Dublin Bay Sailing Club's (DBSC) Thursday night fleet faced 30-knot gusts for an all-action 16th race of the AIB Summer Series off Dun Laoghaire.
As in Royal Cork club racing on the south coast this week, numbers were down in some fleets as boats compete in West Cork's Calves Week Regatta.
This is undoubtedly true of Class Zero IRC, where a two-boat turnout left Chris Power Smith's Royal St. George Yacht Club J122 Aurelia to take the gun from Kyran McStay's X-35 D-Tox. At Calves Week, DBSC regulars Valentina and Rockabill are locked in a close fight for the top spot in a five-boat IRC Zero fleet that concludes on Friday (August 9th) with a race around the Fastnet Rock.
Colin Byrne's Royal Irish XP33 Bon Exemple, the overall leader in DBSC's Class One IRC, took another race win (by nearly one and a half minutes on corrected time) in the blustery westerlies to be eight points clear at the top of the table from clubmates Richard and Timothy Goodbody's J109 White Mischief, who placed second last night. Third was Barry Cunningham's sistership, Chimaera.
Likewise, in IRC Two, overall leader Lindsay Casey's J97 Windjammer took another victory, this time over Royal St. George clubmate Ian Bowring's Sigma 33, Springer, by over six and a half minutes on corrected time. Third was Damien Corcoran's Rob Humphries-designed one-off Three-Quarter Tonner, Scenario Encore.
In IRC Three, Michal Matulka's Trapper Eleint beat Myles Kelly's Senator Maranda.
Sportsboat leader Austin Kenny of the Royal Irish Yacht Club in the J80 Ram Jam beat clubmate David Ryan's 1720 Big Bad Wolf.
An impressive 16-boat turnout of the Flying Fifteen class was won by Shane MacCarthy's Mr Potato Head from Ken Dumpleton.
Brendan Duffy's Carmen won from Brian Cullen in Bandit, with Michael Cutliffe's Ruffles third in the Ruffian 23s.