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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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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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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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.

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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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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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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