#sb20 – The Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC) series two for the SB20s came to a nail-biting conclusion last Thursday on Dublin Bay.
With a force 5-6 southerly gusting force 8-9 forecast, the assumption by many was that there would be no racing. However, DBSC are made of stronger stuff than that and the fleets went out to race in some of the most exhilarating conditions experienced all season. With only the final race to sail, Should Be... (Michael, Ted and Gavan) led Venuesworld.com (Ger, Chris, Rory et al) by two points. With Should Be... discarding a third place, only a first place and daylight between the boats would do it for Venuesworld.com. For their part, Should Be... knew that a cancellation or a second place or better would seal the second series for them.
On the day, only five boats braved the conditions, including Alert Packaging (Justin, Dave and Darren), Bad (Enda, Jerry and Jimmy), Lupi d'Irlanda (Marco et al), Should Be... and Venuesworld. The OOD set a course with a good first beat from the start in the middle of the course up to Bay mark inshore beside the old Dun Laoghaire baths. Alert Packaging got off to a screamer, starting on port at the pin and port tacking the fleet on their way up the first beat. Venuesworld and Bad followed close on their heels trying to keep flat in the now strong breeze. Should Be... and Lupi d'Irlanda had stayed ashore too long in the expectation of a cancellation and were late starting, with Should Be... approximately 2 minutes late for the start and Lupi another few minutes further back. Should Be... were therefore reliant on Alert Packaging or Bad to do them a favour and finish ahead of Venuesworld as it was unlikely that they would catch up to second place if Venuesworld were to get the bullet...
Alert Packaging rounded first approximately 6-8 boatlengths ahead of Venuesworld with Bad another few boatlengths back. The first two reaches were quite tight and the boats two sail reached it to Poldy followed by another two sail reach to Zebra. Although the boats were only two sail reaching, some of the fastest speeds of the season were reached as the boats were still planing down the waves in the gusty conditions. As the lead boats went back on a beat up towards Battery mark by Sandycove harbour, Alert Packaging still held onto their lead from Venuesworld and Bad. As the boats headed towards Battery mark, Alert Packaging and Venuesworld headed towards shore in search of less tide while Bad tacked out left for more favourable breeze or a left hander shift to bring them back into it. Alert Packaging (cheered on by Should Be...) seemed to sail the leg to perfection and managed to get around Battery Mark with a comfortable 15 boatlength lead over Venuesworld. All that was required was a clean hoist and a comfortable pair of gennaker reaches and the series would belong to Should Be...
As Alert Packaging hoisted their kite, they managed to get the mother and father of all wraps in it that just wouldn't seem to come out. Venuesworld rounded behind but had a clean hoist and thundered down on Alert Packaging under full sail (by now, Should Be... were swearing Alert Packaging on!). In a desperate attempt to get their kite free, Alert Packaging skillfully threw in a pair of quick gybes, freeing their kite in the process. With Venuesworld now approximately 6 boatlengths behind and approaching fast, Alert Packaging suddenly caught a gust and they were off again, just in the nick of time. After rounding Omega and then Molly, Alert Packaging still held a slender lead from Venuesworld. Venuesworld refused to give up on the first place and the series and chased Alert Packaging all the way up the final beat to the finish but in the end, the boys on Alert Packaging managed to shade it from them, handing the second series to a very relieved Should Be... Bad came third and Should Be... followed them over the line in fourth. In celebration of their victory on the night, Alert Packaging hoisted their kite and went on a c. 20knts speed junkie burn across the bay.
After racing, 30 SB20 sailors and friends sat down to a very enjoyable sailing supper in the George. It was great to see Barry O'Neill, our resident OOD at the function along with so many other SBers, new and old. Attached are some photos of the evening enjoyed by all. The merriment went on until the small hours...
SB20 Class Notice:
The final two SB Sundays are this coming Sunday, 7th September and the following Sunday, 14th September. These are Sundays 2 and 3 of series three. Unfortunately, we lost Sunday 1 of series three due to inclement weather and it is not possible to re-sail that Sunday. In an attempt to make up the lost races and provide a better series, we will be running four slightly shorter races on the final two Sundays if the conditions allow. In other words, we will attempt to have four races on Sunday 7th September and four races on Sunday 14th September. Therefore, we will now (hopefully) have 8 races with two discards rather than 6 races and one discard in series three. Looking forward to seeing you all out on the water on the 7th.
