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.

Ten Fireballs made it to the start line of the Viking Marine DMYC Frostbites series yesterday (Sunday 5 December), with one boat stranded ashore seeking crew. The sunshine drew out a good entry from all fleets despite the chilly and blustery conditions.

Race one with an Olympic triangle-type course got away bang on time, almost catching out Frank Miller/Ed Butler who were upwind checking out conditions and shifts. The duo made it to the pin end just in time and tacked over from near the lefthand layline to find Alistair Court/Gordon Syme in the lead with Neil Colin/Margo Moonen not far behind.

Court/Syme led down the reaches and for the next beat but at the leeward rounding from the run Miller/Butler got lucky and found themselves lifted inside the leaders who had rounded a few boat lengths ahead.

The new leaders loose-covered Court/Syme for the rest of the race and held the lead to the finish. The results show that Colin/Moonen pipped Court/Syme on the finish line by a second to secure second place over the line.

For race two the west-northwesterly wind was less blustery and again Cormac Bradley and race team set the same course configuration after an interval to allow the three Laser fleets to finish.

Miller/Butler again opted for a pin-end start as it was marginally favoured and led to the windward with Court/Syme very close behind. The chasing pair had slightly better pointing upwind and slightly better speed downwind so the leaders had their work cut out to hold them off. Upwind the edges of the course seemed to hold the best pressure with the middle somewhat flat.

Due to the harbour configuration, the course was slightly skewed and the second reach of the triangle was almost a run. Court/Syme made best use of this to keep the leaders under pressure.

At one point it seemed that they had got inside the leaders to hold an inside berth to the leeward mark but Miller/Butler broke the overlap thanks to a separating gust and managed to gybe safely to secure the inside overlap to the mark. From there they covered the chasing boat in a mini tacking duel and held to the finish. Third Fireball across the line was Owen Sinnott with Grattan Donnelly who showed good speed in the lighter conditions.

Further back in the fleet special mention is deserved for helm Dave Coleman sailing with Michael Keegan, the former putting his new knee through its paces three months after surgery. When asked how it went, he replied that for the first few tacks that leg had forgotten what to do but it quickly relearned its role by race two. Another example of muscle memory, we guess!

In the overall PY standings the Aeros again dominated the top five results with Brendan Foley and Noel Butler taking PY honours. Covid willing, the series continues until Christmas and resumes after the New Year.

Results: Race 1, Race 2 and the series standings after seven races.

See also overall report by Cormac Bradley here

The Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club (DMYC) says that after analysis of entries for its Viking Marine DMYC Frostbite Series which allowed competitors the option to enter Series 1 before Christmas, or Series 2 after Christmas, or the combined Series, it has established that there were approximately 20 entries for Series 1 only, consequently, the club has reopened the entry system on www.dmyc.ie for Series 2.

The entry was capped in October at 120 dinghies. However, many regular DMYC competitors who may have been caught out by the fleet size limit, found themselves excluded.

The reopening of entries offers them the chance to participate after Christmas, but potentially at the expense of sailors who entered Series 1 only.

DMYC Organiser Neil Colin joked to Afloat: "I wonder would Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council like to make the harbour bigger to enable us to accommodate more entries?"

 

Seven Fireballs started amongst a good-sized PY turnout at the second Sunday of the Viking Marine DMYC Frostbites series on Sunday.

Although the winds were light and often frustrating sailors were glad to get out at all in the face of forecasts offering little hope of wind. In the event race officer Cormac Bradley and his team set a windward - leeward course across the width of the harbour with southeasterly winds between three and six knots. Several Fireballs got away from the start cleanly and most headed left seeking better airs towards the harbour mouth.

Neil Colin/Marjo Moonen found themselves on the wrong side of the line at the gun and took a quick detour back around the ends. Louise McKenna sailing with Michael Keegan played the shifts and showed superior boat speed to lead the way around the windward mark closely followed by Alistair Court/Gordon Syme, Colin/ Moonen and Frank Miller sailing with Neil Cramer.

The offwind legs were especially tricky with some very light patches and those who kept their eyes out of the boat and found the better pressure was well rewarded. The leeward gate was especially challenging tucked in under the breakwater in an area of little wind.

On the second beat, Colin/Moonen banged the harbour mouth layline and came out ahead, a lead they preserved to the finish. Otherwise, the top bunch retained their order though Miller/Cramer closed the gap considerably on the final run and beat to the finish by picking the right-hand mark at the gate.

On handicap Jemima Owens with crew Henry Start sailing an RS 200 won the overall PY with a mixture of classes, including a Wayfarer and IDRA 14 filling out the top five positions.

With daylight and wind both fading the race team hoisted the very welcome N over A and the sailors headed home happy to get a race under their belts in such light airs.

In his RS Aero, Brendan Foley made a clean sweep of the first PY races of the Viking Marine Frostbite Series 2021-22 at Dun Laoghaire Harbour on Sunday afternoon. 

After a break in 2020, the country's longest-running winter dinghy racing resumed on Sunday, with sponsorship from Viking Marine and a sell-out 110-boat fleet.

The Royal St. George solo sailor took wins in both races that were dominated by the Aero class. 

In the first race, another boat type broke into the top three in the 21-boat PY division when Frank Miller in a Fireball took a second.

RStGYC Lasers on form

In the Laser divisions, Royal St George's domination was evident with their sailors taking all the podium positions (except two) in both races in all three divisions.

Both counting a one and a two, DMYC/HYC's Luke Turvey and RStGYC's Brendan Hughes share the top points in the Radial's 21-boat turnout, the most significant Laser division.

The George's Gavan Murphy won the first race of the six-boat full rigs, and clubmate Chris Arrowsmith won the second. 

Royal St. George's Daniel O'Connor took the gun in Race One in the ten boat 4.7 class and Sam Legge, also of the RStGYC, second.

Due to Covid restrictions, there was no prizegiving in the DMYC after sailing,

Results are here.

Additional report from Cormac Bradley, Frostbite Race Officer below

Viking Marine Frostbites 2021/22: Race Day One

After an enforced break due to Covid regulations in 2020/2021, the Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club-hosted Frostbites returned to the waters of Dun Laoghaire Harbour with a new sponsor in the form of local chandler, Viking Marine, also based in Dun Laoghaire.

The organisers of the event decided that an entry cap of 120 boats would be put in place so that an awareness of the ongoing Covid situation could be signalled to all potential competitors and that number was reached in advance of the first weekend of racing.

The breakdown of numbers gave us a potential 38-boat entry in the PY Class consisting of Fireballs, Aeros, GP14s, RS400, IDRA and a variety of Lasers – Vago, etc. Laser Radials mustered a 40-boat entry and there were healthy numbers for the Laser 4.7s and Full Rigs.

In the build-up to the first weekend of racing, November 7th, the wind forecast started off as being quite heavy with even heavier gusts, but as we got to the tail-end of the week, a more genteel forecast was evolving. Sunday morning arrived with a forecast that put the wind in the mid-teens with gusts in the low to middle twenties (knots). However, with the wind projected to come out of the West, that would mean a slightly protected harbour and race-course area.

Onshore discussion between Frostbites Director, Neil Colin and Race Officer, Cormac Bradley, in advance of going on the water, resolved that with the forecast and the fact that we had done no Frostbiting for over a year, it would be prudent to run with Windward-Leeward races for the first day of the new series and that would give everyone a chance to re-acquaint themselves with the Frostbites regime.

Mother Nature played her part as well by giving us as close to a steady breeze as she permits which allowed a weather mark to be set just north of the entrance to the marina and that stayed in place for both races. With a Westerly (270°), we are able to use the biggest dimension of the harbour, and a leeward gate was set up using the hand-buoys of summer moorings to fix the marks inside the Boyd Memorial on the East Pier.

A PY Fleet of 20 boats opened the proceedings of the 2021/22 Series with the make up being 6 Fireballs, 6 Aeros (7s and 5s), 2 GP14s, an RS400, an IDRA, a Mirror and an assortment of double-handed Lasers.

The Full Lasers and 4.7s, sailing as one fleet, mustered nineteen-boats, eight full rigs and eleven of the smaller rigs, respectively.

The Laser Radials won the attendance prize with 23 boats on the water.

With a 62-boat fleet to watch and a good breeze to get all the boats around the course, this correspondence is unable to give an account of the racing. Suffice to say that there was no definitive way to sail the beats, which is what a Race Officer wants, but there was some close on the water sailing witnessed across all three fleets.

In the early part of the first series of races, the breeze got up to about 15/16 knots, but it was evident that the base breeze was falling though there were enough gusts coming through to see windward rolls from the Lasers and a few flogging spinnakers from the Fireballs.

By the second race, the wind had dropped to around the 10-knot mark and faded a little more as the afternoon wore on. However, there was enough around for everyone to have enjoyed this "first day back at the office".

Viking Marine Frostbites – hosted by DMYC

Race 1.

PY Class:
1st Brendan Foley (Aero 7),
2nd Frank Miller and Ed Butler (FB 14713),
3rd Stephen Oram (Aero 7).
4th Alistair Court & Gordon Syme (FB 14706).
5th Owen Sinnott & Grattan Donnelly (FB 14865).
1st GP 14 – David Mulvin & Ronan Beirne (7th).
IDRA – Pierre Long & Son (9th).
RS400 – Brian O'Hare & Lucy O'Donoghue (14th).

Full Rig Lasers:
1st Gavan Murphy.
2nd Conrad Vandlik.
3rd Gary O'Hare.

Laser 4.7s:
1st Daniel O'Connor.
2nd Sam Legge.
3rd Donal Walsh.

Laser 4.7s:
1st Brendan Hughes.
2nd Luke Tierney.
3rd Mark Henry.

Race 2.
PY Class:
1st Brendan Foley.
2nd Mark Gavin.
3rd Sarah Dwyer (Aero 5).
4th Neil Colin and Marjo (FB 14775).
5th Tom Murphy (K1).
1st GP 14 – David Mulvin & Ronan Beirne.
Mirror – Paul & Yves Long (19th).

Full Rig Lasers:
1st Chris Arrowsmith.
2nd Conrad Vandlik.
3rd Gary O'Hare.

Laser 4.7s:
1st Sam Legge.
2nd Emily Cantwell.
3rd Daniel O'Connor.

Laser Radials:
1st Luke Tierney.
2nd Brendan Hughes.
3rd Sophie Kilmartin.

In terms of club affiliation, five of the six-race finishes were taken by Royal St George Yacht Club members, with Luke Tierney the only race winner from the host club (DMYC).

In compliance with Covid best practice, there was no daily prize-giving and the proposal is that there may only be a single prize-giving event

Each Sunday's race results will be posted to the DMYC website after racing rather than being posted immediately inside the DMYC clubhouse. This is a Covid prompted safety measure. at the end of each series, subject to the regulations in place at that time.

Taking a glance at the list of entries table published on the DMYC website, the Race Officer is going to have his hands full with the Laser Radial /ILCA 6 fleet when racing starts this weekend in the Viking Marine Frostbite Challenge in Dun Laoghaire Harbour.

With entries currently at 110, DMYC intends to enforce the 120 limit cap on entries, at least for Series 1.

It follows on from a buoyant early entry as Afloat reported here

There are 38 Radials, 20 4.7s and 14 full rigs entered as the Laser again proves its enduring appeal during the pandemic at least. 

"We will see how the participation level compares to the entries. We expect there will be some disappointed regular winter dinghy sailors, but “you snooze and you lose”, organiser Neil Colin told Afloat.

In other big turnouts, the Fireballs who host the World Championships on Lough Derg next summer have 14 boats entered and the new RS Aero class has eight.

Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club (DMYC) has published details of the 2021 edition of its annual Kish Race on Dublin Bay next weekend.

The popular round Kish and back race will take place on Sunday, 19th September with the first gun at 10.55 a.m.

This year the Kish Race is part of the Cruiser 3 National Championships.

As regular Afloat readers will recall, last year the annual fixture had assembled a sizeable fleet including yachts from nearby Greystones Harbour in County Wicklow before having to cancel due to COVID.

Starting in the vicinity of Dun Laoghaire Harbour and racing to the Kish lighthouse and back, it is a distance of approximately 28 km.

Overall prizes will be awarded for the best performance (using an approximate TCF for Classic vessels and one-design boats).

Race organiser Ben Mulligan says that 'as this is the “last major” in the Dublin Bay summer season before the lift out or winter racing, the club is looking forward to an enthusiastic entry'.

Handicapping will be based on ECHO Standard, giving those with revised ECHOs a good chance at the prizes.

Overall prizes will be awarded for the best performance. (The Kish Race Trophy).

Barry McCartin and Conor Kinsella are the new Fireball National Championships after eight races in Dublin Bay over the weekend. Second-placed at the event, hosted by the DMYC, were Noel Butler and Stephen Oram while the Thompson brothers Daniel and Harry took third. The event was compressed into two days of racing when Friday was lost to zero breeze.

Saturday proved the best day in terms of wind with a solid North-Easterly providing decent pressure and full trapezing conditions. Principal race officer Suzanne McGarry and her team did a brilliant job in getting four solid races under the belt by mid-afternoon when the sea breeze showed signs of weakening. Two windward-leeward courses were followed by two Olympic Triangular courses with exemplary turnarounds.

McCartin/Kinsella dominated the 13 boat fleet on Saturday though they didn't have things entirely their own way with the Thompsons posting a win in race two. The pair showed great coordination and teamwork around the race track. While they squeezed the optimum VMG out of the boat upwind they were exceptionally fast offwind, especially on the triangular courses.

On the Sunday morning a different set of conditions greeted sailors who initially roasted ashore in high temperatures but zero breeze. After a postponement of an hour, however, the sea-breeze started to fill and racing got underway in lightish but very sailable conditions. Again race officer Suzanne McGarry started with windward-leeward courses and followed up with two Olympic Triangles. McCartin/Kinsella again led the fleet for the first two bullets but the third race was led by Butler/Oram while the series leaders headed ashore to fulfil a work commitment.

Noel Butler (right) and Stephen Oram were second

Daniel and Harry Thompson who were third overall

Race 8 took place without the event leaders and Butler/Oram posted another win. However, McCartin/Kinsella had done enough with five races wins and a second to discard the last two races and still win the overall by a margin of 5 points. Further back in the fleet there was great close racing all the way through. Lizzy McDowell sailing with her cousin Chara in a borrowed boat were right on the pace and came in into their own on day two. They were unfortunate to be U-flagged in the final race but they were in good company as the Thompsons and Louise McKenna/ McKenna/Hermine O'Keeffe suffered the same fate. Frank Miller/Ed Butler had a better first day than second but managed to hold onto 4th overall.

The McDowell cousins placed 5th and took the silver prize while second silver was Colm Breen with his son Cormac and third were Dave Coleman sailing with Aidan Caulfield.

Colm Breen and son Cormac (2nd silver)

Aidan Caulfield (3rd silver) (left) with DMYC Commodore Dermot Reidy

There were notable new faces at the event with youngsters Daniel Hrymac crew Harvey, young Robin Nash sailing with her father Glen and veteran Ciaran Hickey returning to the fray. All in all a great event in semi-tropical conditions and all credit to the race team who managed to squeeze 8 races in to complete the series.

Next up for the Fireballers is the Ulsters in Newtownards on August 21/22 and on September 18/19 the fleet head to Dromineer to sample the conditions at Lough Derg YC, the venue of the Fireball World Championships next year.

John Masterson's Curraglas of the National Yacht Club is 2021 Shipman Irish National Championship winner after a four-race series at Dun Laoghaire Harbour this weekend.

RStGYC's Viking (Fergus Mason and Colm Duggan) was second overall. Third was clubmate Alain Deladiennee's in Poppy. 

Masterson won by a one-point margin in the eight boat fleet after four races sailed at the DMYC hosted championships. 

Results are here

A DMYC Committee meeting held this weekend has decided to abandon plans for its inaugural Christmas Dinghy Challenge at Dun Laoghaire Harbour. 

As Afloat previously reported, the event was scheduled in anticipation of the lifting of Level 3 restrictions this weekend but the club's Neil Colin told Afloat, "A change in direction of the tide (Pandemic Numbers, coupled with the NPHET commentary, and anticipated relaxation that has not occurred) have led us to abandon the Christmas Challenge"

The DMYC is celebrating 50 years of winter sailing organisation this year.

The club has removed its online registration system and any entry fees will be refunded, according to Colin.

"These are sad times but we look forward to fair winds in 2021, and want to ensure everyone remains as safe as possible", he added