From Thursday onwards the forecast for the penultimate round of the Viking Marine sponsored Frostbites, hosted by Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club, showed winds of the order of fifteen knots with gusts in the high twenties. With a projected wind direction from the south, the harbour would still be relatively sheltered, but the high twenties gusts gave cause for concern. A change of Race Officer for the day’s proceedings, meant that this correspondent wasn’t on the water but watched the first race from the western breakwater inside the harbour.

A PY Start Photo: Ian Cutliffe

A balmy 12°, according to the car thermometer, greeted the competitors but there was no evident sign of the promised 15 knots. Indeed, the water of the inner harbour, on the doorstep of the DMYC was very calm and some boat would subsequently need a tow out to the race area. Race Officer Ben Mulligan (Flying Fifteens) certainly had his hands full as the breeze in the outer harbour was very fickle and shifting around very considerably. The committee boat was set up off the end of the western breakwater and the weather mark went in to the west of the Hi-speed ferry dolphins. That left the gybe mark of the triangular course in the approximate area of the harbour mouth and a leeward mark close to the green pontoon of the INSS.

Light winds for the PY fleet

For the PY Fleet’s first start there was a traffic jam at the pin end as boats struggled to cross the line on starboard and instead tried to line up to make a snappy pin end port-tack start. Even from the inshore end of the breakwater, I could hear loud voices asserting their rights to do whatever they thought was right. It led to a right/left split of the fleet and Frank Miller scored by going left. For the subsequent starts of the ILCAs, there was further chaos, multiple sound signals and coloured flags flying. The Race Officer subsequently shortened the PYs to a single triangle and once they were finished started proceedings again with the ILCA 7s and 4s getting away first followed by the ILCA 6s.

ILCA start Photo: Ian Cutliffe

The PYs then went into a second two-triangle race. The two ILCA fleets were then afforded a second one-triangle race so that all fleets went home with two races under their belts. The balmy, blue skies gave way to greyer clouds and more gusty conditions and some well-known combinations found themselves swimming a great deal more than they would have expected.

Viking Marine Frostbites, Round 6

1st Race
PY Fleet (28 boats)
1. Noel Butler
2. Mark Gavin
3. Mick McCambridge (All Aero 7s)
4. David Mulvin & Ronan Beirne (GP14 -14069)
5. Frank Miller & Ed Butler (FB – 14713)
8. Jemima Owens & Henry Start (RS200)
9. Tom Murphy (K1)
11. Pierre Long & Son (IDRA)

ILCA 7s (7 boats)
1. Gavan Murphy
2. Conrad Vandlik
3. Chris Arrowsmith
ILCA 4s (8 boats)
1. Emily Cantwell
2. Daniel O’Connor
3. Ava Ennis
4. Donal Walsh
5. Dylan de Vreeze

ILCA 6s (19 boats)
1. Alan Coakley
2. Sophie Kilmartin
3. Alison Pigot
4. Peter Kilmartin
5. Conor Clancy

2nd Race

PY Fleet (26 boats)
1. Mark Gavin
2. Brendan Foley
3. Noel Butler
4. Stephen Oram (All Aero 7s)
5. Roy Van Maanen (Aero 5)
6. Frank Miller & Ed Butler (FB 14713)
7. Sarah Dwyer (Aero 5)
8. David Mulvin & Ronan Beirne (GP14 14069)
10. Pierre Long & Son (IDRA)

ILCA 7s (6 boats)
1. Chris Arrowsmith
2. Conrad Vandlik
3. Gary O’Hare
ILCA 4s (7 boats)
1. Daniel O’Connor
2. Brian Carroll
3. Ava Ennis

ILCA 6s (15 boats)
1. Brendan Hughes
2. Archie Daly
3. Conor Clancy
4. Sophie Kilmartin
5. Judy O’Beirne

Fireballs Race within a Race

As usual, the Fireballs had their race within a race, with eight Fireballs starting amongst the mixed PY fleet. With wildly oscillating winds and probably an expectation that the wind would swing right the start line for Race One had a massive port bias making it almost impossible to get off the line on starboard.

In the midst of the chaos, Neil Colin sailing with Marjo Moonen (14775) managed to flip over to port and found a gap to pop through, pulling off a brave but perfectly safe and legal start. Frank Miller and Ed Butler (14713) played dodgems and managed to get off the pin without any contact. The pair found what there was of decent air and favourable shifts and led around the windward mark by several boat lengths. The pair extended their lead on the chasing fleet on the first reach, initially two-sailing it in the very light winds and hoisting only when there was enough wind to make a difference. Along the second reach, they were ahead of all PY boats by almost half a leg and rounded the leeward with a big lead. However, a third the way up the beat they were told the race was being shortened and sailed downwind again to dip the line and head up again for a windward finish, giving them line honours. They were followed home by Colin/Moonen (14775) and McKenna/O'Keeffe (15016) while Aero sailor Noel Butler won on handicap.

For Race Two Miller/Butler got off the boat-end favoured line cleanly about a third the way along and used their weight to good advantage in gusty conditions to pull away from the rest of the fleet. They led the two-triangle race to the finish this time followed home by McKenna/O'Keeffe while Colin/Moonen had a swim caused by the very difficult airs surrounding the weather mark. On handicap race two was won by Mark Gavin in an Aero.

The final race of Series 1 will be hosted next Sunday, 19th December. Competitors should note that due to the ongoing measures necessitated by Covid there will be no Series 1 prize-giving in the DMYC Clubhouse after racing. Regatta Director Neil Colin advises that prizes will be either be available for collection at the DMYC by individuals, or a plan will be made to get prizes to winner’s home clubs.

A record 69 boats were on the water for the fifth round of the Viking Marine-sponsored, DMYC-hosted Frostbites in Dun Laoghaire Harbour on Sunday 5th December, beating by one the attendance on the opening day of November 7th.

The PY Class took the numbers honours with a 30-boat fleet made up as follows; 10 x Fireballs, 6 x Aero 7s, 2 x Aero 5s, 2 x Kona Windsurfers, 2 x GP14s, and one each of K1, IDRA, Laser Vago, Mirror, RS400, RS Vision, Wayfarer and Laser Pico. The ILCA 6s (Laser radials) mustered 20 boats, the ILCA 4s (Laser 4.7s) 11 boats and the ILCA 7s (Laser Full-rig), 8 boats.

Mother nature decided she would comply with the forecasts from the latter part of the week and Dun Laoghaire was bathed in winter sunshine and a NNW breeze of about 10 – 13 knots (hand-held) at 11:30. The projection was for the breeze to drop as the afternoon wore on and so it proved.

An inaugural NYC match-racing event (report here) was operating in the area immediately inside the harbour mouth, so the Frostbite race area was set a little further inshore, but still allowed an Olympic course of three laps to be set. The NNW breeze was reasonably steady in direction and allowed a weather mark to be set about 150m inside the end of the West Pier, downwind of the INSS green platform. A gybe mark was set downwind of the marina entrance, with a leeward mark located in the approximate location of the Boyd Memorial on the East Pier.

All three starts got away at the first time of asking and most fleets seemed to favour a hitch out to the left-hand side of the course before making their way upwind to the weather mark.

In the PY Class, the Fireballs got into the leading positions on the water at an early stage with Frank Miller & Ed Butler (14713) leading the charge. (see Fireball report here) They were pressed by Alistair Court & Gordon Syme (14706) for the majority of the races with Neil Colin & Marjo (14775) hovering within striking distance and getting closer to the front paid as the race progressed. Eventually, their persistence was rewarded when the “pipped” Court & Syme at the finish line. However, on corrected time the Aero 7s dominated the podium with a one-two-three in Brendan Foley, Mark Gavin and Noel Butler. Miller & Butler finished fifth on time, followed home by the two Aero 5s of Roy van Mannen and Sarah Dwyer. The IDRA of Pierre Long & son took 8th place, followed by the Fireballs of Colin, Court and Louise Mc Kenna & Joe O’Reilly (15016) David Mulvin & Ronan Beirne (14069) won the duel of the GP 14s in 12th place, the Wayfarer came home in 16th and the Kona Windsurfers kept close company most of the way round with Des Gibney getting the decision over Robert Walker in 21st and 22nd respectively.

ILCAs negotiate the downwind leg of the sausage at the DMYC Frostbite Photo: Cormac Bradley

In the ILCA 7s there was a change to the normal order of things when Kei Walker took the gun ahead of Gavan Murphy and Owen Laverty, meaning Chris Arrowsmith had to do with fourth. In the ILCA 4s who share the start with the ILCA 7s, two young ladies got into the podium places with Donal Walsh sandwiched between them – 1st place going to Emily Cantwell and 33rd going to Zoe Hall.

In the ILCA 6s the finishing order was Luke Turvey, Alana Coakley, Mark Henry, Brendan Hughes and Conor Clancy. This represents a bit of a slip by young Hughes, who normally registers much smaller numbers on his finishing scorecard.

As the first race progressed it became apparent that the wind strength was starting to drop off, as forecast, but also the direction was going more westerly. While the race committee team finished off the first race, the Race Officer reset the weather mark by moving it of the order of 75m further inshore so that it now floated on the inshore side of the INSS green platform. Another three lap Olympic course was signalled.

Monica Schaefer’s Wayfarer Photo: Cormac Bradley

Yet again all three starts got away cleanly and in the PY class the Fireballs were joined at the head of the fleet by the Aero 7 of Noel Butler. However, in the lighter breeze which was of the order of 7 – 10 knots, the Fireballs would struggle to save their time and Butler led home another Aero 7 dominated podium on corrected time, followed by Gavin & Foley. Long’s IDRA, Schaefer’s Wayfarer and Mulvin’s GP14 all finished ahead of the first Fireball of Miller & Butler, followed by Court & Syme.

In the ILCA 7s, a more normal finishing order was reinstated when Murphy led home Chris Arrowsmith and Owen Laverty – the “more normal” reference being in terms of names, not finishing sequence! In the ILCA 4s, the younger ladies stepped in up with a 1-2 finish in Zoe Hall and Emily Cantwell respectively with Brian Carroll closing out the podium.
In the ILCA 6s, Brendan Hughes resumed his normal occupancy of the top step of the podium followed by another consistent finisher, Luke Turvey, with Conor Clancy, Archie Daly and Mark Henry closing out the top five.

So, to conclude, the biggest turnout of the 2021/22 Frostbites, a sunny winter Sunday, two Olympic courses of as big a size as can be fitted within the harbour and everybody finished in good time. What more could you want?

Viking Marine Frostbites – hosted by DMYC. Round 5

Race 1
PY Class (30)
1. Brendan Foley
2. Mark Gavin
3. Noel Butler
4. Paul Phelan (All Aero 7s)
5. Frank Miller & Ed Butler, Fireball 14713
6. Roy van Mannen
7. Sarah Dwyer (Both Aero 5s)
8. Pierre Long & Son (IDRA)
9. Neil Colin & Marjo (14775)
10. Alistair Court & Gordon Syme (14706) (Both Fireballs)
11. David Mulvin & Ronan Beirne (GP14 14069)
16. Monica Schaefer & Crew (Wayfarer 11299)
18. Tom Murphy (K1 69)
21. Des Gibney
22. Robert walker (Both Kona Windsurfers)
ILCA 7s (8)
1. Kei Walker
2. Gavan Murphy
3. Owen Laverty
ILCA 4s (11)
1. Emily Cantwell
2. Donal Walsh
3. Zoe Hall
ILCA 6s
1. Luke Turvey
2. Alana Coakley
3. Mark Henry
4. Brendan Hughes
5. Conor Clancy

Race 2

PY Class
1. Noel Butler
2. Mark Gavin
3. Brendan Foley (All Aero 7s)
4. Pierre Long & Son (IDRA)
5. Monica Schaefer & Crew (Wayfarer 11299)
6. Paul Phelan (Aero 7)
7. Roy van Mannen (Aero 5)
8. David Mulvin & Ronan Beirne (GP14 14069)
9. Frank Miller & Ed Butler
10. Alistair Court & Gordon Syme (Both Fireballs)
11. Ciara Mulvey & Peter Murphy (GP14 11111)

ILCA 7s
1. Gavan Murphy
2. Chris Arrowsmith
3. Owen Laverty
ILCA 4s
1. Zoe Hall
2. Emily Cantwell
3. Brain Carroll
ILCA 6s
1. Brendan Hughes
2. Luke Turvey
3. Conor Clancy
4. Archie Daly
5. Mark Henry

With seven races completed over five weekends – one Sunday was cancelled and another Sunday had a solitary race, the overall situation is as follows;

PY Fleet (42 Boats)
1. Brendan Foley (Aero 7) 19pts
2. Mark Gavin (Aero 7) 20pts
3. Noel Butler (Aero 7) 38pts
4. Frank Miller & Ed Butler (Fireball 14713) 38pts
5. Pierre Long & Son (IDRA) 44pts.
ILCA 7s (15 boats)
1. Gavan Murphy 8pts
2. Chris Arrowsmith 15pts
3. Owen Laverty 33pts.
ILCA 4s (23 boats)
1. Donal Walsh 16pts
2. Zoe Hall 26pts
3. Brian Carroll 27pts
4. Emily Cantwell 30pts
5. Ava Ennis 38pts.
ILCA 6s (43 boats)
1. Brendan Hughes 10pts
2. Mark Henry 23pts
3. Luke Turvey 29pts
4. Peter Kilmartin 45pts
5. Judy O’Beirne 47pts.
Fireballs (14)
1. Frank Miller & Ed Butler 14713, 8pts
2. Neil Colin & Marjo 14775, 20pts
3. Alistair Court & Gordon Syme 14706, 21pts.

There will be two more Sundays of racing before the Christmas break.

Dun Laoghaire’s future could lie in its potential as a hub to support offshore renewable energy projects.

That’s one of the conclusions from the €100k report commissioned by Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council to develop a blueprint for the south Co Dublin harbour’s improved use.

Economic consultancy Indecon was tasked last year with preparing a plan for the harbour based on a critical evaluation of its strengths and weaknesses.

Its report — which is available to download below — comes on the foot of a choppy few years for Dun Laoghaire Harbour’s fortunes, from the loss of the cross-channel ferry in 2015 to the tumult of the COVID-19 pandemic since early 2020.

Indecon says: “The three main areas which should be given priority are to implement a financial economic recovery plan for the harbour, to increase linkages with the town and to maximise the economic and social impact of the harbour.

“These objectives require the development of existing uses and the attraction of new or expanded activities to the harbour.”

Further to this, the Indecon report makes a number of strategic recommendations to guide future development of the harbour. Among them is developing Dun Laoghaire as an operation and maintenance (O&M) base to support offshore renewable energy projects, and marketing itself as a hub for this growing sector.

“The Irish Sea is likely to play a particularly important role in this regard in the generation of offshore wind energy due to the proximity to market, availability of grid, and water depth,” Indecon says, adding that it understands offshore projects “have the potential to deliver 3.8GW as part of Ireland’s strategy to deploy 5GW of offshore wind between now and 2030”.

Such a direction is not without its issues, however, and the consultancy admits that “mixed views were expressed” on the harbour’s potential to support O&M. “Indecon believes that this represents an important development option but needs to be carefully planned so as to ensure priority to the recreational and leisure users.”

Other strategic recommendations in the Indecon report include:

Government action should be taken to support the harbour’s national potential: The report calls for investigating the feasibility of the designation of Dun Laoghaire Harbour and other key fishing ports in coastal communities as Strategic Enterprise Zones.

Support continued development of existing uses in the harbour: Indecon believes that it is in the long-term interest of existing users that additional activities and revenues are attracted to support the overall financial viability of the harbour, such as new marine enterprises and increase fishing landings. “There will therefore be a need to facilitate new uses and to carefully manage the trade-offs in the location of any expansion in existing uses,” it says.

Anglers on Dun Laoghaire’s West Pier watch a visiting cruise liner depart in 2019 | Credit: Afloat.ie

Targeted expansion of cruise business: Indecon says a targeted expansion of selective cruise businesses would be an important element of a sustainable economic plan. “This should, however, be undertaken in a planned way that would not damage existing users,” it adds. The consultancy also advises against Dun Laoghaire attracting mass cruise tourism due to its environmental costs and impact on the quality of life for local residents and businesses. “It would also not be consistent with respecting the value of the existing sailing and other users,” it says. In its recommendations, Indecon suggests a move to “increase overall tariffs for cruises but introduce incentive tariffs for selective cruise businesses which facilitate visitors to the town centre”.

Increase tourism and other visitors to Dun Laoghaire: Indecon recommends a joint initiative with Fáilte Ireland to promote Dun Laoghaire as a tourism location; expanding watersport tourism offerings and access for residents and visitors; and facilities for windsurfing and other sporting activities. It also supports backing plans for the National Watersports Campus, and leasing land for new hotel development on the waterside.

Maximise use of the existing ferry terminal: Indecon’s analysis indicates that the development of the former ferry terminal on St Michael’s Pier as a business innovation centre would have significant economic and social benefits for the area. It recommends working with leaseholders to promote a ‘Ferry Terminal Business Innovation Centre’, investing in maintenance works and involving the higher and further education sector in developing the skills required for innovative businesses to thrive there.

With its 800 berths, Dun Laoghaire Marina is Ireland’s largest | Credit: Tim Wall

Marketing of harbour and town: Indecon says Dun Laoghaire’s unique characteristics “open significant potential opportunities to attract additional recreational visitors and tourism. This will be key in achieving the vision outlined for the harbour and town. This will require integrated marketing which removes any disconnect between the harbour and the town, and a joint plan with sporting organisations, businesses and State agencies to market the attractions of Dún Laoghaire.” KPMG’s spatial and economic study of Dun Laoghaire town has also been published and goes into this topic in more detail.

In its conclusions, Indecon says it believes its recommendations “will help guide the sustainable development of the important national asset. The scale of the challenges faced by the Harbour should, however, not be underestimated.”

Dun Laoghaire Harbour RNLI shop, located in the harbour beside the busy East pier is the location for a new community defibrillator, donated by the family of Larry Costello, who died following a cardiac arrest in 2016. The family have funded six defibrillators which are located around the local area. Dun Laoghaire RNLI is a fitting final location, as volunteer lifeboat crewmember Gary Hayes has helped the family with the project, through his role with the Dalkey Community First Responders Group and as a RNLI crewmember.

In funding the defibrillators, the family wanted the community to have access to them in busy public areas and in doing so, to take away the fear that people have in using them. The Dalkey Community First Responders will undertake the upkeep and maintenance of the defibrillators and this one will remain charged by the RNLI’s electricity supply for the shop, which is located behind the lifeboat station.

Larry was born and raised in Dun Laoghaire and raised his family with wife Audrey in Glasthule. A much-loved member of the community, Larry worked in Blackrock Park and coached a local football team in Presentation College. When he died of a cardiac arrest, his family wanted to do something in his memory that could help another family in a similar situation. With the support of their friends and the people Larry coached and helped during his life, the family raised €14,000 and bought six defibrillators. They are placed at McCauley’s Chemist in Glasthule, the Sallynoggin Inn, the Igo Inn in Ballybrack, Eden Villas in Glasthule, Dun Laoghaire Marina and finally at the Dun Laoghaire RNLI shop beside the East Pier.

Larry’s family recent visited the lifeboat station to officially unveil the final defibrillator along with some members of Dun Laoghaire RNLI, including lifeboat crewmember Gary Hayes, who the family credits with helping them put their plan into action.

Larry’s wife Audrey visited with their four children, Graham, Jennifer, Emma and Ian, along with in-laws and grandchildren. In welcoming the installation of the final defibrillator, Audrey said, ‘Our hope is to save lives and we are grateful to the local RNLI for letting us put the final defibrillator at their shop, which sees so many people walk by every day. We never thought we would raise enough to fund six of these and it’s all thanks to our friends and neighbours in our local community and beyond. Larry was so well-loved, and I think people wanted to show that. We are so grateful for their generosity. Thank you too to Gary Hayes from Dun Laoghaire RNLI and Dalkey Community First Responders who helped us with this endeavour and suggested the station for the final defibrillator. It is a very fitting location.’

Dun Laoghaire RNLI volunteer lifeboat crew member Gary Hayes added, ‘We are delighted to have the RNLI be home to one of Larry’s defibrillators. While the lifeboat crew are here to save lives at sea, we are happy to have a lifesaving piece of equipment on land too, at the wall of our retail shop and available for any member of the public to use should they need it. There is no training necessary, and the instructions are clear and easy to follow. Well done to the family and friends of Larry for this fantastic gift to the community.

The family have asked that if anyone would like to donate to the upkeep and maintenance of the defibrillators, they contact the Dalkey Community First Responders.

This weekend sees the conclusion of the five-week-long Flying Fifteen Frostbite Series at Dun Laoghaire Harbour.

Sixteen boats are entered, with an average of 11 competing each weekend.

PRO Keith Poole and his race team have provided great courses and racing in various conditions.

Ken Dumpleton and Joe Hickey in 'Rodriguez' lead the way after their impressive three race wins last Saturday, but Tom Galvin and Chris Doorly in 'Thingamabob' are just two points behind and with three races due on Saturday, they are still in with a chance.

Peter Murphy and Ciara Mulvey are in third place, followed by Tom Murphy and Karel Le Roux and Joe Coughlan and Andrew Marshall.

The NYC Frostbite Series for Flying Fifteens and Mermaids, which has been run for forty years, resumed this season after a break of two years.

Over sixty yachts and cruisers will be hauled out of the water at Dun Laoghaire Harbour tomorrow as the 2021 summer season ends at Ireland's biggest boating centre. 

The National Yacht Club and neighbouring Royal St. George YC will lift out approximately 30 cruisers apiece using a mobile crane. 

The boats will overwinter on the hardstanding at the waterfront clubhouses, where space is at a premium.

It's not the end of all sailing by any means, however. A winter Turkey Shoot Series run by DBSC that attracts up to 70 boats, mainly from the town marina, is scheduled to start on Nov 7th, and the DMYC Dinghy Frostbite Series will run in harbour racing until March.

The volunteer lifeboat crew of Dun Laoghaire Harbour RNLI will be taking to the small screen on Tuesday, 19 October as they feature in the ninth episode of the BBC TV series Saving Lives at Sea.

Real life rescue footage gives a frontline view of how the charity’s lifesavers risk their own lives as they go to the aid of those in danger at sea and strive to save every one.

Now in its sixth series, the 10-part documentary showcases the lifesaving work of the RNLI’s volunteer lifeboat crews from around Ireland and the UK. The series is on BBC Two on Tuesdays at 8 pm as well as being available on BBC iPlayer following broadcast.

Real rescue footage is accompanied by emotive interviews from the volunteer lifeboat crews alongside the people they rescue and their families.

This forthcoming episode, on Tuesday 19 October, sees Dun Laoghaire RNLI respond to a paddle boarder in difficulty in the water about 150m from shore at Blackrock in County Dublin (as Afloat reported here). Weather conditions at the time are quite rough with a squall causing strong offshore wind gusts along with a changing outward tide and choppy waters. The lifeboat crew find the casualty exhausted having tried to paddle and swim back to shore. He is showing signs of hypothermia due to spending a long period in the cold sea.

Alan Keville, one of the Dun Laoghaire RNLI lifeboat crew members featured in the forthcoming episode, said: ‘It's great that we can showcase the lifesaving work of RNLI volunteers in a TV programme like this. Without the generous support and donations from the public, we wouldn’t be able to save lives at sea and it’s great to be able to share what we do with our supporters from the comfort of their own home.’

During 2020, RNLI lifeboats in Ireland launched 945 times with their volunteer crews coming to the aid of 1,147 people, 13 of whom were lives saved.

There was a poignant commemoration this morning at Dún Laoghaire Harbour to remember over 564 people who lost their lives when the RMS Leinster ship sank off the Kish Bank on 10th October 1918.

The Leinster Commemoration Committee organised the ceremony for the 103rd anniversary of the torpedo of Dun Laoghaire's vital link to the rest of the World during World War I.

This morning's wreath-laying event was held at the RMS Leinster's recovered anchor site on Queens Road at Dun Laoghaire as a harbour reminder of the massive loss of life.

This morning's commemoration was held in bright Autumn sunshine and attended by local politicians, relatives and local people.

In an ongoing campaign, the Leinster Commemoration Committee says it wants a site allocated for a Memorial to name all who were on-board RMS Leinster that fateful day, as Afloat reported here.

Poignant commemoration this morning at Dún Laoghaire Harbour to remember the over 564 people who lost their lives when the RMS Leinster was sunk off the Kish Bank on 10th October 1918.

Thanks to the Leinster Commemoration Committee for organising the event again this year. pic.twitter.com/yDxpi0dsil

— Cormac Devlin TD (@CormacDevlin) October 10, 2021

Dun Laoghaire Harbour's Laser dinghy class ended their summer season with a bang, hosting over 80-boats in a five-race one-day regatta where some exciting new talent emerged.

80 Lasers racing in Dublin Bay on a sunny Saturday afternoon in October is an unusual sight in a normal year. These past two seasons have been far from normal for most sailors, but the Laser dinghy class has gone from strength to strength nationally.

At times during lockdown in 2020, single-handed dinghies were the only access for sailors to local waters. The fifty-year-old Laser class benefited greatly from this and has continued to attract and retain new sailors throughout 2021. The Irish Laser Masters championship hosted by the Royal St. George Yacht Club in June broke records with the highest attendance in the event’s history. Other regional and national events throughout the season were also seeing record attendances.

The final event of the season in Dun Laoghaire was this weekend’s Grant Thornton Sprint Regatta hosted by the Royal St. George Yacht Club. This novel regatta format saw race officer Richard Kissane serve up five races in quick succession for each of the three Laser fleets. Light and shifty wind conditions made his job particularly challenging as his team set down a trapezoid course. Ever-calm, Kissane was not phased and he delivered 15 race starts in just over three hours.

Howth's Rocco Wright (right) with Royal St. George Commodore Richard O'Connor

The event saw some new talent emerge into the Laser fleet, most notably in the junior section. Howth’s Rocco Wright who raced for the first time this season in a 4.7, sat into the larger Radial rig for this event. The lighter airs clearly suited him and he took home Gold against a strong fleet including national champion Jonathan O'Shaughnessy from Royal Cork Yacht Club.

Royal St. George’s Matteo Ciaglia

Meanwhile, in the 4.7 fleet, the Royal St. George’s Matteo Ciaglia who also competed for the first time in this fleet took home Gold for the Dun Laoghaire club. Christian Ennis from the National Yacht Club took Silver, while the George’s Jessica Riordan took third overall and first female.

Royal St George's Peter Fagan

The Standard fleet served up a real treat with local sailors Tom Higgins and Peter Fagan going head to head for the entire event. Higgins took first blood, winning the opening race with Fagan then taking the second race. By race three, it had become a spectacle in match racing between the pair. Ultimately, two third place finishes killed off Higgins’ chances. Fagan took Gold with Higgins in second and Tralee Bay Sailing Club’s Paddy Cunnane taking bronze.

Event organiser, Brendan Hughes of the Royal St. George Yacht Club suggested that the interest in Saturday’s event was as much to do with format as the overall growth of Lasers. “Sailors are really enjoying the sprint format and also having the opportunity to participate in a competitive fleet on a single day. Each race was between 25 and 30 minutes in duration which on a trapezoid course means there is intense competition and opportunity to win or lose places.” said Hughes. “Clearly the format is worth repeating with fleets travelling for this event from as far and wide as Tralee, Cork and Sligo. We’ll definitely be doing more of these in future.”

Full results available here.

DMYC at Dun Laoghaire Harbour is reporting 19 registered entries for its traditional Dinghy Frostbite Series that this year sets sail under the Viking Marine burgee.

The Notice of Race has been published on the club website, and the online entry system is now live.

Racing commences on Sunday, 7th of November.

After the loss of the series for winter 2020/21 due to the Covid restrictions, DMYC is looking to host a jam-packed series.

The West Pier club plans to build on the surge of interest in ILCA (Laser) training and racing, growth of the RS Aero class and revival of the Fireball Class ahead of its World Championships to be sailed on Lough Derg in 2022.

"We anticipate racing format will be as before with starts for the PY Fleet, ICLA 6's (Radial fleet), and ILCA 7's (full rigs) and 5's (4.7's) starting together, all racing for separate class honours," says DMYC's Neil Colin.

The race management will be in the capable hands of Cormac Bradley, supplemented by a team of guest PRO's throughout the series.

The series is open to youth and senior sailors alike with discounted entry fees for the under 18's.

Entry can be made online here