It would not have been a problem if the 80-metre Irish Lights Vessel Granuaile moored in Scotsman's Bay was the only obstacle for the Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC) fleet to overcome tonight. It was obvious though – as soon as the first guns sounded – there were bigger issues for course setters as the evening's timid easterly breeze started to die.

As the flags drooped on DBSC's Spirit of the Irish committee boat shorter courses were set for the 17 classes – and 200 or more competing boats – but to no avail, the fickle light wind was not going to hold out.

As the Dragon and SB3 classes started their race it was apparent that even the fetch from the back of the East pier to East mark was going to be a big ask with such adverse tide.

After all but one of the white sail fleet failed to cross the start line the Race officer was forced to rule them out of time.

Even though it looked like there was breeze out beyond the Burford bank there was nothing in the inner bay area;  crews sat to leeward, spinnakers collapsed and the first race of the 128th DBSC sailing season was abandoned.

 

Typically the start of the Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC) is a traditional season highlight on the capital's waters but there's so much sailing slated for Dublin Bay the weekend it's hard to know where to start.

There could be anything up to 500-boats afloat for events right across the bay and out in to the Irish Sea.

Joining the 390 boat DBSC fleet for its 128th season is a gathering of over 300 dinghies in Dun Laoghaire for the Mitsubishi Youth National Championships at the Royal St. George and National Yacht Clubs. It's an important event because it is a dry run for next year's ISAF Youth Worlds on Dublin Bay.

The National Yacht Club is also host for the first race of the 2011 ISORA offshore season. Up to 17 starters from a possible ISORA entry list of 40 are confirmed for the first race to Holyhead. First gun for ISORA is at 0755. An Early one!

Across the bay in Howth there is a competitive fleet assembled for the SB3 Eastern Championships. A notable feature of the event is the inclusion of Olympic campaigner Annalise Murphy.

Ashore, Réalt na Mara Dun Laoghaire RNLI's new D-class lifeboat is to be officially named during a ceremony on the East Pier in Dun Laoghaire this Saturday at 12 noon. The lifeboat is to be named by Mr and Mrs Pat and Kathy Kenny. RTE presenter Pat Kenny and his wife Kathy have been long-standing supporters of the Dun Laoghaire RNLI lifeboats.

Mid week forecasts show good sailing winds for the weekend. Met Eireann is forecasting Southeast to east force 2 to 4 breezes, light enough for a gentle start to the season but there's still a chance of stronger for Saturday afternoon. Listen to Eddie English's weather prediction from Cork Harbour.

 

In a break away from traditional 'hut' starts on the West Pier this season Dublin Bay Sailing Club's Thursday night sailing will feature two committee boats on duty. The new procedures are detailed in the 2011 Dublin Bay Sailing Club Annual published this week.

The DBSC summer season starts in two weeks time. The first Tuesday race is April 26th. The first Thursday race is on April 28th and the first Saturday race is April 30th. 

Thursday night racing brings some of the biggest turnouts of the season, some evening boasting up to 200 boats for the mid-week round the cans racing.

The club's own MacLir committee boat will be servicing the Blue Fleet in the northern section of the racing area of Dublin Bay. The Royal Irish Yacht Club's Spirit of the Irish vessel will service the Red Fleet in the south-east section.

Unless weather conditions dictate otherwise, there will be no racing at the Hut but the format of Tuesday and Saturday racing will remain unchanged from previous years.

Writing in the 2011 yearbook, DBSC commodore Tony Fox refers to the course layouts:

"Inevitably, the changes have required re-drafting of courses and some re-location of marks. Omega has moved from its original position not far from the West Pier to serve as a hub for the Red Fleet marks which, with the addition of a new Bay Mark, form a natural circle. Similarly, Middle mark becomes the hub of the Blue Fleet circle. Some shifting of mark positions has ensued ‚ the only radical change is that of Poldy, which was situated too close to the shipping lane for comfort; it will now be stationed roughly between East and Island Marks. Martello Mark is now redundant."

Since our report on Ireland's debut at the Moth worlds in January it was inevitable that one of these high speed sailing dinghies would appear on Irish waters soon enough. Yesterday, John Chambers took his first tack of 2011 on Dublin Bay in a Moth he bought in France. Clearly the high speed foiling craft did not go unnoticed. It got an immediate thumbs up from the nearby DMYC frostbite fleet sailing their penultimate race.

The Bladerider Moth came blasting back from the Baily lighthouse, according to eyewitness accounts.  It has hydrofoils on the dagger board and rudder which lift the boat out of the water when sufficient speed is achieved.

It is Chamber's intention to sail the innovative dinghy in this Summer's Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC) summer season. 

Video of the Dublin Bay sail plus a photo from Bob Hobby is below:

Moth sailing on Dublin bay. Photo: Bob Hobby

Moth sailing in Ireland on facebook HERE

 

An extra effort to encourage boats that 'do not normally race' is being made this week by Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC) to boost entries in Sunday's first race of the Spring Chicken Series sailing. 

The event – sponsored by Viking Marine – is open to cruisers, cruising boats, one-designs and boats that do not normally race.

The event follows on from a successful Turkey Shoot series on the bay that regularly attracted over 90 entries for the light hearted series. Last year the Spring Chicken had 60 entries.

The early season opener is a series of six races is to be held on Sunday mornings startting this weekend. Racing will be held under modified ECHO handicap. The first gun is 10.10 hrs. An entry fee €60.00 of includes temporary membership of DBSC and National Y.C.

An entry form is downloadable below. Sailing instructions will be available on Sunday 30th January and will be emailed to entrants beforehand.

After sailing, food will be available to competitors in National Y.C.

Results are getting interesting with discards kicking in at Dublin Bay Sailing Club's Turkey Shoot. The large turnouts continue to defy the skeptics with up to 65 boats racing in some great conditions. The final two races are this weekend and next, if racing goes to form any one of the top 10-12 boats can win going in to the last race. The prizegiving is on December 19th. Starts and ECHO handicaps are attached.

Turkey Shoot competitors round the Muglins Rock. Photo: Michael Bowler

With 65 boats on the line last Sunday for the opening race of the Viking Marine Turkey Shoot there's little doubt about the appeal of year round sailing on Dublin Bay. In spite of this week's high winds last Sunday's opening race saw quite a few no finishers due to lack of wind. Handicaps have been adjusted as per the local rules that apply to the series for Sunday's second race. Arwen now goes in the second start and Windshift goes in the fourth start. Race officer Fintan Cairns says "Some boats will be suffering from nose-bleeds this week with the meteoric rise in their handicaps". The series is made possible through the support of Dublin Bay Sailing Club and sponsors Viking Marine, McWilliam One Sails, North Sails & O'Brien Press.

Last weeks results, Race handicaps and start details attached for download below.

Barry O'Neill made a clean sweep of the prizes for the third year running in the SB3 class on Dublin Bay. James Gorman showed form to win series 3.YC. The class announced its annual Dublin Bay Sailing Club prizewinners ahead of the prize giving ceremony, on of the biggest nights of the sailing year in Dun Laoghaire, on Friday 12th November at the Royal St.George YC. The winners are:

SB3 DBSC Prize Winners 2010

Sunday Overall
1st. Sin Bin                            Barry O'Neill           1st. Silver Fleet  Bob Hobby
2nd. Alert Packaging           Justin Burke
3rd. Seriously Bonkers      Martin Cuppage

Sunday Series 1
1st. Mephisto                        Stephanie and Tim Bourke
2nd. Seriously Bonkers      Martin Cuppage
3rd.Alert Packaging            Justin Burke

Sunday Series 2
1st. Alert Packaging            Justin Burke
2nd.Sin Bin                            Barry O'Neill
3rd. Design Security           Colin Galavan

Sunday Series 3
1st. Odin                                 James Gorman
2nd. Sin Bin                           Barry O'Neill
3rd.  Seriously Bonkers     Martin Cuppage

Thursday Overall
1st. Sin Bin                            Barry O'Neill
2nd. Design Security           Colin Galavan
3rd. Alert Packaging           Justin Burke

Thursday Series 1
1st. Sin Bin                            Barry O'Neill
2nd. Design Security           Colin Galavan
3rd. Bom Chickawahwah  John O'Driscoll

Thursday Series 2
1st. Sin Bin                            Barry O'Neill
2nd. Design Security           Colin Galavan
3rd. Alert Packaging           Justin Burke

Ken Lawless sailing Supernova made the best of the autumnal sailing conditions to win the penultimate race of Cruisers three yesterday. The Dublin Bay Sailing Club race was sailed in light and misty conditions. Next Saturday is the final race of DBSC's 2010 Summer sailing season.

DUBLIN PORT Dublin Bay Sailing Club Results for 18 SEPTEMBER 2010

BENETEAU 31.7 Echo- 1. Fiddly Bits (Kevin Byrne et al), 2. Violet Flame (B.Murphy/L.Osbourne), 3. Levante (B.Leyden/M.Leahy)

BENETEAU 31.7 - 1. Violet Flame (B.Murphy/L.Osbourne), 2. Fiddly Bits (Kevin Byrne et al), 3. Prospect (Chris Johnston)

CRUISERS 0 Echo - 1. Tsunami (Vincent Farrell), 2. Lively Lady (Derek Martin), 3. WOW (George Sisk)

CRUISERS 0 - 1. Tsunami (Vincent Farrell), 2. WOW (George Sisk), 3. Lively Lady (Derek Martin)

CRUISERS 1 Echo - 1. Powder Monkey (C.Moore/M.Byrne), 2. Errislannan (Patrick Kirwan), 3. Something Else (J.Hall et al)

CRUISERS 1 - 1. Something Else (J.Hall et al), 2. Errislannan (Patrick Kirwan), 3. Xtravagance (Colin Byrne)

CRUISERS 2 - , 3. Peridot (Jim McCann et al)

CRUISERS 2 Echo - 1. Smile (B O'Sulliva et al), 2. Free Spirit (John O'Reilly), 3. Bendemeer (Gerald Kinsella)

CRUISERS 3 Echo - 1. Jabiru (M & S Renwick), 2. Pamafe (Michael Costello), 3. Supernova (K.Lawless et al)

CRUISERS 3 - 1. Supernova (K.Lawless et al), 2. Cries of Passion (Bryan Maguire), 3. Gung Ho (G & S O'Shea)

CRUISERS 4 - 1. Ghrazel (Charles Pearson), 2. Rascal (K.Burke/S.Milner), 3. Maranda (Myles Kelly)

FLYING FIFTEEN Race 1- 1. Hy5ive (D & S Gorman), 2. Snow White (Frank Burgess), 3. Rollercoaster (Tom Murphy)

FLYING FIFTEEN Race 2- 1. Hy5ive (D & S Gorman), 2. Snow White (Frank Burgess), 3. Flyer (Niall Coleman)

GLEN - 1. Glenluce (D & R O'Connor), 2. Glenshesk (L.Faulkner et al), 3. Pterodactyl (R & D McCaffrey)

IDRA 14 FOOT Race 1- 1. Sapphire (Lorcan O'Sullivan), 2. Dart (Pierre Long), 3. Dunmoanin (Frank Hamilton)

IDRA 14 FOOT Race 2- 1. Sapphire (Lorcan O'Sullivan), 2. Dunmoanin (Frank Hamilton), 3. Dart (Pierre Long)

MERMAID Race 1- 1. Jill (P.Smith/P.Mangan), 2. Kim (D Cassidy)

MERMAID Race 2- 1. Jill (P.Smith/P.Mangan), 2. Kim (D Cassidy)

RUFFIAN 23 - 1. Ruff N Ready (Ann Kirwan et al), 2. Diane ll (Bruce Carswell), 3. Riff Raff (Paul Fagan)

SHIPMAN - 1. Jo Slim (J.Clarke et al), 2. Therapi (Alan McCarthy et al), 3. Gusto (C Heath)

SQUIB Race 1- 1. Anemos (Pete & Ann Evans), 2. Perfection (Jill Fleming), 3. Kookaburra (P & M Dee)

SQUIB Race 2- 1. Lola (Frank Whelan), 2. Why Not (Derek & Jean Jago), 3. Perfection (Jill Fleming)

WHITE SAIL CRUISERS Echo - 1. Finnegans Wake (T.Rowlands et al), 2. Windshift (R O'Flynn et al), 3. Coumeenole (Bill Kavanagh)

WHITE SAIL CRUISERS - 1. Act Two (Michael O'Leary et al), 2. Arwen (Philip O'Dwyer), 3. Calypso (Howard Knott)

DUBLIN PORT Dublin Bay Sailing Club Results for 11 SEPTEMBER 2010

BENETEAU 31.7 - 1. Bluefin Two (M & B Bryson), 2. Magic (D.O'Sullivan/D.Espey), 3. Prospect (Chris Johnston)

BENETEAU 31.7 Echo - 1. Fiddly Bits (Kevin Byrne et al), 2. Bluefin Two (M & B Bryson), 3. Violet Flame (B.Murphy/L.Osbourne)

CRUISERS 0 Echo - 1. WOW (George Sisk), 2. Lively Lady (Derek Martin)

CRUISERS 0 - 1. WOW (George Sisk), 2. Lively Lady (Derek Martin)

CRUISERS 1 - 1. Gringo (Tony Fox), 2. Contango (Barry Cunningham), 3. Jalapeno (Dermod Baker et al)

CRUISERS 1 Echo- 1. Jura (Barry McCabe), 2. Powder Monkey (C.Moore/M.Byrne), 3. Gringo (Tony Fox)

CRUISERS 2 Echo - 1. Bendemeer (Gerald Kinsella), 2. Jawesome 11 (V.Kennedy/M.Dyke), 3. Peridot (Jim McCann et al)

CRUISERS 2 - 1. Jawesome 11 (V.Kennedy/M.Dyke), 2. Bendemeer (Gerald Kinsella), 3. Peridot (Jim McCann et al)

CRUISERS 3 Echo - 1. Papytoo (M.Walsh/F.Guilfoyle), 2. Chouskikou (R.Sheehan/R.Hickey), 3. Jammie Dodger (J.H & D.O'Neill)

CRUISERS 3 - 1. Supernova (K.Lawless et al), 2. Papytoo (M.Walsh/F.Guilfoyle), 3. Two Step (Ross Doyle)

CRUISERS 4 - 1. Ghrazel (Charles Pearson), 2. Rascal (K.Burke/S.Milner), 3. Maranda (Myles Kelly)

FIREBALL - 1. Blind Squirrel (Frank Miller), 2. Weather (E.Butler/O.Laverty), 3. Goodness Gracious (Louise McKenna)

FIREBALL - 1. Blind Squirrel (Frank Miller), 2. Weather (E.Butler/O.Laverty)

FLYING FIFTEEN Race 1- 1. Fflogger (Alan Dooley), 2. Flyer (Niall Coleman), 3. Snow White (Frank Burgess)

FLYING FIFTEEN Race 2- 1. Rollercoaster (Tom Murphy), 2. Flyer (Niall Coleman), 3. Snow White (Frank Burgess)

GLEN - 1. Glenshesk (L.Faulkner et al), 2. Glenluce (D & R O'Connor), 3. Pterodactyl (R & D McCaffrey)

MERMAID Race 2- 1. Aideen (B.Martin/D.Brennan)

MERMAID Race 1- 1. Lively Lady (G O'Neill & M Hanney), 2. Oonagh (J&M Griffith), 3. Aideen (B.Martin/D.Brennan)

PY CLASS Race 1- 1. Brendan McConville (Wayfarer), 2. Stuart McBride (Laser Vago)

RUFFIAN 23 - 1. Alias (D.Meeke/M.McCarthy), 2. Diane ll (Bruce Carswell), 3. Ruff N Ready (Ann Kirwan et al)

SHIPMAN - 1. Euphanzel lll (Louis McSherry et al), 2. Jo Slim (J.Clarke et al), 3. Curraglas (John Masterson)

SIGMA 33 - 1. Rupert (R.Lovegrove/P.Varian), 2. White Mischief (Timothy Goodbody), 3. Popje (Ted McCourt)

SQUIB Race 1- 1. Femme Fatale (Joe O'Byrne), 2. Perfection (Jill Fleming), 3. Lola (Frank Whelan)

SQUIB Race 2- 1. Femme Fatale (Joe O'Byrne), 2. Nimble (Brian O'Hare), 3. Perfection (Jill Fleming)

WHITE SAIL CRUISERS Echo - 1. Finnegans Wake (T.Rowlands et al), 2. Windshift (R O'Flynn et al), 3. Act Two (Michael O'Leary et al)

WHITE SAIL CRUISERS - 1. Act Two (Michael O'Leary et al), 2. Calypso (Howard Knott), 3. Windshift (R O'Flynn et al)