Fireball Frostbite Series 1 Round 1 at Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club

Blustery start to proceedings!

The 2016/17 Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club Frostbites got off to a blustery start this afternoon in Dun Laoghaire. The weather station adjacent to my observation point had the various weather parameters as follows; Wind Direction - 345˚, Wind 19.6 knots, Gust 28.5 knots and Air Temperature 9˚. In truth it didn't appear to be as cold as the Saturday when this correspondent sailed three races in a Flying Fifteen wind while there was more sunshine for that session, the weather today was cloudy but seemed to be a little warmer – but it wasn't "shirt sleeve weather" by any means.

Three Fireballs graced the opening day of the Series – Noel Butler & Stephen Oram (15061), Conor & James Clancy (14807) and Louise McKenna & Hermine O'Keeffe (14691). The overnight Met Eireann forecast didn't hold out much hope of racing with a projected Force 5 – 8 for all parts of the Irish Seas and indeed by Sunday morning a Facebook post to the fleet suggested that some consideration had been taken as to whether racing would be possible.

Noel & Stephen comfortably won the race from Conor & James with the ladies finishing third. In truth I missed most of the action on the water as I was delayed getting to the harbour. It was a day of discretion being the better part of valour with respect to spinnaker flying.

The start area was in the vicinity of the dormant berth for the HSS with a weather mark towards the end of the West Pier. The top and bottom reaches of the trapezoid course were moderately short in comparison to the beat and run. Given the news of the revised planning permission for a cruise liner berth in the harbour this past week, it will be interesting to see how this impacts on the Frostbite and other sailing activity inside the harbour.

In other Fireball news the Class had its AGM on the Saturday night of the last regatta of the year. As had been signposted there was a change of Chairman with Marie Barry standing down after a three-year stint. In terms of falling numbers at events, Marie has not had it easy, but she has put a lot of effort into the Class and is due our collective thanks. Marie is replaced as Class Chairman by Neil Cramer of Skerries Sailing Club. Regatta participants would know Neil as the crew to Niall McGrotty. Margaret Casey had also indicated her intention to retire as Class Secretary. By my reckoning Margaret has been Secretary to at least three Chairmen, Marie, Neil Colin and I, and this period alone accounts for 9 years of service. Marie Barry has taken on the mantle of Secretary. Conor Clancy will continue as Treasurer.

Since the AGM there has been a committee meeting and individual activity in getting the calendar fixed for next year. In addition to our normal roster of events, with 2017 being an odd-numbered year, there will be a three day Volvo Dun Laoghaire event over the first weekend of July. Next year's Fireball Europeans are scheduled for August in Lyme Regis on the English South Coast. Given their proximity, there is an expectation of Irish participation.

Finally, the end of year prize-giving will take place in the National Yacht Club on Friday 25th November.

Race 1 Results: