With just 52 hours to go to the first race of the 2024/25 Viking Marine sponsored Frostbites, hosted by Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club, the entries stand at 63 boats and there is a modest forecast of wind for the day, 7-10 knots SSE, and air temperatures of 13° at 14:00, dropping to 11° by 17:00. For 3rd November, that's not a bad start!
As has been the pattern in recent years, the ILCA 6s have the lion's share of entries at 23 boats, with the 7s at 12 boats and the 4s at 2 boats.
In the PY Classes, the Fireballs lead the way with 11 boats, and there are 6 Aero 6s, 2 Aero 7s, 2 Finns, a single GP14, and a RS200. There is a category of "Others" with three entries, but no details of the type of boats these may be. We are aware of a potential entry from a Mirror, and I believe there may also be a RS400 entered, but all may be revealed on Sunday.
Since the influx of the Aeros to the Frostbites, post Covid, they have dominated the proceedings of the PY fleet on the water with race wins, individual race podiums, Series Podiums, and the Overall Podiums (Series 1 & 2 combined) and that has prompted some debate on the need to modify handicaps. The Frostbites use the Portsmouth Yardstick numbers published by the RYA and we have also checked other Frostbite events from the UK to see what they are using because the Aeros don't dominate in the UK events the way they do here. Again, their PY numbers are consistent with ours.
However, there have been recent changes to PY Numbers for Fireballs, from 952 to 955, Aero 7s, from 1063 to 1061 and Aero 6s, from 1105 to 1102. A Halsail analysis of Aeros and Fireballs race times and handicaps would prompt a huge change (by 29% in one case) with the potential to turn everything upside down, so it is proposed that for Series 1 the published PY Numbers will be used, and results will be reviewed at the end of Series 1. The PY system does allow for local variation.
With only two ILCA 4s entered, both will need to turn out to have a race and if only one is on the water we will have to make a plan as to which start they go with.
As before the F flag and W flag will be used where necessary to allow the subsequent race to start promptly after the first race – the essence of the Frostbites is to get business on the water completed promptly!
See you on the water!
