Racing Cancelled, but last week's pics are up!

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Post by Dun Laoghaire Dinghies.

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Enthusiasm my RS

Enthusiasm was the theme of the day for the RS fleet. Nine of the Thirteen entrants took to the water in 10-12 knots, happy as clams (it was high water!) to go racing after a hiatus that, quite frankly, was beginning to become a major pain in the RS. 

Race 1 

Enthusiasm and a strong ebb tide at the mouth of the harbour were too much to bear and resulted in a general recall for the RS fleet. When the boats finally got away at the second time of asking, the Hinksons' and Algeo/ Nolan's unabated enthusiasm at the pin end cost them an OCS each. 

The beat was as long as reasonably possible in the harbour, with the windward mark in a nice open position at the East pier. Well done to the race committee! The Clery brothers in their RS400 pretty much dominated the race from start to finish although Emmet Ryan and new crew were improving with every lap of the 5 lap race and finished just 30 seconds behind. 

However this was not enough to take second place - that honour went to Craig and Foley who raced superbly in their RS200. The other 200 with Byrne/ Craig was only 17 seconds behind in 4th place. So, only 40 seconds separated the top four. O'Leary/ Fenlon and O'Hare/ McAlister got close enough to the leaders and Tate/Groves some way behind. The Tate/Groves pair insist that they weighed in at around 200kg - that's their excuse, and they're sticking to it (ditto for race 2)

Race 2 

This was another great race. The wind had backed around to SE and the battle at the pin was intense yet again. This time the overenthusiastic bug caught only one boat out (Marty, we feel for you, man!). Emmet and new crew fought it out successfully with the Clerys and the two RS400's took the first two places. Not far behind Sarah Byrne and Heather Craig triumphed over Andrew and Peter's 400 with Conor and Stephen only a few seconds further back in the second 200.

Roll on next Sunday! Let's hope we are lucky with the weather gain. And let's go for it guys and gals - all 13 boats - it can be done!

Results here:

Race 1

Race 2

Photos copyright DMYC Frostbites.

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PY - Dead Heat at the top

With only ten boats on the water there was a little more room than usual on the start line in Race 1, which Sheehy's OK Dinghy took advantage of with a clean pin end start, tacking and crossing the fleet. Half way up the first beat the lead had gone. Pierre Long had picked a good left shift and was coming across on port in his IDRA14. He had caught right up but only saw the now starboard tack OK Dinghy at the last moment. A slam tack resulted in an extremely unwanted capsize, mere minutes after the start. Ouch.

Frank Hamilton took advantage and sailed out to another race win with Des Fortune's Finn - ably sailed by Colin Galavan - only 40 seconds behind in 2nd. With discards kicking in the Finn and Hamilton's IDRA14 ended the race 1st and 2nd, and joint first overall.  It's tight at the top!

Meantime Long had righted the capsized IDRA and fought back to finish 7th.  Credit where credit is due!

Hamilton - Winner Race 1 - Joint 1st Overall 

Long & Rea - Capsized but recovered!

In Race 2 the start was marred by a windward/leeward between Long's IDRA and Sheehy's OK Dinghy in the seconds before the gun. The OK Dinghy's protest will be heard next week. McCarthy won the start this time, with a clean tack and cross just after the gun.

In the race itself, McCarthy's Solo sailed off to a solid win, with Galavan taking Des Fortune's Finn to another second place. Long was 3rd (pending protest) with Hamilton unusually far back in 4th.

McCarthy's Solo - Winner of Race 2

As in the Laser race there were gains in the corners - but big losses too. In race 1 Hamilton threaded his way through every shift correctly and was clearly the fastest boat out there. In race 2 McCarthy did the same, avoiding big losses and sailing fast and clean to the win.

Results here:
Race 1
Race 2

Photos copyright DMYC Frostbites.

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Lasers post big gains at the corners, but win by sticking to the middle!

In the first race, the Laser start was rather congested at the pin end, as many had watched Hugh Sheehy's OK Dinghy cross the fleet with a perfectly executed port end flyer. However a right-hand shift mid-way up the first beat meant that Hodgins, who started in the middle of the line, was ahead at the first cross. 

The right appeared to pay on the second half of the beat and Harding lead from Cahill at the first mark with Hodgins a close third. There were big gains and losses at the corners but Harding kept close tabs on Cahill whilst sticking to the middle of the race track to hang on for the win, with Cahill second, Hodgins third and Hudson fourth.

The second race started in similar fashion with a significant port end bias leading to some struggling to cross the line on starboard. With big shifts still dominating the middle seemed to be the safest place to be and Harding lead round the first mark again from Cahill and Hodgins. With plenty of traffic around, nerves across the fleet were frayed on the run as the wind dropped to around 5-6knts. 

On the second beat, Hodgins gambled on the right hand side and started the second lap in the lead with Cahill having squeezed past Harding to remain second. As the leading two fought for clear air down the run, Harding was allowed to close up and the first three rounded the bottom mark in quick succession. All three tacked quickly and Harding led out to the left although Hodgins soon tacked right looking to repeat his gains of the previous lap. This time however the wind swung left giving Harding had a decent advantage at the final windward mark which he held to the finish.

Cahill was second followed by Hodgins. Malcolm (fourth) and Vedo (fifth) pushed Hudson down to 6th. But Hudson now clearly leads the second series after six races with 22pts.

Results here:   

Race 1

Race 2

Report by Richard Harding.
Photos copyright DMYC Frostbites.

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Entry for Laser Masters Open.RIYC 31st May & 1st June 2014

Online Entry for the 2014 Laser Masters Championship being held in The Royal Irish Yacht Club on the 31st May and the 1st June 2014 is now open.

Click here to Enter Online

In an exciting development, well known coach Thomas Chaix, who is incidentally defending his Masters Champion Title at the event, has kindly loaned his set of boat trackers for the event.

We'll be tracking 15 boats each day and relaying the feeds back to a big screen in the Yacht Club. We'll also replay the races at the RIYC BBQ after racing on the Saturday afternoon and later that evening at our Master Class Dinner.

A strong turnout from the Dun Laoghaire Masters fleet is expected with many already confirming they'll be competing. We're hoping that the other strong Laser fleets spread across Ireland will travel to Dublin Bay for this popular, friendly and unique event. We look forward to welcoming everyone.

For event information and Online Entry visit laser-ireland.com. For specific race and event queries contact Mark McGibney, Sailing Manager of the RIYC mark@riyc.ie

For sponsorship opportunities and exciting initiatives around the event please contact Paul Keane.

Thomas Chaix can be contacted by email and mobile for one on one coaching, clinics or event support. Follow Thomas on Facebook or at tc-sailingcoach.com for the latest information.

Timing is everything

The DMYC Committee was faced with a tough call. The wind should have dropped. It hadn't. Should they send the fleets out in such gusty and cold conditions? Maybe not, and racing was cancelled.

The decision was neatly validated at about the expected start time when a big black cloud passed over Dun Laoghaire harbor with wind and driving rain. The sailors were glad they weren't on the water.

But then the wind did what it should have done earlier. It dropped from Bft7 gusts to a moderate Bft3-4. And the sun was out.

By the end of the day it looked like summer. Cruel timing for the sailors.

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While storms raged elsewhere...Dun Laoghaire basked

The impact of the weather on other parts of the country was pretty severe, and even Dun Laoghaire was nervous of what might come.

But the tempest never came, at least not until well after the sailors had returned home for the night. Boats launched with rigs prepped for a blow and instead got light to moderate conditions. The conditions were really light at the weather mark, which was placed far too close in under the ferry terminal. But overall the conditions drew smiles.  The Irish team even won the rugby.

Post by Dun Laoghaire Dinghies.

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In the PY fleet the arrival of another single-hander was noted happily. Shane McCarthy was 2nd in Race 1 and even won Race 2 in his Solo, with Hamilton's IDRA taking the other race.  Apart from the excellent Topper group, we now have four single handers in the PY Fleet; a Solo, OK Dinghy, Finn and K1. Overall it's now Des Fortune's consistent Finn in the lead in Series II, with Sheehy's OK Dinghy in second. The picture is likely to change when Hamilton can discard his OCS from two weeks ago.

PY Race 1
PY Race 2

In Lasers there was only a small fleet, dominated again by Marc Coakley...although persistently pursued around the course by Sean Flanagan. Marc is now 10 points clear of Flanagan overall. David Cahill, previously leading, now carries several DNC scores and has dropped back. With a big entry list those DNC scores can be painful!

Laser Race 1
Laser Race 2

In the RS fleet the 200s finally had their day, taking the top 3 positions in Race 1 and the top 2 positions in Race 2. Conor Totterdell won the first race followed by Craig and Byrne, with even leader Emmet Ryan scored as DNF. Sarah Byrne moved up to first place in Race 2 with Craig again in second. Overall it's tight, with Ryan's RS400 now on 12 points and fourth placed Craig on 16 points. Interestingly, the overall ranking is RS400, then 200, then 400, then 200. Good balanced stuff!

RS Race 1
RS Race 2

The ten-strong Fireball fleet saw the ancient battle between Rumball and Butler continuing again! Each took a win and a second in the two races, with Clancy third in both finishes. It's tight there too, with Rumball on 6 points, Butler on 9 points and Clancy on 12. The rest are further back.

Fireball Race 1
Fireball Race 2

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