First Tuesdays

No, we don't mean the tech meetups (look it up) I mean the first Tuesday of the DBSC summer season.

So, some specks of pre-season dust still flying in the air, but much has settled and we have finally got down to the pleasant business of racing our boats: nailing the starts, roll tacking, catching waves and grand tactical plans up the beat.

This week - one great race courtesy of DBSC - and several more to look forward to this weekend with the George's Friday series kicking off on the 2nd May (18.45 gun) and DBSC continuing on Saturday at 14.00.

But, this week saw the opening Tuesday of the DBSC summer series. The wind looked like yawning off for the evening, but we were pleasantly surprised to see it pipe up in Scotsman's Bay to around 12 knots from the East. Some nice evening sunshine and waves completed the picture .... truly amazing.

A decent turn out of 7 lasers and a Vago had a good clean start from the East pier, and beat through some moderate swell towards Dalkey. The W-L course looked a little short at first, but all became clear as the flooding tide started to exert itself and the windward mark was indeed quite far enough. 

The race developed into 2 sub-races; O'Hare, O'Connell and Kenneally went hard right immediately and arrived at the first mark together with Tate just hanging on to them ahead of Dwyer and Walsh. Barry had plenty of ground to make up having snagged his jacket on the boom and having had to endure an unscheduled swim. O'Hare and O'Connell eked out some gains over Kenneally while Tate, Dwyer and Walsh were close together at the bottom mark. Dwyer raced well to lead this group as Tate made the fatal mistake of tacking onto starboard to clear his air from the Vago. 

Kenneally did well to pull back some ground on the leading pair with the win looking a sure thing for O'Hare as he lead on the final downwind leg. However, disaster struck at the leeward mark as Gary found a personal WTF lull in the wind. O'Connell grasped his opportunity as he caught a lift that took him inside O'Hare and went on to take a well earned gun. Dwyer and Walsh battled it out for 4th and 5th respectively, with Tate and Barry (who later confessed in the bar to having had a second swim) completing the card.

All in all a super night's work by the race committee and patrol team and some happy sailors sailed home with big intentions of making up places in the races to come. 

Finally a call to arms - 7 lasers and a Vago was a good turnout - there are plenty of more we look forward to seeing soon - get cracking, it looks like we are going to have some great, close racing this summer!  

Let's see some 420s and RS's and OK Dinghies and Finns and so on and so on. The boats are out there. 

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Fridays at the George!

More good news!

Friday nights at the George will be the place to be for sailors in RS200, RS400 and Laser fleets. There may also be an occasional cuckoo in the fold too, but incognito ;-))

Sailing starts at 1845, followed by beers and BBQ at the George. This event runs in parallel to the existing Friday night junior racing, so the place will be packed with people. Good fun expected for all!

Entry form is online at www.rsgyc.ie. Entry is 50 Euro for Lasers, 60 for RSs. 

Looking forward to seeing lots of people there. This is an open event too - not just for the George!

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Summer - it's DBSC time again!

Nowadays when the sun shines it actually warms things up! Summer is coming. These are the days to take advantage of. Longer evenings, good breezes, and sunshine. Get out and join the DBSC sailing for the summer.

Many people wait too long to get going in the spring, but the evenings are as long now as they'll be in August. Tuesday and Saturday sailing has a great history in Dublin Bay. 

Look at the race course locations and the calendar here. 

And let's take advantage of the chance to get Juniors into the racing.

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Reed all about it

Our Moth friends were travelling last weekend and saw parts of the country dinghies don't normally see.

Have a reed here.

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RS Easterns - Amazing Days

The RS Easterns went off with a BANG in Greystones over the weekend, with big fleets and winds.  Amazing pictures too!

Easterns Day 1

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Easterns Day 2 

Results available below the line.  If you can't see them, click "Read Whole Article" immediately below.  Note than on some browsers the slideshows aren't visible until you view the whole article. Dunno why, but you can always click the links above.

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Cars on the forecourt

The RS fleets are in Greystones this weekend, and the Fireballs were having a training session in the harbour, but there wasn't anything dinghy related happening at the George. Except cars where the dinghies normally go.

A colorful river

The river isn't normally where you'd expect to see Sailing Dinghies. But here we are.

The university colors match is a long standing fixture in the calendar. This time, with strong currents and gusty winds adding a layer of challenge to proceedings the sailors got more than they usually bargain for.

Here's a video of one entire Race.

It was quite a sight from the rivers edge as well, with the French minesweeper Andromede's cannon adding spice to the scene. 

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Friday evening sailing. Sail, BBQ, beer. Synergy!

In addition to the great news about juniors being able to enter the DBSC summer series, we're delighted to be able to tell you about a great initiative in the George.

The George on Fridays

Each Friday from early May through to the end of June the RSGYC will be hosting an event for the RS fleets, as well as for Lasers and selected single handed dinghies. 

An 8 week series is being set up, coinciding with the Junior Friday night series, and commencing Friday 9th May 2014. The First gun each evening is at 6.45.  Two short W/L races will be held outside the harbour, then back for pints and bbq on the quarterdeck!  

It's a PERFECT way to start the weekend.  Bring the kids. Sail. Have a burger and a beer. What more could you want from life?

The entry fee will be dependent on number of entrants but is intended to be kept to a minimum so as to encourage maximum participation.

Get your Laser or RS200/400/Feva ready!  

More details and SIs to follow.

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Juniors in DBSC - Finally! Crowded startlines ahead!

The first of the good news items!

It's been a long-standing question for the DBSC summer sailing...."why can't junior sailors enter?"  No-one under 18 was able to enter the DBSC summer series, conflicting with the stated aim of the club to encourage racing on Dublin Bay for large cruisers down to "small dinghies for juniors" and contrasting with the successful winter series in the DMYC.

Well now they can join the DBSC summer series, so we can look forward to some of the junior sailors joining us on the line, probably in Laser radials mostly.  Will Scotsmans Bay be big enough to cope on Tuesdays?

Scotsmans Bay in 2014???

Note that - for the moment at least - there's no plan to include any of the specifically Junior classes. So no Oppie or Feva class yet, if ever. Those have strong targeted programs in the summer already. But RS200s or Lasers often have under-18 helm and crew so this is great news.

The entry form still needs to be updated to include a parental consent section for juniors but it'll come. Meantime if you know of juniors in Laser or RS200s or 420s or anything similar, ask them to get in touch!

There were a few summer events last year where seniors and juniors raced each other and everyone had a great time. And the RS fleets have always had a tradition of mixing junior and senior sailors with great success.

It'll be great!

See the full statement from the DBSC and a link to a survey, below the break

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20 Top Sailing Technique Tips by Yachts and Yachting. Good tips for the coming Summer

One of the nice things about sailing is its complexity. Another is its simplicity.

Y&Y is running a series of tips and they're as good as any we've ever seen. Worth a read.

Part #1. Tips 1-10
http://www.yachtsandyachting.co.uk/sailing-techniques/20-sailing-tips-1-10/

Part #2. Tips 11-20
http://www.yachtsandyachting.co.uk/sailing-techniques/20-sailing-tips-11-20/

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Three weeks!

Only three weeks to the start of the DBSC Season!

Then, instead of waiting for the caravan racers to get their boats off the forecourts we'll be able to go sailing.  Meantime we can at least enjoy the increasingly pleasant weather and admire the view.

The view

We're hoping to have updates on a number of significant developments within a few days, so keep your eyes open and your ears peeled.

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