Nine  SB20s battled it out in Scotsman's Bay for the 2014 NYC regatta title. With a persistent veer forecast, OOD Harry Gallagher had his work cut out setting a course that would provide a good test over the course of the day. Fortunately, Harry and his team were in top form and they managed to set a great test for the competitors.

Race 1 started in 10-12 knts of breeze and with a substantial pin end bias on the line. Should Be... (Michael, Owen and Gavan) took the pin with Bad (Dave, Gerry and Jimmy) close on their hip with early season pace-setters Alert Packaging (Justin et al) and Venuesworld (Ger, Chris and Rory) further up the line. With better breeze out right and a forecasted veer, boats were eager to get out to the right hand side of the course quickly after the start and one by one the boats began to peel away onto port tack. The wind held steady for the first beat though and as the boats converged at the weather mark, Should Be... led by a few boatlengths from a congested pack including Bad, Alert Packaging, Probably (Ian, Billy and Tom) and visitors from HYC, Monkey (Keith Cassidy et al). Down the run, there was quite a spread across the course as each of the boats tried to find their own patch of clear air but coming to the leeward gate, it was clear that the left hand side of the course down the run had paid. Should Be... Bad and Monkey had made gains on the fleet by going left down the run and those three boats would keep their lead and those positions for the remaining three rounds to the finish. Behind them, there was a real dogfight for places with Venuesworld and Odin (James, Ted and Stroud) both having to come from deep early on in the race to keep their hopes alive in the two race series. At the finish, Alert Packaging held on to fourth ahead of Venuesworld (5th), Probably (6th) and Odin (7th) with Smoke on the Water (Bob et al) holding onto 8th ahead of Seriously Bonkers (Peter et al) in 9th.

After a short break for lunch, Race 2 got off in a lighter breeze of 8-10 knts. Again the OOD set the line with a pin-end bias although this time the bias was less pronounced. Should Be... again took the pin with Bad to weather and trucking. Once again, the emphasis was on getting out to the right hand side of the course as quickly as possible and Alert Packaging, Venuesworld and Odin were the first to get out there followed by Bad and Probably. This time, the forecasted veer did arrive and both Should Be... and Monkey, early pace setters from race 1, were further down the pack with work to do. At the weather mark, Venuesworld led from Alert Packaging and Odin. Just behind them, disaster struck Bad when they had a tiller extension malfunction mid-tack and hit the weather mark in the flooding tide. By the time that they had exonerated themselves they had lost several places and importantly, both Should Be... and Monkey had snuck ahead of them. Down the run, Venuesworld had their work cut out covering boats going either side of them down the run but they skilfully kept in the gusts in the middle to maintain their lead down the run. At the leeward mark, Venuesworld led by the narrowest of margins from Alert Packaging with Should Be... rounding just ahead of Odin and Monkey. There were few place changes to speak of on the next beat and run however all was to change on round three up the final full beat...

As the boats went around the leeward mark onto the last round, Alert Packaging, in second place, seeing better breeze on the right tacked off to the right hand side of the course while Venuesworld in first continued left followed by Should Be... in third and Odin in fourth. Monkey and Probably rounded approximately 10 boatlengths further behind in 5th and 6th with Bad, having recovered from their earlier misfortune, nipping at their heels. Shortly after Monkey and Probably had rounded the leeward gate, there was a massive right hand shift with the wind that Alert Packaging had expertly spotted and it seemed that the persistent right hand shift had finally arrived in spades. Venuesworld and Odin continued on in the hope of a left hander further up the course while Should Be... tacked back onto port and took the transoms of both Probably and Monkey. At this stage, Alert Packaging was in a regatta winning position, but only just! As if things weren't hotting up enough, Bad had come right back into it and trailed Monkey and Should Be... by only a couple of boatlengths so it was all to play for between these three boats up the final beat! The wind continued to clock further right, Alert Packaging made massive gains on the fleet and both Odin and Venuesworld had suffered large losses. Alert Packaging led around the weather mark by a distance. Somehow, Venuesworld managed to find a patch of private breeze to come back towards the fleet from the far left corner and held on to second place ahead of a bunch that included Should Be..., Monkey, Probably, Odin and Bad, all within a couple of boatlengths of each other. Those five boats tacked, ducked and crossed their way up the final quarter of the beat and at the mark it was Should Be... in third ahead of Monkey, Odin, Bad and then Probably. From there, after the significant right-hand shift, it was a drag race to the leeward mark and the last short beat to finish. Uncharacteristically, Venuesworld had failed to take into account the massive right-hander up the beat and rather than doing a gybe set, continued on in a nice patch of breeze after the weather mark. When they gybed back onto port, they couldn't hold their kite and dropped back to seventh as the boats with kites above sailed over the top of them en route to the leeward mark. At the finish, it was Alert Packaging by a country mile, followed by Should Be... (2nd), Monkey (3rd), Odin (4th), Bad (5th), Probably (6th), Venuesworld (7th), Seriously Bonkers (8th) and Smoke on the Water in ninth.

Overall, the regatta results were 1st Should Be, 2nd Alert Packaging, 3rd Monkey, 4th Bad, 5th Odin.

Just a reminder that there will be an SB Social evening in the RStGYC this Thursday after sailing. The fleet will gather for a drink on the balcony after sailing followed by sailing supper @ c. 9.15pm. Looking forward to seeing as many of you there as possible. Also, next Sunday (29th June) is SB Sunday No. 5. Let's hope the weather holds!

#sb20 – A fluctuating F3 NE breeze and glorious sunshine greeted the SB fleet on Dublin Bay for the last race decider of Thursday series 1. After 7 races, Should Be... (Michael, Owen and Gavan) led by a single point overall from the in-form Alert Packaging (Justin, Darren et al) with Venuesworld (Ger, Rory et al) a further three points back, so it was all to play for in the last race of the series.

The overall results are downloadable below as an xcel file

The line was set with a strong pin end bias and Manamana (Doug, Ronan and Tara) battled it out with Probably (Mark, Ian et al) for the pin with the rest of the fleet opting for a more cautious approach slightly further up the line. Although Manamana expertly won the pin, Probably started with better pace and soon eked out ahead of Manamana. One by one, the boats started peeling off onto port in search of clearer air out right, led by SacreBleu (Richard, Ben et al) followed closely by Should Be... Alert Packaging took advantage of the opportunity to split tacks with Should Be..., took their transom and continued left with Venuesworld. As the boats converged at the top mark for a starboard rounding, Probably had extended their lead on the fleet to round two boatlengths ahead of Should Be... with Alert Packaging two boatlengths further back with Venuesworld hot on their heels. At this stage, the series was in the hands of Should Be...

Venuesworld gybed off straight away followed by Manamana, while Probably, Should Be... and Alert Packaging opted for the straight set followed by Bad (Enda, Gerry et al), SacreBleu, Smoke on the Water (Bob et al) and Seriously Bonkers (Peter, Michael and Dave). Probably showed great pace down the run to extend their lead to 5 boatlengths by the leeward mark. Alert Packaging positioned themselves perfectly, gybing onto Should Be... as the boats gybed for the leeward mark. Alert Packaging squeezed around the leeward mark just ahead of Should Be... with Venuesworld a few boatlengths further back. With Alert Packaging needing to beat Should Be... and place either 1st or 2nd to win the series, Alert Packaging were now in a series-winning position.

Going up the next beat, both Venuesworld and Should Be... tacked out left in search of clear air and better breeze with Alert Packaging and Probably continued on. Should Be... came back early to keep in touch with Alert Packaging but Venuesworld took a larger bite out of the cherry. The boats on the left managed to get better breeze and coming to the second weather mark, Venuesworld had jumped from fourth to first and led from Probably followed by Should Be... in a distant third. By now, Manamana had entered back into the fray and was just ahead of Alert Packaging heading for the mark. In this position, Venuesworld had overtaken Alert Packaging in the overall standings!

Alert Packaging attempted to tack inside Manamana at the mark but disaster struck and in the building tide, Alert Packaging hit the mark and had to spin. Although they battled on valiantly, the gap to the boats ahead was now just too much to claw back and their race was effectively run.

Up ahead, Venuesworld maintained their lead over Probably and Should Be... down the run but as the boats went up the final beat, the wind softened and traffic from other classes meant that it was essential to plot a course through the other fleets keeping your air clear. The three lead boats bunched closer together and Probably took the lead just before the last weather mark followed by Should Be... with Venuesworld rounding outside Should Be... onto the last run. By the last leeward mark before the short fetch to the finish line, Probably led by 1/2 boatlength from Should Be... With Venuesworld approximately 4 boatlengths further back.

However, there was still time for one more cruel twist to the story and tragedy struck Probably. A navigational snafu by Probably saw them attempt to round the last mark on port. By the time they realised their error, they were the wrong side of the mark with no easy way back. Should Be... and Venuesworld took full advantage of Probably's misfortune to get first and second respectively ahead of Probably. Meanwhile, Alert Packaging, never giving up, had overtaken Manamana up the final beat and took fourth ahead of Manamana in fifth. In sixth was relative newcomers (as a team) SacreBleu followed by Bad, Seriously Bonkers and Smoke on the Water.

Overall, Thursdays series 1 went to Should Be... with Alert Packaging in second place a point ahead of Venuesworld in third. Hopefully, Thursdays series 2 will also go down to the wire!

Finally, and most importantly, next Thursday (26th June), the last Thursday of the month, there will be a fleet get-together in the RStGYC after sailing. We will be meeting on the balcony for a drink after sailing and we will head in to sailing supper at approx. 9.15pm. Dress is smart casual (no jacket and tie required) and the dinner will cost €25 for starter and main course. This was a fabulous social event last year and I would encourage everyone to come along and join in the fun. Early booking is recommended (last year we ended up with an overflow table!) and if you would like to attend, please contact me, rather than the RStGYC, directly asap and I will make sure your name is in the pot.

Good luck to those competing in the NYC regatta on Saturday, looks like there will be a zephyr, maybe two, but plenty of sunshine :-)

MO'C

#sb20 – A fickle F2 north westerly in beaming sunshine tested the SB20 fleet last Sunday for the 4th (of 10) DBSC SB Sundays and the first Sunday of Series 2.

After a short postponement to clear the race track of the ICRA cruiser fleet, OOD con Murphy and his team of Barbara, Cathy, Fionnuala, Owen and owner John Roberts on "Quite Correct" got the fleet off at the first time of asking. An individual recall was sounded for the crew of Alert Packaging (Justin, Darren and Marty) but the rest of the fleet had managed to keep their noses clean. Most of the fleet opted for a committee boat end start on starboard with Should Be... (Michael, Owen and Gavan) attempting a port tack start from the pin. They couldn't quite cross Venuesworld (Ger, Chris and Rory) but ducked their transom and headed out right along with Alert Packaging and Bad (Jerry, Jimmy and Dave, Dave helming), in expectation of the forecasted veer. VenuesWorld, Manamana (Doug, Ronan and Tara) and Rubadubdub (Nick et al - sorry lads (et al), we really need to introduce ourselves over a pint this weekend at the NYC regatta!!) headed left and inshore for more pressure. Half way up the beat the boats converged back towards the middle of the course and it was clear that left and pressure had paid handsomely with Venuesworld in a commanding lead followed by Manamana and Should Be... That was the order of rounding at the weather mark followed by Bad, Alert Packaging and Rubadubdub. Heading down the run, Bad, Manamana and Should Be... opted for the early gybe with Venuesworld, Alert Packaging and Rubadubdub again heading for pressure inshore. By the bottom of the run, Venueworld had extended their lead but the rest of the fleet was still tightly packed with a few boatlengths separating second from sixth. The big movers on the run were Alert Packaging getting back up into the mix and Should Be... moving in the opposite direction. Up the second beat, the wind started to die and Venuesworld expertly plotted their way up the course, holding onto their lead. Manamana and Alert Packaging had headed out right, however this time the veer and better pressure materialised off shore and both boats made significant gains on the fleet. By now, the new north easterly breeze was establishing itself so a reach followed by a fetch to finish ensured that no further place changes were on offer and at the finish it was Venuesworld followed by Alert Packaging (who made a miraculous recovery having gone back at the start), Manamana, Bad, Rubadubdub and Should Be...

The OOD took a short break waiting for the new breeze to establish itself and once it did, the fleet were treated to a steadier F3 north easterly. OOD Con Murphy sensibly opted for a slightly shorter course than race 1 in an attempt to ensure two or more races could be completed on the day. A committee boat bias meant bunching at the weather end with several boats including Bad and Should Be... going out right with Venuesworld and Manamana heading left. At the top mark it was Venuesworld once more in a commanding lead followed by Manamana with Should Be... and Bad (this time with Gerry on the helm) in close pursuit. With the boats going pretty deep on the run, there was plenty of opportunity for the back markers to make gains on the boats ahead and claw their way back into the race and the leaders were never completely safe. After the next beat and run, the two lead boats, Manamana and Venuesworld went around the last leeward mark overlapped with Should Be... in third only a boatlength behind and Alert Packaging (this time with Darren on the helm) only a further 1/2 boatlength back. The two leaders got tangled up in a personal duel and almost allowed Should Be... through but in the end Venuesworld, sailing very solidly, held on to take the win from Should Be..., Manamana, Alert Packaging, Bad and Rubadubdub.

Race 3 got off without any delay and the fleet once again bunched up at the committee boat and split tacks up the first beat. Alert Packaging (this time with Marty on the helm), Manamana and Should Be... opting to go right with Rubadubdub, Venuesworld and Bad (this time with Jimmy on the helm) going left. This time, the boats heading right found more pressure and at the weather mark Should Be... led from Alert Packaging and Manamana. The boats bunched once more at the leeward mark with Venuesworld storming up the fleet. Should Be... still led at the leeward gate but by the narrowest of margins. In an effort to get a clean getaway, Venuesworld opted for the right hand side gate mark, however it transpired that the left mark was in fact the favoured mark allowing those boats going to the left hand mark to gain distance on Venuesworld. By the second weather mark, Should Be... had held on to their lead and were followed a few boatlengths behind by Alert Packaging, Manamana and Venuesworld. After the final run and short beat to finish, it ended up with Should Be... taking the gun followed by Alert Packaging, Venuesworld, Manamana, Rubadubdub and Bad.

So after the first SB Sunday of series 2, Ger and the crew of Venuesworld lead series 2 with 5 points and have certainly set down a marker for the rest of the fleet. Alert Packaging are in second on 8 points followed by Should Be... in third on 9 points. Special thanks goes to Con Murphy OOD and his team on Quite Correct for setting three great races in very challenging conditions. Special thanks also goes to John Roberts for the loan of his 54ft Jeanneau "Quite Correct". Having enjoyed the splendour and creature comforts of "Quite Correct", I understand that it will be hard to drag Cathy, Fionnuala and Barbara back to MacLir - I hope that they aren't unionised!!

Finally, in last Thursday's race report, I failed to mention that Alert Packaging was helmed to a convincing victory by Darren Burke with Justin on the mainsheet (unfortunately we were never close enough to tell!). Darren is obviously following in his Justin's footsteps giving the class a beating! Congratulations Darren, you might have a regular spot there! See you all this Thursday for the last Thursday of Series 1. Forecast is for wind and sunshine so leave the office and be unproductive for a few hours!

#sb20 – Nine SB20 sportsboats made it to the start line in beautiful sunshine and a gentle F2 south easterly for the penultimate race of the first Thursday series. With only a few points separating the top 3 boats and a second discard to be applied, it was still all to play for in the scrap for the prizes.

The fleet set off on a lengthy beat to Bullock into a strengthening flooding tide. The usual Dublin Bay conundrum of less tide inshore or more wind offshore faced the competitors with those boats avoiding the flat spots closer to shore faring best up the first beat. At the first mark, Manamana (Doug, Ronan et al) had weekend out a nice lead and a tidy hoist allowed them to extend away from the chasing pack. In second and third, Alert Packaging (Justin, Darren et al) and Venuesworld (Ger et al) were having an epic tussle with only feet separating them around the mark. A gap formed then to SacreBleu (Richard et al), Bad (Enda and Gerry), Probably (Billy, Ian and Mark), Should Be... (Michael, Owen and Gavan), Rubadubdub (Nick et al) and Smoke On The Water (Bob et al). Unfortunately for Smoke on the Water, a broken spinny sheet put paid to their race prematurely...

There were no significant changes down the first two reaches but the second beat turned the race on its head with massive gains and losses to be had. Venuesworld lost touch with the top two as Alert Packaging and Manamana pulled away from the fleet and match raced each other up the beat with the lead changing several times... (From a great, great distance it looked like a great battle!) Elsewhere, it seemed like there were place changes every couple of minutes with first of all Probably and then Should Be... nipping at the heels of SacreBleu and Venuesworld, and Bad falling back. Third around the second weather was Venuesworld followed closely by SacreBleu, Should Be... and Probably in hot pursuit.

With a run followed by another beat and two reaches (a good but very long course tonight!), you would expect that the fleet would have spread out a lot, turning the race into a procession however (other than the top 2 who were just crazy far ahead!), it is a testament to the evenness of the boats and the dogged nature of the competitors in the fleet that three boats (Bad, SacreBleu and Probably) went around the last gybe mark overlapped. Bad skillfully came out of that tussle with the bragging rights!

In the end, Alert Packaging snuck ahead of Manamana who gave them a terrific battle to the end and they were followed over the line by Venuesworld, Should Be..., Probably, Bad and SacreBleu in that order. Only one point separates the top two with third a further three points back so the stage is set for a great finale to series one next Thursday.

Just a reminder that the second Sunday series is about to begin with SB Sunday no. 4 on this coming Sunday, 12.30 first gun. This Sunday we are delighted to have Con Murphy filling in for Barry as OOD (big shoes to fill Con!) so looking forward to some great SB racing in the sunshine.

#sb20 – The sb20 fleet assembled in Carrickfergus last weekend for their Northern Championship for what was supposed to be the opening of the new club house writes Ronan Downing. Unfortunately "Health & Safety" hadn't signed off on occupation or the club thought better of it considering the fleet had the last regatta at the old club before it burnt down. With an entry list comprising numerous national champions, commodore cup sailors and an Olympian the competition was always going to be fierce.

Results are available to download below as a PNG file.

The conditions on Saturday didn't live up to expectations with the wind completely shutting down at the second leeward mark of race one robbing Who's The Boss (Mel Collins, Killian Collins and Luca) of a comfortable race victory. This lead was hard fought for after Bad (Stefan Hyde, Gerry Dowling, Jimmy Dowling) managed to tie themselves to the spreader mark TWICE giving away a 2 minute lead. Sailing for the day was cancelled after much waiting around in very cold, dreary and wet conditions. The fleet retired to the bar in the boat shed where we were treated to a barbecue. The new club house might not have been ready but the hospitality made everyone feel welcome.

For day 2 the sun came out and the breeze was up building from 15 knots in the lulls to just shy of 30 in the gusts by the end of the day. After a general recall the fleet got away under the u flag off a square line. Over the next 3 legs the lead changed several times with Who's the boss leading around the second weather mark. The downwind legs were full planing on both gybes making the leeward gate arrive rapidly. With tidier drops Bad and ManaMana (Graeme Grant, Ronan Downing, Tara Flood) took the lead. A match race to the finish ensued which opened the door for Dinghy Supplies ( Daragh Sheridan, Shane Murphy, John Phelan) who had stormed down the last downwind leg. A photo finish at the line saw Dinghy Supplies take the win from Bad and ManaMana with Ridgefence (Peter Kennedy, Andrew Vaughan, Stephen Kane) taking fourth from Who's the Boss.

Race 2 saw Who's the boss take the lead on the first beat closely followed by a large pack. This time the Cork/ Italian crew weren't going to let it slip away and extended on every leg winning by a substantial margin. The race for second was one by Ruby Blue (Aidan O Connell, Brian Reilly, Alan Daly) from Dinghy Supplies and BomChickaWhaWha (John O Driscoll, Robert O Donohoe, Edward Cooke). Ridgefence took fifth with ManaMana in sixth. This put Dinghy Supplies out in front of Who's The Boss by a point. With the top sixth all within 3 points.

Race 3 got off first time of asking on another square line. ManaMana rounded the weather mark first closely following by BomChickaWhaWha, WhosThe Boss and RidgeFence. After a slow kite hoist at the second weather mark by ManaMana, BomChickaWhaWha took the lead and the win followed by Manamana, Ridgefence and Who's the Boss with Bad in fifth. This left the scoring all tied between Manamana and BomChickaWhaWha in second with Who's The Boss 1 point ahead in first.

With all to play for in race 4 the breeze really filled in as the fleet got off another clean start on a square line. ManaMana lead out to the right side of the course after starting second row at the committee boat. This gave ManaMana a 6 boat length lead at the first weather mark with what appeared to be the entire fleet arriving together behind. ManaMana extended on the first downwind with Ridgefence in second breaking away from the following pack. After Ridgefence broached and ditched their kite at the leeward mark ManaMana now had a substantial lead and loose covered the entire fleet up the next beat. BomChickaWhaWha made the best effort to next break away from the following pack by playing the right hand side of the course. With many wipe outs on the next downwind including a wayward kicker on the lead boat during a gybe, survival proved the better part of valour. ManaMana managed to hold onto first with BomChickaWhaWha taking second and Shark Bait (Darren Martin, Simon Murray, Roger Pannell) having their best race of the day with a third.

Who's the boss retired from the last race after being involved in a small collision which left the overall results ManaMana first on 6 points, BomChickaWhaWha second on 7 points and Dinghy Supplies taking third from Who's The Boss on count back both on 10 points. Ruby Blue took fifth from Ridgefence on count back tied on 12 points. The silver fleet was won by Bad with Shark Bait in second and www.yachtsmarine.ie (Davey Taylor, Trevor D'Arcy, Lisa Neary) in third.

The class would like to make a special mention about the Race Officer Robin Gray. The R.O. did an exceptional job on Sunday getting four fantastic races in on one day to complete the regatta.

#sb20 – Five SB20s lined up for the weekly Thursday sail around the cans with southerly breeze of 13 knts gusting 16 and a rolling sea, Some of the usual contenders were presumably opting to use the evening to get ready for the trip up north this weekend. A 20 degree shift at the start made for a bias at the boat end where we duly lined up in a tight bunch which resulted in some excitement and the flying of a protest flag. Venuesworld and Sacrebleu got off the line first followed by Should be and Manamana. A decent length beat to the top mark resulted in four boats rounding within a few boat lengths of each other. The angle was just marginally too tight for some of the gusts so the fleet played it safe until Venuesworld decided to put up their kite. Enthused by their bravery Should be went for it and aimed to leeward of the fleet while SacreBleu and Venuesworld got involved in a luffing battle to windward with Manamana waiting to see what happened the kite hoisters. Should be saw the battle between SacreBleu and Venuesworld and caught a few strong gusts to lead the pack to the next mark where they lead to the finish.

The next leg was too tight to fly the kites but Manamana put in a brave effort to keep theirs up after the gybe but couldn't get the required height, still they worried the fleet for a while with their pace, the remainder of the fleet two sailed it back inshore with lovely rollers underneath, Venuesworld showed their skills in 2 sail reaching from the Enterprise days and rapidly closed the gap between themselves and Should be using the waves to great effect. Should be tacked inshore and took advantage of a right shift to increase their lead to the next mark.

A great tussle between SacreBleu and Manamana ended with SacreBleu getting to the right side of a flock of Glens to end in a photo finish which resulted in SacreBleu getting a well deserved 3rd.

Overall a great evenings yachting with everyone putting the kites up for a sleigh ride home, with Venuesworld sailing enthusiastically past the harbour never wanting it to end!

Many thanks to Barry O'Neill and the crew of Freebird for a great evening racing.

Best of luck to all those travelling north!

Final results
1. Should be
2. Venuesworld.com
3. Sacrebleu
4. Manamana
5. Smoke on the Water

#sb20 – A gentle force 2 North Easterly tested the nerves of the SB20 fleet on Dublin Bay this evening in an increasingly treacherous flooding tide. 9 boats made it out to the start line this evening making it a new season record and it is very encouraging to see the numbers continue to build as we head into June writes Michael O'Connor.

A fairly square line was set (based on the fact that half the fleet maintain it was a committee boat bias and the other half of the fleet claim it was a pin end bias, we are just going to sit on the fence and say it was square!) and the boats were clean away at the first time of asking. A short beat to the centre of the bay with neither side of the beat proving heavily favoured meant that things were going to be fairly lively at the weather mark and it certainly didnt disappoint with Alert Packaging (Justin, Darren et al) coming in from the left and squeezing in ahead of Manamana (Doug, Ronan and Catriona) coming in from the right followed by a tightly packed bunch including SacreBleu (Richard, Ben and Matt), Bad (Jimmy Downling et al), Rubadubdub (Nick et al), Should Be... (Michael, Dave and Gavan), Probably (Ian, Mark and Caroline) and Smoke on the Water (Bob, John et al).

A broad reach to mark 2 with the tide pushing the fleet above the mark meant that the boats were walking a tightrope between going low enough to avoid a gybe back against the tide and high enough to protect their air. At the second mark, Alert held onto their lead from Manamana followed by SacreBleu. A tight reach (bleeuugh!) to mark 3 ensued (in fairness our first this year I think) so we will just fast forward beyond mark 3 because nothing ever happens in an SB on a tight reach! The beat from mark 3 was a tricky affair with patchy wind covering Dublin Bay meaning finding the puffs was essential with big gains and losses to be made on the beat. Probably made a storming surge up the beat getting herself into 4th place at mark 4, comfortably overtaking both Should Be... and Rubadubdub. Meanwhile, the first three boats were having a great tussle and Manamana refused to let Alert Packaging sail off into the sunset and SacreBleu clinging on to Manamana to set up a grandstand finish.

Another broad reach ensured that these boats compacted even further and some tense moments up the last beat followed. In the end, Alert Packaging held their nerve and grabbed the win by approximately 20 seconds from Manamana with SacreBleu a similar distance behind in third. Probably unfortunately couldn't get back in touch with the top three but took 4th comfortably from Should Be... with Rubadubdub 6th, Smoke on the water 7th, Bad 8th and Venuesworld (Rory et al) who had started late, closing worryingly close to the earlier starters in 9th.

After sailing, 19 sailors and friends gathered for the first SB social of the year in the NYC. A few pints were followed by a very pleasant sailing supper in the dining room of the NYC. Great value at €20 for starter, maincourse and tea/coffee. Although most didn't seem quite ready to let loose in typical SB20 style before the bank holiday weekend, there was plenty of banter and it was great to see such a good turnout. Thanks go to James Gorman for organising the event in the NYC. There will be an SB-Social dinner after sailing on the last Thursday of each month rotating around the clubs. Next up is the RStGYC on the last Thursday in June. Looking forward to seeing you all there!

Finally, a special mention is due for both Billy Riordan and Lorcan Burke who manned the line on Tuesday night, fulfilling our DBSC requirement for the year. 

Full results DBSC results here

#sb20 – A solid breeze of 12 to 15 knots made up for the overcast and somewhat unseasonal chill in the air. Seven SB20s made the start line for the Royal Irish Regatta and were treated to two races on a windward leeward course, each consisting of 3 rounds.

A slight pin end bias became exaggerated during the starting sequence for race 1 with the majority of the fleet towards the pin for the off. Manamana (Graeme Grant, Ronan Downing, Joseph Murphy) lead off the line closely followed by Timber (helmed by Alan McNabb with Marty Cuppage in the middle) and Venuesworld (helmed by Ger Dempsey with his nephew Rory onboard) carrying on on starboard tack. Sacrebleu and Probably lead the rest of the fleet out right on the lifted tack. Manamana tacked off into the middle of the course to cover the split but found less breeze. Timber had a healthy lead by the weather mark with Manamana, Probably and Venuesworld scrapping it out for second and rounding together. With the wind out of the North East and the waves out of the east, the starboard gybe was on a plane. Less wind at the leeward mark made finding an accurate gybe angle next to impossible. Timber lead to the leeward mark followed by Manamana with Venuesworld in hot pursuit. Timber carried on on port tack on what appeared to be a small left shift with Manamana learning their lesson from the first beat and heading out left for more breeze. Manamana and Venuesworld fought it out for the lead at the next weather mark with Manamana stealing the lead by barely eeking around the weather mark and forcing Venuesworld to dip their stern. Positions remained unchanged for the first two with Bad Kilcullen (Gerry Dowling, Dave Barry, Jimmy Dowling) storming through the pack to take third.

After some quick repairs on Sacrebleu (it is never ideal to have to take your main sail down) the fleet got away off another pin end biased line. After a pile up at the pin, Manamana lead Bad Kilcullen out to the left side of the course with much cross tacking and dipping in their wake. With a solid 15 plus knots of breeze for the second race the entire fleet enjoyed the downwind legs planing and playing dodgems with the other classes on our course. In a less eventful race at the front of the fleet, Manamana lead Bad Kilcullen to the finish with Venuesworld taking third which is the order the top 3 finished for the regatta.

Despite the inclement weather, a large turnout remained at the club for refreshments and to cheer on the winners. The SB20 fleet winners where honoured to accept the Baker Cup.

Full RIYC regatta results

#sb20 – After a cracking SB20 Easterns last weekend with 20 boats in the NYC (won in great style by the Dinghy Supplies team of Daragh, Shane and John), it was back to work in DBSC tonight and 9 boats gamely made it out for Thursday night racing - just one shy of the magic double figures - we will get there yet! With 60 minutes to go before the start, many competitors were wondering whether or not there would be enough wind to get them out to the start line on time however Windguru was true to its word and the wind picked up gradually throughout the evening and built to a very pleasant F3 from the north-east by the finish.

The OOD set a pin end bias and once again it was Venuesworld (Ger, Chris and Rory) that claimed the pin with Bad (Gerry, Jimmy and Enda) on their hip, drag racing out to the left hand side. Most of the rest of the fleet were left wallowing in their wake and several tacked off out right to clear their air. The wind was shifting through about 20 degrees with big gains and losses to be made up the first beat. Many of the boats that chose a middle route up the beat fared best. By the first weather mark, a 10 degree left hander meant that Venuesworld had pulled a few boatlengths ahead of the chasing pack with Probably (Ian, Billy and Mark) in second, Alert Packaging (Justin, Darren and Anonymous) in third and then a gap to SacreBleu (Richard, Ryan and Ben) in fourth, Should Be... (Michael, Owen and Gavan) in fifth and a few more boatlengths back Manamana (Ronan, Dave et al), Lupi d'Irlanda (Marco et al), Bad and Seriously Bonkers (Peter, Caroline et al) were fighting tooth and nail to get back into it.

The second leg was a broad reach all the way into Bay mark in Scotsman's bay and the fleet had the added challenge of navigating their way through the Dragon fleet en route to the mark. As it turned out, this gave the back markers a chance to get back into the mix as the leaders that chose to go high above the Dragons turned the leg into a run for themselves and had to gybe back against the strengthening tide. At the mark, Probably had taken over the lead and got a clean getaway up the next beat. They were followed by Alert Packaging and Venuesworld but an uncharacteristic slow "group" mark rounding by that pair allowed Should Be... to sneak inside at the mark and Sacre Bleu to get perilously close.

On the next beat, those boats favouring the right hand side including Probably, Alert Packaging and Should Be... hooked in to some more breeze and pulled a jump on the rest of the fleet. At the end of the beat as the boats turned onto the run it was Should Be... followed closely by Probably with Alert Packaging squeezing around ahead of Venuesworld and SacreBleu still nipping at the heels of the top four. The top four boats gybed shortly after the mark and an inspired call by Venuesworld to gybe back early down the run allowed them to make big gains and by the leeward mark they had passed out both Probably and Alert Packaging and were only a couple of boatlengths behind Should Be... Unfortunately for Venuesworld, they went too far right up the next beat, overstanding the weather mark which allowed both Alert Packaging and Probably to slip past into second and third respectively. From there, it was a straightforward run back home to pier mark and at the finish it was Should Be... in first followed by Alert Packaging in second, Probably in third, Venuesworld in fourth and SacreBleu in fifth.

SB20 Social
There is a plan to have an informal sailing supper next Thursday evening (29th May) after sailing in the NYC. Depending on the options, it will probably be sailing supper washed down with a few pints/glasses of vino. (The plan is to have sailing supper on the last Thursday of each month rotating amongst the clubs so pencil it into your diary now...) We did this on the last Thursday of the season in the George last year (thanks John O'Driscoll for the suggestion!) and it was a great success with about 20 thirsty sailors in attendance. Everyone is welcome, the more the merrier. Why not adopt an old SBer and bring them along?! Further details will follow during the week...

For those sailing in the RIYC regatta this Saturday, best of luck!

Full DBSC Thursday night DBSC winners here

#sb20 – The SB20 class is looking forward to the second event on the 2014 Grand Slam circuit, at Lake Garda in Italy.

The Grand Slam is also a key opportunity for crews to get some practice on Lake Garda before next year's world championships, as racing will be hosted by Yacht Club Circolo Vela Torbole, the organisers of the 2015 worlds.

The Italian lake is world-famous for its perfect sailing conditions of strong breezes and flat water. The venue lays on near-constant winds each day, with the 'Pelér' breeze, which typically blows from north to south early in the morning, then the famed 'Ora' wind, which blows from south to north, takes over from late morning until late in the afternoon offering fantastic racing conditions. Add in challenging effects from the surrounding mountains, and plenty of Italian sunshine, and it's easy to see why Garda is such a favourite among regatta organisers.

The Italian Grand Slam has attracted around 30 boats with a strong international fleet that includes visitors from the UK, Russia, France and Monaco. Nine races are scheduled over a busy three-day programne, with registration on Thursday 22nd May, then three races per day planned for Friday 23rd to Sunday 25th.

See more event details here