Fireballs at Royal Irish Yacht Club Regatta

Four Fireballs contested the RIYC regatta on Saturday. While the number was low the competition was excellent and no other dinghy class had more boats, surely an indication of the extent to which all dinghy classes are struggling to compete with the attractions of marathons, ironmen, cycling, kite surfing and other challenging sports which appear more attractive and less expensive to the current generation.

Anyway the conditions on Saturday were terrific; a stiff, gusty Northwesterly meant that all boats were tuned to heavy or super heavy and planing upwind and down was the order of the day. In race one the fleet went for the committee end at the start, as much to allow an early tack out into the favourable flooding tide as anything else. Frank Miller and Ed Butler carved out an early lead up the beat but Louis Smyth, sailing with Francis Rowan slipped inside by the weather mark from the port layline. The pair sped away and displayed great speed on the reaches and run while the chasing Miller/Butler were faster upwind. Ultimately although Miller/Butler caught them on some beats their downwind speed won out, especially as Miller/Butler misjudged a gybe and found themselves soaking slowly down to the leeward in an attempt to get inside berth while Smyth/Rowan carved out a fast route with a couple of neat gybes. Not far behind at all were Louise McKenna and Hermine O'Keeffe displaying impressive speed and height despite their much lighter weight. Behind them were Cariosa Power and Marie Barry who sailed solidly throughout but never really threatened to break through to the lead.

In race two the pin was favoured and Smyth/Rowan decided to make it their own. In their enthusiasm they were OCS however and flag X was quickly displayed so they went back round the end. The others shot off on a tack inshore with Miller/Butler faster and in control watching the ladies and discounting the OCS pair. How wrong they were for by the weather mark Smyth/Rowan, having gone straight out to sea, had a solid 15 boat length lead. Again the pair tore off down the reaches with Miller/Butler et al in pursuit. On the beats however Miller/Butler closed the gap and on the second beat in particular judged the layline better and with a lifting tide squeezed up to the weather mark just ahead of Smyth/Rowan. On the subsequent run Smyth/Rowan again looked dangerous and sailed a higher faster angle. This time however they may have overcooked it and Miller gybed inside, picked up a strong vein of wind and sailed fast and low down to the leeward carving out a decent lead. This they consolidated on the next round increasing their lead with a loose cover up the beat and sailing conservatively on the reaches to take the gun, and as winners of the last race, the regatta prize.