A record 69 boats were on the water for the fifth round of the Viking Marine-sponsored, DMYC-hosted Frostbites in Dun Laoghaire Harbour on Sunday 5th December, beating by one the attendance on the opening day of November 7th.
The PY Class took the numbers honours with a 30-boat fleet made up as follows; 10 x Fireballs, 6 x Aero 7s, 2 x Aero 5s, 2 x Kona Windsurfers, 2 x GP14s, and one each of K1, IDRA, Laser Vago, Mirror, RS400, RS Vision, Wayfarer and Laser Pico. The ILCA 6s (Laser radials) mustered 20 boats, the ILCA 4s (Laser 4.7s) 11 boats and the ILCA 7s (Laser Full-rig), 8 boats.
Mother nature decided she would comply with the forecasts from the latter part of the week and Dun Laoghaire was bathed in winter sunshine and a NNW breeze of about 10 – 13 knots (hand-held) at 11:30. The projection was for the breeze to drop as the afternoon wore on and so it proved.
An inaugural NYC match-racing event (report here) was operating in the area immediately inside the harbour mouth, so the Frostbite race area was set a little further inshore, but still allowed an Olympic course of three laps to be set. The NNW breeze was reasonably steady in direction and allowed a weather mark to be set about 150m inside the end of the West Pier, downwind of the INSS green platform. A gybe mark was set downwind of the marina entrance, with a leeward mark located in the approximate location of the Boyd Memorial on the East Pier.
All three starts got away at the first time of asking and most fleets seemed to favour a hitch out to the left-hand side of the course before making their way upwind to the weather mark.
In the PY Class, the Fireballs got into the leading positions on the water at an early stage with Frank Miller & Ed Butler (14713) leading the charge. (see Fireball report here) They were pressed by Alistair Court & Gordon Syme (14706) for the majority of the races with Neil Colin & Marjo (14775) hovering within striking distance and getting closer to the front paid as the race progressed. Eventually, their persistence was rewarded when the “pipped” Court & Syme at the finish line. However, on corrected time the Aero 7s dominated the podium with a one-two-three in Brendan Foley, Mark Gavin and Noel Butler. Miller & Butler finished fifth on time, followed home by the two Aero 5s of Roy van Mannen and Sarah Dwyer. The IDRA of Pierre Long & son took 8th place, followed by the Fireballs of Colin, Court and Louise Mc Kenna & Joe O’Reilly (15016) David Mulvin & Ronan Beirne (14069) won the duel of the GP 14s in 12th place, the Wayfarer came home in 16th and the Kona Windsurfers kept close company most of the way round with Des Gibney getting the decision over Robert Walker in 21st and 22nd respectively.
ILCAs negotiate the downwind leg of the sausage at the DMYC Frostbite Photo: Cormac Bradley
In the ILCA 7s there was a change to the normal order of things when Kei Walker took the gun ahead of Gavan Murphy and Owen Laverty, meaning Chris Arrowsmith had to do with fourth. In the ILCA 4s who share the start with the ILCA 7s, two young ladies got into the podium places with Donal Walsh sandwiched between them – 1st place going to Emily Cantwell and 33rd going to Zoe Hall.
In the ILCA 6s the finishing order was Luke Turvey, Alana Coakley, Mark Henry, Brendan Hughes and Conor Clancy. This represents a bit of a slip by young Hughes, who normally registers much smaller numbers on his finishing scorecard.
As the first race progressed it became apparent that the wind strength was starting to drop off, as forecast, but also the direction was going more westerly. While the race committee team finished off the first race, the Race Officer reset the weather mark by moving it of the order of 75m further inshore so that it now floated on the inshore side of the INSS green platform. Another three lap Olympic course was signalled.
Monica Schaefer’s Wayfarer Photo: Cormac Bradley
Yet again all three starts got away cleanly and in the PY class the Fireballs were joined at the head of the fleet by the Aero 7 of Noel Butler. However, in the lighter breeze which was of the order of 7 – 10 knots, the Fireballs would struggle to save their time and Butler led home another Aero 7 dominated podium on corrected time, followed by Gavin & Foley. Long’s IDRA, Schaefer’s Wayfarer and Mulvin’s GP14 all finished ahead of the first Fireball of Miller & Butler, followed by Court & Syme.
In the ILCA 7s, a more normal finishing order was reinstated when Murphy led home Chris Arrowsmith and Owen Laverty – the “more normal” reference being in terms of names, not finishing sequence! In the ILCA 4s, the younger ladies stepped in up with a 1-2 finish in Zoe Hall and Emily Cantwell respectively with Brian Carroll closing out the podium.
In the ILCA 6s, Brendan Hughes resumed his normal occupancy of the top step of the podium followed by another consistent finisher, Luke Turvey, with Conor Clancy, Archie Daly and Mark Henry closing out the top five.
So, to conclude, the biggest turnout of the 2021/22 Frostbites, a sunny winter Sunday, two Olympic courses of as big a size as can be fitted within the harbour and everybody finished in good time. What more could you want?
Viking Marine Frostbites – hosted by DMYC. Round 5
Race 1
PY Class (30)
1. Brendan Foley
2. Mark Gavin
3. Noel Butler
4. Paul Phelan (All Aero 7s)
5. Frank Miller & Ed Butler, Fireball 14713
6. Roy van Mannen
7. Sarah Dwyer (Both Aero 5s)
8. Pierre Long & Son (IDRA)
9. Neil Colin & Marjo (14775)
10. Alistair Court & Gordon Syme (14706) (Both Fireballs)
11. David Mulvin & Ronan Beirne (GP14 14069)
16. Monica Schaefer & Crew (Wayfarer 11299)
18. Tom Murphy (K1 69)
21. Des Gibney
22. Robert walker (Both Kona Windsurfers)
ILCA 7s (8)
1. Kei Walker
2. Gavan Murphy
3. Owen Laverty
ILCA 4s (11)
1. Emily Cantwell
2. Donal Walsh
3. Zoe Hall
ILCA 6s
1. Luke Turvey
2. Alana Coakley
3. Mark Henry
4. Brendan Hughes
5. Conor Clancy
Race 2
PY Class
1. Noel Butler
2. Mark Gavin
3. Brendan Foley (All Aero 7s)
4. Pierre Long & Son (IDRA)
5. Monica Schaefer & Crew (Wayfarer 11299)
6. Paul Phelan (Aero 7)
7. Roy van Mannen (Aero 5)
8. David Mulvin & Ronan Beirne (GP14 14069)
9. Frank Miller & Ed Butler
10. Alistair Court & Gordon Syme (Both Fireballs)
11. Ciara Mulvey & Peter Murphy (GP14 11111)
ILCA 7s
1. Gavan Murphy
2. Chris Arrowsmith
3. Owen Laverty
ILCA 4s
1. Zoe Hall
2. Emily Cantwell
3. Brain Carroll
ILCA 6s
1. Brendan Hughes
2. Luke Turvey
3. Conor Clancy
4. Archie Daly
5. Mark Henry
With seven races completed over five weekends – one Sunday was cancelled and another Sunday had a solitary race, the overall situation is as follows;
PY Fleet (42 Boats)
1. Brendan Foley (Aero 7) 19pts
2. Mark Gavin (Aero 7) 20pts
3. Noel Butler (Aero 7) 38pts
4. Frank Miller & Ed Butler (Fireball 14713) 38pts
5. Pierre Long & Son (IDRA) 44pts.
ILCA 7s (15 boats)
1. Gavan Murphy 8pts
2. Chris Arrowsmith 15pts
3. Owen Laverty 33pts.
ILCA 4s (23 boats)
1. Donal Walsh 16pts
2. Zoe Hall 26pts
3. Brian Carroll 27pts
4. Emily Cantwell 30pts
5. Ava Ennis 38pts.
ILCA 6s (43 boats)
1. Brendan Hughes 10pts
2. Mark Henry 23pts
3. Luke Turvey 29pts
4. Peter Kilmartin 45pts
5. Judy O’Beirne 47pts.
Fireballs (14)
1. Frank Miller & Ed Butler 14713, 8pts
2. Neil Colin & Marjo 14775, 20pts
3. Alistair Court & Gordon Syme 14706, 21pts.
There will be two more Sundays of racing before the Christmas break.
