It was a frustrating third day for the sailors at the Delta Lloyd Regatta in Medemblik, Holland but not for Dun Laoghaire's Annalise Murphy who proved her world class speed again in strong winds. With wind increasing to 30 knots, racing was abandoned and boats sent to shore after just four races were completed.

Ireland's Annalise Murphy won the only Laser Radial race today. "I like the breeze!" said Annalise "but I have to admit that the last downwind leg was scary!"

The National Yacht Club sailor is now leading the strong Laser Radial fleet, "I am not complaining, I had a good result. I was leading by a long distance at the top mark but Marit Bouwmeester caught up on the down wind but I could stay in front." She now leads the overall standings on 14 points, ahead of Tina Mihelic (CRO), who came fifth today, on 15 points after discarding her first day's disqualification "I am satisfied with my result. I am not so strong in the breeze, I am much lighter than the others and it is harder for me to hike when the wind is strong. A fifth is a good result and I am relieved that I can finally discard my penalty."

Annalise at high speed today. Photo: Sander van der Borch

Marit Bouwmeester (NED) have enjoyed better results in the breeze with a second, and comes back to the score, she places in third overall position.

Overnight leader Gintare Scheidt finished 13th today and has dropped to fourth overall.

On top of the World in Holland. The Scoreboard after five races

In the Men's RS:X were the only fleet to successfully complete their two scheduled races. The day belonged to Taehoon Lee (KOR) who won Race 5 before finishing second in Race 6 to end the day on 12 points is in third.

The top of the Men's Standings is tight with just three points are separating Dorian Van Rijsselberge (NED) in first, on nine points, and Lee in third.

Van Rijsselberge, who is sailing in his home regatta, has been the pick of the sailors in the RS:X fleet this week. After winning gold at the Rolex Miami OCR and Trofeo S.A.R. Princess Sofia MAPFRE the Dutchman is well on track to maintain his 100% record so far having only competed in two out of four ISAF Sailing World Cup regattas before Medemblik.

His nine points gives him a two point advantage over Jon-Paul Tobin (NZL) who finished 2-3 today.

The rest of the fleet have a tough task of catching Van Rijsselberge, Tobin and Lee as Canada's Zachary Plavsic, in fourth place, finds himself trailing the frontrunners by 15 points.

In the Laser, ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year, Tom Slingsby (AUS) has jumped to the top of the Standings. He won the only race today in the Laser fleet and has six points after discarding his tenth place finish in the third race. "I am very happy, these are my optimum conditions. It is unfortunate that the second race is cancelled because I love the breeze. I hope I can win this regatta as it will then count towards my Olympic selection. If I can't win here I will try in Weymouth and then Kiel." explained Tom Slingsby.

Bruno Fontes (BRA) came second today and has ten points, he leapfrogs early Laser leader Milan Vujasinovic (CRO). The Croatian finished the first day with double bullets in the breeze but was unable to find some similar form on an equally breezy third day. His seventh place finish has seen him slip to third overall on 13 points.

In The Women's Match Racing, just six races took place in Group B before abandonment. Renee Groeneveld (NED) qualified for the Gold Group after defeating Julia Bossard (FRA). Groeneveld has won seven out of eight races and has one more to go.

With one race apiece remaining, Ekaterina Skudina (RUS), Silja Lehtinen (FIN), Anna Kjelberg (SWE) and Stephanie Hazard (NZL) are in contention for the final two qualification places. With six race wins China's Ru Wang has completed her nine races, if results go her way she will qualify for the Gold Group.

After a long postponement on shore, the race committee announced that further sailing was cancelled for the day. Tomorrow's forecast predicts a more "sailable" weather and racing will start at 9am for the Women Match Racing and from 10am for the other classes. The Laser and 470 Men will race in Gold and Silver fleets.

The National Yacht Club's Annalise Murphy has won her second race at the Delta Lloyd regatta. The win came in this morning's race five of the women's 63-boat Laser Radial class as winds in Medemblik reached 25 knots. All fleets are heading back to harbour now as winds continue to increase on the ijsslemeer. More as we have it.

Moderate easterly winds produced a great night's sailing on Dublin Bay tonight for the second Tuesday night race of the DBSC Summer season. In the Fireball dinghy class S. Oram's unnamed boat entry won again from Louis Smyth's 'Licence to Thrill'. Gary O'Hare lead the Laser fleet and picked up the Portsmouth Yardstick (PY) win from P. Keane. Third on PY was E. Ryan's RS400 dinghy.

DUBLIN PORT Dublin Bay Sailing Club Results for 3 MAY 2011

IDRA 14 FOOT - 1. Dunmoanin (Frank Hamilton)

MERMAID - 1. Jill (P.Smith/P.Mangan), 2. Lively Lady (G O'Neill & M Hanney)

PY CLASS - 1. Gary O'Hare (Laser), 2. P Keane (Laser 1), 3. E Ryan (RS400)

CRUISERS 2 - 1. Graduate (D O'Keeffe), 2. Cor Baby (Keith Kiernan et al)

CRUISERS 3 - 1. Papytoo (M.Walsh/F.Guilfoyle), 2. Chouskikou (R.Sheehan/R.Hickey), 3. Grasshopper 2 (K & J Glynn)

CRUISERS 4 - 1. Ghrazel (Charles Pearson), 2. Maranda (Myles Kelly)

FIREBALL - 1. nn (S Oram), 2. Licence to Thrill (Louis Smyth), 3. Elevation (N.Colin/M.Casey)

GLEN - 1. Glendun (B.Denham et al), 2. Glenshesk (L.Faulkner et al), 3. Glenshane (P Hogan)

RUFFIAN 23 - 1. Icicle (C & J Murray), 2. Diane ll (Bruce Carswell), 3. Alias (D.Meeke/M.McCarthy)

A turnout of two dozen marked a successful start to the 2011 Dublin Port sponsored Dublin Bay Sailing Club (DBSC) dinghy season tonight.

Making its debut for the first time under the club burgee was an International Moth dinghy. The ultra fast hull was airborne at just eight knots of breeze, making even the trapezing Fireballs look slow. But despite the pace the new fangled dinghy did not feature in the overall Portsmouth Yardstick (PY)  results. See below.

A healthy turnout of six 'balls, urged on by the fact that the class World Championships is in Sligo in 46 days time, got some trapezing gusts and some planing waves downwind in a north-easterly breeze of 6-8 knots. S. Oram took the winning gun from Louis Smyth sailing Licence to Thrill.

Single handed Lasers boasted twice the Fireball turnout to be the biggest class racing in Scotsman's bay tonight. It's a show of strength from a class surely worthy of its own start if this kind of turnout can be maintained.

Sean Craig won the Laser race from Peter Craig but the overall PY result went to E. Ryan's RS400.

Two Dublin Bay Mermaids and disappointingly, a single IDRA 14, No.124, Squalls also competed.

DUBLIN PORT Dublin Bay Sailing Club Results for 26 APRIL 2011

FIREBALL - 1. nn (S Oram), 2. Licence to Thrill (Louis Smyth), 3. Incubus (C Power/M Barry)

MERMAID - 1. Lively Lady (G O'Neill & M Hanney), 2. Jill (P.Smith/P.Mangan)

PY CLASS - 1. E Ryan (RS400), 2. Sean Craig (Laser), 3. Peter Craig (Laser)

BENETEAU 31.7 - 1. Extreme Reality (P.McSwiney/E.O'Rafferty), 2. Magic (D.O'Sullivan/D.Espey)

BENETEAU 31.7 - 1. Magic (D.O'Sullivan/D.Espey), 2. Extreme Reality (P.McSwiney/E.O'Rafferty)

CRUISERS 2 - 1. Cor Baby (Keith Kiernan et al), 2. Red Rhum (J Nicholson), 3. Free Spirit (John O'Reilly)

CRUISERS 3 - 1. Grasshopper 2 (K & J Glynn), 2. Pamafe (Michael Costello), 3. Papytoo (M.Walsh/F.Guilfoyle)

CRUISERS 4 - 1. Maranda (Myles Kelly), 2. Ghrazel (Charles Pearson), 3. Artemis (J.Giles)

RUFFIAN 23 - 1. Diane ll (Bruce Carswell), 2. Icicle (C & J Murray), 3. Alias (D.Meeke/M.McCarthy)

SIGMA 33 - 1. Rupert (R.Lovegrove/P.Varian), 2. Pippa lV (G.Kinsman/K.Blake/M.O'Brien)

SQUIB - 1. Tais (Michael O'Connell), 2. Periguin (N.Coakley/J.Redahan)

More DBSC News here.

Following this week's request for a good home for a reader's Laser Radial dinghy we can report the boat has a new berth. The donor has decided it will be used by a club to teach teenagers too big for other youth classes but who are contemplating a move into the Laser dinghy. Thanks to everyone for the interest shown. It is our intention to promote other genuine boat donations such as this on an ongoing basis. Stay tuned!

Following our recent articles on youth sailing, a sailor, who bought a Laser Radial sailing dinghy four years ago and used it only once, is kindly offering the boat free to an organisation who could put it to good use for youth sail training.
The boat (valued around €2000) has all the Laser go fast string, plus a launching trolley, a Silva compass and a Gorilla tiller.  The donor in question has told afloat.ie "I don't know any organisation that might use it to introduce sailing to non–sailing youth, but if one exists, I would be delighted to give this boat to them for free". If you know of such an organisation or a worthy home for this generous offer please email the details to: [email protected], putting 'Laser Youth Boat' in the subject line.  Alternatively leave a comment below.

Two of Ireland's 2012 Olympic squad crews are ranked in the top twenty in World sailing rankings announced this week.

Peter O'Leary who has been sailing with three different crews, David Burrows, Frithjof Kleen and Timothy Goodbody to date is ranked 17th by the International Sailing Federation (ISAF).

O'Leary and Burrows sailing in the Star keelboat class were recent top finishers at 93-boat fleet in Miami. They finished second overall after they lost the overall lead in the last race of the 2011 Bacardi Cup.

Listen into a podcast about Peter O'Leary's Olympic sailing plans HERE.

Fellow Olympic squad member, 21-year old Annalise Murphy from Dun Laoghaire is now ranked 12th in the Laser radial class counting seven ISAF events. Murphy has also had success in Florida this season, she finished fourth in the Miami Olympic Classes regatta in January.

Listen to what Team Manager James O'Callaghan has to say about her progress:

The next release of the ISAF World Sailing Rankings will be on 13 April 2011 and will include the Trofeo SAR Princess Sofia Mapfre in Spain.

The ISAF World Sailing Rankings rate skippers based on their performances over the last two years. Skippers score points by competing in ISAF Graded events. The top finishers at all ISAF Graded events score Rankings points, with the highest points awarded to the event winner and then decreasing down relative to position.

More Irish Olympic Sailing News HERE.

It has become tradition over the past years for SailLaser in the UK to host a fundraising event in aid of Comic Relief and 2011 is no exception. On Saturday 19th March, fund raising events will take place in both of the UK SailLaser centres. Participation in the event is free; the only commitment required from everyone taking part is to raise as much money for Comic Relief as possible.

In Weymouth, SailLaser's RYA Onboard Club are invited to teach a friend to sail in a Laser Pico before heading off to the race course in pairs. The race around a short course will have the added challenge of collecting as many letters from each turning mark as possible. The winners will be those who can spell the longest word from the letters they collect at the end of the race!

SailLaser's "Race Club" members will also be able to introduce a friend to sailing and after a short introduction they will battle it out on the race course in the fleet of Laser Bahias.

In Scotland, RYA OnBoard Club fund raisers will take part in a multi-disciplined "Tri-Mile" event. The Tri-Mile will include a run, pedal and sail; running from the start line to a pedalo on the shore, pedalling to a Pico moored in the middle of Strathclyde Loch and racing the Pico around a course before arriving back at the shore and running to the finish line!

To add to the fun, competitors, organizers and helpers are encouraged to wear fancy dress. The theme is RED!

"This is a great opportunity for all of our regular sailors to get on the water with a friend as well as raising money for Comic Relief" explains Hannah Burywood, event organiser at SailLaser Weymouth.

 

The charity Comic Relief was launched on Christmas Day in 1985 from a refugee camp in Sudan. The highlight of Comic Relief's appeal is the bi-annual Red Nose Day. The first Red Nose Day was held in 1988 and £15 million was raised. In 2009, over 5 times that amount was raised to support projects in 25 African countries and the UK. SailLaser is proud to do their bit to support Comic Relief in 2011. 

April's Mitsubishi Youth National championships is not only going to be a big test for up to 350 competitors seeking a place on the Irish team at the 2011 ISAF Youth Worlds in Croatia, it's also being treated as a 'dry run' by  Dublin Bay organisers preparing to stage the 2012 Youth worlds in little over 12 months time.

Olympic team manager James O'Callaghan has played a big role in bringing on Irish team talent. Results have been achieved in recent times in the Topper, Laser 4.7 and Radial and 420 but a top result in the youth worlds would make all the effort worthwhile.

Ireland's best ever Youth Worlds result came in 1996 when Laura Dillon and Ciara Peelo took bronze in the Laser II dinghy. The stated aim for 2012 is to at least equal this result and win a medal on the home waters of Dublin Bay.

Listen to the podcast below to hear O'Callaghan's take on the front runners for April's important Youth selection event.

Watch a preview for July's ISAF Croatian Youth Worlds Event below

 

Dun Laoghaire's Royal St. George Yacht Club has announced that its inaugural Junior Spring Open, sponsored by Craftinsure, will be held on the 19th & 20th of March 2011. This event promises to be a great kick start to the Junior Sailing Season for the Optimist, 420, Feva and Laser Classes.

There will be both Regatta and Main Fleets, Regatta Coaches on the courses and the event will count as an Optimist Pre-Trials and Pre-Regional event. With the ISA Mitsubishi Youth National Championship being held in the same sailing area at the end of April, this event is a great opportunity for sailors from all around the country to get some practise in the local waters.

There will be entertainment for sailors and parents on both evenings, evening dinners and, of course, full Six Nations Rugby coverage on the Saturday throughout the Club. There will also be live-tweeting from the water throughout the event - follow this live action unfold at www.twitter.com/rsgyc.

For further information and to enter online please visit www.rsgyc.ie. The Entrance Fee is €85 for Fevas & 420s and €55 for Oppies & Lasers.