The Fireball winter season got underway with a bang at the Viking Marine DMYC Frostbite series which kicked off in Dun Laoghaire on Sunday.
Seven Fireballs jostled for position on the mixed PY start-line in some 12 knots of breeze occasionally gusting to twenty. While the pin end was favoured the danger of getting pinned under the fleet deterred Alistair Court/ Gordon Syme from that approach and he tacked off right into the stronger breeze, albeit with waves, and arrived at the windward mark just ahead of Neil Colin sailing with Marjo Moonen and Frank Miller/Ed Butler. Chasing down the first downwind leg Miller/Butler managed to overtake Colin/Moonen and closed the gap on Court/Syme. Close behind were Owen Sinnott/Grattan Donnelly and a little further back Paul ter Horst and son Morris, and Nick Miller/Cearbhall Daly.
At the bottom of the second run of the three lap windward-leeward course, Miller/Butler and Court/Symes chose alternative sides of the gate, with Miller/Butler finding better pressure on the harbour mouth side of the course. This allowed the pair to take the lead which they held to the finish. While they won the moral victory of the Fireball race Brendan Foley in his Aero won the PY race on corrected time of some twenty seconds.
Race two got underway in softer conditions with fewer gusts and flatter water throughout the course. The Fireballs were joined by Ciaran Hickey/Ismail Inan who missed the first start due to confusion over timings. Colin/Moonen led the Fireball charge off the line near the pin end but tacked out at the first opportunity and found better breeze on the right side of the course. The pair led from start to finish, sailing their own race in clear air and even banging the right corner near the west pier wall confident of their reading of the wind conditions. Those who chose the left side of the course in race two found themselves distinctly underpowered at times. The race for the rest of the fleet wasn’t entirely without drama. At the approach to the final leeward mark Sinnott/Donnelly reached across to ensure their overlap on Miller/Butler, leaving the two teams sailing by the lee to make the mark. A sudden sharp gust gybed both boats leaving Sinnott/Donnelly swimming and Miller nursing a sore ear. Second fireball in race two was Court/Syme. On handicap Brendan Foley again won the PY and in the lighter breeze several Aeros featured in the top five.
All in all, this was a great start to the DMYC winter series and with sponsorship from Viking Marine and with some 14 Fireballs entered and a very full total entry of 120 boats it promises yet again to be one of the best series of the year.
