A decent south-easterly breeze averaging about 12 knots greeted the three Fireballs competing in last night's DBSC racing in Dun Laoghaire Harbour. With another giant fleet of Lasers participating the start line was very long. Miller/Cramer opted for the slightly favoured pin end which took them towards the harbour mouth before tacking back under the layline to the weather mark Cariosa Power with Marie Barry had taken the exact opposite approach going inshore and their route proved the better one as they rounded the mark a few boat lengths ahead. Owen Sinnott and Grattan Donnelly seemed to take a middle course which left them a close third for the entire race. Power/Barry stayed ahead for the run and the subsequent beat but on the second run Miller/Cramer found a couple of gusts which helped them get an inside overlap before the gybe to the mark, leaving them ahead for the remainder of the race.
Cariosa Power with Marie Barry to windward in IRL 14854 and Frank Miller and Neil Cramer in IRL 14990
For race two Miller/Cramer again started at the pin and this time led to the weather with Sinnott/Donnelly close behind. They maintained their lead for most of the 5 lap race but a problematic gybe-set during lap four gave the chasing Sinnott/Donnelly team their opportunity and they slipped into the lead. On the final downwind leg to the finish Miller/Cramer gybed a little early and attempted to reel in the leaders but the attempt failed miserably in a thicket of Lasers as the finish line drew near. Sinnott/Donnelly were the deserving winners with Power/Barry a close third.
Full results here.
