November drew to a close with a flurry of boating activity at Dun Laoghaire Harbour on Dublin Bay this weekend with dinghy and cruiser sailors as well as motorboaters, kayakers and swimmers all taking advantage of the mild November conditions ahead of wintry showers forecast for the first week of December.
Anticipating a return to training – as COVID-restrictions lift from Tuesday – there were several different fleets out on the bay making the most of the mild weather, with Saturday harbour numbers equalling those of any summer weekend.
In terms of Dublin dinghy sailing, there was plenty of action inside the harbour itself with separate different mini-fleet sessions in operation. These included junior Optimist fleets as well as youth Laser squads. Half a dozen 29er skiffs got some good light airs to practise roll tacks and roll gybes on Sunday morning.
On top of this, there was a number of individual cruiser-racers out on the bay, these were boats that typically would have been part of the postponed DBSC Turkey Shoot Series that normally attracts up to sixty boats at this time of year.
The Irish National Sailing School (INSS) boats were also out on the water enjoying both dinghy and keelboat activity.
On the powerboat side, there was a quite a number of RIBs and motorboats enjoying the flat seas for a late run down to Dalkey Island and on Sunday quite a number were anchored in Scotsman's Bay as late as the sunset just after 4 pm.
A single 49er Olympic skiff was out from the Irish Sailing Olympic HQ as Ireland continues to seek the last men's Olympic berth in the skiff class for Tokyo.
Town Marina & Waterfront Yacht Clubs
There was constant activity at Dun Laoghaire Marina and waterfront yacht clubs with berth holders checking on boats as the clubhouses prepare for Christmas shoreside activity in keeping with new COVID regs this week. This includes the Royal Irish Yacht Club that will host a member's Christmas Market starting next weekend. The National Yacht Club Christmas lights have gone on, the trees are in place and the Clubhouse decorated to celebrate the season. Most importantly, Commodore Martin McCarthy remains hopeful the clubhouse can welcome members warmly back to dine, have a glass or two and talk about sailing exploits and other matters.
Likewise, at the neighbouring Royal St. George Yacht Club where the winter lift out was completed successfully at the end of October, members celebrated some fine DBSC summer racing performances last week and now deluxe hampers are being prepared for Christmas.