The Howth Yacht Club Spring Frostbite series was concluded on Sunday (March 5th) when the final day of the series achieved delivery of 100% of the planned races, with the host club giving deeper meaning to “generous hospitality” by allowing visitors to take the title in all but one of the four classes. Aisling Kelly (Rush SC), Marco Sorgassi (RStGYC) and Ronan Wallace (Wexford HB&TC) took the overall victories in the ILCA 4, 6 and 7 Classes while Daragh Sheridan was the only Howth winner to take the overall prize in the PY Class with his RS Aero 7.

Although the westerly wind was a relatively modest 10 – 12kn, the air temperature was the main topic of conversation. The sunshine of recent weeks was intermittently repeated, but nature’s link to the thermometer appeared to have disconnected, and the chill gave another reminder of why the event has justified its ‘Frostbites’ title since it started back in the 1970s.

Let’s hear it for the Wexford Harbour Boat & Tennis Club! Southeast star Ronan Wallace on his way to another overall win. Photo: Neil Murphy

Race Officer Jim Lambkin decided on Windward-Leeward courses for the two races, and despite the anxiety of some of the ILCA sailors to get racing a little before the start guns for both, only one general recall was needed with the individual recall signal sorting the rest.

With the wind oscillating through 20 degrees and a strong ebb tide running more strongly down one side of the course, the good strategists (and the fortunate) were able to capitalise on getting to the right place at the right time, but there was plenty of place-changing in both races. The strong tide setting the boats down on the starboard tack approach to the windward mark caused some a lot of grief, and judging the right amount to overstand what would normally have been the correct layline made a big difference to how long and how many extra tacks were needed to get around it.

Two further variants on the 14ft theme – Alan Blay in the vintage Geep hangs in ahead of Jeremy Beshoff in the B14. Photo: Neil Murphy

Tristan Nelson and Peter Freyne, who normally sail single-handed RS600s, brought out their International 14 to get some practice in for the upcoming Round the Island Race. It added considerably to the Sunday morning spectacle on the Sound, not only when the boat was vertical and travelling very fast, but also while it was transitioning to horizontal mode.

Given the complexity and performance of these thoroughbreds of the dinghy racing world, an occasional lie down is a fate to avoid. Having clocked up 12kn+ on Sunday in a breeze of around the same velocity, their boat speed should make them a favourite for line honours in the Round the Island this Saturday...but their opposition will be taking inspiration from the fable of the tortoise and the hare.

Malahide’s Daragh Peelo keeping cover on Paul Hassett Photo: Neil Murphy

Most of the ILCA 4 fleet were afloat early for a pre-race coaching session with Aoife Hopkins. The initial six boats enjoyed great racing, but Cillian Twomey (HYC) was a model of consistency and took the winning gun in both races. Glenda Gallagher (MYC) and Aisling Kelly took the other podium places in the first race, while Thea Daly (HYC) came out for the second race and added to the fun, finishing third behind Ciara McMahon (HYC) in second. Aisling Kelly’s consistency over the series brought her to first overall with Viktor Samoilovs (MYC) taking second.

In the ILCA 6s, Marco Sorgassi (RStGYC) added to his tally of race wins in the first race of the day, his 12th victory out of the eighteen races, and it secured his overall win for the series. In the second race, Fiachra Farrelly (HYC) sailed exceptionally well to grab the final race win of the event, while Marco had to be content with third. Darragh Peelo (MYC) rounded out the podium in both races with a third and then a second, which was enough to secure him second place overall.

The ILCA 7s had a lower turnout than usual for the last day with both Dan O’Connell (Cove SC) and Conor Murphy (HYC), two of the usual front runners, not racing. In Race 1, Oisin Hughes (RStGYC) sailed a great race to fend off second-placed Ronan Wallace, with Rory Lynch (Baltimore SC) taking third. Ronan was back in front in Race 2 with Rory as runner-up, while Dave Kirwan (MYC) added to his very consistent results over the series with a good third place.

Conor Twohig chases the Street boat in the GP14s while the ILCAs suss out the hydrography of the south end of Ireland’s Eye. Photo: Neil Murphy

Dave has the distinction of having won races in both the ILCA 6 and ILCA 7 Classes during the event, choosing the rig size that best suited him on each day to secure 11 ‘top 3’ finishes, including 4 wins, out of the 18 races completed. The top three finishers for the overall series in the ILCA 7s were Ronan Wallace, Dan O’Connell and Rory Lynch, with only two points separating Conor Murphy in fourth from fifth placed Oisin Hughes.

The PY Class completed their first Frostbite Series after 40+ years of the event being restricted to Lasers and then ILCAs. The 13 entries enjoyed close racing as the numbers built over the series and the results proved that the PY ratings are a fair reflection of how boats from the various Classes should perform.

Daragh Sheridan (HYC) opened a comfortable lead during the first part of the Series in his RS Aero, which allowed him enough of a cushion to secure first overall despite not racing on the last day. The wide range of boat types competing included two RS 600s, a B14, Fireball, three RS Aeros, an RS 800, the International 14 and five GP 14s.

Match racing practice within the GP 14s for the Street and Blay boats. Photo: Neil Murphy

The GP14s proved themselves well able to sail to their handicap, and once their crews became familiar with the intricacies of racing on Howth Sound, proved a match for the RS Aeros. Daragh’s tally of eleven race wins stood to him in the end, but the GP14s took first on corrected time in seven of the last nine races, albeit with Alan Blay (SDC) taking six of them and Denis Cully (Blessington SC) the seventh. Alan and Denis each took a win on the last day to confirm Alan as runner-up to Daragh Sheridan, while Conor Twohig (SDC), also in a GP14, took third overall to finish just ahead of Jeremy Beshoff’s B14.

The Round the Island Race will take place on Saturday next, March 11th, and all those not entered are reminded that entries close at midnight on Wednesday, March 8th. There is already a great entry of ILCAs and a wide variety of PY Class boats, so come and join the fun and work out your solution to the eternal quandary of this race – clockwise or anti-clockwise!!

Report by Neil Murphy

The penultimate morning's racing on Sunday, 26th February, for the Howth Yacht Club Spring Series 2023 finally experienced an onshore wind. Yet it was no Beast from the East, but more of an often sunny though sometimes brisk 12-15 knot easterly breeze that welcomed the contenders to the sailing area, where Harry Gallagher got two races cleanly away.

A triangular course followed by a windward-leeward, with separate starts for the ILCA and PY fleets. This week's racing gave the competitors their 4th and final discard, which has shaken up the leaderboards.

All the fleets have podium spots still to fight for, setting up what will be a hotly contested final series race on Sunday, March 5th. The winter season isn't quite over, though; the annual come-all-ye Round the Island Race takes place on Saturday, 11th March, which gives the ultimate bragging rights for the HYC winter sailing.

Out on his own...ILCA 7 National Champion Dan O'Connell of Cobh logged two wins on Sunday for the Howth leaderboard. Photo: Neil Murphy

The ILCA 7s saw Dan O'Connell demonstrating why he was crowned National Champion in Tralee Bay 6 months ago, closing the day with two wins from two. He led each race the whole way around, keeping Ronan Wallace at arms length, only allowing Ronan 2nd in each race. Conor Costello delivered his strongest day of the series, clinching a 4th and a 5th. Richard Tate swapped the 4th and 5th with Costello, while Zander took home 6th in each race. Dan's two wins aren't enough to unseat Ronan from the top spot in the series overall, while Conor Murphy fills in 3rd. Oisin Hughes and Rory Lynch will be fighting with Murphy for the final podium place, unfortunately, gear failure just before race 1 precluded Lynch from taking part.

Dave Kirwan of Malahide fighting off Marco Sorgassi of Dun Laoghaire.....Photo: Neil Murphy

......with a spot of gybing to sharpen the mix as they shape the final approach the mark. Photo: Neil Murphy

ILCA 6s saw the same finishing order of Dave Kirwan, Marco Sorgassi and Charlie Savage in both races. They showed remarkable speed to keep in the mix with the ILCA 7s around the course in both races. Marco holds an insurmountable lead in the series overall, regardless of what happens next week. The rest of the fleet will need the next 2 races to straighten out, with Kirwan, Darragh Peelo and Fiachra Farrelly fighting for the final two podium places, each are on 50 points.

"The Heavies" lead the Geeps. Fresh from collecting some silverare at the Puppeteer 22 dinner in HYC the night before, Alan Blay had the McNally might aboard in the morning to help display his GP14 expertise. Photo: Neil Murphy

The ILCA 4s had the strongest turnout of the day, with 9 sailors showing their skills that they've been learning from HYC's Aoife Hopkins in recent weeks. Charlie Keating took 1st in both races, while the rest of the top 6 saw plenty of changes between the two races. Glenda Gallagher and Aisling Kelly took a 2nd each, while Viktor Samoilovs and Ciara McMahon took home a 3rd each. Kelly leads the series overall with 31 points, followed closely by Samoilovs and Riaghan Boardman.

Personal testing of the product....Series Organiser Conor Murphy has been in every race sailed. Photo: Neil Murphy

The PY fleet had a range of classes making up the 8 boats on the water, and the results show an apparent preference that the different classes have for the different courses. The fast reaches of the triangle favour the RS Aeros, leading to Daragh Sheridan's win in
race 1, followed by the GP 14s of Alan Blay and Conor Twohig. Race 2's windward-leeward course favoured the GP14s, with their symmetrical kites giving them the boost they needed downwind to overcome Sheridan's Aero. Blay took first, followed by fellow GP14s
Conor Twohig and Peter Boyle. Mike Evans was joined by HYC's own ILCA ace Ewan McMahon for the day, but they couldn't break into the podium places in the handicapped fleet. Sheridan has a safe lead on the series heading into the final weekend of racing, while Blay has moved into 2nd overall, followed by Jeremy Beshoff's B14 in 3rd.

There's plenty to play for in the final races of the series next week, and the long-range forecasts are promising some great conditions. The Round the Island Race follows the series on Saturday, 11th March, and there are already entries from all over the country for all sorts of boats in addition to our usual classes, including whispers of Mermaids and International 14s coming to compete for the annual prize. Don't miss out; make sure to get your entries in.

For the seventh weekend in a row in the Spring Series of the HYC Dinghy Frostbites, two races went ahead on schedule in the waters north of Howth Harbour. A 11-15 knot south-westerly breeze, with a maximum gust of 23 knots, welcomed the sailors to the start line. Race Officer Liam Dineen got two races away for the ILCA and PY fleets, the first around a windward-leeward, then the second around a triangular course. A strengthening ebb tide made the beats "interesting" and the laylines difficult to judge, but by the end of the racing the sun had come out, making the racing that bit more enjoyable.

Early leaders Dan O'Connell (Cobh) from Conor Murphy (Howth) and Dave Kirwan (Malahide). Photo: Neil Murphy

With only two more weeks of racing before the season-closing Round the Island Race on March 11th, the fleets are tight-knit. The ILCA 7s had some of their closest racing yet. In Race 1, there was stiff competition to start at the pin end, however with the ebb tide pushing everyone towards it, Ronan Wallace ended up striking the pin mark as the start gun went. As he did his 360 penalty, the rest of the fleet moved on up the beat.

Conor Murphy, Dan O'Connell and Rory Lynch had a very tight battle around the first two laps of the course, however on the third lap, while those three original leaders fought it out with each other, Wallace sped cleanly up the beat and got right back in with the pack. By the finish line, he had stolen 1st, Lynch 2nd and O'Connell 3rd, making it Wexford, Balitmore and Cobh without a Howth boat on the podium, though after a 35 minute race, only a few boat-lengths separated the top four.

The Comeback Kid. Despite taking a 360 at the start, Ronan Wallace came through for the bullet and is now overall leader on countback, tying with Dan O'Connell. Photo: Neil Murphy

Con Costello brings his ILCA out of a tack while Tristan Nelson sails serenely by in the RS600

Dave Kirwan was unfortunate to be called OCS, but recovered well in Race 2 to take 5th, after the same 1st to 4th places as in race 1. Wallace leads the series overall, but is tied on points with O'Connell. Rory Lynch follows 5 points behind in third, while Conor Murphy and Oisin Hughes fight it out for fourth with only two points between them.

Marco Sorgassi from Dun aoghaire continues to show the ILCA 6s what's what, with another 2 wins to solidify his overall lead. Daniel O'Hare showed consistency and took two 2nd places. Darragh Peelo took 3rd in race 1 and Fiachra Farrelly took it in race 2. Peelo and Farrelly are tied on 41 points apiece for 2nd place, so with 4 races to go, the rest of the podium after Marco is all to play for.

Aisling Kelly keeping things under control in the ILCA 4s with Mackay, Savage and Daragh Sheridan in the RS Aero astern and to lee. Photo: Neil Murphy

The ILCA 4s saw Aisling Kelly solidify her overall lead with a 3rd and a 1st. Des Turvey won the race 1, but unfortunately didn't complete race 2. Viktor Samoilovs and Maedbh Butterly took home the rest of the podium places for the day. Aisling Kelly has a 3.5 point lead over Viktor Samoilovs in the series, who in turn has a 7.5 point lead over Riaghan Boardman.

Malahide's Daragh Peelo demonstrating that an hour or two of good winter sailing is as much of a morale booster as a whole day in summer. Photo: Neil Murphy 

The PY fleet again saw its now usual mix of RS Aeros, 600, 800, GP14s and a B14. Alan Blay's GP14 and Daragh Sheridan's RS Aero swapped 1st and 2nd in each race. The windward leeward of Race 1 favoured the GP14, allowing Blay to win by over a minute on corrected time. However in Race 2, the fast reaches favoured Sheridan's RS Aero, and he took first by a narrow 11 seconds on corrected time. Tristan Nelson's single-handed trapezing RS600 took third in both races. Overall in the series, Sheridan still has a healthy lead, but only 9 points separates Jeremy Beshoff (B14) and Alan Blay in the fight for secnd. Four more more races and one more discard could make or break the series.

Renaissance Man....the multi-talented ICRA "Boat of the Year" co-skipper Mike Evans takes RS800 racing in his stride. Photo: Neil Murphy

Boss Woman....Aisling Kelly leads the ILCA 4s. Photo: Neil Murphy

Puppeteer 22 ace helm Alan Blay hones his skills with GP 14 racing success, and won the first race by a clear minute. Photo: Neil Murphy

Full results are available below. Meanwhile make sure to get entries in for the Round the Island Race, taking place on Saturday 11th March.

Another Sunday, another good turnout for the HYC Dinghy Frostbites. A hint of sunshine and a gentle southerly breeze with slowly clearing skies welcomed 28 boats to the race course, as race officer Neil Murphy sent the fleets on two races around windward-leeward courses. The breeze brought plenty of shifts, gusts and lulls, while a flooding tide - the exact opposite of the previous weekend - encouraged most sailors close towards the shore for rock-crawling or sand-shuffling to get up the beats in the slackest water. And with the tide-imposd discipline, all the starts got cleanly away.

Time is whistling by, and now only three Sundays and six races remain in this series which is noted - so far - for the regular completion of its full weekend programme in 2023, regardless of the winter weather being experienced elsewhere in the Northern Hemisphere. Admittedly hints of a "Beast from the East" meteorological experience in the next two or three weeks may upset the current clear picture, but already the leaderboard has a meaningful set of results in place. Thus all hope for the best in the three weekends between now and the Big One, the season-closing Round the Island Race on Saturday 11th March for which we are told there'll be a fleet of "ludicrous variety" added to the seasoned campaigners emerging from this current Spring Series.

On Sunday, the ILCA 7s saw Dan O'Connell of Cobh and Rory Lynch of Baltimore returned after their St Brigid's Bank Holiday Weekend absence - presumably home in the Rebel County - and both came back with a bang with a win each. Conor Murphy rounded out the top spots of the day, taking whatever podium places left from the other two. Dan, taking his first win of the series in the second race of the day, now leads the series overall with 24 points. Ronan Wallace of Wexford, Rory Lynch, Conor Murphy and Oisin Hughes fill out the rest of the top 5 for the series. With only 4 points separating 2nd to 5th, and one more discard to come, expect plenty of position changes over the next few weeks.

Let's hear it for the Rebel County! Dan O'Connell of Cobh has his first race win in the Spring Series at Howth on Sunday, but thanks to consistency he now has a narrow overall lead. Photo: HYC

Marco Sorgassi (RStGYC) returned to the top of the ILCA 6s with two clean wins, sailing fast and rubbing shoulders with the ILCA 7s most of the way around the course. Fiachra Farrelly and Darragh Peelo swapped second and thrrd in each race to fill out the rest of the podium places. Marco leads the series with an impressive 9 points after 12 races, but only one point separates Howth's Fiachra Farrelly and Malahide's Darragh Peelo, so this one might go to the wire.

Marco Sorgassi (RStGYC) consolidating his overall lead in the ILCA 6. Photo: HYC

The ILCA 4s had two new race winners in MYC's Glenda Gallagher and HYC's Des Turvey. MYC's Viktor Samoilovs continues to rack up some great results, and clinched the remaining podium places for the day's racing. There was even a photo finish required for the second race of the day,
as Viktor and Des crossed the line together after two complete laps of the windward-leeward course. With the race committee ultimately unable to separate the two, both were awarded 2.5 points for the race. Aisling Kelly leads the series overall, but Viktor is only 0.5 points behind in second and Riaghan Boardman (Rush) is only another 3.5 points behind him in turn.

The PY fleet and their growing numbers earned them their own start again this week. Another impressive display from Alan Blay in his GP14 saw him take two firsts, firmly unseating Daragh Sheridan's long streak of winning at least one race each weekend in his RS Aero. Conor Twohig and Matthew Cotter's GP14 swapped second and third with Daragh Sheridan's RS Aero with nail-biting margins - separation of 2 seconds and 4 seconds on corrected time in each race.

Three more weekends, six more races, and if the weather holds up there's no reason to not continue the brilliant quality of racing achieved this weekend. Full results from this weekend are available here: www.hyc.ie/results

Everybody is at it - Stephen Quinn, better known for campaigning his J/97 Lambay Rules, keeps himself ahead of Daragh Sheridan's RS Aero. Photo: HYC

While the Howth 2023 "Spring Series" section of the annual dinghy frostbites saw every race completed in January, at times, the weather was anything but Springlike. Yet the new Bank Holiday of St Brigid's Weekend saw Sunday's first races of February sailed in the sunshine and a gentle south-to-southeast breeze in which competitive conditions benefitted greatly from the sharpening effects of strong weather-going Spring ebb. That said, this meant the long run back up Howth Sound against the tide provided a real test of downwind skills, but it gave the trio of vintage enthusiasts in GP14s setting their good old-fashioned spinnakers a chance to shine, and they took it in style.

Further education in sorting things out after a General Recall was another by-product of that pushy tide. And although the new Bank Holiday Weekend effect seems to have resulted in some regular faces being absent for the long weekend - presumably to check out their Mallorcan villa or the family beach hut at Bettystown - there were more than enough newcomers to provide rising starter numbers in the continuing countdown to the come-all-ye Round the Island Race on Saturday 11th March.

With long runs up Howth Sound against the tide, the GP 14 spinnakers were worth their weight in gold, and Alan Blay (Sutton DC, left) took one of the PY wins by three seconds. Photo: HYC

The strong turnout across all the fleets brought a new race winner in all classes, with some long-standing winning streaks coming to an end.

The shifty and light southerly breeze brought challenges that most of the competitors haven't experienced in a while. Thoughts shifted from focusing on keeping the boat flat in weeks gone past, to considering lifts and headers this time round. Race Officer Richard Kissane ran two starts, one for the ILCAs and one for the growing PY class. The first race was windward leeward, one of the first of the year, while the second was a triangular course. In the first race, the ILCAs were pushing the line hard and only got away on the third attempt. A "U" flag start followed for all fleets, and while the first race eventually got away cleanly, the second race saw many sailors fall foul of the U flag.

In a banter-prone fleet like the Howth Frostbites, it takes guts to make your debut with an RS600, but Tristan Nelson gave as good as he got. Photo: HYC

The ILCA 7s were missing some of the series leaders to date, and there were two new race winners in Oisin Hughes and Dave Kirwan. Oisin Hughes made the most of the light weather and established a solid lead in Race 1, while Dave Kirwan, Conor Murphy and Stephen Quinn battled it out for 2nd place with a few position shifts within that group as they proceeded around the course. A late surge from Aidan Breen saw him clinch 4th place. Race 2 saw Oisin Hughes, Dave Kirwan and Stephen Quinn establish themselves as the leading pack, but as Oisin was one of the victims of the U flag, Dave Kirwan took home first place. He was followed closely by Stephen Quinn, while Conor Murphy was a distant 3rd. Conor Costello made his return to the series, finishing the day just behind Zander Mackay and Richard Tate. While Ronan Wallace still tops the overall table, consistency brings Oisin Hughes up to 2nd place, joint on points with Dan O'Connell in 3rd.

Marco Sorgassi (RStGYC, left) hanging in to get a second and third to maintain his substantial overall lead. Photo: HYC

The ILCA 6s saw a new race winner in HYC's Luke Turvey, who walked away today with two first places, beating not only all the ILCA 6s but holding a lead on many of the ILCA 7s for a lot of the racing. Series leader Marco Sorgassi settled for a second and a third, but still has a convincing lead in the overall series. MYC's Daragh Peelo and Rush's Daniel O'Hare took the remainder of the podium places for the day's racing. The fleet was delighted to see the return of Peter Hassett in his first racing of 2023.

The ILCA 4s, most of them fresh from a pre-racing coaching session from HYC's Aoife Hopkins, were eager to show their new skills in the light weather. They also saw a new race winner in HYC's Thea Daly, who took home first in race 2. Charlie Keating, fresh from winning two races last week, took first in Race 1, but he - along with three other ILCA 4s - fell victim to the U flag in Race 2. MYC's Glenda Gallagher and Rush's Aisling Kelly clinched the rest of the podium places on the day in two tight races. Aisling Kelly still leads the series overall with 19 points after 10 races, but Riaghan Boardman of Rush and Viktor Samoilovs of Skerries aren't far behind.

Sweet sailing for early FebruarySutton DC, - and it may get een better for the Big One, the Round the Island Race in four weeks time on March 11th. Photo: HYC

The PYs welcomed yet more fresh faces to the fleet, adding the RS600 of Tristan Nelson to their numbers this week. The PYs also had a new race winner in Alan Blay and his GP14, ending Daragh Sheridan's long running streak with the RS Aero, after they narrowly snatched victory by three seconds on corrected time in Race 2. Daragh still leads the series with an impressive 8 points in 10 races after 2 discards, while Jeremy Beshoff's B14 sits in second place overall. Third place in the series will be hard fought over the coming weeks, with the GP14s of Conor Twohig, Alan Blay and Peter Boyle and Mike Evans' RS800 not separated by many points.

Dave Kirwan of Malahide recorded a useful win after an intense battle in Race 2. Photo: HYC

Whatever about weather extremes being experienced elsewhere in the world, Howth is apparently in its own little magic microclimate. January has served up four Sunday mornings on the trot with good racing for the MG Motor "Sailing Club of the Year 2023" and its current Spring Series section, with fleet numbers building steadily as the different classes get into the countdown for the Mother-of-all-Concluding Races, the annual scramble around Ireland's Eye on Saturday, March 11th, with its added spice of circuit direction being an option for each competitor.

Sunday's fourth week of the Spring Series welcomed some new faces to the mix. Regular competitors were joined by yet another GP14 entrant, building the growing numbers across the classes.

A strong westerly breeze, accompanied by a strengthening flood tide going in largely the opposite direction, made for a race-course with a variety of conditions across it. After a quick postponement, two races were completed around triangular courses, with only one individual recall for the mostly well-behaved fleet. The three ILCA classes started together, with the growing PY fleet starting immediately afterwards.

Cork-Wexford ding-dong - Dan O'Connell of Cobh just managing to keep his wind clear to lee of Wexford's Ronan Wallace. Photo: Harry Gallagher

The ILCA 7s saw Ronan Wallace and Dan O’Connell fighting for the lead around the race course as usual. While it was neck and neck at the beginning of the third lap of the first race, Dan had to take a penalty, while simultaneously, Ronan’s kicker failed. The Wexford helm managed to make it to the top mark in the lead, and limp his boat home even while the Cobh sailor reeled him back in. Ronan did well to just about hold onto the lead crossing the finish line.

Conor Murphy got his first podium of the season, but couldn’t get close enough to take advantage of the difficulties in front of him. Then some quick jury-rigging between races gave Ronan a makeshift kicker, and he went on to win the second race as well. Richard Tate and Andrejs Samoilovs swapped 5th and 6th in each race, while Oisin Hughes took home fourth in both races, and a guest appearance from Conor Gallagher added an international element to the day’s racing.

The ILCA 6s saw Marco Sorgassi (RStGYC) deliver two convincing wins, beating not only the rest of the ILCA 6s, but also most of the ILCA 7s! Dave Kirwan of Malahide again opted for the ILCA 6 instead of the 7, and was a close second in the first race, while in the second race, an individual recall and a capsize allowed Dan O’Hare to take seconnd . Marco has a 6-point lead in the series after 8 races, and with 10 more races to go, there are still plenty of opportunities for the fleet order to change.

Looking good and going very good....Marco Sorgassi (RStGYC) is so dominant in the ILCA6s that he frequently finishes in the middle of the ILCA7s. Photo: Harry Gallagher

The ILCA 4s were fresh from some training on Saturday with HYC’s Aoife Hopkins, although there were very different conditions between the 2 days! Charlie Keating improved on his showing of last week with two first places, while the rest of the fleet swapped places between the first and second races. In the series overall, Aisling Kelly maintains her lead over Riaghan Boardman of Rush and Viktor Samoilovs. Time will tell if some of the more recent entrants can climb the leaderboard by the end of the series.

The PY Fleet grew again with the addition of Puppeteer 22 ace Alan Blay’s GP14 from Sutton Dinghy Club. However, Blay could only manage send in both races against Daragh Sheridan, who made the most of the breeze to blast down the reaches and runs in his RS Aero to take two 1sts. Matthew Cotter was joined by Aoife Hopkins (now very much back tp private sailing) in their GP14, but gear failure on the water prevented them from competing in the racing.

"The Men Upon The Wire" - Mike Evans and Troy Hopkins racing the former's RS800. Troy's daughter Aoife, having stood down from public full-time international competition, went very private on Sunday with a spot of GP14 crewing. Phoo: Harry Gallagher

Mike Evans’ RS800, Peter Boyle’s GP14 and Jeremy Beshoff’s B14 rounded out the rest of the fleet.Full results from the day and series are available here [1]. There are 5 more Sundays and 10 more races in the series, as well as the annual Round the Island race on Saturday 11th March, so be sure to join in the growing winter Dinghy fleets.

When the brief notice of the death of Brian Murphy at the age of 77 was posted on the Howth YC Facebook page recently, the response from members said everything about a remarkable - indeed a unique - sailing enthusiast and man of many parts. Within a day or two, 33 sad but very fond and favourable responses were made public, each one giving an extra insight into why his decidedly offbeat approach to life had provided an entertaining and rewarding - if sometimes maddening - input into the experiences of those with whose lives his own sometimes erratic existence became beneficially intertwined.

In national sailing terms, he is still best remembered – after 43 years – as a leading member of that special group which sailed in the first Round Ireland Race from Wicklow in 1980. Typically of Brian Murphy, his David Thomas-designed Hydro 28 Crazy Jane – which he’d completed himself from a bare hull – was the smallest boat to finish the course. And equally typical of the man, although he never finished another Round Ireland Race in a boat of his own, such was the impact of his engaging personality back in 1980 that for decades afterwards he was thought of as “Brian Murphy of Howth, the Round Ireland veteran”.

Brian Murphy at the helm of his own-finished Hydro 28 Crazy Jane preparing for the start of the first Round Ireland Race from Wicklow in 1980. Photo: W M Nixon 

The first Round Ireland Race start at Wicklow in 1980 was the first time offshore racers from elsewhere (the 16 entries came from all over Ireland and North Wales) began to learn about the power of the south-going ebb off Wicklow pierhead. But the quick-thinking Brian Murphy was in control, and the little Crazy Jane had the best of a rather ragged start. Photo: W M Nixon

As for Crazy Jane, his propensity for innovation soon had her changed. He lengthened the boat considerably and frequently – the amounts could vary from year to year – while you could never be too sure which style of rig he might appear with each season. Show most people a collection of broken International Dragon class masts, and they would see a heap of scrap metal. But show Brian Murphy that same heap of scrap, and he would see the basics of a very innovative needle spar rig for Crazy Jane.

This photo of Crazy Jane manoeuvring before the Round Ireland start in 1980 is a last glimpse of her in her original form. Before that season was out, Brian Murphy had made several modifications which continued throughout his long and successful ownership. Photo: W M Nixon

He and fellow can-do types at Howth such as the great Neville Maguire quietly operated a world-class action group in alloy spar re-purposing, while any bigger boat offshore racing campaign which had seemingly been completely de-railed by a broken mast knew that, in Brian Murphy, they could find salvation for their plans when the professional spar-makers were quoting hopelessly long replacement times.

Inevitably this taste for emergency engineering meant that he was easily distracted from one of the many aspects of his varied career, when at one stage he was running his own highly innovative engineering company, which at its peak employed 18 people. Inevitably they were drawn by their charismatic leader into precision challenges which few other engineering companies would undertake, and none with Brian Murphy’s flashes of pure genius.

Needless to say he was way ahead of everyone else in comprehending computers and their full potential, so much so that at times he was speaking a different language. Yet if there was something to do with sailing he would happily adapt himself to the technical expertise of the “client”, and over the years one of his contributions to Howth sailing was his willingness to listen to race officers and fabricate some peculiar and specialist pieces of kit in order to facilitate their work aboard the Club’s Committee Boats, with the effective flagship Star Point becoming a classic case of “handsome is as handsome does”.

HYC’s Senior Committee Boat Star Point has become a very successful race organization platform thanks in part to Brian Murphy’s willingness to implement sometimes decidedly quirky changes requested by Race Officers. Photo: Annraoi Blaney

Brian Murphy’s intellectual and cultural interests were many and varied, and when he was engagingly talking or explaining about something which had newly attracted his attention, he was a magnetic and sometimes wildly funny conversationalist, with a wicked line in concluding put-down lines.

The late Brian Murphy, long past retirement age but with his quizzical and amused brain as sharp as ever

His latter life was partly dominated by a struggle to keep his weight under control. Yet when he really cared about something, somehow the weight fell away, and the sparkling-eyed and charismatic younger Brian re-emerged.

Roger Cagney, Howth Yacht Club Commodore 2011-2012, as painted by Brian Murphy

Art became a passion for much of his later life, and having taught himself to paint, he set up an art group within HYC in which his aptitude for instruction and example inspired many, while he himself continued to hone his skills with a speciality in deft portraits which - apparently effortlessly – captured the spirit of the individual portrayed, while his landscape and event paintings of life along the East Coast reminded his fellow members that it isn’t essential to go to the mighty Atlantic seaboard in order to get the full flavour of life in Ireland.

Now this astonishing and always interesting man – often dubbed “the mad professor” – is gone from among us. But he leaves an extraordinary array of memories and achievements. Our thoughts are with his family and his many close friends and colleagues.

WMN

The spirit of the East Coast – the special excitement of Laytown Races captured by the late Brian Murphy

A growing turnout of close to 30 boats hit the water in the third week of HYC's Dinghy Frostbites, aka the Spring Series. In the days leading up to Sunday's racing, some forecasts were teasing light breezes, a welcome prospect for the fleet as nearly every Sunday to date has worked the sailors hard with plenty of strength and skill required to keep boats underneath rigs. In the end, this week's racing was no exception, as the "firm" south to south-east breeze was noticeable in the boat park, and even more so on the water after the sailors performed a testing run out to the course. HYC's newly elected Commodore Neil Murphy led the Race Management Team, and with a breeze of 14-18 knots, and gusting up to 24, he got two races away around a triangular course.

The ILCA 7 fleet saw the usual suspects of Ronan Wallace of Wexford, Rory Lynch of Baltimore and Dan O'Connell of Cobh battling it out in the top three. In the first race, Dan suffered a poorly-timed capsize at the top of the run (what would be "a well-timed capsize"? -Ed) leaving Ronan and Rory to fight it out for the remaining lap, while the rest of the fleet attempted to chase from behind. Ronan took first, Rory second and Oisin Hughes got his first podium of the series taking third. In the second race of the day, Ronan had the lead over Dan and Rory for the first lap, however, a strong downwind and second upwind saw Rory take first and keep it until the finish.

Southern sailors suss out the Howth real estate - with racing around high water, Ronan Wallace of Wexford and Dan O'Connell of Cobh were able to review some of the Peninsula's more desirable waterfront properties. Photo: HYC

Further back in the fleet, positions were hard fought for with Malahide's Andrejs Samoilovs and Vinnie Varley battled it out with Howth's Zander Mackay, Dun Laoghaire's Richard Tate and Lough Ree's Aidan Breen. After 6 races, Rory Lynch leads the fleet but is tied on 7 points with Ronan Wallace. With 12 races to go, and some more discards to come, it's anyone's guess who will be on top by the end of te series.

The ILCA 6 fleet saw Marco Sorgassi's 5 race winning streak coming to an end, as Dave Kirwan of Malahide pipped him for first in race 2. Despite their smaller sails, the ILCA 6s were in the mix with the larger ILCA 7s. Howth's Fiachra Farrelly and Rush's Charlie Savage took third and fourth in each race. Marco still has a healthy lead on the ILCA 6 fleet overall, but the rest of the fleet is tight and will need the 12 remaining races to sort out their finishing order.

Please gather round, girls and boys, and have a good look at a symmetrical spinnaker - just like your granny and grandpa sailed with......Photo: HYC

The ILCA 4s had a great turnout of 8 boats, boosted by the coaching session run alongside the racing, led by HYC's own Aoife Hopkins. In their first weekend of the series, HYC's Krzysztof Ciborowski and Charlie Keating took home first and second in each race. Rush's Riaghan Boardman took a third and a fourth, while Malahide's Viktor Samoilovs recovered well from a seventh in the first race to a third in the second, but while Aisling Kelly had to settle for two fifths, she still leads the series overall.

The PY fleet also grew in numbers, with a growing GP14 presence bringing the first-ever symmetrical spinnakers to a HYC Frostbite series. Daragh Sheridan continues to dominate the timed fleet, adding two more wins to
his tally. Mike Evans' RS800 and Conor Twohig's GP14 swapped 2nd and 3rd in each race, while Jeremy Beshoff's B14 pulled in a fourth in both races. Daragh Sheridan has a clear lead in the series, but all is to play for in the coming weeks.

Somehow Daragh Sheridan managed to find some blue sky sailing as Lambay loomed through the grey day. Photo: HYC

The series continues next weekend and runs until Sunday, 5th March, full results from today are available below. It's never too late to join in.

The annual Round the Island Race will be taking place on Saturday, 11th March, followed by the series closing lunch and prizegiving, which is always a good time. Last year saw the typical Frostbites fleets joined by Waterwags, GP14s, IDRA14s, RS600s and more! Notice of Race and Entry is available.

Looking back from the current ultra-cold snap, it was typical Howth luck on Sunday when the Spring Series managed to zap through a couple of sunlit races before the change to freezing came, with the mercury falling through the floor while snow threatened. Admittedly sailors had to deal with a gusty westerly breeze, in addition to a flood tide throwing up some choppy waters, but Wexford's Ronan Wallace (7), Dun Laoghaire's Marco Sorgassi (6), Aisling Kelly (4) and Daragh Sheridan (PY) all had successful days, with each taking a win in both races for their fleets. The series regulars were joined by Conor Twohig & Matthew Cotter's GP14, with rumours spreading of even more GP14s to join for the remainder of the series and the upcoming Round the Island Race in March.

The 14-knot breeze, with gusts up to 23, was thankfully less shifty than last week's outing.

Conor Twohig & Matthew Cotter's GP 14 hopes to bring more classmates to the PY Division in next Sunday's racing

Ronan Wallace took home two 1sts in the ILCA 7s, but they were far from easy wins, as Rory Lynch of Baltimore and Dan O'Connell of Cobh fought him every step of the way around the triangular courses. Oisin Hughes shows consistency with four 4th places, and if there are lighter days to come then he'll be right up there in the podium places. The series' two firsts each for Lynch and Wallace leave them tied at the top of the table, but with 14 more races in the series, anything could happen.

The ILCA 6s had one of their top turnouts of the year so far, but Marco Sorgassi continued his dominance with another two wins, allowing him the rare honour of discarding a 1st place. Dave Kirwan, usually in an ILCA 7, stepped into an ILCA 6 for the day and came home with two 2nd places. Fiachra Farrelly, Darragh Peelo and Charlie Savage filled out the remaining spots in that order in both races.

Baltimore Style. Rory Lynch demonstrates a West Cork technique for minimising wetted area on the run

Rush's Aisling Kelly took home two 1sts in the ILCA 4s, while Riaghan Boardman and Viktor Samoilovs battled it out behind her. Riaghan and Viktor took home a 2nd and a 3rd each. Competition is sure to heat up inthe ILCA 4s, as from next week, HYC's Aoife Hopkins is leading training sessions that tie in with the racing each Sunday.

Conor Murphy leading a group home as the long-forecast deterioration in the weather begins to manifest itself in the clouds to the northwest

The PY fleet saw usual HYC suspects Daragh Sheridan's RS Aero and Jeremy Beshoff's B14 out on the course, taking 1st and 2nd respectively in each race ahead of the GP14.

Full results from Sunday's racing are available here. The HYC Dinghy Frostbite series runs for another seven weekends, and is followed by the annual Round the Island Race on March 11th.

The Spring series of the HYC Dinghy Frostbites kicked off on Sunday, 8th January, after a brief hiatus since the Winter series wrapped up before Christmas. A New Year’s Day Race had bridged the gap for some of the competitors, but for most - who come from many different clubs, some remarkably distant - Sunday with some welcome sunshine was their first venture on the water in 2023 writes Conor Murphy

A moderate south-westerly breeze greeted the ILCA and PY fleets to the racecourse, where the race committee got two races away cleanly in quick succession. An ebb tide, along with shifty and patchy conditions, meant the competitors all had to be tuned in to every lift and header to be near the front of their fleet.

BALTIMORE AND WEXFORD BATTLE IT OUT

In the ILCA 7s, Baltimore’s Rory Lynch and Wexford’s Ronan Wallace had close battles all the way around the course in both races, with Rory Lynch ultimately holding out and taking first in both races. HYC’s Stephen Quinn, Oisin Hughes and Dan O’Connell rounded out the top 5, forming a leading pack that was tough to break into. The shifty conditions led to a lot of position changes around the course, but consistency was the name of the game.

Vinnie Barley keeping things nicely under control

Marco Sorgassi of Dun Laoghaire again showed the rest of the ILCA 6s his stern for most of the race, along with a lot of the ILCA 7s having a similar view of the rapid Royal St George sailor, with Darragh Peelo and the host club's Fiachra Farrelly followed with two seconds and two thirds respectively.

In the ILCA 4s, Aisling Kelly and Riaghan Boardman traded 1st and 3rd in the two races, while Viktor Samoilovs showed his consistency coming home with 2nd in both races. All 3 are tied on 4 points, setting them up for a close series

The PY fleet had a diverse range of competitors and welcomed back Mike Evan’s RS800 and Jeremy Beshoff’s B14 after a brief absence for both.

They were joined by the RS Aeros of Daragh Sheridan and Abby Kinsella. The RS Aeros won the day, with Daragh and Abby taking 1st and 2nd in both races, respectively.

The Spring series runs until Sunday 5th March, and it’s not too late to enter to join for the eight remaining weeks.

The trainer in training - Daragh Sheridan of STI with his double-winning RS Aero

ROUND THE ISLAND RACE DATE SET

The winter series is roundeded out by the open annual Round the Island Race on Saturday 11th March, the last Saturday before St Patrick's Day holiday A big turnout of dinghies from around Dublin is expected, so keep an eye out for the Notice of Race and Entry, which will be published shortly.

Results below