BENETEAU 31.7 Echo- 1. Kernach (Eoin O'Driscoll), 2. Attitude (T Milner J Sugars M Branigan), 3. Fiddly Bits (Timmins/Quigley/Murray/Breen)

BENETEAU 31.7 - 1. Kernach (Eoin O'Driscoll), 2. Magic (D.Espey), 3. Prospect (Chris Johnston)

CRUISERS 1 - 1. Gringo (Tony Fox), 2. Bon Exemple (C Byrne), 3. Fox in Sox (A Jones)

CRUISERS 1 Echo - 1. Jump The Gun (M.Monaghan/J.Kelly), 2. Gringo (Tony Fox), 3. Fox in Sox (A Jones)

CRUISERS 2 Echo - 1. Black Sheep (E Healy), 2. Bendemeer (L Casey & D Power), 3. Jawesome 111 (M Dyke & B Darcy)

CRUISERS 2 - 1. Red Rhum (J Nicholson & C Nicholson), 2. Jawesome 111 (M Dyke & B Darcy), 3. Black Sheep (E Healy)

CRUISERS 3 - 1. Quest (J Skerritt), 2. Supernova (McStay/Timbs/Monaghan/Costello), 3. Cartoon (McCormack/Brady/Lawless)

CRUISERS 3 Echo - 1. Supernova (McStay/Timbs/Monaghan/Costello), 2. Saki (McCormack/Ryan/Ryan), 3. Quest (J Skerritt)

FLYING FIFTEEN - 1. Snow White (Frank Burgess), 2. Mellifluence (T Leonard & B Mulligan), 3. FFantastic (N Meagher & N Matthews)

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

MERMAID - 1. Jill (P.Smith/P.Mangan), 2. Aideen (B.Martin/D.Brennan), 3. Tijuana (David Stedmond)

SHIPMAN - 1. Jo Slim (J.Clarke et al), 2. Gusto (C Heath/G Miles), 3. Whiterock (Henry Robinson)

SIGMA 33 - 1. Leeuwin (H&C Leonard & B Kerr), 2. Rupert (R & P Lovegrove), 3. Gwili Two (D.Clarke/P.Maguire)

SQUIB - 1. Femme Fatale (V Delaney), 2. Glassilaun (D O'Neill), 3. Tais (Michael O'Connell)

WHITE SAIL CRUISERS Echo - 1. Vespucci (S & K O'Regan), 2. Just Jasmin (Philip Smith), 3. Persistence (C. Broadhead et al)

WHITE SAIL CRUISERS - 1. Persistence (C. Broadhead et al), 2. Vespucci (S & K O'Regan), 3. Warrior (D Shanahan)

#dbsc – BENETEAU 31.7 Echo- 1. Prospect (Chris Johnston), 2. Levante (M.Leahy/J.Power), 3. Extreme Reality (P.McSwiney/E.O'Rafferty)

BENETEAU 31.7 - 1. Prospect (Chris Johnston), 2. Levana (Jean Mitton), 3. Magic (D.O'Sullivan/D.Espey)

CRUISERS 0 Echo - 1. Loose Change (P Redden & M Mitton), 2. Tsunami (Vincent Farrell), 3. Lively Lady (Derek Martin)

CRUISERS 0 - 1. Loose Change (P Redden & M Mitton), 2. Tsunami (Vincent Farrell), 3. Lively Lady (Derek Martin)

CRUISERS 1 Echo - 1. Dear Prudence (B Lyons & J Given), 2. Something Else (J.Hall et al), 3. Jalapeno (P Barrington et al)

CRUISERS 1 - 1. Something Else (J.Hall et al), 2. Jalapeno (P Barrington et al), 3. Dear Prudence (B Lyons & J Given)

CRUISERS 2 Echo - 1. Antix (D Ryan), 2. Borraine (Ean Pugh), 3. Black Sheep (E Healy)

CRUISERS 2 - 1. Red Rhum (J Nicholson & C Nicholson), 2. Graduate (D O'Keeffe), 3. Jester (Declan Curtin)

CRUISERS 3 A Echo - 1. Cartoon (McCormack/Brady/Lawless), 2. Hamilton Bear (S Hyde), 3. Quest (B Cunningham/J Skerritt)

CRUISERS 3 A - 1. Quest (B Cunningham/J Skerritt), 2. Cartoon (McCormack/Brady/Lawless), 3. Hamilton Bear (S Hyde)

CRUISERS 3 B Echo - 1. Taiscealai (B Richardson), 2. Yikes (J Conway), 3. Saki (Paget McCormack et al)

CRUISERS 3 B - 1. Taiscealai (B Richardson), 2. Gung Ho (G & S O'Shea), 3. Asterix (Counihan/Meredith/Bushell)

FLYING FIFTEEN - 1. Frequent Flyer (C Doorley/A Green), 2. TBA (David Mulvey), 3. Kooigjug (K Dumpleton)

GLEN - 1. Glenariff (Adrian Lee), 2. Glendun (B.Denham et al), 3. Glencree (J.Bligh/H.Roche)

RUFFIAN 23 - 1. Shannagh (S.Gill/P.MacDiarmada), 2. Ruffles (Michael Cutliffe), 3. Diane ll (A Claffey/C Helme)

SB20 - 1. Should be... (Michael O'Connor), 2. Venuesworld.com (Ger Dempsey), 3. Lia (David Barry)

SHIPMAN - 1. Gusto (C Heath/G Miles), 2. Poppy (Peter Wallis et al), 3. Bluefin (B.Finucane et al)

SIGMA 33 - 1. Leeuwin (H&C Leonard & B Kerr), 2. Gwili Two (D.Clarke/P.Maguire), 3. Springer (I Bowring)

SQUIB - 1. Glassilaun (D O'Neill), 2. Periguin (N Colcough), 3. Chillax (Colin Galavan)

WHITE SAIL CRUISERS Echo - 1. Warrior (D Shanahan), 2. More Mischief (Eamonn Doyle), 3. Jama (J Moyney)

WHITE SAIL CRUISERS - 1. Warrior (D Shanahan), 2. Persistence (C. Broadhead et al), 3. White Lotus (Paul Tully)

#fireball – After two gentle Tuesday night Fireball sessions in a row on Dublin Bay, the wind gods upped the ante for last night's DBSC racing writes Cormac Bradley. Viewing the Optimist Europeans on Dublin Bay (entry of 254 boats) during the day from the office window and comparing the forecast for the evening there seemed to be some confusion as to what we would be getting with my favoured website suggesting southerlies of 11 – 15 knots. Rigging up in the Coal harbour didn't help the wind assessment either as neither the flags in the harbour complex nor the wind in the rigging were consistent!

Having made our choice of rig setting, we went out to a lively Scotsman's Bay. Those trapeze wires, which had been redundant for the past two Tuesdays, were going to be worked tonight!

Wind direction - 160˚, ebbing tide, full-on trapeze conditions! Five Fireballs bid for a position on the short start line, all congregated at the committee boat end. Messrs Butler & Oram (15061) were shepherding the flock, keeping an eye on Smyth & Bradley (15007) and Colin & Casey (14755). The "all-lady" teams of McKenna & O'Keeffe (14691) and Chambers & McGuire (14865) were close to the action as well. All five boats flew of the start line on starboard tack sailing parallel to the shore for a 4-lap triangular course. All five boats used the right hand-side of the course but Butler & Oram led the charge to the weather mark followed by Colin and Smyth who were keeping close company with each other. Getting snagged on the boom in the penultimate tack to the weather mark didn't help Smyth's cause but having the "avoirdupois" of Bradley on board avoided a costly capsize!

At the weather mark the pecking order was Butler, Colin, Smyth, McKenna and Chambers. Butler went for spinnaker and screamed off. The next two were more cautious, but Smyth launched spinnaker halfway down the slightly short reach. He still didn't get to the gybe mark before Colin and when they each flew bag down the second reach which was more comfortable, Colin stayed ahead.

On the second beat, Smyth & Bradley went inshore in contrast to Colin and Casey, Butler & Oram being already gone! This allowed the former pair to close on the latter but down the sausage, Colin & Casey pulled out some distance though they would still be watching over their shoulder. McKenna & O'Keeffe also came back into the picture closing to within a few boat-lengths of Smyth at the second leeward mark. Again, Colin and Smyth adopted different approaches to the third beat, Smyth closed but couldn't overhaul the 2nd placed boat. The gybe mark had been relocated further out to sea giving a longer and tighter reach. Colin & Casey's spinnaker hoist got fouled allowing Smyth & Bradley to pass them out and sail into second place at the gybe mark. The second reach was now much tighter and while Butler & Oram and Smyth & Bradley flew bag, neither were able to make the mark, forcing early drops and a two-sail close out of the second reach. These two were of course flying the bag from very different positions on the leg! Colin & Casey had eschewed the spinnaker for the second reach and flew two-sailed down the second reach to round the leeward mark on Smyth's transom. Up the fourth beat Smyth & Bradley were able to open up a short distance on Colin & Casey but this would not be sufficient to provide any comfort for the heavier combination on the final downwind leg of the sausage. Initially they sailed together on starboard tack, heading offshore – playing chicken – Who would gybe back first. Colin was first to twitch his tiller prompting Smyth to do the same and they watched each other all the way down the leg.

At the rounding of the last leeward mark they were very close but the presence of a Mermaid, a Laser and a single-handed K1 complicated Colin's rounding and left him a boat-length to leeward of Smyth and a boat-length and a half behind. The two Fireballs quickly escaped the company of the other boats, but Smyth was in the preferred position – to windward and ahead. This gave him the freedom to dictate his final approach to the finish while still keeping an eye on the opposition.

A magic night – fast reaches, waves and a great race on the water, in keeping with the Harry Potter themed heading to this article!!

DBSC Tuesday Nights: Series 2, Day 5, 15th July 2014
1 Noel Butler & Stephen Oram 15061 NYC
2 Louis Smyth & Cormac Bradley 15007 Coal Harb.
3 Neil Colin & Margaret Casey 14775 DMYC
4 Louise McKenna & Hermine O'Keeffe 14691 RStGYC
5 Mary Chambers & Brenda McGuire 14865 DMYC

This combination of results has created an interesting three-way tie in the overall standings for Series 2.

DBSC Tuesday Nights: Series 2, Five races sailed, no discard.
1 Noel Butler & Stephen Oram 15061 NYC 11pts
1 Neil Colin & Margaret Casey 14775 DMYC 11pts
1 Louise McKenna & Hermine O'Keeffe 14691 RStGYC 11pts
4 Frank Miller & Grattan Donnelly & Francis Rowan 14713 DMYC 14pts
5 Louis Smyth & Cormac Bradley 15007 Coal Harb. 16pts

The Irish Fireball scene relocates this weekend to Wexford and the hospitality and race management of the Wexford Harbour Boat and Tennis Club for our Munster Championships. While the core of the fleet are expected to attend, if there are any readers of this column who are looking to put the bits and pieces together for a weekend of racing at the venue but who haven't got all these bits and pieces, please contact us to see how we can help.

Wexford will provide the last chance for practice before four Irish boats head off to the Shetlands for the European Championships. Shetlands Chairman John Manson has put a huge effort into the organisation of this event and promises the traditional Shetland welcome to all those who are making the journey..............including boats from the Czech Republic.

¢dbsc – BENETEAU 31.7 - 1. Fiddly Bits (Timmins/Quigley/Murray/Breen), 2. Attitude (T Milner J Sugars M Branigan), 3. Extreme Reality (P.McSwiney/E.O'Rafferty

BENETEAU 31.7 - 1. Fiddly Bits (Timmins/Quigley/Murray/Breen), 2. Extreme Reality (P.McSwiney/E.O'Rafferty), 3. Attitude (T Milner J Sugars M Branigan

CRUISERS 2 - 1. Black Sheep (E Healy), 2. Red Rhum (J Nicholson & C Nicholson)

CRUISERS 3 Tuesday - 1. Capilano (S Soran), 2. Chouskikou (R Sheehan/R Hickey), 3. Papytoo (M Walsh/F Guilfoyle)

FIREBALL - 1. No Name (S Oram), 2. Licence to Thrill (Louis Smyth), 3. Elevation (N.Colin/M.Casey)

GLEN - 1. Pterodactyl (R & D McCaffrey), 2. Glenshane (P Hogan), 3. Glendun (B.Denham et al)

IDRA 14 FOOT - 1. Slipstream (Julie Ascoop), 2. Dart (Pierre Long), 3. Dunmoanin (Frank Hamilton)

PY CLASS - 1. R Kenneally (Laser), 2. P Smith & P Mangan (Mermaid), 3. B.Martin & D Brennan (Mermaid)

RUFFIAN 23 - 1. Cresendo (L Balfe), 2. Ruff Diamond (D.Byrne et al), 3. Ruff Nuff (D & C Mitchell)

#fireball – Tuesday night order was restored for the Fireballs racing under the burgee of the Dublin Bay Sailing Club when Noel Butler, "fresh" from a 16th place overall in the Round Ireland Race and Stephen Oram, recently returned from holiday, won the Tuesday night race in Scotsman's Bay by a 3 min 30 sec margin writes Cormac Bradley.

Due to a work commitment, this correspondent was not out on the water, so I can't offer you an account of the first lap of the three lap triangular course. By the time I got into my observation position, onshore, with binoculars, Messrs Butler and Oram had a comfortable lead as they sailed up to the second weather mark. Later, in the DMYC clubhouse I established that their position was due to a pin end start that benefitted for the wind going left, giving them a substantial lift and allowing them to break free from the five boat fleet. Again, conditions were light with a wind that started in the NE and a flooding tide that had two hours to run. By the time I got to watch proceedings, the wind had gone northwards and crews were sitting to leeward on the upwind legs.

At the second weather mark, Butler (15061) led with the rounding order thereafter, Neil Colin & Margaret Casey (14775), Louise McKenna & Hermine O'Keeffe (14691), Cariosa Power & Marie Barry (14854) and Frank Miller & Francis Rowan (14713). At the weather mark the distances between the boats were such that none of them would have been anxiously looking over their shoulders, but they couldn't afford to ignore what was going on behind them..........with the exception of Butler & Oram.

These two headed inshore on starboard tack whereas the next three boats went offshore on port tack. Miller replicated Butler's approach. McKenna & O'Keeffe were the first ones to bail out of the offshore approach and this left them the furthest out on the right hand side of the downwind sausage. There was better breeze on this side (or just less where Colin/Casey were) because McKenna/O'Keeffe sailed round Colin & Casey to reach the leeward mark in 2nd place with a 20 sec advantage over Colin & Casey who also found their rearward horizon shortened by Power & Barry who had also crept up on them.
The approach to the final beat was to take a hitch to sea – the right hand side of the course – tack and sail across the course on starboard tack and wait for the header on the left hand side that prompted another tack to approach the last weather mark on port. This was executed to varying degrees by all five boats with Power & Barry seeming to close again on Colin & Casey.
The first reach of the 2nd triangle was tight, so much so that Colin & Casey didn't fly spinnaker and didn't seem to suffer distance-wise as a consequence. This leg was pretty straightforward. The second reach produced a very wide diversity of execution plans. Butler gybed and headed upwind in a direction that took him away from the shortest distance to the leeward mark. He would eventually end up to windward and to the east of the committee boat, necessitating a second gybe to approach the leeward mark on a tight reach on starboard. Still, he had the comfort of a big lead! McKenna, Colin and Power all gybed at the gybe mark and sailed low toward the shoreline – with McKenna covering/shepherding Colin so that she stayed between him and the leeward mark. This of course opened the door for Power to do her own thing but she was unable to upset the order. Miller, meantime was even more radical than Butler, seeming to take a line on port tack that would have delivered him to the position of the weather mark had it still been in position. As with Butler, he too ended up putting in another gybe to approach the leeward mark on starboard, but his game was long over by that stage. Butler's margin of victory was very comfortable and McKenna ended up being a minute ahead of Colin. Seven minutes spanned first to last in what was a seasonal race – evening sunshine under blue skies with a gentle breeze. Grey clouds were incoming from the west, but the showers that had populated the day stayed away for the race and one could believe that it was an Irish July!

DBSC Tuesday Nights: Series 2, Round 4.
1 Noel Butler & Stephen Oram 15061 NYC
2 Louise McKenna & Hermine O'Keeffe 14691 RStGYC
3 Neil Colin & Margaret Casey 14775 DMYC

With the Round Ireland, holidays, line duty and work commitments, the overall situation for Series 2 has an interesting look to it, and the three combinations that have been least upset in their Tuesday routine lead the series in overall terms.

DBSC Tuesday Nights: Series 2, 4 sailed, no discard.
1 Louise McKenna & Hermine O'Keeffe 14691 RStGYC 7
2 Neil Colin & Margaret Casey 14775 DMYC 8
3 Frank Miller & Francis Rowan 14713 DMYC 9
4 Noel Butler & Stephen Oram 15061 NYC 10
5 Mary Chambers & Brenda McGuire 14865 DMYC 13

This past Saturday saw the conclusion of the four one-day regattas of the Dun Laoghaire Waterfront Clubs with the Royal St George Yacht Club hosting their event which attracted close to 200 entries from Cruisers 1 all the way down to the dinghy classes. Five Fireballs contested the event on a dinghy course that was closer to the mouth of the River Liffey than Dun Laoghaire. In very difficult conditions that prompted a lot of "snakes and ladders" racing, Louis Smyth and Cormac Bradley "threw a six" at the right time to take the two race wins and a hat-trick of DL Club Regatta wins – Royal Irish Yacht Club, Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club and Royal St George Yacht Club. Louise McKenna and Hermine O'Keeffe won the National Yacht Club Regatta. Two of the regattas were decided by virtue of the winners of the second race and Conor Clancy lost two of those.
The weekend of 19/20th July sees the fleet re-visiting an old venue – Wexford Harbour Boat & Tennis Club. With ten days to go there is a "decent commitment" to boats for the event, but we would like to see even more boats make the trip. From Dublin the venue is about 1.5hours drive, (driveable on Saturday morning) there is free camping and camper-vanning at the club and they are very excited at our return. Discounted entry is available until 17:00 this Friday (11th July). We know that the south coast will be represented, we know that the west will be represented, there will be the usual Dublin contingent, but we would love to have some northern commitment and while the midlands might think it is a long haul, the more boats we have the better the event.

#dbsc – BENETEAU 31.7 - 1. Fiddly Bits (Timmins/Quigley/Murray/Breen), 2. Extreme Reality (P.McSwiney/E.O'Rafferty)

BENETEAU 31.7 - 1. Fiddly Bits (Timmins/Quigley/Murray/Breen), 2. Extreme Reality (P.McSwiney/E.O'Rafferty)

CRUISERS 3 Tuesday - 1. Capilano (S Soran), 2. Wynward (W McCormack), 3. Papytoo (M Walsh/F Guilfoyle)

Ensign - 1. RIYC 1 (Tim Goodbody), 2. NYC1 (A Dooley)

FIREBALL - 1. No Name (S Oram), 2. Goodness Gracious (Louise McKenna), 3. Elevation (N.Colin/M.Casey)

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

IDRA 14 FOOT - 1. Slipstream (Julie Ascoop), 2. Dart (Pierre Long), 3. Doody (J.Fitzgerald/J.Byrne)

PY CLASS - 1. R Kenneally (Laser), 2. Colin Galavan (Laser), 3. Tom Murphy (K1)

RUFFIAN 23 - 1. Alias (D.Meeke/M.McCarthy), 2. Cresendo (L Balfe), 3. Ruff Nuff (D & C Mitchell)

#flyingfifteen – The last of the waterfront clubs summer regatta's took place at the RStGYC on Saturday and the Flying Fifteen class was won by Dave Gorman & Chris Doorly in Betty in testing conditions as the winds were all over the bay. This gives them the 'grand slam' as they won all four waterfront regattas. Second was Ian Mathews with Jonathan O'Rourke helming on the same points as Adrian Cooper & Joe in Gulfstream in a well deserved third place.

It was forecast to be windy from the west, something we havnt had for a while but during racing the prevailing wind was fighting with the sea breeze and the usual hole appeared in the Bay giving a testing time to the competitors and the Race Officers.

In race 1 there was a bias to the pin and there were about 12knots under the big dirty cloud above so full hiking was the order of the day . . for a while at least! O'Rourke/Mathews led the way after a good start at the pin, as the boats tacked onto port there was a shift and a change in wind strength, those on the left were knocked and the two boats that had gone right were coming in full steam with Ken & Maryjane leading at the weather mark from O'Rourke, Justin Maguire and Adrian Cooper, Gorman was fifth to the weather mark. On the reach Gorman sailed low to try and get some place by getting water at the next mark, this worked well and at the gybe mark was second. The wind was holding, O'Rourke went to the right of the second beat along with Adraian while Gorman and Maguire went left, by now the wind was getting lighter and flukier. Maguire & Burgess made big gains and tacked in under O'Rourke at the weather mark but were sailed over, Gorman was fifth. Downwind Gorman went right hoping for that sea breeze and the help of the incoming tide, it looked good for a while as those on the left had no wind Then the wind gods gave those on the left wind and took it from the right! As the boats neared the leeward mark the wind picked up for a few minutes. As Gorman went left on starboard he got tangled with a port Fireball, for the last lap the positions didn't change so O'Rourke won from Justin & Frank with Gorman third and Adrian & Joe fourth.

There was a very long break between races as all classes were given 3 laps, this is preventable if the first couple of classes are given an extra lap. With the winds now more easterly the PRO reset the course, due to the uncertainty it was to be a shorter two lap course- this proved to be an inspired decision!

To have any chance of winning the regatta Gorman had to win and hope O'Rourke and Maguire have a poor race, this was unlikely but you would never know. The Meagher's were also out to add to the mix for the second race after having a lie in! In race 2 the wind was up and the pin end was biased, O'Rourke got the pin, with Colman to his weather, Gorman started away from the pin and managed to trap the two boat below, as in last week regatta there was actually very little time to be on starboard ,Gorman went a little beyond the lay line and O'Rourke and Colman had now overstood the mark and were in Gorman's dirt. As he approached the weather mark the boats from the right were coming in on starboard, Gorman got in about two boat lenghts in front of Alan Dooley and Adrian Cooper with the Cahills close behind. There was a bit of heavy traffic at the weather mark and O'Rourke and Maguire got caught up in it as Gorman increased his lead. On the second beat Dooley was sailing well on the right, the wind had now dropped and anything could happen, Gorman was in the middle but headed slightly right and was relieved to get around the weather mark intact- the rest were not so lucky. It was a beat now on the run, Gorman went left to the forecasted wind from the west and kept moving in the light winds, the beat to the finish was a run. Dooley stayed second with Adrian third, the Cahills fourth and the Meagher's fifth with O'Rourke in sixth place and Maguire behind them. So the regatta was won in difficult conditions where anything could happen and anything did happen.

Once ashore it was down to the RStGYC for the usual regatta festivities and prize giving, the club had a great bbq with super food and live music. Next week its back to the DBSC series.

#flyinfgfifteen – The wind gods were toying with the Flying fifteens last night and depending where you were you had zero wind up to about 10knots towards the end, despite a good forecast with a steady building wind from the SE it was always a surprise to what direction it came from last night.

The course was set up by Jack and his team and it was to be a short beat to East mark with the pin favoured, this was reinforced as we watched the SB start. Chris with Valerie Mulvin crewing and Ben & Maryjane crossed the fleet and were looking good, then from below Joe and Tom Murphy sailed around the leaders to take the lead . . or so they thought!

As Tom tacked for the mark he ended up pointing northwest back towards Dun Laoghaire. Meanwhile Chris and Ben seemed to redeem themselves as they pointed east towards the mark. At this stage those on the left got their own private breeze and Adrian, the Cahills and Alan Balfe came into the mark to be confronted by the Dragons and Sb's coming from the right with spinnakers up . . figure that one out! Those in the middle had little or no wind but and this led to a dangerous situation with all the inside boats coming in demanding their rights at the mark. The boats with no wind had no time and opportunity to get out of the way and some very poor seamanship was shown by some of the bigger boats, a dragon was actually spotted in Alan Dooley's boat!

Eventually everyone got around and headed to Omega, out of the mess Alan Balfe & Karl Lynch led the way hotly persued by Hugh & Michael Cahill with Adrian & Joe next. This is the way it finished as very little changed after that as the next four legs were all fetches. Alan Dooley & Joe Hickey recovered to be fourth after disentangling himself from the dragon earlier. It may take others longer to recover and get their heads together. So well done to Alan and Karl, it was Karls first ever win in the class!

Hopefully they can keep the good form for the RStGYC regatta at the weekend where there should be some great racing in a good sized fleet assuming the wind gods will be kinder to us As usual it will be fiercely contested, Dave Gorman & Chris Doorly may be slight favourites as they will be looking to complete the grand slam of the four waterfront regattas.

sb20 – Eight SB20s battled it out on Dublin Bay this evening in a northerly, easterly, and southerly breeze (depending where you were on the race course at any given moment in time) in a wind ranging in strength from 0 to 15knts (again depending where you were and when you were there!). Warning - Those easily confused should probably look away now...

Initially, the fleet prepared to start in 6knts of wind coming from the east with an ebbing tide pushing the fleet over the start line. The OOD had set a short line with a pronounced pin end bias, normally a recipe for disaster with an SB fleet not shy at coming forward... However, approximately 1 minute before the start, the wind died away to about 3 knts and backed, making the line practically impossible to cross on starboard, even with the help of the ebbing tide. Spotting the opportunity, Bad (Jerry, Jimmy et al) started on port at the pin and nailed it, owning the entire fleet. Just to leeward of them, Bomchickawahwah (John, Ed et al) and Alert Packaging (Justin et al) tacked onto port just as the gun went and kept their bows out from Bad. The remainder of the fleet also tacked onto port as the gun went and the entire fleet started heading out right in the very fickle easterly breeze.

Should Be... (Michael, Gavan and newest SB fleet member Andy Gale) were forced to tack back onto starboard shortly afterwards and head left once again but they found a rich (4knts!?!) vein of wind as they separated from the fleet going towards the opposite side of the course. Not long after, they were joined by Bad and Smoke on the Water (Bob et al) on the left side of the course as the remainder of the fleet continued right.

As the boats made their way slowly towards East mark, disaster struck the boats on the right hand side of the beat as the wind swung further left to the north, allowing the boats out left to reach into the mark while the boats out right were left struggling back against the tide to get to the mark. Particularly badly hit were SacreBleu (Richard, Ben et al) and Manamana (Doug, Ronan et al) who had been looking good for a time on the right. At the top mark, Should Be... led from Smoke on the Water and Bad and the three boats set their kites expecting a reach inshore towards Omega mark. However, as soon as they set their kites and looked up, they were greeted with the site of boats reaching under spinnaker heading directly towards them, on the same gybe! The boats that had gone right up the beat were now in a 12knt southerly breeze about 50 metres away from the weather mark! The three leaders dropped their kites and waited for the new breeze to hit them with Should Be and Bad going right and Smoke on the Water heading left into what had turned into a beat to Omega in the now southerly breeze.

Smoke on the Water did very well out left and took the lead from Should Be... in second and Bad in third. Unfortunately for Smoke on the Water, they overstood the lay line to Omega in the ebbing tide allowing Should Be... to sneak inside them at the mark and retake the lead. A fetch to Pier mark followed by a gybe and a close spinny reach to Poldy mark didn't provide much opportunity for overtaking, but with some very slick boat handling, Bad managed to sneak in front of Smoke on the Water at Poldy mark. By now, Venuesworld (Ger, Chris and Rory) were in hot pursuit of Smoke on the Water followed closely by Alert Packaging and Bomchickawahwah. Another fetch to Pier followed by a close spinny reach to Omega meant that once again passing was not going to be easy and by Omega mark, Should Be... had extended on Bad in second, Bad in turn had extended on Smoke on the Water in third and Venuesworld had closed to within a boat length of Smoke on the Water...

With only a fetch to finish, it looked like it would stay that way but as the boats rounded Omega mark before heading for Harbour mark and the finish, Smoke tacked straight away while Venuesworld continued on a couple of boat lengths to avoid the Squib, Dragon and Glen fleets heading towards and away from Omega mark. This move was to provide great dividends with Venuesworld managing to pass Smoke on the Water as Smoke contended with the added disturbed air and sea... alert Packaging and Bomchickawahwah battled it out to the very end with Alert Packaging appearing to squeeze Bomchickawahwah out at the finish line.

At the finish it was Should Be... in first, Bad in second, Venuesworld in third, a very hard-fought and well deserved fourth for Smoke on the Water, Alert Packaging in fifth, Bomchickawahwah in sixth, Manamana in seventh and SacreBleu in eighth. Timber (Alan et al) unfortunately appear to have missed the start but we hope to see them out next Thursday along with the return of some Thursday regulars (Probably, Seriously Bonkers) to make the magical double figures on a DBSC Thursday...

Saturday is the RStGYC regatta and by the latest head count we are approaching double figures so it looks like we have another great days racing ahead of us. Next SB Sunday is the following weekend, 13th July, only two weeks before the nationals... See you all out there...

Michael O'Connor

dbsc – BENETEAU 31.7 ECHO - 1. Fiddly Bits (Timmins/Quigley/Murray/Breen), 2. Extreme Reality (P.McSwiney/E.O'Rafferty), 3. Prima Nocte (Patrick Burke et al)

BENETEAU 31.7 - 1. Levante (M.Leahy/J.Power), 2. Prima Nocte (Patrick Burke et al), 3. Fiddly Bits (Timmins/Quigley/Murray/Breen)

CRUISERS 1 ECHO - 1. Jigamaree (R Harris), 2. Dear Prudence (B Lyons & J Given), 3. Something Else (J.Hall et al)

CRUISERS 1 - 1. Something Else (J.Hall et al), 2. Jigamaree (R Harris), 3. Raptor (D.Hewitt et al)

CRUISERS 2 ECHO - 1. Bendemeer (L Casey & D Power), 2. Antix (D Ryan), 3. Peridot (Jim McCann et al)

CRUISERS 2 - 1. Bendemeer (L Casey & D Power), 2. Red Rhum (J Nicholson & C Nicholson), 3. Jester (Declan Curtin)

CRUISERS 3 A ECHO - 1. Hard on Port (F O'Driscoll), 2. Huggy Bear (Doyle & Byrne), 3. Papytoo (M.Walsh/F.Guilfoyle)

CRUISERS 3 A - 1. Quest (B Cunningham/J Skerritt), 2. Hard on Port (F O'Driscoll), 3. Cartoon (McCormack/Brady/Lawless)

CRUISERS 3 B - 1. Asterix (Counihan/Meredith/Bushell), 2. Taiscealai (B Richardson), 3. Maranda (Myles Kelly)

CRUISERS 3 B ECHO - 1. Eezee Tiger (O Prouvier), 2. Maranda (Myles Kelly), 3. Taiscealai (B Richardson)

DRAGON - 1. Zinzan (Daniel O'Connor et al), 2. Phantom (D.Williams)

FLYING FIFTEEN - 1. Perfect Ten (A Balfe), 2. Frenetic (H & M Cahill), 3. Gulfstream (A Cooper)

GLEN - 1. Glenshesk (Walker\Faulkner\Henderson), 2. Glendun (B.Denham et al), 3. Glenroan (T O'Sullivan)

RUFFIAN 23 - 1. Diane ll (A Claffey/C Helme), 2. Shannagh (S.Gill/P.MacDiarmada), 3. Alias (D.Meeke/M.McCarthy)

SB20 - 1. Should be... (Michael O'Connor), 2. Bad - Kilcullen (J Dowling), 3. Venuesworld.com (Ger Dempsey)

SHIPMAN - 1. Gusto (C Heath/G Miles), 2. Curraglas (John Masterson), 3. The Den (A. Costello/G.Millar)

SIGMA 33 - 1. Moonshine (R.Moloney), 2. Springer (I Bowring), 3. Rupert (R & P Lovegrove)

SQUIB - 1. Glassilaun (D O'Neill), 2. Why Not (Derek & Jean Jago), 3. Tears in Heaven (M Halpenny & G Ferguson)

WHITE SAIL CRUISERS ECHO - 1. Menapia (J Sweeney), 2. Aurora (Ray Conway), 3. Jama (J Moyney)

WHITE SAIL CRUISERS - 1. White Lotus (Paul Tully), 2. Menapia (J Sweeney), 3. Vespucci (S & K O'Regan)