#dmycfrostbites – Sunday morning dawned bright and sunny, with a gusty 15 knots in Dun Laoghaire harbour writes Marty O'Leary. A record 16 RS dinghies gathered on the startline for the first race of the series of the DMYC frostbites, enjoying exceptionally warm weather for this time of year. Dun Laoghaire welcomed several familiar faces, as well as some visitors from Greystones and further afield.
The race officer set the course at four laps of a trapezoid course based inside the harbour, and racing got off to a clean start, with just one 200 being called back for being a bit too keen.
The early leaders popped out from the left, however no one was safe, with lead changes every leg. First to the windward mark was Sean Clery and new crew Donal Murphy in the 400, followed by Marty O'Leary and Rachel Williamson in the 200. Both boats opted to gybe early at mark two, and were left to watch as the boats that continued on sped by on the right hand side of the run.
It was then the turn of Emmet and James Ryan to take the lead up the second beat, and were looking comfortable as they hoisted the kite - until they managed to get tangled up in a laser, leaving the way clear for George Kingston and Ian McNamee to nip in, and take the lead, chased hard by Andrew and Paul.
The 200s were having their own battles,with O'Leary and Williamson taking an early lead, as class president Frank sailing with Heather Craig, had to turn back and re-cross the line for being OCS. Frank and Heather sailed hard, and chased down the pack and had a great tussle with Conor Totterdell and Myles Kelly. They successfully climbed back to 2nd, but didn't manage to catch O'Leary and Williamson, who collected the weekly mug for the RS's.
