#FIREBALL – For those travelling from across the water (not the Liffey!), Howth Yacht Club is making a big gesture for June's Irish Fireball championships by promising to accommodate as many visitors as possible in members' houses. The country's biggest club recognises the cost commitment which Fireballers will have to sign up to to compete so this deal might be the perfect incentive. With nine races over three days, visitors will get excellent value for money and free digs only minutes from the club. Hosts insist that guests bringing their own bacon and eggs! Nice one Howth Yacht Club!

#FIREBALL – For the second Sunday in a row, the Frostbite racing was held outside Dun Laoghaire harbour. Weather conditions defied the time of year with sunshine, clear blue skies and extremely mild temperatures. Despite missing a number of regulars, there was a healthy turnout of up to 12 boats.

Tidal management on the first beat was the key to success and Noel Butler & Stephen Oram and Frank Miller & Grattan Donnelly particularly got it perfect to round first and second respectively. Behind them was a 3-boat chasing pack of Owen Laverty & Ed Butler, Kenny Rumball & David Moran and Louis Smyth & Cormac Bradley. This was the running order for the first half of the 4-lap race using a separate weather mark for the Fireballs.

On the first reach of the third triangle, a troubled hoist of the spinnaker by Miller & Donnelly cost them 2 places when first Rumball/Moran and then Laverty/Butler got through. At the leeward mark of the same lap Laverty, Miller and Smyth indulged in some close quarter manoeuvring with the former two shutting the door on the latter. However, on the next beat Smyth got through to fourth and held on to the finish.

Behind Miller/Donnelly were Andy Boyle & Barry Hurley.

In the race for the days mugs the participants were Mary Chambers & Brenda Maguire and Dave Coleman & Glen Fisher. At. regular intervals in the race these two were in close company, but the ladies won out.

1 Noel Butler & Stephen Oram

2 Kenny Rumball & David Moran

3 Owen Laverty & Ed Butler

4 Louis Smyth & Cormac Bradley

5 Frank Miller & Grattan Donnelly

#FROSTBITE – Frank Hamilton and Jennifer Byrne had a great turn of speed in their IDRA 14 dinghy getting on all the tricky harbour shifts and even beating the two RS200s to the finish line last Sunday at the DMYC Frsotbite series. Two Mirror teams had a battle all the way around until a leeward mark tangle with the Laser fleet put some distance between them.

Once more the most impressive sailing was out front with the Emmett and James Ryan and  team showed their heels in the RS400, winning again with some excellent sailing. Results are below to download.

The Fireball race report by Cormac Bradley is here.

#FIREBALL – Bright sunshine greeted the Fireball Frostbite fleet in Dun Laoghaire yesterday and combined with 8-12 knots of breeze, it allowed the fleet to race outside the harbour for the first time this year.

Thirteen boats took to the water and Kenny Rumball & Dave Moran led from start to finish in a five-lap race that incorporated a separate weather mark for the Fireball fleet.

A “deep” first reach that kept the chasing bunch high allowed the wily fox that is Neil Colin, sailing with Margaret Casey, to outsmart everyone bar Rumball/Moran and get to the first gybe mark in 2^nd place. Colin/Casey conceded another place to John Chambers to occupy third and this order remained for 2 laps before Noel Butler got wound up to stage a recovery, overtaking Colin/Casey on the third beat.

Late on Alaistair Court & Gordon Syme and Mick Creighton & Paul McDermott also got through with Court/Syme getting fourth on the last leeward mark, followed by Creighton/McDermott.

It was a day of snakes and ladders on a course that had holes of no-wind, à la Puma in the Volvo Ocean race in China, and big shifts resulting in a lot of place changing.

The all-girl team of Cariosa Power & Marie Barry had an excellent last beat to get into 7^th, followed by Frank Cassidy & John Hudson.

With seven races completed and a single discard in play, the overall standings show that there is competition to be had between 1^st and 2^nd, separated by a point and 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th, separated by four points, with a single point between 3^rd and 4^th.

The Frostbite Mugs were won by Mick Creighton and Paul McDermott who finished in 5^th place.

#FIREBALL – Top Irish dinghy sailing class, the Fireballs have announced the 2012 Irish Fireball Nationals will be hosted by Howth Yacht Club over the last Friday and Saturday of June and the first Sunday of July – 29th, 30th June & 1st July.

This 3-day event will see nine (9) races being sailed under the race management of one of Ireland's leading clubs which has a very impressive recent record of hosting international events:- the Etchells Worlds in 2010 and the J24 Europeans in 2011, together with a host of regional and national events encompassing dinghies and keelboats.

In 2012, in addition to the Fireball Nationals at the end of June Howth will also run the BMW sponsored Irish Cruiser Racing Association Nationals over three days at the end of May. These are just two of some seventeen regional or National events that they will host in 2012.

Situated on the northern perimeter of Dublin Bay, but "round the corner" from Dublin Bay, racing for the Nationals will be on a sea-course where there is very little interference from commercial traffic. The club boasts a sizeable marina, a substantial clubhouse that has its own restaurant and bar and a marina/sailing office that has full-time staff. It enjoys easy access from Dublin Airport and the ferry terminals (10 miles) and in 2010 hosted an exceptionally well run Leinster (regional) Championships for the Irish Fireball fleet.

Its race management team boasts one International Race Officer and several National Race Officers, one of whom is expected to do the "Fireball gig".

The timing of the event has been changed twice to accommodate various Fireball fixtures in the Irish/UK/European Fireball scene, namely the Fireball Europeans in Rome in July (21 – 27th), the 50th UK Nationals (11-17th August) and a number of domestic events in Ireland.

In 2011, we canvassed for commitment to this event from the UK Fireball fleet and got some encouraging responses – one of the main attractions being the concept of multiple races on each day – as opposed to the current UK model of a race a day.

The website for online entries has already gone live, so this article is a very early invitation to come and join us for what we expect to be a very well run event.

Enter the event here

#FIREBALL – Blue skies and a building breeze greeted the fifteen-strong Fireball fleet who took to the waters of Dun Laoghaire harbour for the DMYC's Frostbites yesterday, Sunday 12th February writes Cormac Bradley.

Earlier, the morning had dawned grey and windless which had suggested that sailing might not even be possible, but by 13:00, it was evident that the breeze had arrived and it was building. So while the conditions for racing were improving, the water temperature was static, as one would expect at this time of year. This scribe took a pre-race swim when he and Louis Smyth (15007) had a windward role, under spinnaker, avoiding a Phantom on the water. The water was bracing to say the least!

A competitive first start saw Fireballs distributed along the start line with the likes of Noel Butler & Kenny Mason at the pin end. Going left was the way to go on the first beat as there was more pressure on that side of the course and as the weather mark was approached there were lifts to be had on the way in. A series of bow to transom roundings saw the first five of six boats round in close company with a running order of Noel Butler/Shane McCarthy, Kenny Rumball/David Moran, John Chambers/Connor Kinsella, Neil Colin/Margaret Casey and Louis Smyth/Cormac Bradley. However, the next group was only just behind, with Alastair Court/Gordon Syme, Andy Boyle/Barry Hurley and Luke Malcolm/Shane Diviney fighting each other to get into the lead group. Court/Syme did break through on the second reach and this was the only place that Smyth/Bradley lost throughout the race to win the first set of mugs for the day. There was an element of "tooing and froing" in this middle section of the fleet, with Smyth, Boyle and Malcolm all keeping tight company, but in the offwind legs, Smyth was able to keep his nose ahead of his pursuers. Upfront Rumball and Butler had their usual "ding-dong" session on the water and I had gained the impression that Butler/McCarthy had led all the way round, but onshore it transpired that it was the other way round until Rumball/Moran let them through very late on.

A second race had been declared in advance of the first race starting and the first race was limited to 3 laps. The second race was set at four laps under greyer skies and a breeze that had dropped off in strength. Trapezing conditions still prevailed, but I imagine that most people had their rigs set at 22'8". Yet again the start was competitive and yet again the usual suspects were at the front of the fleet; Rumball, Butler, Chambers, Colin and Court. Observations of the starts before the Fireballs suggested that left would be the preferred side again and so it proved. Again, the rounding of the first weather mark was very tight but in contrast to the first race the leading group didn't open up the same distance on the rest of the fleet. From our perspective, in 7th/8th place, the leaders didn't seem to be as far away and indeed on the second reach of the latter triangles we were on the same leg as the leaders.

Aggrieved maybe at losing the first race so late on, Rumball/Moran led the second race throughout, while Butler/McCarthy were ultimately relegated to third when Chambers/Kinsella took second place. Colin/Casey and Court/Syme swopped finishing places from the first race to finish 4th and 5th respectively, while Malcolm/Diviney upset the group symmetry of finishers from the first race, by beating Smyth/Bradley into 6th.

Derval O'Carroll & Stephen Campion took the mugs for the second race.

 With two races sailed yesterday, the second Series has now recovered the one race lost to weather thus far, so unusually, a complete set of races, across Series 1 & 2 has now been completed. Given the images of snow and adverse weather we have seen from the UK, we have been very fortunate with our weather thus far.

#FIREBALL – Fifteen Fireballs took to the water for last Sunday's Frostbite race but only 14 of them got a finish – Andy Boyle & Barry Hurley (14934, Royal Irish) – were recorded as an OCS! Wind conditions were lively with a WSW Force 4/5 blowing with gusts flashing across the course. The start had a boat-end bias for a change and my various correspondents advise that there were a few capsizes on the day. It also appears that people were doing 720º and 360º for rule infringements and mark-touching.

The first three boats over the finish line, Noel Butler & Stephen Oram, Neil Spain & Hugh Butler and Owen Laverty & Ed Butler effectively sailed their own separate race from the rest of the fleet and they enjoyed a race of nip and tuck with places changing between them.

Neil Colin & Margaret Casey finished fourth but behind them a tight bunch were fighting for places. Included in this group were Messrs Rumball & Moran, Malcolm & Diviney, Court & Syme and Miller/Donnelly before the all-lady teams of McKenna & O'Keefe and Power & Barry.

The ladies were well represented today with three all-female teams out on the water, the third being Mary Chambers and Brenda McGuire, who finished thirteenth. Derval O'Carroll was also a welcome returnee to the Frostbites, sailing with Stephen Campion. And our Sligo friends, Peter Armstrong & Matt mayron were also out sailing the all-wooden 15060.

Class stalwart Louis Smyth, sailing with Joe O'Reilly, had a bad day at the office – an early interaction with another boat required a 720º with a capsize thrown in as a "double-whammy". At the first weather mark there was another revolution taken when they hit the mark. "Enough said!"

Mug winners for the day were the ladies of 14691, Louise McKenna & Hermine O'Keefe of the Royal St. George Yacht Club.

In overall terms, Butler & Oram stretched their lead over Rumball/Moran to 5pts, while the latter pair have a comfortable 8pt margin over third placed Laverty/Butler.

After last week’s racing was abandoned due to high winds, a soggy Dun Laoghaire saw the restart of the Frostbite racing yesterday. It rained the entire day and initially there didn’t seem to be enough breeze to warrant a race, despite a forecast that suggested there would be lots of wind.

Twelve Fireball started the race, with one boat recording a DNF, and the wind filled in sufficiently to give a steady breeze though there was very little trapezing and downwind sailing was quite benign!

Messrs Butler/Oram and Rumball/Moran did their usual thing of leading the fleet off the start line with both boats fancying the LHS of the course. Those who went right found themselves off the pace though subsequent beats saw a wider corridor of favourable wind to work one’s way upwind. Neil Colin & Margaret Casey and John Chambers & Hugh Butler were two combinations who didn’t have the best of starts but worked their way left-wards and came into the first weather mark along the port lay-line in “very good nick” to secure places behind the front two. Behind these four there was a chasing group who kept close company with each other – Louise McKenna & Conor Kinsella, Andy Boyle & Conor Clancy, Frank Miller & Grattan Donnelly, Gavin Doyle & Richard Franck, Owen Laverty & Ed Butler and the all ladies team of Cariosa Power & Marie Barry.

This was the running order until the end of the second beat, when the Power & Barry combination dropped a place to Louis Smyth & Cormac Bradley. The latter combination had a poor first beat, even though they had gone left and spent the balance of the race playing “catch-up”.

Doyle/Franck & McKenna/Kinsella were the competing combinations for the day’s mugs, all those ahead of them having won one already and they were in close company for most of the race. Doyle/Frank got ahead during round three and held onto this “mug-winning” slot to the end of the race, shortened to 4 laps. At the front of the fleet it was a bit processional with Butler/Oram winning again from Rumball/Moran. After pulling the iron out of the fire at the end of the first beat, Colin/Casey finished third, while Doyle/Franck climbed to a lofty 4^th and were followed home by Boyle/Clancy.

In terms of the overall situation in Series 2, the leading two are separated by a point and have a comfortable advantage over the next placed boat.

#FROSTBITE – The second Dun Laoghaire frostbite race of 2012 was sailed in blustery, breezy and shifty conditions in Dun Laoghaire’s harbour on Sunday 15^th January. A very healthy turnout of 17 boats contested a 5 lap race which saw the on the water results transformed by multiple OSC entries on the score sheet posted in DMYC’s clubhouse.

Four transgressors of the starting procedure were caught, including the day’s winners on the water Messrs Neil Spain and Hugh Butler. This left the legal winners on the water as Kenny Rumball and Conor Kinsella, followed home, a boat length later, by Noel Butler and Stephen Oram.  

Alaistair Court & Gordon Syme took third and after two races in this half of the series, these three fill the top three places overall with Rumball/Moran & Butler/Oram tied in 1^st place.

Two all-lady combinations sailed the day with Cariosa Power & Marie Barry (Class Treasurer) finishing 6^th two spots ahead of Louise McKenna & Hermine O’Keefe. This performance was enough to give Power & barry the day’s mugs which is all the more commendable as they saild a conservative race by keeping the spinnaker in the bag.

Crash gybes, to avoid collisions, caused Frank Cassidy & John Hudson and Owen Laverty & Ed Butler to take a swim on the day, but the latter combination recovered to finish 5^th. Noel Butler also reports that the may have been a “T-boning” incident between a Fireball and a RS400 and Luke Malcolm ended up as the walking wounded with a bad gash on his knee after a toe-strap broke, causing him to be thrown into the gunwhale.

All told, an adventurous day on the water in what were somewhat colder conditions that we have had thus far.

(Race notes with the assistance of Noel Butler).

#FIREBALL  – Tom Gillard and Sam Brearey, GBR 15041, are the 2012 Fireball world Champions after the 2012 title fight went all the way down to the last race.

Race Officer Robin Olsen and his team had a challenging day on the water with initial winds that swung from 185 - 240º with a strength that varied from 10 – 18knots. However, they persevered to produce the last two races of the regatta.

Tom & Sam sailed what was to be their second discard when they finished 6^th, behind their closest rivals, Robin Inns and Joel Coultas and a charging Brit pack of Wade/Saxton, Howarth/Townend, South Australians, Allison/Watson and Swiss Mermod/Moser.

This left the top two tied after the second discard kicked in, resulting in a final race duel that had everyone chewing their finger nails.

A black flag start, hitting a windward mark (GBR) and exchanges of the lead throughout the race, with significant leads being wiped out to be replaced with boat-length advantages saw Gillard & Brearey hold on to win by mere boat-lengths at the finish to take the title. The margin of victory, a single point, the difference between 1^st and 2^nd in the final race!

Gillard and Brearey will now hold the title until September 2013 when the Worlds return to Europe and Slovenia!

Tom Gillard came to initial international prominence at the 2009 Europeans and Worlds in La Rochelle when he helmed for our own Francis Rowan and won a race in each of the weeks, finishing third overall in the Europeans. Sam Brearey first came to our notice when he sailed with Tim Rush in the Nationals in Tralee (circa 2005/6). They teamed up together to win the 2010 Europeans in the Czech Republic and were beaten to the overall title in Sligo on the tenth race in June last year. They now enjoy a 21 month reign before their title is up for grabs!

Ben Schulz’ 10^th overall, with Phillip Bowley, is extremely commendable considering the work he put into organizing the event!