plenty of action in the last 2 races.

Race 9 got underway on a gate start in a fresh Northerly breeze around 13 knots. Ian Dobson & Tim Linsell got off to a flyer and in lovely sunny conditions they went on to take a well deserved race win.

For the final race of the series the wind freshened just before the start and the fleet enjoyed some champagne Fireball conditions to end the week. Gillard & Anderton displayed the form they had shown throughout and won it from Dobson & Linsell, with the Irish duo Barry McCartin & Conor Kinsella getting a well deserved 3rd. In the Silver fleet, Simon Lomas-Clark and Rob Daniels had an absolute flyer, carding a seventh to bring them within one point of a fleet win. Oh so close!

FInal top five, gold fleet:

1. Tom Gillard & Richard Richard Anderton
2. Ian Dobson & Tim Linsell
3. Matt Burge & Simon Wheeler
4. Dave Wade & Tim Hartley
5. Barry McCartin & Conor Kinsella

#fireball – The penultimate Tuesday night Fireball dinghy race of the DBSC Series of races for Fireballs produced an entertaining and competitive night of racing that saw the final result in question until the last lap writes Cormac Bradley.
Although my favoured website forecaster had been predicting light winds of the order of less than 10 knots, just as the afternoon progressed into evening some more breeze came through to give us a lively sail out to the race area. Five boats answered the starter's call for a 3-lap triangular course with the wind coming from a bearing of 340˚. A windward mark was set off the East Pier of the harbour, the gybe mark was set inshore, and with a flooding tide, logic would have suggested that going offshore to gain the tidal effect, out from underneath the wind-shadow of the pier wall would be the way to go.........and 60% of the fleet thought that way. Wrong!!
Mick Creighton & Stephen Oram (15061), Neil Colin & Margaret Casey (14775) and Louis Smyth & Cormac Bradley (15007) all went offshore after some last second manoeuvring to avoid being over the line at the start. This left the "inshore track" completely open to the two all-lady crews of Cariosa Power & Marie Barry (14854) and Mary Chambers & Brenda McGuire (14865). While the "60- per-centers" were keeping a close watch on each other the two inshore boats sailed a more relaxed first beat to round the weather mark in 1st and 2nd respectively. The other three boats had by now tacked back onto starboard and reading from inshore to offshore the sequence was Creighton, Colin and Smyth. The first two were below the mark with Colin in the controlling position, effectively blocking Creighton's tack onto the port layline to round the mark – a repeat of a similar tactic the previous week when the shoe was on the other foot. Creighton eventually gybed out of his predicament to round the weather mark by a longer route behind Power, Chambers, Colin, and Smyth, but an oversized blanket would have covered the last three boats.
Smyth's spinnaker hoist came "unstuck" with a fouled spinnaker halyard (internally) relegating him quickly to fifth place. Releasing the rig tension allowed that situation to be recovered, but would the spinnaker come down? All five boats gybed safely and the fleet condensed as they went down the second reach of the triangle. Creighton and Smyth locked horns halfway down the leg with a bit of barking at each other, but there was no contact and in any case both were keeping an eye on Colin as well. Power rounded the leeward mark in the lead but Chambers had a drop problem which saw her drift slightly to lee. Colin too had a difficult spinnaker drop but managed to stay ahead of both Creighton and Smyth. Initially all the boats headed offshore until Smyth took an early hitch inshore as much to get out of everyone else's "dirty wind". After all, the tactic had worked for the girls earlier. This tactic did bring some benefits as it allowed him to close on Creighton and Colin and overtake Chambers.
At the second weather mark the order was Power, Creighton, Colin, Smyth & Chambers. Down the run and Smyth got ahead of Colin and closely marginally on Creighton, but Power still had the lead. Cariosa & Marie were revelling in the conditions and proving very hard to catch. A tighter rounding by Smyth of the second leeward mark left him further inshore than Creighton and when the wind shifted shorewards, it left both Power and Smyth in "the pound seats". The beat had become a long one-tack, slightly relaxed two sailer and with Creighton to leeward of him, Smyth was able to sail into second place. But there was one more throw of the dice!
With the wind going shorewards, it would mean that the first reach of the second triangle would be tighter, so it was with some surprise that we saw a red sail coming out of the leading boat. Surely not! Smyth & Bradley had already decided to two sail the leg and behind them Creighton & Oram were doing the same. Realising the error of their ways the red sail was recovered but not in time to save their lead and see two places lost to Smyth and Creighton. The gap between Smyth/Bradley and Creighton/Oram was, at this stage down to maybe 5-6 boat lengths. Could the former negotiate the last gybe and stay ahead on the spinnaker leg? Yes! The gybe was safely negotiated and while the two boats stayed in close contact, there was no sense that the pursuers were closing in on their quarry.
A tidy drop at the leeward mark saw Smyth safely round the last leeward mark for the two-sailer to the finish. Creighton & Oram were inside them but this wasn't enough of an advantage to mount a final attack on the leaders. Colin got through the long-time race leaders to record third place on the night.
Thus, for the majority of the five entries, spinnaker decisions and handling influenced their evening's pursuits, with Marie and Cariosa paying the heaviest price.

DBSC Tuesday Nights: Series 3, Race 4, 19th Aug.
1 Louis Smyth & Cormac Bradley 15007 Coal Harb.
2 Mick Creighton & Stephen Oram 15061 NYC
3 Neil Colin & Margaret Casey 14775 DMYC

DBSC Tuesday Nights: Series 3, Overall (with one discard).
1 Mick Creighton & Stephen Oram 15061 NYC 3pts
2 Neil Colin & Margaret Casey 14775 DMYC 9pts
2 Louis Smyth & Cormac Bradley 15007 Coal Harb. 9pts
4 Mary Chambers & Brenda McGuire 14865 DMYC 12pts
5 Cariosa Power & Marie Barry 14854 NYC 14pts

Thus with one race to sail, Butler & Oram are yet again secure in 1st place overall, but there should be an interesting race between Colin & Casey and Smyth & Bradley for the bridesmaid slot!
The Nationals at Lough Ree Yacht Club outside Athlone are just less than a month away and provisional arrangements with our hosts for the regatta are being discussed as this goes to print. The venue has been chosen for ease of access and the hospitality that we were afforded there last year when we went in September. Racing takes place on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with an early afternoon "kick-off" proposed to accommodate those who want to travel on the Friday morning. A challenge has gone out to our "northern brethren" to have a presence at the regatta. Camping is available again so the idea is to try and emphasise the social potential as well as the racing.

#fireball – Five Fireballs enjoyed a blustery start to the third evening of the third Series of Tuesday night races last night in Dublin Bay writes Cormac Bradley. Rigging up in the harbour beforehand, the wind appeared to be quite squally prompted by rain clouds coming out of the west. The passage through Hell's Gate, between the ice house and the west pier was also a bit hairy, but in the main body of the harbour it was a bit more settled.
With the tide due to bottom out at 19:00, coincident with our race start time, there was a modest swell outside the harbour created by a wind against tide situation but in truth it gave us a dry and fast three sail trip out to the start area.
With the wind coming out of the west, a windward-leeward course of four laps was set with a windward mark off the east pier and a leeward mark just east of the 40-foot bathing spot.
Stephen Oram, joined by guest helm Phil Lawton, (15061) and Neil Colin & Margaret Case (14775) picked a fight with each other for the pin. However, this left them too early and they had to bear off, gybe and revise their starting plans. A boat-length off their transoms, Louis Smyth & Cormac Bradley (15007)inherited the pin slot but needed to tack onto port to clear the line. The two other all-lady crews of Cariosa Power & Marie Barry (14854) and Mary Chambers & Brenda McGuire (14865) were further back along the line, closer to the committee boat. Lawton, Colin and Smyth went off on their port tacks, away from shore with Smyth to windward of the other two. Colin bailed first to head inshore, and when Lawton tacked, Smyth followed suit. It looked to be a keen contest!
Bang! Smyth's main outhaul broke and the advantage was gone. Fortunately a lull in the wind allowed the outhaul to be re-secured and the chase was on! In the meantime, Colin had closed on Lawton but was in the weaker position and Lawton sailed them away from the first weather mark.
The ladies meantime were doing their own thing and combined with Smyth's gear failure, the pecking order at the first weather mark was Lawton, Colin, Chambers, Smyth and Power. All five boats stayed on starboard tack under spinnaker, sailing parallel to the shore. Until halfway down! Colin put in a gybe that, on the water, didn't seem to make sense. We could see the leeward mark which was downwind of us.........so why where they going hard left? It seems that there was some confusion as to where the leeward mark was, not helped by the fact that the committee boat was "off-line" in terms of being in a median position relative to the two marks of the course. Colin's mistake didn't cost him as he rounded the leeward mark in 2nd place. Smyth overtook Chambers however.
Up the second beat, Smyth & Bradley closed on Colin & Casey, helped by taking an inshore hitch halfway up the beat. This left them within attacking distance of Colin's transom for the second downwind leg. Lawton had pulled clear, so these two were the only ones to have close encounter action on this leg. Travelling on a slightly more inshore line than Colin, Smyth was able to pull ahead just enough to gybe and cross ahead of Colin to take the inside slot for the rounding of the 2nd leeward mark. Behind, Chambers & McGuire took a swim at the weather mark to allow their "sisters" to overtake them into 4th.
Smyth applied a loose cover to Colin on the next beat and was able to pull away to put some distance between the boats at the third weather mark. By now, with the tide turned, the tactic was to go offshore for the beat and put in a starboard tack hitch to make the weather mark. With the wind starting to ease the beats were less demanding than they had been. There were no further changes for the remainder of the race but Power & Barry did close on Colin & Casey as the final stages of the 4th downwind leg and final beat were completed. Slightly unusually, the finish was upwind of the weather mark but this made no difference to the final placings.
DBSC Tuesday Night; Series 3, Race 3.
1 Phil Lawton & Stephen Oram 15061 NYC
2 Louis Smyth & Cormac Bradley 15007 Coal Harb.
3 Neil Colin & Margaret Casey 14775 DMYC

DBSC Tuesday Nights: Series 3 Overall (No discard).
1 Noel Butler/Phil Lawton & Stephen Oram 15061 NYC 3pts
2 Neil Colin & Margaret Casey 14775 DMYC 12pts
3 Mary Chambers & Brenda McGuire 14865 DMYC 14pts

Two Irish crews will be in action at the UK Fireball Nationals in Tenby, Wales next week. Barry McCartin & Conor Kinsella, fresh from their successes in Shetland at the Fireball Europeans (Winners Shetland Nationals, 2 x Race wins at the Europeans and 4th overall) will be joined by Team Clancy, Conor and James, in a 40+ boat championships in the Principality. We wish them every success.
And as part of the build-up for our own Nationals, in Lough Ree, readers and Fireballers are reminded that this event will take place in four weeks' time at the Athlone venue. We will be sharing the waters on the Saturday and the Sunday with the Wayfarers who will also sail their Nationals.
We also offer best wishes to two former Fireballers from the Irish fleet, Shane McCarthy & Damien Bracken who are contesting the GP14 Worlds in Strangford. They had plenty to contend with on Monday and after yesterday's racing they are in the top ten (along with two other "Irish-flagged" boats).