For the fourth round of the Viking Marine-sponsored DMYC Frostbites at Dun Laoghaire Harbour, there were no surprises with the strength of the wind.

From early in the week, the projected windspeed was in single figures, and there was little variation in terms of direction. On the day, the question was whether it would stay steady direction-wise or would it turn through 180°, as advised by a late “on the morning” forecast. It had the Race Officer anxiously looking over his shoulder at the smoke from the incinerator to see if there were any tell-tale signs of change.

In the end, the forecasted change of direction didn’t materialise, and the wind stayed pretty steady direction-wise but faded as the afternoon wore on.

Initially, the wind strength was at 6 knots coming from a direction of 120° which allowed a three-lap Olympic course to be set, with a weather mark inshore of the obelisk on the upper wall of the East Pier, a gybe mark in the locale of the end of the East Pier and a leeward mark close to INSS’ green raft. However, while the wind was good enough at the start, it soon started its downward spiral and the committee boat abandoned its start position and motored (gently) to a position off the weather mark with an early intention of shortening after the second beat. However, in this new station, the RO decided, after consultation with the RIBS, that maybe we could squeeze another lap in.

The biggest fleet of the pre-Christmas series turned out with the ILCA6s boasting 23 boats, the PY Class 19 boats and the ILCA7s 10 boats.

ILCA7s

The 7s had their biggest fleet of the series thus far and had a clear start in the 5knots of breeze. The series leader, Theo Lyttle, didn’t have the best of starts, being tucked behind a few of his peers just off the committee boat. Gavan Murphy and Gary O’Hare had better starts in clear air, and these three led the fleet home with a finishing order of Murphy, O’Hare and Lyttle.

In overall terms, with five races completed, Lyttle (6pts) leads by two from Murphy with O’Hare 5pts adrift of Murphy.

ILCA6s

On a start line that was marginally too short for 23 ILCAs, the fleet got away cleanly, but only just. As the third start of the day, they had the least amount of wind to start, but by the time we got to the weather mark, they had started to infiltrate the 7s. Race 5 saw a partial return to the established pecking order with Sean Craig taking the win, followed by Daniel O’Connor, Conor Clancy and Owen Laverty, with Shirley Gilmore, Judy O’Beirne and Mary Chambers occupying the next three slots.

Sean Craig, DMYC Frostbite ILCA6 Frostbite Mug winner

In overall terms, Clancy (10) leads, with Gilmore (13), David Cahill (22), Justin Geoghegan (23) and O’Beirne (24) occupying positions 2 – 5.

PY Fleet

In a case of “you don’t know how good it is until it is gone” a high-profile Frostbiter, jokingly questioned the PY handicap of the two RS200s that finished second and third on the water behind the Fireball of Neil Colin & Margaret Casey (14775). The Tingles, Katie and Jamie, finished 0:56 behind the Fireball with Kenny Rumball, in a second RS200, a further 0:46 adrift. Noel Butler (Aero 6) was 6:07 astern of the Fireball and the IDRA 14 of Pierre & Remy Long finished 0:29 behind Butler. Rumball had led the fleet around the majority of the course, but I am not sure that he was leading at the first windward mark. He certainly led at the gybe and leeward marks but his spinnaker hoist at the second rounding of weather mark won’t have helped his cause. This allowed Colin & Casey to close and must also have helped the Tingles.

The RS200s each lost two minutes of their elapsed time on the water to take the first two places, with the Tingles winning by 0:44 on corrected time. In contrast, Colin & Casey had 2:13 added to their elapsed time, which relegated them to fifth on corrected time, with the Longs taking third and Butler fourth.

In overall terms, Butler still leads the PY fleet with 7pts on his scorecard, followed by Sarah Dwyer (Aero 6/14pts), the Longs (15), Brian Sweeney (Finn/18pts) and Alastair & Gordon Syme (Fireball/21pts).

Despite the fading wind, an attempt was made to get a second race underway with the wind keeping its direction, but for each start, there was that little bit less wind, and on seeing the ILCA6s come to a halt on their upwind passage to the weather mark and the balance of the fleet not doing much better going downwind, three sound signals were given, calling a halt to the proceedings.

At a pleasantly busy DMYC with Fireballs, Aeros, ILCA6s and ILCA7s in attendance post-race, two Frostbite Mugs were handed out – to Sean Craig for the day’s win in the ILCA6s and Theo Lyttle for previous wins in the 7s.

Absentees on the day were the winners in the ILCA7s and the PY Fleet.

Additional Class specific standings:-

Fireballs (9 boats): Court & Syme (5), Colin & Casey (8), Louise McKenna & Hermine O’Keeffe (11), Cariosa Power & Marie Barry (11).

Aeros (10 boats): Butler (4), Dwyer (8), Stephen Oram (12.5).

After the Covid enforced hiatus, the first one-day regatta hosted by a Dun Laoghaire harbour yacht club in four years took place last Saturday, with the Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club “breaking the ice” for the other three clubs.

Despite a good deal of sunshine on the day, the wind forecast wasn’t so benign and a South-Westerly of 15 knots gusting to 23/24 knots was “on the cards” from early in the week before. Indeed, on the morning of the regatta, the three Race Officers, Susanne McGarry (DBSC Hut), Barry O’Neil (Green Fleet), Cormac Bradley (Dinghy Fleet) and Regatta Co-ordinator, Ben Mulligan, contemplated an hour-long postponement in the hope that the predicted and apparent breeze might ease. It didn’t and the Race Officers and their RIB entourages set out to provide the day’s racing. The dinghies, comprising Fireballs (5), Aeros (4) and ILCA 6s (5) represented about half of the starting roster with Squibs and Mermaids absent and no other ILCAs coming out to play.

The dinghy course was set off Salthill inshore of the Green Fleet and well to the West of the DBSC Hut Fleet who initially set out westwards before peeling off on a spinnaker leg to the East. While a hand-held was recording regular wind speeds of 15 – 17 knots, the numbers went up on a routine basis to record gusts in the low twenties and their arrival was heralded by darker clouds passing overhead. A postponement was flown to allow the dinghy participants more time to get to the race area but even those who did make it decided that there was to much “oomph” on the water and hightailed it home almost as soon as they arrived.

Racing in winds in the high teens/low twenties can be challenging enough, but couple that with multiple gear failures and the day goes from potentially intimidating to downright frustrating. One well-known Fireballer suffered a broken main halyard before the racing started. Having taken some time to resolve that and present himself on the start line he would go on to suffer a broken spinnaker sheet and a shredded mainsheet, proving that even multiple throws of the dice by an experienced hand can still produce ones.

The five-boat Fireball fleet saw both races won by Josh Porter & Cara McDowell (14695), though they did get a slice of luck in the second race when the boat leading into the last leeward mark capsized giving them the win. Adrian Lee (14713) took second place ahead of Frank Miller & Neil Cramer (14915). On a day when staying upright was key, the level of competition within the fleet was modest and exchanging tacks on the course was not a primary activity. However, Porter & McDowell showed what a light crew can do on a heavy-duty day and looked very comfortable, both upwind and downwind. Spinnakers were flown in both races but not on both reaches of either race.

Another to score a pair of aces was Hugh Cahill (216594) in the ILCA6 fleet which also had five boats racing. Hugh was well placed in the first race, but not leading, when the lead boat went for a swim, allowing Hugh to take the first gun. In the second race he didn’t have to rely on others making errors in order to cross the line first. In overall terms he was followed home by Damien Delap (183295), and Michael Norman (219126).

The Aero fleet mustered 3 Aero 7s and an Aero 5, the latter sailed by Roy van Maanen. This added a bit of intrigue to their racing as it meant there was a handicap race going on within their fleet. Stephen Oram indicated that they enjoyed close racing by way of the lighter van Maanen in the smaller rig being competitive relative to the “bigger helms” sailing the Aero 7. Three of the four Aeros enjoyed relatively close racing with the fourth boat being off the pace. Brendan Foley took the regatta win in the Aero 7, followed by Roy van Maanen (Aero 5) and Stephen Oram (Aero 7).

With two races in the bag and a recent gust of 26 knots recorded on the handheld and given that the Green Fleet had shut up shop for the day, the dinghies were dispatched to the harbour where the day’s proceedings were assessed under a blue-sky afternoon.

DMYC Regatta 2022.

Fireballs
1. Josh Porter & Cara McDowell, 14695 (2)
2. Adrian Lee & crew, 14713 (5)
3. Frank Miller & Neil Cramer 14915 (6)

ILCA6s
1. Hugh Cahill 216594 (2)
2. Damien Delap 183295 (4)
3. Michael Norman 219126 (7)

Aeros
1. Brendan Foley Aero 7, 1321 (3)
2. Roy van Maanen Aero 5, 3822 (3)
3. Stephen Oram Aero 7, 3288 (6)

The National Yacht Club's Ann Kirwan was the winner of the Ruffian 23 class in Saturday's 2022 DMYC Regatta on a blustery Dublin Bay. 

Kirwan, at the helm of Bandit, took two wins from two races in the seven-boat one design fleet.

Gusting westerly winds reached over 20-knots for the annual races in over 20 different keelboat and dinghy divisions.

In a tie break for second overall, DMYC's Ruffles (Michael Cutliffe) scored a 4 and a 2 to finish on an equal six points as Ripples (Frank Bradley). 

In the big boat division, Patrick Burke's First 40, Prima Forte, from the Royal Irish Yacht Club was the winner of the IRC Crusiers Zero.

A 2,1 was sufficient for Burke's clubmate Tim Goodbody to claim IRC One victory in his J/109 White Mischief against a seven-boat fleet. 

Lindsay Casey's J97, Windjammer, from the Royal St. George Yacht Club won both races in IRC Two to claim the DMYC prize. 

Click here for results in all classes

DMYC kicks off the 2018 Dun Laoghaire Regatta season this Saturday with their “King of the Bay” regatta. It looks as if the weather gods are still favouring this weekend's sailing activities, with a Northeasterly, 10–knots forecast and a likelihood of a sea breeze filling in, to make sailing more interesting.

Racing starts for the cruisers and yachts at 11.30 off the West Pier, and at12.00 for the dinghies in Seapoint Bay. While the Dublin Bay hut is still not in position, it is planned to be put in place on Saturday morning after alteration to the base structure. “We also have a Plan B”, says DMYC's Neil Colin.

In what the DMYC describes as 'an effort to shake up the traditional regatta format' and 'encourage entries from outside the traditional Dublin Bay Sailing Club classes', the cruiser/yacht racing is on a semi–coastal course, while the dinghies race initially in a pursuit race “hare & tortoise” style, where the leader at the time limit is the winner, followed by a traditional PY handicap race.

"Cruiser/yacht racing is on a 'semi–coastal' course"

Entries have been brisk over the recent days ranging from J109’s to Lasers, with the regular Dublin Bay One Design classes such as Ruffians, Flying Fifteens and Shipmans are well represented.

The entry is available on the club website here. As a special encouragement, the late entry fee has been waived.

June is Dun Laoghaire Waterfront Regatta season for the town's four yacht clubs and the DMYC, who is first up, has launched its regatta with the opening of an online entry system.

The DMYC, based at the town's West Pier, is building on their alternative race format, pioneered two years ago, with a coastal race for yachts and cruisers and a combination of pursuit race and handicap races for dinghies based on the PY handicap system, culminating with a “King of the Bay” award to the best yacht on the day.

Organiser Neil Colin says the DMYC are keen to encourage all and any craft to take part in the day, racers and non-racers, both from the local clubs and from further afield, as the event is classed as “Open”. The club can facilitate some temporary moorings for visiting yachts.

Online entry is here

DMYC has published the prizewinners of the first King of the Bay Challenge run as part of its annual regatta off Dun Laoghaire today. 

The Gods looked favourably on the bay in the earlier part of the day with sunshine and light winds, influencing the PRO for the cruiser courses to set a shorter course to ensure everyone got a result, which they did.

The dinghy pursuit was a great success, competitors noted the tragic increased as the race progressed, heightening interest, compared to the norm, and decline of traffic as competitors spread out. In the end Starfish (IDRA 14) was the winner, followed by a bunch of Flying Fifteeens.

Starfish repeated their performance in the PY Slow race, to be crowned "king of the bay" a well deserved effort for the travelling dinghy, which is now over 60 years old, and beautifully maintained.

The move was a change from the format over recent years, the DMYC has broken away from the combined clubs format which the DMYC considered to be a 'Dublin Bay “Deja Vu” race', and is offering a different format that it hope provides a novelty and encourage interest in to participation from the less competitive side of the sport. The emphasis is on 'fun and participation' with a less competitive element as the serious racers will be at Howth for the ICRA Championship.

'Overall commentary suggested the break from the regular format was well received' said the DMYC's Neil Colin.

Listings below are for boats that received prizes. 

In Class A, boats that have an ECHO rating from DBSC racing:

In Class B, boats that did not have an ECHO rating:

In Class C, Sportboats and Dragons:

In the Glen class:

For the dinghies, two races were held - a pursuit race of 100 minutes, and a second race following the DMYC Frostbite setup, with two fleets by PY rating; Division F and Division S.

Pursuit was a winner-takes all race, won by Alan Carr in IDRA 14, sail number 14/38.

Division F:

Division S:

Vincent Delany adds:

There are a large number of formats which can be used for regattas. Most split the entries up into classes, and each class sails in a different race. As a small club, the Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club wanted to do things differently for its 50 anniversary regatta.

The dinghy racing was organised off Seapoint, where the tide is weaker and generally the waves smaller. Using the skills developed in running the annual frostbite, the first race was a pursuit race over approx.100 minutes, which each class was given a start time based on its Portsmouth Yardstick.

For most of the race Alan Carr in Starfish (IDRA 14) led the fleet followed by Dart (IDRA 14). They felt that they had the winning of the race in the bag, but the Flying Fifteens were catching up very fast. After some 6 laps of the course, the time limit was achieved, so the fleet completed their round. Results:
1st. Starfish, IDRA 14, Alan Carr SDC
2nd. Dart, IDRA 14, Pierre Long DMYC.
3rd. Ffrequent Fflyer, Flying Fifteen, Sean Craig and Alan Green NYC.
33 competed.

For race two, the format was amended. The fleet was divided into two, those above and below a Portsmouth Yardstick of 1100. With four laps of the course in light winds the winners were.

1st. Starfish, IDRA 14, Alan Carr SDC

2nd. Femme Fatale, National Squib, Vincent Delany and Noel Colclough RStGYC/ DMYC.

3rd. Perfection, National Squib, Jill Fleming and Conor O’Leary RStGYC.
15 competed.

Who won King of the Bay? Alan Carr of course, he sailed very consistently, pointed higher than his classmates, made use of his trapeze when the wind increased. Is it time to verify the IDRA 14 Plymouth Yardship. Yes, it is, they should probably be dropped by 2 points. It is time for somebody to talk to the RYA.

Radical new ideas are coming to the fore for next month's Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club (DMYC) regatta. The Notice of Race just published outlines a “King of the Bay Challenge” open event. (Downloadable below).

In a change from the format over recent years, the DMYC has broken away from the combined clubs format which the DMYC considered to be a 'Dublin Bay “Deja Vu” race', and is offering a different format that it hope provides a novelty and encourage interest in to participation from the less competitive side of the sport. The emphasis is on 'fun and participation' with a less competitive element as the serious racers will be at Howth for the ICRA Championship.

The features of our format are, for cruisers;

· A costal race for racing cruisers based on standard Echo, which disregards the personal performance of the crew and gives the more accomplished a chance to use the boat driven handicap.

· A costal race for non-racing cruisers, when DMYC awards handicaps, if there are none available.

· A sheltered costal race for the sports boats based on the DBSC Sports Boat handicap scheme

For Dinghies:
DMYC plan to run a pursuit race, for all monohull dinghies of approximately 100 minutes, a tortoise and hare type format, with the first home being the winner. Then DMYC will run a “frostbite” type handicap race divided into fast and slow boats. This format is successfully run in the UK, for events like the Tiger Trophy at the Bloody Mary SC.

As further encouragement DMYC are setting the entry fee low, with a late cut off, with a fully online entry system, for convenience.

The aim is to avoid class starts with only a handful of competitors, and give everyone a day on the water and someone to race against.

#flyingfifteen – The third of the waterfront clubs summer regattas turned out to be a fantastic day on the water after a wet morning, with a nice building breeze from N/NE and sunshine most of the afternoon. With a good Flying Fifteen turnout for the DMYC event there promised to be some exciting racing. Gerry Donleavy was back in action sailing with Alan Green, other favourites included National Champions Ian & Keith, the Meagher's, David Gorman & Chris Doorly who won last week's NYC regatta, Brian Maguire & Frank Burgess and Tom & Diego were also back after a rest weekend last week.

The wind was from the north at about 10-12knots, but was forecast to build during the day and flick more N/NW and for the first race the tide was still coming in.

In race 1 there was a bias to the pin so all the boats were blasting out to the left hand side, it was a short starboard tack and it looked like a procession in peeling off on the lay line, this was not good for those to leeward. Gorman made a quick decision to tack and duck four boats, as he pointed back up there seemed to be a small lift, enough to point him at the mark and stay above Alan Balfe and just ahead of Ben & Maryjane Mulligan, the others on the left had by now over stood the mark. The reach was a bit of a run really and some of the back places changed, on the next beat it was shifty and sloppy, Ben stayed close to Gorman, while Balfe dropped back as Tom & Diego made large gains by going left, Mathews & Poole came back up to fourth. This was how it stayed to the finish.

There was a very long break between races as all classes were given 3 laps, crews were getting cold with the northerly winds. With the winds now more northerly the PRO reset the course. Again the pin end was biased, Gorman mistimed his start and was left behind on the line, Maguire, Mathews and Donleavy were all flying up the beat out to the left. As in the first race there was actually very little time to be on starboard and soon all the boats were heading out to sea on a long port tack. Gorman had recovered and was sailing fast through the waves to somehow get his nose in front as the boats approached the weather mark. He was closely followed by Donleavy & Green, Murphy and Mathews. Down the reach (run really) and at the gybe mark Murphy started to take down his spinnaker to the surprise of those around him, on realising his mistake he had lost three places- expensive mistake! However he kept battling and soon caught up with the group ahead. On the second beat Donleavy went more right and was right up with Gorman, Gorman headed even further left while Donleavy went right, left paid as there was more wind and Gorman kept the lead to the gun. These two were well ahead of the rest, Mathews came in third with the Meaghe'rs fourth.

Overall then it was David & Chris in first place with two wins, Ian and Keith in second and Tom & Diego in third. Well done to all who participated and to PRO and his team, it was an interesting and challenging days racing. Once ashore it was down to the DMYC for the usual regatta festivities and prize giving, the club had a great bbq and music. Next week is the RStGYC Regatta. Details of that event are here.