Met Eireann forecast – light to moderate westerlies, "check". Small craft warning – Yes, but from Wicklow Head southwards, "check". Marine warnings – None, "check". XCWeather – 9/10 knots gusting 18 – 20knots, westerly………small seed of doubt! Projected temperature – single figures! Yes, proper November weather.
Taking a drive through the harbour complex from east to west, en route to the DMYC, boats were out on the water but not struggling with the conditions, and flags were flying but not vigorously! It seemed that racing would be going ahead.
At the shoreside briefing, RIB crews were advised that we could expect capsizes, so they were to police the areas of the marks that they put in the water. The plan would be to have a Windward-Leeward race to start followed by a longer race to try and minimise the waiting time between the two races.
Considering the weather, the turnout of 46 boats wasn't bad, split between 18 ILCA6s, 20PYs and 8 ILCA6s. With the wind in close to the same direction as the previous Sunday's first race, the weather mark went in at a similar location, in the lee of the western breakwater, closer to the outer end rather than the inner end. A leeward gate was located just outside the area of the summer swinging moorings in the approximate location of the obelisk on the Upper East Pier.
A line of just over 110m in length was set and for the first start of the day, the PY fleet chose to start en masse at the pin end. A number of identified boats were early (we know who you were) and this prompted a mass rush over the line causing the start to be abandoned with a General Recall and the relegation of the fleet to the end of the starting sequence. This allowed the ILCA7s to have an uncluttered upwind racecourse and the fleet initially went left off the pin end of the start line. Eight boats contested this race with the race lead being contested initially by Hugh Delap, Niall Cowman and John Marmelstein. Marmelstein would take the lead on the water early which he held up to the last leeward gate, but an expensive mistake at the finish relegated him to third place behind Delap and Cowman. In this fleet, the mid-fleet finisher was Matteo Valentini in 5th place.
The ILCA6s also got away clean, with the majority of the starters on the outer half of the line. By way of the increased fleet size, eighteen boats, the split between left and right side of the beat happened much earlier. One of the younger ILCA sailors, encouraged by his more seasoned peers is making indents on this fleet. Harry Dunne would go on to win this race ahead of Sean Craig, Brendan Hughes, Conor Clancy and Stephen Farrell. In the mid-fleet position was Shirley Gilmore, in 10th place and "first lady".
The PY were better behaved for their second attempt at a start in that the fleet got away cleanly, but they did push the envelope, which is to be expected of competitive sailors. In the 12 – 14 knots that blew in the first race the Fireballs enjoyed the conditions and were tightly grouped for the first part of the race. The Aeros and the GP14 also enjoyed the conditions as boats from these three classes took the top five spots on handicap:- Noel Butler (Aero 6) 24:18/22:03, Roy van Maanen (Aero 6) 25:06/22:47, Daniel & Harry Thompson (Fireball 15114) 21:59/23:01, Alan Leddy & Norman Lee (GP14 14143) 26:18/23:07 and Nicole Hemerych & Michael Keegan (Fireball 14676) 22:25/23:28. In the mid-fleet position, 11th, was another Fireball – Alan Blay & Hugh McNally 14641, 23:11/24:17. Five Fireballs finished within a 1:12 window, while the first four Aeros finished within a 1:08 window. A guest Finn from the UK managed a 9th on handicap while DL's own Brian Sweeney in the other Finn, finished 14th on corrected time.
For Race 2, following a wind change, the course was reset with the weather mark going northwards towards the end of the West Pier with a gybe mark west of the dolphins and the starboard half of the leeward gate remaining in place.
A three-lap Olympic course was signalled and while one or two boats dropped out, a good fleet was still in place for the slightly more robust wind conditions, influenced by very dark rain clouds emanating from the west. The limit mark for the start was reset, but the attempts by the three fleets to start would suggest that it wasn't quite as well set as it might have been. Of the three fleets, two became subject to General Recalls. The preferred location for starting was the pin and while the PY Fleet pushed it, they got away at the first time of asking. In the brisker conditions with more spinnaker legs the Fireballs enjoyed dominance on the water with the first two home in 21:31 and 21:53 respectively. This put them 1:56 and 1:34 ahead of the first Aero, Noel Butler, in 23:27. Alastair Court & Gordon Syme (15167), the Thompson Brothers (15114), Alan Blay & Hugh McNally and Frank Miller & Neil Cramer (14915) and finished in a 33-second window. On the last reach of the course, the Thompsons were ahead but sailing very low relative to the leeward mark. This resulted in an early spinnaker drop and a two-sail reach across the bottom of the course to get to the mark. In contrast, Court & Syme sailed a much higher and shorter course to the same mark to take the winning gun by a margin of 22-seconds.
On corrected time the finishing sequence was Butler, Van Maanen, Court & Syme, Lee & Leddy and the Thompson Brothers – with 1:38 of corrected time separating 1st to 5th. The mid-fleet finisher was Stephen Oram in the Aero 7, two minutes down on Butler's corrected time.
Roy van Maanen was a PY1 mug winner at the Viking Marine DMYC Frostbites at Dun Laoghaire Harbour Photo: Frank Miller
Despite a long start line the slightly reduced fleet of ILCA7s managed to trigger a General Recall which put them behind the ILCA6s, who repeated the transgression, meaning that in real-time the original starting order was maintained. Initially crowding out the pin end for the aborted start, the seven-boat fleet got it right the second time with a more genteel charge at the start signal. In a race where the lead group stayed relatively close to each other, Niall Cowman leap-frogged the first race winner, Delap, to take first place with Delap second and Valentini third. Mid-fleet finisher (4th) was Gary O'Hare.
The ILCA6s can claim some excuse for their General Recall as there were twice as many of them as there was of ILCA7s, but the inner half of the start line was rather empty. Given the time of day and the darkening skies, they were the subject of a U-Flag start and this had the desired effect. Craig restored order by taking the race win but the balance of the top five places only saw one change in personnel, with Brendan Hughes dropping out to be replaced by David Willaims. The "pecking" order behind Craig was Dunne, Clancy, Williams and Farrell. Mid-fleet finisher was David Cahill in 9th place.
David Williams ILCA 6 R2 mug winner at the Viking Marine DMYC Frostbites at Dun Laoghaire Harbour Photo: Frank Miller
Viking Marine Frostbites Mug Winners – 17th November 2024
PY Class
Race 1: Roy van Maanen.
Race 2: Daniel & Harry Thompson.
ILCA7s
Race 1: Niall Cowman.
Race 2: Gary O'Hare.
ILCA6s
Race1: Brendan Hughes.
Race 2: David Williams.
Viking Marine Frostbites 2024/25: Overall (after six races, no discards)
Viking Marine Frostbites 2024/25: Overall (after six races, no discards)
