For the seventh weekend in a row in the Spring Series of the HYC Dinghy Frostbites, two races went ahead on schedule in the waters north of Howth Harbour. A 11-15 knot south-westerly breeze, with a maximum gust of 23 knots, welcomed the sailors to the start line. Race Officer Liam Dineen got two races away for the ILCA and PY fleets, the first around a windward-leeward, then the second around a triangular course. A strengthening ebb tide made the beats "interesting" and the laylines difficult to judge, but by the end of the racing the sun had come out, making the racing that bit more enjoyable.
Early leaders Dan O'Connell (Cobh) from Conor Murphy (Howth) and Dave Kirwan (Malahide). Photo: Neil Murphy
With only two more weeks of racing before the season-closing Round the Island Race on March 11th, the fleets are tight-knit. The ILCA 7s had some of their closest racing yet. In Race 1, there was stiff competition to start at the pin end, however with the ebb tide pushing everyone towards it, Ronan Wallace ended up striking the pin mark as the start gun went. As he did his 360 penalty, the rest of the fleet moved on up the beat.
Conor Murphy, Dan O'Connell and Rory Lynch had a very tight battle around the first two laps of the course, however on the third lap, while those three original leaders fought it out with each other, Wallace sped cleanly up the beat and got right back in with the pack. By the finish line, he had stolen 1st, Lynch 2nd and O'Connell 3rd, making it Wexford, Balitmore and Cobh without a Howth boat on the podium, though after a 35 minute race, only a few boat-lengths separated the top four.
The Comeback Kid. Despite taking a 360 at the start, Ronan Wallace came through for the bullet and is now overall leader on countback, tying with Dan O'Connell. Photo: Neil Murphy
Con Costello brings his ILCA out of a tack while Tristan Nelson sails serenely by in the RS600
Dave Kirwan was unfortunate to be called OCS, but recovered well in Race 2 to take 5th, after the same 1st to 4th places as in race 1. Wallace leads the series overall, but is tied on points with O'Connell. Rory Lynch follows 5 points behind in third, while Conor Murphy and Oisin Hughes fight it out for fourth with only two points between them.
Marco Sorgassi from Dun aoghaire continues to show the ILCA 6s what's what, with another 2 wins to solidify his overall lead. Daniel O'Hare showed consistency and took two 2nd places. Darragh Peelo took 3rd in race 1 and Fiachra Farrelly took it in race 2. Peelo and Farrelly are tied on 41 points apiece for 2nd place, so with 4 races to go, the rest of the podium after Marco is all to play for.
Aisling Kelly keeping things under control in the ILCA 4s with Mackay, Savage and Daragh Sheridan in the RS Aero astern and to lee. Photo: Neil Murphy
The ILCA 4s saw Aisling Kelly solidify her overall lead with a 3rd and a 1st. Des Turvey won the race 1, but unfortunately didn't complete race 2. Viktor Samoilovs and Maedbh Butterly took home the rest of the podium places for the day. Aisling Kelly has a 3.5 point lead over Viktor Samoilovs in the series, who in turn has a 7.5 point lead over Riaghan Boardman.
Malahide's Daragh Peelo demonstrating that an hour or two of good winter sailing is as much of a morale booster as a whole day in summer. Photo: Neil Murphy
The PY fleet again saw its now usual mix of RS Aeros, 600, 800, GP14s and a B14. Alan Blay's GP14 and Daragh Sheridan's RS Aero swapped 1st and 2nd in each race. The windward leeward of Race 1 favoured the GP14, allowing Blay to win by over a minute on corrected time. However in Race 2, the fast reaches favoured Sheridan's RS Aero, and he took first by a narrow 11 seconds on corrected time. Tristan Nelson's single-handed trapezing RS600 took third in both races. Overall in the series, Sheridan still has a healthy lead, but only 9 points separates Jeremy Beshoff (B14) and Alan Blay in the fight for secnd. Four more more races and one more discard could make or break the series.
Renaissance Man....the multi-talented ICRA "Boat of the Year" co-skipper Mike Evans takes RS800 racing in his stride. Photo: Neil Murphy
Boss Woman....Aisling Kelly leads the ILCA 4s. Photo: Neil Murphy
Puppeteer 22 ace helm Alan Blay hones his skills with GP 14 racing success, and won the first race by a clear minute. Photo: Neil Murphy
Full results are available below. Meanwhile make sure to get entries in for the Round the Island Race, taking place on Saturday 11th March.
