Yet another windy weekend greeted sailors in the HYC Dinghy Frostbite series, but their resilience shone through as two races were completed in challenging conditions. A building westerly breeze blowing off the shore, combined with a flooding tide, made for changeable racing with plenty of shifts, gusts and lulls to keep everyone on their toes. The race management team once again delivered two excellent races, sending sailors around Olympic courses in both, with the second race shortened slightly at the final gybe mark.
With just one week (two races) remaining, the leaderboards are tight, and it remains to be seen how they will look before the prizegiving after the annual Round the Island Race on Saturday, the 7th of March.
In the ILCA 7 fleet, Conor Murphy continued his winning streak with two more race victories, neither of which was easy. In Race 1, Murphy, Dave Kirwan and Dan O’Connell traded places around the course before finishing in that order. A similarly close three-way battle developed for 4th place, with Max Tipp-McKnight, Davie Carr and Andrejs Samoilovs exchanging positions throughout the race.
Spray and Stay — Dave Kirwan powers through choppy seas in the ILCA 7 fleet, retaining the overall series lead ahead of the final two races. Photo: Neil Murphy
In Race 2, Andrejs Samoilovs made a strong start and led the first lap, while Tom Fox surged up the second beat to take a healthy lead into lap two. Murphy and Fox engaged in several tacking duels up the third beat while Dan O’Connell pushed his way back into 3rd after recovering from an earlier incident.
Overall, Dave Kirwan retains the series lead on 19 points, followed by Tom Fox on 23 and Conor Murphy on 24. With two races to go and no discards remaining, an intriguing final weekend lies ahead for the ILCA 7 fleet.
In the ILCA 6 fleet, a photo finish saw Peter Hassett and Harry Dunne share 1st place in Race 1, with Dylan Cassidy taking 3rd. Determined to leave no doubt the second time around, Hassett pushed hard in Race 2 to take a clear win ahead of Cassidy and Dunne.
Hassett extends his series lead and now heads Peelo by 3.5 points, with Cassidy a further 13 points behind in 3rd place.
Blue Boost — Cormac and Justin Farrelly’s Melges 15 flies a blue spinnaker during breezy Frostbite racing, maintaining pressure in the podium battle. Photo: Neil Murphy
Another weekend of breezy triangular courses suited the RS Aeros and Melges 15s. Daragh Sheridan’s RS Aero delivered a double win on corrected time, followed by the Farrellys in their Melges 15 with two consistent 2nd-place finishes. John Phelan’s RS Aero took 3rd in Race 1, while the Quinns’ Melges 15 secured 3rd in Race 2. Richard Tate showed impressive consistency in the demanding conditions, finishing 4th in both races.
Overall, Sheridan’s series lead looks untouchable with an 18-point margin over his nearest competitor. The remaining podium places, however, are tightly contested, with Cormac Farrelly and Justin Cullen’s Melges holding just a two-point advantage over Alan Carr and Orlaith Connolly’s IDRA 14.
Preparations continue for the annual Round the Island Race on Saturday 7th March, followed by the series prizegiving and lunch. All are welcome to join — come racing and celebrate a great winter of sailing at HYC!
The race report was done by Conor Murphy. For access to all the results, click here.
