Karate Kid Sailing

In the 1984 film Karate Kid a young boy is groomed in martial arts. The film spawned the famous phrase "wax on, wax off". Last nights DBSC race was characterised by squally unpredictable conditions and  schooled every sailor in "wind on, wind off".

Further to recent discussions at DBSC Committee level there was a shakeup in the start sequence and the Fireballs were first off. In a display of how far reaching the DL Dinghies communications channel has become no PY boats lined up for the first start presumably because everyone had heard of the SI change.

PY were the second fleet to go, Sheehy in the OK looked like he got a good start and was on the right side of the pack as everyone headed into Scotsmans Bay out of the tide and looking for the left shift.

A healthy Laser fleet which was bolstered by Michael Delaney, Gary O'Hare, Theo Lyttle (has he got the bug back?) and that "Gun for Hire" Mr Ronan Keneally sailing in Dan O'Connells boat started the chase to the PY fleet 3 minutes later.

3 rounds of a good sized triangular course, a beat that wouldn't settle into any discernible pattern and streaky wind lines downhill which allowed seemingly healthy leads to evaporate saw a lot of attrition and a fair amount of swimming.

In PY a distracted Sheehy decided he wasn't in a racing mood and went off to see how fast an OK would go on power reaches. Tom Murphy kept plugging away in the K1, in close contact with the leading Mermaids and IDRA14s, with Pat McGoldrick battling to the finish in the Vago.

In the Lasers Keneally, Lyttle and Galavan (in training for his Europeans bid) made the early running and a big gust as they rounded the first windward mark ensured they had a buffer right to the end.

Results for PY here
Laser One Design Results here

First and Second Division

Saturday was another of those glorious days where you'd wonder why all the dinghies in the park aren't on the water. Nevertheless, the PY sailing saw a typical fleet on the startline. Finns, Lasers, OK Dinghies and Laser Vagos all out there in the sunshine.

Will Nesbitt was out in Neil O'Toole's Laser, thereby confusing the results, and Colin Galavan was out but missed the first race, thereby denying himself results to match his speed.

Race 1

The racing saw definite divisions in speed.

In Race 1 Paul Keane was in Division 1 - or the Premiership for you young folk - all by himself. Sheehy's OK, Tate in the Finn and Nesbitt in the Laser all finished close together in Division 2, but well behind the storming Keane.  The Vago brought up the rear of the field, finishing with the Flying Fifteens who had done one extra lap.

_________

_____________________

Up the Right Wing for Teddy's Ice Cream Lovers

The promised stiff breeze and anticipated boat handling test quickly fizzled away to light breezes right after the Laser start. This left a lopsided race course with no option but to bang the right side on the beats, practically joining the queue for Teddy's Ice Cream on the shore of Scotsmans Bay. I'll have a flake with that please.

It was good to see Theo Lyttle back out on the race course after a long break. He pushed Paul Keane right to the end, particularly with some magical mystery in-phase attacking leaps on the last beat.

Richard Tate did enough in his RS to claim 2nd spot and the podium was completed by Colin Galavan who only got past a storming Alan McNab (in a rare outing - let's be seeing more of you!) at the final leeward mark.

There was a fine gathering in the RIYC afterwards for a plate of food, a drink and good chats. Welcome Susie, Joan and Peter - our new Laser Radial squad who we hope to see training on the race courses in preparation for next year from now till the end of season.

Laser Connaughts - Lough Ree

There were a number of Dun Laoghaire sailors  - both young and old - at this weekend's Laser Connaughts in Lough Ree. And several took podium places!

Congratulations to Conor Byrne RStG (2nd Overall in Laser Standard), Cian Cahill RStG (5th Overall and 1st Youth, Laser Standard) and Sean Craig RStG (9th Overall and 1st Master, Laser Standard) in particular.

Please read the detailed report on Afloat.ie

Results download here

________________________

____________________________

Dis-mastery

A day of more Mediterranean conditions combined with bad luck, some bad sailing and some really great sailing.  What a day!

No Vagos turned up today but there was a good supply of Lasers (Keane, O'Toole, Walsh), the OK Dinghy and also Richard Tate - that sailor of every class - who was borrowing Alain Deladienee's Laser. He's now sailed RS400, Finn, OK Dinghy and Laser in this series. What else can he try? In any case it was a good fleet on a truly glorious day.

The first race started with Sheehy's OK Dinghy putting on a masterful demonstration of how to hold position on the start line.  Unfortunately for him, this demonstration took place well after the starting signal. Apparently irons and the piano are highly compatible.

Ultimately Race 1 saw a Keane horizon job  - but only after O'Toole's dismasting. Race 2 a multiway ding-dong battle to the finish. See below for the detail.

Race 1 - Results
(Note: Tate sailing Deladienee's boat)

____________________________

____________________

Dinghy Sailing round up in Irish Times

Nice to see the dinghy fleets getting a mention.

http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/other-sports/dinghy-sailors-at-full-stretch-both-at-home-and-abroad-1.1467916

____________________________

_________________

PY/Laser fleet: Youth before Wisdom - but only just!

The biennial Dun Laoghaire Regatta is the Irish Sea's biggest sailing event. This year saw nearly 400 boats, many from the UK, and thousands of sailors in 25 fleets.

The PY fleet was almost a Laser one-design event, with three Laser Vagos and one OK Dinghy racing among 12 Lasers.

1st: Frank "The Kid" Devlin

Four days of intense racing with winds between 5 and 12 knots saw Frank Devlin in a Laser the winner by a single point from Hugh Sheehy in an OK Dinghy. Ross O'Leary took 3rd ahead of Neil O'Toole and Paul Keane, all in Lasers.

2nd: Hugh "The Cat" Sheehy

Frank, a member of the local youth Laser squad, put on a demonstration of dinghy sailing technique over the first two days and took 4 wins in the 5 races. Only Neil O'Toole took a race win from "The Kid" over these first two days. However, the senior sailors have been around the block and weren't slow to learn new tricks. The next two days were full of excitement.

_____________________

_________________________

DLR - Saturday Update

Saturday saw lighter but still quite consistent winds on the dinghy course and all the fleets got in three races on good courses. The race management has been absolutely top class too.

The results are all online http://dlregatta.org/2013/Results_2013.asp?Menu=Results. Note that the PY results have now been corrected.

It's TIGHT at the top in Fireballs, with Brian Byrne and the Clancy brothers all on 16 points after the Clancys had a comparatively bad day on Saturday while Byrne put in firsts across the board.

In the IDRAs the best Dun Laoghaire boats is sitting in 4th, with Sutton and Clontarf boats leading the way. Frank Hamilton is best of the DL boats by a margin.

PY had tight finishing again in all races, with 5 boats usually finishing within a minute and race 2 ending in a dead-heat for 1st. Frank Devlin didn't dominate like he had previously, but is still the clear leader in his Laser, with Sheehy's OK Dinghy in 2nd and Ross O'Leary 3rd in another Laser.

PY+ has been a bit disappointing. The International 14 has put on a great show but we've only seen the foiling moths on one day.

__________________________

DLR - half way through

The DLR has so far been gifted with decent wind and indecent weather. Uninterrupted sun and warm winds. We'll think the recession is over or something!!

In any case, the various fleets are having great sailing. Highlights have to include the foiling Moths blasting through the Fireball fleet at ridiculous speeds.

Results are online at http://dlregatta.org/2013/Results_2013.asp?Menu=Results , although as of Friday evening the PY results are a work of creative fiction on the part of the scorers. We'll try again to get them fixed.

Photos are online on fotosail.com, with the scenes linked on the left hand side of the link below.

This photo (http://www.fotosail.com/events/2013dlregatta/fri-seapoint/fri-spnt-win-moth/d015_8820.jpg) shows Dublin Bay sailing in some of its most diverse forms.

_____________________________________________

Moths

We missed one piece of high flying (literally) dinghy news from last weekend.

Dun Laoghaire has been gradually building up a fleet of International Moths, led graciously by marvelous nutters like John Chambers. Now it's the refuge of bored Olympians too, with Rory Fitz, Annalise M and suchlike all making the leap.

This week, apart from admiring their bravery and persistence as they zoom around the harbor we can also admire their results in the recent UK Nationals where Rory was 23rd and John was 35th in a fleet of 70. And this is without them having access to any regular class racing.

Annalise was there too but couldn't sail the first half of the event. 

Serious kudos!!

It also gives more seriousness to the hope that the upcoming DLR will have enough wind to get this lot foiling. It'll be quite a show.

Feva Win, 200 Place, 400 solid showing!

The RS Nationals ended in Cultra today and saw the Dun Laoghaire boats put in a seriously good performance across the board.

In the Fevas the Higgins pairing put on a serious last day push, taking all 1sts and 2nds and taking the overall victory by 2 points.  Now that's the way to become National Champions!!

In the 200s the Craig/Foley pairing finally got just pipped for 2nd Irish boat and 4th overall, but 3rd Irish boat is a solid showing.  Noonan/King held onto 6th overall, maintaining yesterday's position. Meantime Toterdell/Kelly jumped up to 9th from 13th with a strong last day - probably the best of the Dun Laoghaire boats on the last day. The Hinkson and Cassidy pairings more or less held position with consistent performances.

Meantime the 400 fleet saw the DL boats experience mixed fortunes again. The Ryan brothers put in several 3rds and 4ths but could only fight up to 8th overall. Still, that's 3rd or 4th Irish boat and looking at the names well behind them shows the top class level they're operating at. As yesterday, Olympians and other household names well below them in the results!! Arthur Mehigan held steady but dropped a few places as his very consistency meant that the discard didn't help him much. Richard Tate climbed from 41st to 37th on the last day.

All in all a successful showing for Dun Laoghaire. Champions in Fevas and rankings among the top few Irish boats in 200 and 400. And probably good tans too!

Results here  

Photo Gallery here.  Photos all remain copyright of the original photographer.

_________________________

Three way tie in glorious conditions

With several other events on around the country, e.g. the RS Nationals (see below), there was only a depleted fleet on the DBSC Dinghy course today. However, there are new faces turning up and adding spice to the racing.

Glorious conditions and tight racing

Charles Dwyer (not yet formally entered) was out on the water competing, with Paul McDermott out to observe and start his training for international events later in the year.  The committee set a 3-lap triangle course for the first race. A LONG one, with 1.3km beats. Sheehy's OK Dinghy got the start all wrong, with Keane and Dwyer correctly placed and in close contention. The beat saw Dwyer easing ahead, with Sheehy dropping off the back and seeming slow. Despite hard work from the chasing two, Dwyer cruised ahead and it was Dwyer, Keane and Sheehy at the finish.

Race two was with a 2-lap windward leeward, but still with a 1.3-1.4km beat. The start saw all three boats at the pin and reasonably even. Dwyer went for the pin end flyer and - after recent experience with other boats - Sheehy let him get away with it. Meantime a blind and deaf Squib got right in the mix but Keane managed not to be obstructed too badly.  Up the first beat the two Lasers were within spitting distance with the OK Dinghy tight behind. Dwyer fouled the offset and had to re-round, leaving him trailing slightly.

____________________

Feva good, 200 fair, 400 not so good

The RS Feva, 200 and 400 Nationals are on this weekend in Cultra. It seems fair to say that the Dun Laoghaire contingent are having a varied time of it so far.

In the Fevas there are Dun Laoghaire boats in 2nd and 3rd (the Higgins pair and Rafferty/Coleman), and the contingent from the George is very strong overall.  Kudos!

In the 200s the top Dun Laoghaire boat is in 5th (Craig/Foley), with Noonan/King in 6th, Totterdell/Kelly in 13th, with the Cassidy and Hinkson pairings in 15th and 17th respectively.  Not bad.

The 400 fleet is seeing the Dun Laoghaire boats having a torrid time. In a difficult regatta where more than half the fleet didn't even finish the 3rd race, the normally consistent Ryan brothers are carrying an 18th place and are running in 9th overall. Given their normal standard they're unlikely to be happy with that!!  Meantime Arthur Mehigan is holding 29th with a fairly even set of results and Richard Tate is having a fun but frustrating weekend in 41st. It's got to rank as an "Oh dear" for Dun Laoghaire in the 400s, although with Olympians in 11th and regular Laser Masters regional winners in 20th the standard of the fleet can't be overstated.

Let's hope things pick up on Sunday!

Event results here, and photo gallery here.  All photos remain copyright of the photographer!

___________________________

Tricolour Telltale

Let's hope the Harbour Company don't take down the wonderful Irish Tricolour on the end of the East Pier any day soon. This evening, in a scene played out across each deck and launching area, all of the dinghy crews hoped that the flag would fly and there'd be some wind out on the bay. It didn't look likely from the shore for quite a while! All eyes on the flag!

But despite initial appearances the sailors were greeted by a neat 6-10 knot SE~SW shifty breeze out in Scotsmans Bay with a short wind over tide chop. OOD Ben Mulligan's prayers were answered by a breeze that lasted nicely for the duration of the racing and not much more.

Drifting home after the breeze

An early casualty in the PY Fleet was Sheehy in the OK Dinghy, adjudged to be some boatlengths over the line he dutifully re-started about a minute later. Mind you, Tate's RS400 hadn't gone anywhere much either, having had a dreadful start too while the Mermaids and IDRAs headed up the beat.

Tate passed them all and already led at the first mark. Then the Red Bull effect really took over. Tate and the RS400 found enough power to fly on the runs and Tate was gone. The second run was where he dominated, powering down the run on a right hand shift and pulling out a huge lead. Sheehy overhauled and passed the Mermaids and IDRA14s in a more gradual fashion, still hoping to make up for that start.

Meantime there was a returning face in the pursuing Lasers. Charles Dwyer Esq of Cork graced the fleet with his speedy presence and excellent sense of humour.  We hope to see more of him and fellow Corkonian Ronan Keneally over the coming weeks.

At the first mark it was very close with O'Toolivic, Dwyer, Galavan and Keane bow to stern, followed by Walsh and Barry. Keane went left on the run while the others sailed the conservative direct line. At the bottom Keane edged inside all three to round in a lead which he held to the finish. Keeping speed on the run was key for the Lasers too, with the waves at a tricky angle to the wind offering gains and frustration in equal measure.

Overall Tate won by a mile with Keane best of the Lasers. The gap from Tate to Keane was 4mins 48seconds on corrected time. That's HUGE. Sailed well, the RS400 can be untouchable on its day. Galavan was another 1:39 back from Keane. O'Toolivic was just 8 seconds back from Galavan and Sheehy's OK Dinghy only 19 seconds from there. Tight from 3rd to 5th but big gaps for 1st and 2nd.  (O'Dwyer isn't entered yet so didn't get a recorded finishing time.)

Walsh was next with Francis Barry further back and McGoldrick's Vago taking the final finishing position.

Results here.

_________

DL Regatta Countdown and SI's

The countdown to the fifth edition of the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta has begun!  There are 5 main items of info you need to know.

1. Sailing Instructions 
SI’s are now available on the Event Website.
These are low resolution and not suitable for printing – hard copies will be issued to skippers at Registration

2. The Regatta Race Office
The race office, with posting of all results & with the event Jury will be situated in portacabins adjacent to the Harbour Plaza beside the Royal St George YC. The Race Office will be clearly identified.

3. Registration Hours at Race Office

• Tuesday 9th July 1500 – 2100 
• Wednesday 10th July 1100 – 1900 
• Thursday 11th July 0900 – 1300 

* Note:  All boats must register prior to 1300 on Thursday 11 July *

4. Results & Photos
Results, photos etc will be posted on Facebook and the event website during the Event.

Gareth Craig of Fotosail and Aidan Tarbett of Aidan Tarbett Photography will be setting up photo displays of racing each day in the Royal St George YC and Royal Irish YC. You will be able to purchase photos at the Regatta if you wish.

5. Event Social Programme
The Regatta Social Programme is now published on the event website. Copies are also available in all waterfront yacht clubs.

The 4 Waterfront Yacht clubs are putting on a magnificent entertainment program over the 4 days with a great variety of music, trad sessions, rock bands and jazz–something for everyone, whether sailing or preferring to stay ashore. Pigs on Spits, Thai Food, Seafood bars are but some of the food options along with Drinks Promotions and Class Receptions.

HH Games are back with ‘Get your Kit on’ so watch out for them after racing, along with United Airlines who are giving away 2 economy tickets from Dublin to the USA. Winner will be announced at the Closing Ceremony.

Nice and restful - NOT.

Saturday was supposed to be a nice moderate day with sun and warm westerlies. Two out of three ain't bad, I suppose.

We had the sun and the warm westerlies but calling them "moderate" might be a bit kind.

Force 7 gusts during the racing

With Tate as OOD and the Ryans still not back from Kinsale there was no RS on the line and with many of the Lasers off at the Leinsters in Wexford we might have expected a small fleet, but a good gaggle of Lasers and the OK Dinghy were out there to do battle. Keane, Harding, Nesbitt, Walsh, Dwyer, all in Lasers and Sheehy in the OK Dinghy..

With the wind rising the fleet was a bit lineshy on the first start on a 3 lap trapezoid course. Sheehy's OK got the best start and was fast up the first beat, leading the Lasers around the top mark. Keane caught up on the reach before the fleet headed onto the run.

Sheehy, with insufficient vang, put on an impressive display of bow dancing before finally stopping to inspect the bottom of the hull. Keane fell over laughing, allowing Harding into the lead while Dwyer took a sensible time-out.  Keane, despite the capsize and a number of chicken gybes on the rest of the first lap, sped up on lap 2 and managed to catch the more conservative Harding for a solid race win.

Race 2 was set on a shorter 2 lap windward-leeward course. Again Sheehy's OK Dinghy led off the line but Harding's Laser led to the top mark with Sheehy and Keane tight behind and pinned by a Mermaid. Keane took the lead at the bottom mark with Harding immediately behind and Sheehy about 30m back after sailing a rather conservative and heavily-vanged run.  Walsh was further back after a bad start, but hanging in there in serious wind.

Up the beat the leading Lasers went right and the OK went up the middle. At the mark Harding led again, having shown great upwind speed. Sheehy had recovered ground too and tacked into line immediately behind Harding and immediately below Keane's Laser. The three rounded in a tight bunch with two Mermaids.

Keane again sailed the run best, pipping Harding by at the line by 11 seconds and Sheehy by 19 seconds. Walsh came to the line shortly afterwards having sailed a solid race, with the rest retiring. A windy day.

The slightly sheltered harbor weather station showed force 7 gusts and they were there...no doubt.

Race 1 here.
Race 2 here.

__________________

Laser Leinsters - tight results!

Lasers from Dun Laoghaire put in a strong performance at the Leinsters but were pipped at the post in the end. Matty O'Dowd was equal on points with Chris Penney after the 4 races but ended up in second overall on countback. Still a very strong performance!  Conor Byrne was pipped for 3rd place by 1 point, with Ulster's Conor Simms taking the place. Again, kudos!

In the Masters Sean Craig was first with Ross O'Leary in 3rd. These overall results are very strong across the board. Well done all!

_________________

Laser Leinster Championship Std 2013

Entries: 17      Races Sailed: 4      Discard: 1

Series Place	Sail No	Type of Boat	Class	Helm	Club	Series Points	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Race 4
1	201566	S		Chris Penney	East Antrim BC	5	3	1	1	3
2	181999	S		Mathew o'Dowd	Royal St. George YC	5	1	2	2	2
3	185104	S		Conor Simms	Royal Ulster YC	10	2	3	8	5
4	198554	S		Conor Byrne	Royal St. George YC	11	6	4	3	4
5	193562	S		Oisin McClelland	Ballyholme YC	19	10	8	11	1
6	197364	S		Sean Murphy	Kinsale YC	19	8	7	4	10
7	178335	S	M	Sean Craig	Royal St. George YC	20	4	5	12	11
8	201365	S	M	Stephen Penney	East Antrim BC	20	9	12	5	6
9	155068	S	M	Ross o'Leary	Royal St. George YC	21	5	6	10	14
10	191670	S	M	Colin Galavan	Royal Irish YC	24	12	11	6	7
11	185043	S		Peter Cameron	East Antrim BC	25	11	10	7	8
12	198560	S		Henry McLaughlin	Carlingford Lough YC	25	7	9	9	9
13	181674	S	M	Troy Hopkins	Howth YC	39	13	13	15	13
14	173164	S	M	Timmy Washington	Wexford Harb. B&TC	40	15	14	14	12
15	178689	S	M	Tommy Fallon	Wexford Harb. B&TC	43	14	16	13	18
16	180237	S	M	Paul Ebrill	Wexford Harb. B&TC	47	16	15	16	18
17	137120	S		Don Ryan	Wexford Harb. B&TC	54	18	18	18	18

A report by the Royal George team - taken from their newsletter - is available in the full article.

_________________