After last Thursday’s healthy breezes and the “pea-souper” that prevented last Saturday’s racing, fourteen Flying Fifteens answered the DBSC Race Officer’s call last night in conditions that started off as being “robust” with a wind against tide situation generating choppy conditions.

The course for the evening was set at KW2 – Bay, Battery, Zebra, Molly, Zebra, Battery, Molly – Finish. Initially, the first mark of the course, Bay, was hidden, from certain angles, by a moored Irish Naval Vessel, but shortly after the starting signal for the Flying Fifteens she moved off. The fleet was pretty much agreed that the first leg to Bay had to be an inshore leg, the only question seemed to be which end of the line to start that trek from. In reality, there was a reasonably even split of the fleet between the pin end and the committee boat end of the line. At the former were Tom Galvin & Keith Poole (4093) with Tom helming, Neil Colin & Margaret Casey (4028), Ben Mulligan & Cormac Bradley (4081) and possibly Frank Miller & Ismail Inan (3845).

However, at Bay, the lead was taken by John Lavery & Alan Green (4083) by a few boat lengths, but there was a tight chasing pack behind them that included the aforementioned “committee boat enders” Tom Murphy & Carel (4057) and Alan Balfe & Patrick Kiersey (3995). The leg to Battery was a two-sail fetch and this stretched the chasing pack to a single file of boats behind Lavery & Green. A spinnaker leg to Zebra followed with a number of gybes necessary to get into a rounding position at this the most seaward mark of the course. Lavery & Green kept a watching brief on the chasing pack with Miller/Inan and Alistair Court & Conor O’Leary (3753) in close company with Mulligan & Bradley, Colin & Casey hovering and Balfe & Kiersey also in the frame. A slightly early drop at Zebra saw Mulligan into a windward berth and he got to the head of the chasing pack for the leg to Molly. However, none of the others were too far away as Galvin/Poole, Colin/Casey, Miller/Inan and Niall & Susan Coleman made sure Mulligan stayed honest.

After the second rounding of Zebra, there was a long leg back to Battery. Here the fleet split with Colin, in particular, going inshore early. Lavery and Mulligan played the middle and left of this beat initially, before Lavery decided to head inshore as well. Meanwhile, Galvin & Poole played the offshore aspect of this leg as did Miller & Inan. Court & O’Leary also went inshore for the latter stages of the leg, resulting in them coming up the starboard layline for the mark. Not sure how the Colemans played this one, but it worked as the rounded behind Mulligan and Court, in quick succession. Having thought they had caught some distance on Lavery & Green, Mulligan & Bradley found that the reverse had happened as both Galvin & Poole, from the left and Colin & Casey from the right steamed in to place themselves ahead of Mulligan. Mulligan had the misfortune to sail into a hole as the brisk breeze faded and became quite tricky. Thus, the revised order at Battery was Lavery, Galvin, Colin, Mulligan, Court and Coleman.

On the leg to Molly, the Colemans sailed low and steamed (a poetic licence term in the conditions) through Mulligan’s lee, while Court went to windward of Mulligan and through him. No further place changes occurred on the leg to Molly. Enough is enough!

The hitch to the finish seemed to be academic – initially, everyone headed inshore. But then to varying degrees, the fleet tacked off. The first three were comfortable at this stage but there was a sneaking suspicion that some late changes might be possible between the latter three boats. In the final approach to the finish line, both the Colemans and Court/O’Leary were outside of Mulligan/Bradley with the latter on starboard on a final approach to the finish. The Colemans got that little bit extra to put daylight between themselves and the other two, but it was very close on the finish line with Court getting the decision over Mulligan, but there was only a second between the finishing “hoots” for these two.

Thursday 19th May 2002 results

1. John Lavery & Alan Green (4083)
2. Tom Galvin & Keith Poole (4093)
3.  Neil Colin & Margaret Casey (4028)
4. Niall & Susan Coleman (4008)
5. Alistair Court & Conor O’Leary (3753)

Overall: Keith Poole & Others (7), Neil Colin & Margaret Casey (7), David Mulvin & Ronan Beirne (12), Frank Miller & Others (15), Ben Mulligan & Cormac Bradley (16).

In the ten-boat scratch race for the Beneteau 211s, Peter Carroll's Yikes won from Andrew Bradley's Chinook in the fourth IRC race of the AIB Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC) Thursday night series.

Third was Pete Evans in Anemos 2. 

Race Officer Ed Totterdell set a course for the Red fleet from DBSC Committee Boat Freebird in 10 to 17-knot winds from the south and southwest with a turning mark at the Forty Foot to give classes a broad spinnaker reach in the excellent sailing conditions.

National Yacht Club sailors occupied the top two places of an 11-boat Flying Fifteen race. John Lavery's Phoenix won from Keith Poole's Mike Wazowski with Neil Colin of the DMYC sailing FFuzzy third.

In a two boat Sportboat race, Sabrina Mahony's RIYC1 won from Declan Curtin's J80 Jester.

As the SB20s build up for their RIYC based World championships this September, Davy Taylor's Ted from the Royal St. George won from Colin Galavan's Royal Irish based Carpe Diem. Third was Patrick McGrath's Smoke on the Water. Two boats did not finish in the five boat race.

DBSC Cruiser Classes

In the Cruiser Classes, Andrew Craig's J109 Chimaera from the Royal Irish Yacht Club won tonight's windy fourth IRC race of the AIB Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC) Thursday night series.

Colin Byrne's XP33 Bon Exemple from the RIYC was second, with clubmate Tim Goodbody's J109 White Mischief in third place in the 12-boat fleet.

Flat seas with strong south-westerlies up to 20-knots made for excellent Thursday night racing.

In a six-boat Cruisers Zero contest, the top three were an entirely RIYC affair. Paul O'Higgins JPK 10.80 Rockabill VI, who will contest Saturday's cross channel ISORA race, was the winner of Tim Kane's Extreme 37 WOW. Third was Rodney and Keith Martin's 44.7 Lively Lady.

In IRC 2, Royal St. George's Lindsay J. Casey's Windjammer (the most successful DBSC IRC yacht for the past two seasons) won from Leslie Parnell's First 34.7 Black Velvet with Richard Lovegrove's Sigma 33 Rupert third in a nine boat turnout.

In IRC 3, in a three boat turnout, Krypton sailed by Alan Turner won from Kevin Byrne's Starlet. Myles Kelly in Maranda was third. 

Tonight's DBSC Race Officer was Blue fleet (MacLir), Con Murphy.

See full DBSC individual and overall results in all classes below.

Wednesday's  DBSC Water Wag dinghy racing scheduled for Dun Laoghaire Harbour is cancelled due to an adverse weather forecast.

"Winds gusting gale force 8 in the east are scheduled for later this evening", Commodore Ann Kirwan told Afloat.

The Wags are posting great early season turnouts on Dublin Bay with a 22 boat fleet for the first race on April 28th.

Full DBSC Water Wag results are below

Another win for Noel Butler last night in DBSC Tuesday night dinghy racing gives him four wins from five starts of the PY division in his RS Aero dinghy.

Race five was run by Race Officer Declan Traynor in Scotsman's Bay to the East of Dun Laoghaire Harbour in light southeast winds.

RS Aeros took the top three places with Paul Phelan's SeeSea second and Sarah Dwyer's Tikka third.

Overall it means Butler leads by nine pints from rival Greystones Harbour RS Aero sailor Roy Van Maanen. Third overall is Finn sailor Richard Tate. 

In the Laser Standard, Gary O'Hare, sailing Buster III won from Conor O'Leary.

O'Hare leads overall on three points from Royal St. George clubmate Theo Lyttle on five. 

Last night's scheduled race six for all classes was abandoned due to lack of wind. 

Full DBSC results are below.

Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC) yacht racing for its Blue fleet, Green fleet and dinghy divisions was cancelled on the Bay this afternoon just as races were about to get underway.

A heavy sea mist brought visibility down to less than 100 metres before 2 pm start time forcing DBSC Race officers to fly AP race postponements signals.

Soon after DBSC Committee vessels were flying 'N over A' as visibility became very poor at Dun Laoghaire Harbour and across the Bay.

Race Officers on these courses were Ed Totterdell, Barry O’Neill and Suzanne McGarry.

The bank of fog that cancelled a large section of DBSC racing at Dun Laoghaire Harbour Photo: courtesy Barry O'Neill

The Hut fleet comprising Cruisers 4, 5, Shipman, Glen and DB21 did however manage to race in a 10-knot easterly under Race Officer Jim Dolan.

20 boats started, 18 finished.

DBSC Results below. Live Dublin Bay webcams here

Colin Byrne's XP33 Bon Exemple from the Royal Irish Yacht Club was the winner of tonight's windy third race of the AIB Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC) Thursday night series.

Tony Fox's A35 Gringo from the National Yacht Club was second with Andrew Craig's RIYC J109 Chimaera in third place in the 12-boat fleet.

Flat seas with strong westerlies up to 20-knots made for some excellent racing.

The top three in a four-boat Cruisers Zero contest was an entirely RIYC affair. Paul O'Higgins JPK 10.80 Rockabill VI, who will contest Saturday's cross channel ISORA race, was the winner from Patrick Burke's First 40.7, Prima Forte. Third was Rodney and Keith Martin's 44.7 Lively Lady.

In IRC 2, Conor Ronan's Corby 25 Ruthless won from Leslie Parnell's First 34.7 Black Velvet with Richard Lovegrove's Sigma 33 Rupert third in an eight boat turnout.

The DBSC Cruiser division Race Officer was Eddie Totterdell.

In the one designs, DMYC sailors finished occupied the top three of a 13-boat Flying Fifteen race. Alastair Court's Ffinisterre won from Ben Mulligan's Enfant de Marie with Neil Colin's FFuzzy third.

As the SB20s build up for their RIYC based World championships this September (and this month's Dun Laoghaire Sportsboat Cup), Davy Taylor's Ted from the Royal St. George won from Ger Dempsey's Royal Irish based Venuesworld. Third was Barry Glavin's Seabiscuit.

See full DBSC individual and overall results in all classes below

John O’Driscoll at the helm of No. 15 Moosmie was the winner of Wednesday's single DBSC Water Wag dinghy race in Dun Laoghaire Harbour. 

Race Officer Tadgh Donnelly ran racing over three rounds in a westerly breeze with gusts of up to 20 knots.

All boats carried a reef in the blustery conditions. 20 boats started and 18 finished. 

The second boat home was No. 38 Swift sailed by Guy Kilroy with Martin Byrne's No 49 Hilda in third position.

John O’Driscoll at the helm of No. 15 Moosmie crosses the finish line to win Photo: Brendan Briscoe

With winds between 8 and 20+ knots and plenty of squalls predicted, racing took place for the DBSC Lasers inside Dun Laoghaire harbour on Tuesday, May 10th. Staying in your boat with the mast pointing at the sky was the best tactic. In the Radials, with huge wind shifts allowing for big gains upwind, the never say die attitude of Michael Norman and Hugh Cahill allowed them to share the honours with one win each.

In the standard rig Gary O’Hare and Conor O’Leary, standing in for Theo Lyttle, battled it out. Both had capsizes and the 2nd race was particularly close after a well-fought battle for the favoured pin end at the start.

All sailors were delighted when the DBSC race committee posted a X2 course rather than X3, there were some tired sailors nursing their boats ashore afterwards.

Standard Rig

Race 1, 1: Gary O’Hare 2: Theo Lyttle

Race 2, 1: Gary O’Hare 2: Theo Lyttle

Radial rig

Race 1, 1: Hugh Cahill 2: Michael Norman 3: Judy O’Beirne

Race 2, 1: Michael Norman 2: Alison Pigot 3: Judy O’Beirne

RS Aero sailor Noel Butler was last night's winner of both DBSC PY races and sits on three net points to lead the overall Dublin Bay series after four races sailed by six points. 

The DBSC Race officer for the inside Dun Laoghaire Harbour racing was Declan Traynor. Winds were 10 to 12 knots from the southwest.

Second overall, counting a two and a three last night, is Greystones Harbour sailor Roy Van Maanen.

Third overall is Richard Tate in his Finn dinghy.

Butler has had a busy start to the racing season with – in the last fortnight alone – a podium finish on Lake Garda at the Italian Nationals RS Aero Series while last weekend he was back in his Fireball dinghy for some pre-World championship training on Lough Derg.

On arrival at the sea-front late on Saturday morning, one might have been forgiven for thinking that Keat’s Ode to Autumn was in vogue as a mist had descended on Dun Laoghaire to the extent that there was shore-side speculation as to whether we would get to race at all. Curiously though, there was sense that there was some breeze on the water. In the absence of any sound signals or flags to the contrary, the fleets went afloat………..and were rewarded with a glorious afternoon of sunshine with and a breeze that the weather mark rib recorded as 4.5knots early in the afternoon. The Flying Fifteen fleet mustered 18 boats on the water, including Dunmore East visitors Lee Statham and Andy Paul, in their upgraded Fifteen, 4070. Their previous boat, 3896 (I think) is also in Dun Laoghaire in the ownership of Adrian Cooper.

XCWeather was suggesting a SE breeze that would go ESE as the afternoon wore on, but in the light conditions, it was also a day for watching what was happening on other parts of the Bay. Is it ever otherwise? The Race Officer took the Green Fleet west of the harbour and set up a 2-lap Windward-Leeward course for the first race of the day. At one stage the conversation between RO and Rib driver suggested a beat of 1900m, with the weather mark in the direction of the harbour.

Initially, there was a suggestion that there was more breeze out the left-hand side, but then there was the question of where the tide could be used to best advantage, given that at 14:00 it was approaching the fastest rate of flow, with high water at approx. 17:00. My recall is that the lead boats came in from the left-hand side at the top mark and on rounding the spreader mark most boats went right initially, before taking an inshore hitch. On this first downwind leg there was no sense of the leading group pulling away from the rest of the fleet, but rather there was a steady stream of boats rounding the mark. To the fore though were John Lavery & Alan Green (4083), Ian Mathews & Keith Poole (4093), David Gorman (4099), David Mulvin & Ronan Beirne (4068) and Neil Colin & Margaret Casey (4028).

Bearing in mind that there had been a promise of the wind going slightly further east, this correspondent and helm, Ben Mulligan (4081) stayed on the left-hand side of the second beat and were rewarded by catching up to Messrs Mulvin & Beirne and a low single digit placing. These two crossed each other’s paths on the downwind leg, in gentlemanly fashion and by the leeward mark, Mulligan had eked out a “short-head lead”. In the two-sail fetch to the finish, Mulligan held on to finish ahead of Mulvin.

For the second race, the Race Officer set a four-lap Windward – Leeward course with a proposal that the race might be shortened at the weather mark. Again, there was some debate as to which was the best way to tackle the beats, but for a substantial part of the race, the lead group was made up of Statham/Paul, Lavery/Green, Gorman, Mulvin/Beirne, Colin/Casey. Others who flirted with a top ten position included Niall Coleman, sailing with his daughter (4008), Tom Murphy & Carel (4057), John O’Sullivan & Cas (3762) and Peter Sherry, sailing with his daughter (4056).

While there was a bit more “oomph” for this second race, the wisdom of checking what was happening elsewhere came to the rescue of 4081. Rounding the leeward mark of a shortened three-lap race in the low teens, we observed other classes enjoying breeze beyond the top right-hand corner of our course. While the majority of the boats ahead of us had gone to sea, we ploughed an inshore furrow and found ourselves being lifted on the port tack as we moved up the course. A timely header allowed us to put in a starboard tack for the finish line and while three boats went past us, we were able a to sneak a fourth place.

Race 1: Lavery & Green, Mathews & Poole, Gorman, Colin & Casey, Mulligan & Bradley.

Race 2: Statham & Paul, Lavery & Green, Gorman, Mulligan & Bradley, Mulvin & Beirne.

Saturdays Overall (after 4 races & 1 discard)

1. Neil Colin & Margaret Casey 6pts
2. David Gorman 8pts
3. John Lavery & Alan Green 11pts
4. Ben Mulligan & Cormac Bradley 11pts
5. Lee Statham & Andy Paul 13pts.