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Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Fireball fleet thriving - Eleven on the line!!

Quite a turnout for the Fireball fleet these days.

Here's an example!

http://goo.gl/EW3tpH


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Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Journey of Change by Yvonne Gordon

The story of Team SCA is captivating - a group of talented women daring to take on the world's most challenging ocean experience: a 40,000-mile race around the world in state-of-the-art yachts

Ocean racing has traditionally been the preserve of men, but over a gruelling nine months Team SCA proves that women can compete on an equal footing.

This visually impressive book tells the story of a squad of women with one common dream to race competitively around the world. It gives a unique insight into life on board and the challenges the team face as they take on their global marathon.
The dramatic and engaging stories of the crew from the onboard reporters, combined with the exceptional photography of Rick Tomlinson, Anna-Lena Elled and Yvonne Gordon make this an extraordinary book and a perfect gift. Journey of Change comprises 192 pages in an oversized format, printed to the highest standards.

Available to buy on afloat.ie

 

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

No Dinghy Racing on Saturday 12th

DBSC Dinghy Racing Programme Saturday 12th September

Due to various conflicting events, DBSC dinghy racing on 12th September has been cancelled.

The Squib class will be given a West Pier Hut start in accordance with Course Card 2


Donal  O'Sullivan
Hon Secretary




Thursday, September 3, 2015

Change to DBSC Sailing Instructions Sept 5 2015

Dublin Bay Sailing Club

  1. CLONKEEN DRIVE, FOXROCK, DUBLIN 18 FOXROCK, DUBLIN 18.
    TEL:2898565. E-MAIL: HonSec@dbsc.org


03/09/2015


Amendment to Starting Sequence – Red fleet 5th September 2015

Competitors are reminded that the Cruiser Challenge takes place from the 5th to the 6th September. The classes catered for will be Cruisers 0, Cruisers 1, 2,  & 3, Sigma 33s and 31.7s. and White Sails. No DBSC  Series 2 races will be provided on Saturday the 6th September for these classes.
As MacLir will be used for the Cruiser Challenge, all other keelboat classes will start at the West Pier.   

Courses will be in accordance with Course Card 1 (Saturdays, Red Fleet, West Pier Starts). Alternatively, platonic courses may be substituted in accordance with SI.16.1

The starting sequence at the West Pier will be as follows:

  Class
Warning Signal
 Dragons
  14:00
  Ruffians
  14:05
  Shipmans
  14:10
  Glens
  14:15
If dinghy racing is cancelled and Course Card 4 does not apply, racing for Flying 15s, and Squibs may be provided. The starting sequence will be as follows:
 
  Class
       Warning Signal
 Flying 15s
 14:20
 Squibs
 14:25
As starting sequences and courses may be changed at the discretion of the Race Officer, boats should observe signals at the Starter’s Hut and maintain a listening watch on  VHF Channel 72.

Donal O'Sullivan
Hon Secretary

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Monday, August 24, 2015

Writers needed

Many people like this blog, as the regular traffic numbers show.

But we're still short of writers. There have been a few people dedicated to adding content, but we need support. Travel, work can all interrupt ability to write reports - or even to sail - so if we're to keep the site up to date we need more writers.



So, if your class writes a report that it sends to Afloat or Y&Y, or if you would like to write up reports, please add a comment to this article below. You can become an "author" on the site and add reports each time your class has activity.

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Sunday, July 12, 2015

From Kingstown to Kingston

Post from Paul Keane at Laser Master Worlds in Kingston, Canada

It's easy to understand how Kingston was chosen as the Sailing Venue for the 1976 Montreal Olympics. It is simply an idyllic venue for a sailing event. Wind, pleasant weather, slips and space to rig, that's what dinghy sailors need and in Kingston there is an abundance of everything.

We've just completed day 1 of the racing and it was another perfect day for sailing Lasers. Sure, some of the tougher guys want more breeze but 8-12kts is a great leveller that allows everyone to sail well.


Tomorrow and Tuesday they're forecasting more of the same, then a northerly hits on Wednesday which is happily diaried as a lay day (assuming we get out full race schedule in). You couldn't script it. Racing continues on Thurs and we finish up on Saturday.

Kingston Town is picture perfect, the locals are amazingly friendly and you can swim in the lake before and after sailing.

If any fellow sailors reading this get an invitation or an opportunity to visit Canada in the Summer, take it.

If you're an ice boat sailor, the Winter might be more up your alley.

Cheers

Results here:
http://kingstonlaserworlds2015.com/?page_id=49

Also sailing are Kevin Currirer from Ballyholme YC in Standard Masters Division and Denis O'Sullivan in the Radial Purple Division - those guys are 75yrs+

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Dublin Port Notice re Arrangements for DLR

A notice in relation to the DLR from Dublin Port Company.

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DUBLIN PORT COMPANY

NOTICE TO MARINERS

No. 16 of 2015

Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta 2015

The “Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta 2015” will be held primarily in the southern part of Dublin Bay from Thursday, 9th July 2013 to Sunday, 12th July 2015. This racing event is expected to attract in excess of 500 competing boats. To ensure the safety of all concerned and to facilitate the management of such a  large sailing event, the “Traffic Separation Scheme” on the south side of Dublin Bay will be closed to all commercial traffic from 10:00 hrs to 18:00 hrs on each day of the event.

Races will also be held in the northern part of Dublin Bay. These will be clear of the approach channel, but will necessitate the regulated crossing of the fairway before and after races. To facilitate the safe crossing of the fairway, all boats to cross only at the designated “crossing zone”.

The “crossing zone” will be defined on its western side by two unlit yellow marks each positioned 250 metres west of buoys No.3 and No.4 respectively. Buoys No.3 and No.4 define the eastern side of the “crossing zone”.

No crossings to commence until specific permission to do so is given by Dublin VTS. The guard boat responsible for managing the boats crossing of the Fairway must in all circumstances first obtain permission from Dublin VTS. The guard boat will be monitoring VHF Channels 12 and 68.

Crossing the fairway at any point other than indicated above is strictly prohibited.

Nothing contained in the above notice will relieve any vessel of their obligations under the “International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972”

This notice is self-cancelling.

Captain  David T. Dignam

Harbour Master.

          7th June 2015

Monday, June 29, 2015

PY in DLR - not happening

The PY fleet in Dun Laoghaire has been working hard, trying to overcome the DLR's exclusion of PY from the starting line-up and to raise a block entry.

That attempt to raise the required block of 8 boats (entering in a group) to get added back into the event has finally been abandoned. With several boats having seen that PY had no "normal" start in the event they made other plans for the weekend and the fleet hasn't been able to get enough committed entries.

So. No PY this year.


Disappointing, but there it is.

If some other fleets don't get some last minute sign-ups they'll be below or barely above the 8 threshold, but they have a start anyway. This leaves the PY fleet (as far as we know) as the only DBSC class with no start in the DLR. And without any explanation. 
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Sunday, June 28, 2015

Fitz in Style

One of the most impressive Irish dinghy results of the summer is this one. With no racing to train in and only a handful of boats to tune against, Rory Fitzpatrick has finished a solid 6th in the British Nationals.  And this in the International Moth fleet, one of the most competitive around.

Fitz on the left (with a GBR Sail number 4097)

Full report on Y&Y here

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RS fleets removed from DBSC Start sequences

Due to the lack of RS entries in the DBSC fleets this summer their start is being removed from the starting sequence.

RS fleets out of the starting sequence
A pity all round. Where were they all?

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Wednesday, June 24, 2015

PY Possibilities in DLR

The DLR committee has offered the possibility of a two-day version of the DLR to the PY boats in the harbor.

Entries have to be in as a group by lunchtime Monday 29th and there's a reduced entry fee as follows;

  • Single hander €45
  • Double hander €70
And for that money you also get to attend all the parties!  Contact Hugh Sheehy (sheehy at free dot fr) to confirm your entry. He can coordinate all the entry process. 

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Lasers, Fireballs and overall results - Tuesday 23rd June

The reports for Tuesday night's racing in the Laser and Fireball classes are online on Afloat.ie here and here

Youth dominated in the Laser fleet although Coakley and Craig made an honorable defense of the more aged. The Fireballs had a wonderfully exciting and competitive night and the varied results show it. Read the report!

The results in all classes (including cruisers) is here

The images of the racing on the Dun Laoghaire Harbor webcam were quite impressive as the fleets rounded the windward mark, but sadly were being watched on a device that couldn't make screenshots.  

So here's a picture of Dun Laoghaire harbor. 

Enjoy!

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Wednesday, June 17, 2015

The Lead Changes

You can see the wind flick from 160° Sea Breeze to the 280° Gradient in the graph below at 18.30. Was it too late at that point to get outside the harbour. The wind certainly held up.

The PRO's did the best they could, the harbour is only so big!

Great to see the PY fleet gathering momentum now. The Solo and the Sunfish out there duking it out with the Finn, K1, Mermaid, RS600 and various other assorted craft.

Stephen Oram looked quite sad going slow in his Fireball. Is it time the Moths started to look at joining the fray? It was great to see them zooming back & forth last night as the intrepid squadron continues training for their British Nationals next week.

In the RS fleet there were 2.

And the Lasers, the fleet du jour as usual had it all. Two great races, countless lead changes, heated contested mark roundings, a general recall and a black flag, an exlpoding daggerboard - hope you're ok Luke and.... a new winner: Well done John Marmelstein in the 2nd race! Congratulations too to Mr O'Beirne jr coming from way back to steal the 1st and continue Dan's winning ways.

For anyone wanting to view a piece of legendary sailing - a look back at Race 10 of the last Americas Cup is a must. There's an absorbing pre-start followed by a lightning fast first reach and a fascinating up and downwind contest with several lead changes. It's a go to piece of sailing.

Sunday, June 14, 2015

Bloomsday Regatta - Good sun and breeze for the Royal Alfred!

A heck of a day for the RAYC's Bloomsday regatta with sun and a decent (if tactically challenging) breeze.

A big Laser fleet was the main feature of the day. Both the younger and older elements of the fleet were there in numbers. Youth squaddies and old Masters.  Full-rigs, radials and a few 4.7s too. It added up to a big startline.

The first race was preceded by a long sequence of empty startlines as various classes didn't turn up for their assigned slots. The Flying Fifteens were there in decent numbers, but no Squibs, Mermaids, Fireballs or RS200s turned up, and only one RS400.  If the regatta had made an early decision to go for a mixed-dinghy fleet we might have had a different scene.

But, the Laser WERE there. The younger sailors gather on the startline early, with lots of tiller waggling, while the older sailors seem to prefer to keep moving. In the end it works out even. The results saw Paul Keane (an old Master) taking a 2,1 sequence of results while Conor O'Beirne (a young hotshot) took a 1,2 sequence of results. That's close!  And that close competition between young and old was seen across the results. And everyone could learn from everyone else.

The tie on 3 points still saw Keane taking the title on countback. And there can be no complaint about countback being the deciding factor since he had absolutely dominated the 2nd race, wining by several hundred metres.

That second race was a heck of a race to win too! First there were two general recalls, showing that the fleet was in full competitive spirit. Then we saw Keane very deliberately starting on the unfavoured pin end of the line, banging the left corner of the course while everyone else felt the right was preferred, and romping away to a dominating victory. This was a man with a plan and a deserved recipient of the victor's trophy.

To the victor - a platter to hold the spoils in...
In the PY fleet first place went to Sheehy's OK Dinghy. After a tight first race he got on the right side of big shifts in both beats in the 2nd race and won well. The other notable feature of the day was the improved upwind speed of Tate's Finn. That coaching session a couple of weeks ago obviously helped!

One less positive point worth mentioning. The PY attendance could have been a lot higher if the regatta had tried to incorporate the other missing fleets into one larger mixed-dinghy event. If a fleet has a dedicated start and there's concern about entry numbers it's often a self-fulfilling negative prophesy....there's anxiety about the numbers so in the end no-one from that fleet turns up. But all the one or two boats that might have been there from Mermaids and Fireballs and RSs would have been very welcome on a mixed startline. Even the one RS400 started alone and raced alone and (we think) didn't even win a prize at the end of the day. It was a bit sad in that respect when we've seen all those classes all quite competitive on PY in past events.

But overall a great day. Sun. Sea. Breeze. Boats. Lads and lassies in Lasers, mostly. A great day on the water.

So, thanks to the RAYC for a great event. See you next year!!
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Sunday, June 7, 2015

Saturday Wipeout!

Very strong winds on Saturday caused the abandonment of all the DBSC races for the day.

37 knot gusts on the bay on a June Saturday afternoon - it's gotta be the windiest start to the season in a LONG time.
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Tuesday, June 2, 2015

3 out of 6, it's bad

We would have to go a long way back in the archives to find a poorer start to the season than the one 2015 has delivered. 3 Tuesdays out of 6 cancelled, who woulda thunk it?

There's a silver lining though! In the past we would only have 3 results, so not enough for a series. But this year, due to the changes in the dinghy racing setup, we've had 5 races so enough results and a discard!

Here's hoping series 2 gets better conditions.

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Friday, May 29, 2015

Island Trial - Back with a Bang

The debate over the Island Trial has been resolved in the clearest way possible. People are doing runs around Dalkey Island whether or not the site is up. So the website has recognized the reality that Dalkey Island was there before the website and is taking data again.



Rory Fitz, Neil O'Toolovic and Stephen Oram took on the challenge of Paul Keane's 46 minute time ....and you'll have to read what happened over at the Island Trial website here.

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Thursday, May 28, 2015

Bloomsday Regatta coming up!!

Be aware that Joycean sailing is almost upon us!!



Be there, or be un-literary!!

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Wednesday, May 20, 2015

DL Sailors at the Laser Masters 2015

The report is a few weeks overdue, but there were several DL sailors at the recent Irish Laser Masters in Ballyholme  - so it's worth catching up on.

Keane, Craig and Galavan made the trip north and flew the DL Dinghies flag with style in an event that had both light and strong winds. 



There's drama in both videos - if you watch all the way through!

Keane just missed the podium in the Apprentice Master category, coming 4th. Craig was only slightly further from stepping into a medal spot with his 5th place in the Master category. Galavan won't want to write home about his event, struggling in the light airs on day 1 and then not racing on day 2.  A contrast with his recent regional win in the SB20s!

Full results here

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All evens: Racing 2 - Weather (& Cruise Liners) 2

It's 2-all between the racing and the weather after another cancellation this evening. A pity!

It was also interesting to see the RStGYC Laser Boys out on the harbour after N over A was hoisted, presumably  perfecting their heavy air techniques.

Looked good - racing cancelled
We assume they were using the Permanent Summer Racing Mark laid by the Dun Laoghaire Harbour Company over the weekend.
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Windy Saturday

Saturday saw only keelboats - and one dinghy that apparently missed the consensus - out on the Seapoint course on Saturday. The OK Dinghy sailed out and dealt with the 30+knot gusts very nicely before seeing some Flying Fifteens starting to have difficulty and deciding a return to the harbor was in order.

Full report over on the OK Dinghy site here

The run back was kinda fun, with sustained 22km/h sections through steep chop. And chicken gybes rather than actual gybes seemed sensible in the context.

The video is unedited since Go Pro Studio keeps crashing. So it's long. 

There were lots of dinghies back inside the harbor, but only the OK Dinghy and one Laser 4.7 were seen outside the walls. Were there others?
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Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Laser stalwart Galavan steps back into non-dinghy Lasers

DMYC Frostbite Laser series winner Colin Galavan stepped out of dinghies into keelboats for a weekend and showed that his skills extend even into heavier boats.

Steering on the winning boat for the Saturday races, Galavan was quickly up to speed and got consistent results for the rest of the day.

Full report here.

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Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Solid Saturday Session in Seapoint

While Tuesday night was sadly blown out and then blocked by cruise ship traffic, Saturday last had a good day's sailing for all the weekend warriors in Seapoint.

Prospects were initially not good as the dinghies drifted out into a totally becalmed Dun Laoghaire harbor. Fortune's Finn and one or two IDRA14s got friendly tows, but many Flying Fifteens, Dragons and yours truly got left sitting in the harbor for quite a while.

The wind arrived just in time for sailors to escape and racing to commence, but sadly the sun left as the wind arrived.  All that sunscreen for nothing!

With Mermaids, PY and IDRA14s lining up all one start it was busy on the line but the OK Dinghy got away reasonably clear ahead of the heavier boats. There was lots of  of close tacking up the beats and close mark roundings after the runs, with all enjoying the close action. A Mermaid crossed the line first of all with the OK Dinghy shortly behind and the IDRAs behind that.

Seapoint tacking matches
The SID Vago was notably faster than last year and was well in touch with the racing even after several laps. Great to see.  The benefits of the Frostbites shining through!  Fortune's Finn had retired by the end of Race 1....equipment failure we think.

Race 2 was interesting, with the first attempt abandoned after the fleets went off to sea looking for a non-existent gybe mark. Some Flying Fifteens were well out into the cruiser fleets by the time the committee's RIBs caught up and called the fleets back. The SID Vago was the most alert of the dinghies to the mistake and had cleverly headed for the committee boat well before anyone else.

The second attempt at Race 2 went off well. One Mermaid tried a timed run and - while successfully rolling over the top of the OK Dinghy at the gun - got the timing a little wrong and was immediately called back to restart. The OK Dinghy took the lead of the varied dinghies rounding inside at the leeward mark and held on to take the gun.

There's an OK Dinghy specific report over at their site (link here). The videos are rather long but the race 1 video shows some of the close tacking action up the beats.



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Priorities

If dinghy sailors wanted a glimpse into the future they got it this evening.  Cruise ship passengers get priority over almost anything happening locally and certainly over dinghy sailing. 

Hovering over the East Pier Walls on the high tide a giant cruise liner is anchored off Scotsmans Bay. Small ferries trundle back and forth between the coal harbour and the Ship delivering passengers to Coaches on shore for onward adventures (and back again).

The "offending" cruise ship

A stiff Westerly is blowing and it's too gusty for dinghy sailors to make the trip easily from Harbour to Scotsmans bay.

DBSC could normally switch to harbour racing, as they have done for the last two weeks, but not tonight. DBSC have been told there'll be no racing in the harbour tonight.

If you were wondering when the Cruise Liners would start to impact our sailing, it has begun.

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"Royal Princess (9038666095)" by Barry Skeates - http://www.flickr.com/photos/31059504@N08/9038666095. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Princess_(9038666095).jpg#/media/File:Royal_Princess_(9038666095).jpg

Monday, May 11, 2015

O'Leary shows some serious style

A certain Marty O'Leary, often seen sailing an RS around Dun Laoghaire harbor with decent results, showed huge ability and style in finishing 2nd overall in the ISAF Nation's Cup 2015 European Final in Howth.

He was 2nd.

This is a top class Match Racing event, with a member of the Dun Laoghaire Dinghy community making his talents abundantly clear.

Results are here.  Photos are here.  Here's a sample.


And congrats too to all the other Irish and visiting boats for making it a great event!

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Thursday, May 7, 2015

Tuesday Night - Lotsa Lasers, PY Present, a few Fireballs, were RS there?


Tuesday night was chilly, slightly on the windy side, but great for a race inside the harbor. Two races for each fleet saw Dan O'Beirne win both races in the Lasers, Tom Murphy win both in PY, and the exciting Fireball "No Name" winning in that class. There's no result for RS.

With lots of new faces and names racing we'll have to get that social scene set up!

See results from the menu in the top toolbar.

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Saturday, May 2, 2015

First Saturday abandoned/cancelled

All dinghy racing was cancelled on Saturday, alongside all cruiser (caravan) and keelboat racing. Only cruisers (caravans) in Class 1 seem to have got a result. 

A pity, all told. 

Racing has successfully taken place in higher winds before, but the combination of occasionally really poor visibility, pretty chilly air, and water temperatures still below 10DegC pushed the committee to abandon/cancel. 

Wind at DL through Saturday
As always, we'd hate to have to make those calls, but this one didn't seem to cause much disagreement at all.

Roll on Tuesday.

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Tuesday, April 28, 2015

First Tuesday

It's Tuesday.

Make sure you launch tonight. Racing is on.

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Monday, April 27, 2015

Sailing Instructions for the summer sailing

If you haven't had a read of these, do take the time to do it. 

The courses are different and there's a new way of shortening the course. 



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Sunday, April 26, 2015

How can we get videos this good?

A couple of years ago a few dinghy people discussed use of drones to get good sailing footage. But it never got anywhere. And in the meantime most of the drone footage was from exotic locations like Miami or Palma.


But this is from Bangor.

Anyone got any ideas?

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A SLOOOOOW Start to the season

With many sailors not quite ready for the start of the season and others out injured, it was a quiet start to the year on the DBSC dinghy course.

PY had the task of supporting the regular team on the Committee Boat, and thought that a little video might illustrate life on board.


Not the best editing, and hardly an exciting day, but certainly a couple of interesting scenes if you know what you're looking for .

And a strong suggestion that you read this year's sailing instructions. The courses are quite a bit different from last year.

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Friday, April 24, 2015

SI amendment for DBSC

Please note the following:

Amendment No.1: Sailing Instruction 14.1. (The Start).


Please note the following correction to SI. 14.1

“The warning signal for each succeeding class shall be made with or after
The starting signal of the preceding class.”

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Monday, April 20, 2015

Just a random Monday afternoon.

Not everyone is in an office or factory or at home.


Can we confess some jealousy?

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Tuesday, April 14, 2015

PY Early Bird Entry to DLR! Let's get it on!!

As you may know, the early bird discount for the DLR has been extended. There's quite a bit of interest in getting the PY fleet "over the line" and getting that discount. The difference is pretty big, e.g. for Lasers it's €60 early and €90 full fee.  It's not confirmed whether double handed PY boats would have a higher fee, but we'll get to that once the regatta responds on that question.

Not life changing, but worth getting. 

So, if you have a PY boat and are interested in getting the reduced entry, please go to this form - or send this info to your members - and let me know!  

In the context of the DLR, PY includes everything except Laser Standard, Wag, Fireball, Moth, Rs200 and RS400, IDRA14, GP14 and Wayfarer.   So that means Laser Radials, 4.7s, Bytes, Finns, OK Dinghies, RS600s, Flying Dutchmen, Topper Vibes, 420s, etc!


We can move quickly, I'm sure!

Even if we miss this benefit all indications are that there's a great event to be had with the interest we've heard so far.

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Monday, April 6, 2015

Cruise Ship Petition

There's an online petition on the go related to the Cruise Ship plan for Dun Laoghaire Harbor.

It's here.

It's getting good traffic and has (at the time of writing) 1296 supporters. But don't let that be the only response.

If you care about sailing in Dun Laoghaire, or indeed about the historic legacy of the harbor, put in a formal and personal response.  The link to the proposal is on the petition, and the email address for formal responses is there too.

So, here are some suggested steps.
  1. Go to the petition
  2. Follow the link to the proposal
  3. Read it. 
  4. Go back to the petition
  5. Sign it
  6. Go back to the proposal
  7. Send a considered and serious response to the email address there. 
Dun Laoghaire Harbor is a special place. Its space has already been eaten up by the marina. Don't let a cruise ship pier destroy the harbor.  And if you think Dun Laoghaire is more home to this...

Image from the DL Harbor Public Consultation Pate. 

rather than this...
Copyright David Branigan (we hope he's OK with this use...if not, he'll let us know)
then don't sign the petition.
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Sunny Sunday

The Frostbites ended a week ago and it's already summer.

Easter Sunday saw surprisingly few boats on the water. A couple of OK Dinghies, a 29er, a couple of Moths, a couple of Fevas and oppies and a Topper Taz. But my goodness the people who went sailing got good value for the day.

Sun. A surprisingly steady breeze - given the forecast. Sun. CLEAR water. Sun. A little sea fog in the distance. Sun.

And WHERE was everyone else?  A dozen dinghies on the harbor all day?

The video shows the experience from the OK Dinghy with the kids from the Taz. But the conditions? Marvelous.

(faceblur cos the kids are in it)
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Sunday, March 29, 2015

Frostbites over - roll on summer!

The 44th year of the DMYC Frostbites has finished. 44 years!

The prizegiving today featured a number of faces long known, and many new ones.

Colin Galavan picked up the overall Laser trophy for 2014/15, having also won in in 1980 and 1981! Meantime we also had a new special prize for the first Feva in the PY fleet, won by Lorcan Tighe and Cian Murphy. And the youngest competitor, aged just under 13, was Odhran Prouveur in a Feva with the oldest competitor's age simply unmentionable.

It's a unique institution.  See all the results here.


And now it's time for the DBSC racing, another institution!

The DBSC racing starts up at the end of April, just a month from now.

The Lasers, RS and Fireballs have racing on Tuesdays only, with PY, IDRA14 and Mermaids racing Tuesday and Saturday.  (We expect there will be a few Laser/RS/Fireball who also want to race on Saturdays and they can do so too with some minor admin)

So, get in touch with your class captain  if you have questions, or just enter online.
That's;
Laser - Sean Craig
PY - Hugh Sheehy
Fireball - Hermine O'Keefe
RS - Emmet Ryan
IDRA14 - Julie Ascoop
Mermaid - David Stedmond (Mermaids are dinghies!)

And the online entry is at http://www.dbsc.org/index.php?/dbsc-live/boat-entry

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Saturday, March 28, 2015

Good or Bad for Dinghy sailing in Dun Laoghaire Harbor?

There is some initial information online already about the proposed Cruise Ship terminal in Dun Laoghaire.



If you're interested in Dinghy Sailing, you need to think about this plan and make sure that you register your view once the public consultation period begins on Monday 30th.

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Monday, March 23, 2015

Stunning Sunday

After the glorious conditions for the Colours match on Grand Canal Dock on Saturday the Frostbite sailors were confronted with even better conditions for the racing in Dun Laoghaire Harbor on Sunday.



With two races on the day, it seems like the overall results got tighter in all classes. See the full results here.

In PY it looks like another discard may be crucial to sort out the differences. Shane McCarthy is still carrying a couple of DNC results and is close on the heels of Des Fortune's Finn.  That looks like the only possible change in the results, with Fortune's Finn otherwise clear ahead of Hamilton's IDRA.

In the Laser class Colin Galavan leads Sean Craig by a single point. After 18 races. They're probably in their own private battle next weekend. It'll be interesting to see if match racing breaks out!

In the RS fleets Emmet and James Ryan got a 1st and 2nd yesterday, and with Marty O'Leary absent they've pulled into a 7 point overall lead. And it looks unlikely to be reversed as long as the Ryans show up next week.

The Fireball class already seemed to have match racing ongoing this week, but with Kenny Rumball now 6 points ahead of Noel Butler it'll be a hard task to catch up.

As well as the racing there were OK Dinghies and Moths out getting in some practice for the summer.



Hopefully next week will match up to this week and there'll be a strong end to the Frostbite season. After some tricky days earlier this year it's all come good recently!

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Sunday, March 22, 2015

Colours on the Docks

The UCD/TCD Colours Match took place yesterday on the Grand Canal Dock.

There was plenty of shouting! We understand TCD won in the end, on the kind of day that the organizers could only dream of.

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Sunday, March 15, 2015

Double Day keeps overalls tight in all fleets

15th March saw the DMYC Frostbites get two solid races in, with a chilly breeze from the east and great conditions.

The wind direction meant that the course was laid for starboard roundings, but it worked out fine. 

In PY the Finn of Des Fortune is ahead overall, with Pierre Long's IDRA14 in 2nd and Richard Tate in 3rd. Shane McCarthy, who's been really consistent, is in 4th overall. Discards may still be crucial here, particularly for Shane. 





For all fleets the results are here.

In Lasers it's only moderately tight, with Colin Galavan 1st, ahead of Luke Murphy and the returned Gary O'Hare. But they're reasonably spread out. 

The RS400 fleet is TIGHT, the tightest. Emmet Ryan is ahead by three points after 16 races!  Marty O'Leary is in 2nd with Alex Rumball in 3rd...but he's just a point ahead of Sean Cleary. 

And in Fireballs the spread is somewhere in the "close, but not tight" phase. The top three are spread over 28 points, with Kenny Rumball ahead of Noel Butler and then the Clancy brothers.

With the event extended there are another 2 weekends to go and all of these results could be upended by an OCS, DNF or even just another discard coming in to play. 

It's all still on!




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Friday, March 13, 2015

RS600 on the Harbor

If you haven't noticed the RS600 out on the harbor over the past couple of years then you've been missing a sight.

Peter Doherty has been out there ramping up his skills in one of the trickier boats you can sail.

An RS600 is light, fast, single-handed with trapeze and wings, an unstable canoe hull rather than a nice stable flat skiff hull, full battens to keep the power on even if you're not ready for it, and a 12m2 mainsail (nearly 20% more than a Finn), and all inside the puffy gusty confines of Dun Laoghaire Harbor.

But when you get it to work it's a responsive dream. Light, fast, great foils to steer and point with, POWER and the leverage to control it with.  But not an easy start.

Here's his video of the work so far. Kudos dude!  And anyone who thinks his self described "incompetence" isn't just the wrong description should give an RS600 a try. Inside Dun Laoghaire Harbor. And getting it out through Hell's Gates too.



I wanna see this boat at full charge, with Peter on the wire and hooting.
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Laser "Round the Island" event in Howth - get there!

The 40th Laser "Round the Island" event is on this Saturday 14th March in Howth.

See more information here.

Looks like being nice weather for it too!  http://goo.gl/g22URm

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Monday, March 9, 2015

RS and Fireball reports online - DMYC website back up

The reports of the Fireball and RS fleet's action in the DMYC Frostbites are online on Afloat and Yachts and Yachting;

The RS report even comes with a video again!   



Those RS guys are too cool...3D printed mast brackets!

Meantime the DMYC website is back online but we're waiting for results. There's a chance that the PY fleet suffered from some lap confusion, with at least one boat completing 5 laps instead of the required 4. It'll show up in the results.

Finally, the DMYC again went above and beyond with the race photos.



Twas a great day's sailing all around, despite the slightly delayed start. Onwards to next week.

Remember there are three weekends left since the DMYC has extended the season to catch up on lost days.

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Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Starting Advice

While reviewing the blog and the backup files, we came across some old coaching material from a seminar many people attended this time, two years ago. Prepared and presented at that time by one of Dun Laoghaire's best sailing coaches, now sadly missed.

Rather than filing it away, its usefulness calls for it to be re-used and appreciated.





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Monday, February 23, 2015

Dublin Bay Lasers go for One Night Stand in a Busy 2015

As 40 Lasers enter the last few weeks of typically close racing in the perennial DMYC Frostbite series, we look forward to the warmer months, especially after some subtle but significant changes by Dublin Bay Sailing Club (see attached for details).  DBSC has been engaged in lengthy discussions with all dinghy classes and there are a few key format tweaks, including two new classes in the shape of the Laser (previously in PY) and the RS 200/400.  

The idea for Lasers is to focus everybody on Tuesday evenings for club racing, thereby freeing up weekends for other sailing (eg, Laser regattas or other DBSC classes) or indeed for family obligations.  Some other DBSC dinghy classes, however, stick with the tried and trusted Saturday plus Tuesday format.  Horses for courses and Hats Off to DBSC for a flexible approach.

But one thing’s for sure; the simple Laser formula is as popular as ever. A perfectly competitive boat is just €2k and the associated costs are very low. The healthy exercise from hiking and working a Laser is catching the Fitness wave too and makes the single-hander a popular lifestyle choice for sailors who also cycle, run or whatever.  In anything over 5 knots it’s the ultimate full body workout! In the last 18 months we’re also seeing young graduates from the vibrant DL scene for the smaller 4.7 and Radial rigs. How great it is to see them transition into the local racing scene. Many of these younger sailors - like us older types (!) - are inspired by the international exploits of the Waterfront’s own Annalise Murphy and Finn Lynch, who can be seen out training on the Bay, using exactly the same equipment as the rest of us.  

Pic Courtesy of Gareth Craig and fotosail


So....Get that Laser out of the garden, or don't put it away after the Frostbites !   Join us on Dublin Bay for glorious Tuesday night racing and other events highlighted in the attachment.  We want to see all ages and ability levels.  We'll even lay on some coaching and we’ll definitely meet up for a drink after racing each Tuesday.

See the poster here.  

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Sunday, February 22, 2015

Frostbites cancelled - a good call

Faced with a forecast of 40+ knots and with 30+ already seen on the water, the DMYC Frostbites committee cancelled everything at about 10am on Sunday.

It was a good call. But if you'd been in Dun Laoghaire at about 1245 and seen Shane MacCarthy's Solo and the cream OK Dinghy out becalmed in the harbor, you'd have had doubts.  Suffice it to say that the committee may even have had 2nd thoughts at that stage but their decision was spot on, correct, and absolutely the right one.

The wind came back with a vengeance, accompanied by powerful gusts and BIG shifts as the wild westerly started to supersede the swooning southerly.  By start time there was Force 8 in the harbor. And  more to come.

taken from http://www.dlhweather.com/24hr-wind-graph/
DLHweather.com's charts show the tempting dip in the windstrength and then the full and total validation of the committee's decision to cancel. Good call guys!

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Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Video from Rumball and Brazel in an RS400!

A great video from the lads in RSs.  How do you say more than one RS?  But great video!

Alexander Rumball and Kevin Brazel Racing in the 2015 DMYC frostbite.


Monday, February 16, 2015

Fireballs away!

Fireball report online here.

http://www.yachtsandyachting.com/news/181330/Dun-Laoghaire-Fireball-Frostbites-round-2-day-7

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Big PY fleet on a chilly day.

The PY fleet turned out in good numbers despite the weather on Sunday and had a great day's racing after all. Cold water temperatures and winds gusting from 10 knots to 28 knots led to some conservative sailing, but the racing was still pretty full on.

At the end the result continued the recent strong run by the Finns, with Richard Tate leading the way home from Long and Hamilton in the IDRA14s.

Tate started with the main group down at the pin while Des Fortune's Finn timed a gust right and got a big right shift off the boat end right at the gun. Fortune's boat was clearly ahead at the first mark with Tate and Long  chasing hard back in from the left.  It was PUFFY under the weather mark.

Careful sailing was the order of business down the run with booms not let too far out and some spinnakers not-flying. Tate and Fortune's Finns started to pull clear on the 2nd beat before Fortune's boat retired leaving Tate to sail out to victory. Not by a big margin, with Long only 20 seconds behind on corrected time. And although Hamilton was a full two minutes further back he only had ten seconds over Tom Murphy in the K1.

The most notable result was the one second difference between Devaney and Lordan in 5th and 6th. Tight times!  Full results here - as usual.

PY and Laser fleets each had 13 boats on the water, with the RS and Fireball fleets disappointed to see only 5 boats in each class. But it was a good day. Not too many photos/videos so far. One video taken off the OK Dinghy class site at http://iokda.wordpress.com and taken from Fortune's Finn shows the puffiness pretty well - and the big shifts!


A good day!  And a good day to have a good wetsuit too!
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Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Frostbite videos

Here are the videos from Sunday's sailing.


A nice tight edit from Sean Clery in his 200.

And


As the video description says of itself, this one is still a bit long.  8 minutes in an OK Dinghy. Gary O'Hare will like the view of the deck.

Shane MacCarthy takes video in his Solo too....let's see it!

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Monday, February 9, 2015

Sunday 9th Feb

A glorious day on the water and reports from a variety of places.

  • The Fireball report is usually first out, appearing on Afloat and YachtsandYachting with regularity and promptness.
  • The RS dinghy report is starting to emulate the Fireball report, and has video!
  • Although not actually racing, the OK Dinghy was out practicing and spent some time with the Finns in PY
  • No report from the Lasers, but there were 21 of them on the water so some report ought to be forthcoming...
  • And as usual, some great photos from the DMYC Frostbite people!


A wonderful day on the water. 

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