This year, for one of the first times in a proud history stretching back to 1884, there was no gala event for Dublin Bay Sailing Club's annual prizegiving but as most Dun Laoghaire Harbour observers will attest, most of the sailors in the country's biggest sailing club feel fortunate there was any racing at all, given the ravages of COVID-19.
Despite the absence of the regular Royal St George hosted affair, DBSC Commodore Jonathan Nicholson has been online to congratulate over 100 different winners from 22 DBSC classes and there has been an impressive roll call of division winners that includes DBSC's six premier awards for best performances (see full list below).
DBSC has welcomed onboard new sponsor AIB
In a season like no other, there was a late start to proceedings and then a final curtailment all due to the pandemic that now threatens the club's Winter Turkey Shoot Series too.
Regardless, the club has been carrying on and preparing for hopefully a more buoyant start to 2021 and announced a new title sponsor this year that was celebrated recently with an online Zoom presentation featuring some of Ireland's top solo sailors on the appropriate theme of resilience.
DBSC Premier awards 2020
Patrick Burke's Prima Forte, the 2020 delivered Beneteau First 40 has won the Dun Laoghaire Harbour Trophy for the best new DBSC yacht in the 2020 season. As regular Afloat readers will know, the Royal Irish yacht in its former life was known as La Response and Courier Zen, a top UK and French Commodore's Cup campaigner.
Patrick Burke's Prima Forte was the DBSC Dun Laoghaire Harbour Trophy winner Photo: Afloat
Lindsay Casey's Royal St. George Yacht Club J97 Windjammer that has performed on both inshore and offshore circuits this season was the winner of the best yacht on handicap.
Lindsay Casey's J97 Windjammer from the Royal St. George Yacht Club Photo: Afloat
The best yacht in the one-design divisions was James Conboy-Fischer's Billy Whizz, the first time a B211 has lifted the George Arthur Newsom Cup as Afloat reported here.
Laser Radial ace Rian Geraghty McDonnell won the Dr Alf Delany Cup for the best dinghy performance of the season.
Brendan Ebril Memorial Cup Best yacht for most frequent participation was won by David Meeke and Martin McCarthy in the Ruffian 23 Alias.
Cruisers Classes
The JPK 10.80 Rockabill VI, skippered by Paul O'Higgins Photo: Afloat
The ISORA coastal champion, the JPK 10.80 Rockabill VI, skippered by Paul O'Higgins was the Martin Cup winner for Thursday's IRC Racing in Cruisers Zero. The Saturday IRC series Knox-Gore Cup trophy was won by George Sisk's XP 44, Wow from the Royal Irish Yacht Club.
George Sisk's XP 44, Wow Photo: Afloat
In Cruisers One, Thursdays IRC Racing for the West Pier Officer's Cup was won by another Royal Irish yacht, the J109, White Mischief jointly skippered by the father and son team of Tim and Richard Goodbody.
Saturday's IRC racing in class one was won by the National Yacht Club's Jalapeno (Paul Barrington) who lifts the Weir Cup.
Paul Barrington at the helm of the National Yacht Club J109, Jalapeno
In Cruisers Two, the premier award winner, Windjammer won both the Lady Shamrock Trophy for Thursdays IRC racing and the Silver Salver for Saturdays IRC competition.
Kevin Byrne's Starlet was the top performer in DBSC Cruisers Three Photo: Afloat
In the Cruisers Three division, Kevin Byrne's Starlet was the winner of both Thursdays and Saturday's IRC picking up the Smalldridge Cup and Jack Kennedy Memorial Cup respectively.
In the One Design classes, Chris Johnston's Prospect from the National Yacht Club was the winner of the Beneteau 31.7s Feanor Trophy for Thursday Scratch Racing.
John Power and Michael Leahy's Beneteau 31.7 Levante was the Saturday Scratch winner
The National Yacht Club's Ignus Caput sailed by David Mulvin and Ronan Beirne were the winners of the Fifty Something Cup for Tuesday Racing in the Flying Fifteen class. The pair also won the Brian S Ryan Trophy for Saturday Racing. The Flying Fifteen Gun Trophy went to Chris Doorly's Frequent Flyer for Thursday Racing
David Mulvin and Ronan Beirne in the Flying Fifteen Ignus Caput
In the dinghy classes, the stand out class of the season was the singlehanded Laser that mustered up to 60 boats for its season. In the standard division, Ronan Wallace was the winner of the Tuesdays Overall Lanavere Cup while Finn Walker took the Sanderling Trophy for his Saturday performance. Rian Geraghty McDonnell was the Sailcraft Tray Trophy winner for Tuesdays and Saturday's combined. Sean Craig won Tuesdays Overall in the Radial and Connor Gorman won Saturdays. Luke Turvey won both Tuesdays and Saturdays in the 4.7 class.
DBSC Radial winner, Sean Craig from the Royal St. George Yacht Club
Julie Ascoop's IDRA 14 Slipstream won The Halfway Trophy for the most successful yacht.
For the full list of 2020 DBSC prizewinners see below
DBSC 2020 Prizewinners
| Premier Trophies | |||
| Dun Laoghaire Harbour Trophy | Best new DBSC yacht 2020 | Prima Forte | Patrick Burke |
| Dr Alf Delany Cup | Best Dinghy for the season | Laser Radial | Rian Geraghty-McDonnell |
| Waterhouse Shield | Best yacht in Handicapped series | Windjammer | Lindsay Casey |
| George Arthur Newsom Cup | Best yacht in one design racing | Billy Whizz | James Conboy-Fischer |
| Brendan Ebril Memorial Cup | Best yacht frequently participated | Alias | David Meeke Martin McCarthy |
| The Viking Award | A notable contribution to DBSC sailing | DBSC Volunteers 2020 | DBSC Volunteers 2020 |
| Cruisers 0 | |||
| Martin Cup | Thursdays IRC Racing | Rockabill VI | Paul O' Higgins |
| Knox-Gore Bowl | Thursdays Echo Racing | Hot Cookie | John O'Gorman |
| Knox-Gore Cup | Saturdays IRC Racing | Wow | George Sisk |
| Centenary Trophy | Saturdays Echo Racing | Prima Forte | Patrick Burke |
| Cruisers 1 | |||
| West Pier Officer's Cup | Thursdays IRC Racing | White Mischief | Tim and Richard Goodbody |
| Tiamat Trophy | Thursdays Echo Racing | White Mischief | Tim and Richard Goodbody |
| Weir Cup | Saturdays IRC Racing | Jalapeno | Paul Barrington |
| Osterburg Trophy | Saturdays Echo Racing | Raptor | Paul Bradley Fintan Cairns |
| Cruisers 2 | |||
| Centenary Cup | Thursdays Echo Racing | Peridot | Jim McCann |
| Lady Shamrock Trophy | Thursdays IRC Racing | Windjammer | Lindsay Casey |
| Silver Salver | Saturdays IRC Racing | Windjammer | Lindsay Casey |
| TP Early Memorial Cup | Saturdays Echo Racing | Windjammer | Lindsay Casey |
| Brendan Brisco Cup | Tuesdays Racing | Boojum | Stephanie Bourke |
| Silver Foam Trophy | Most Improved Boat Cr 2 | Boojum | Stephanie Bourke |
| Cut Glass Tumbler | Tuesday Sigma Racing | Boojum | Stephanie Bourke |
| JB Stephens Trophy | Thurs and Sat Comb-Sigmas | Rupert | R&P Lovegrove |
| Cruisers 3 | |||
| Annette Cup | Thursdays ECHO Racing | Saki | Paget McCormack |
| Mercia Cup | Saturdays ECHO Racing | Papytoo | Frank Guilfoyle |
| Sanderling Trophy | Tuesdays ECHO Racing | Papytoo | Frank Guilfoyle |
| Smalldridge Cup | Thursdays IRC Racing | Starlet | Kevin Byrne |
| Jack Kennedy Memorial Cup | Saturdays IRC Racing | Starlet | Kevin Byrne |
| Whimbrel Rose Bowl | Tuesdays IRC Racing | Starlet | Kevin Byrne |
| B211s | |||
| Cut Glass Tumbler | Tuesday SCRATCH Overall | Yikes | Peter Carroll |
| Optec Trophy | Tuesday ECHO Overall | Ventuno | Rowan Fogarty |
| Facet Jewellers Cup | Thursdays SCRATCH Overall | Billy Whiz | James Conboy-Fischer |
| Beneteau 21 Tray | Thursdays ECHO Overall | Billy Whiz | James Conboy-Fischer |
| Beneteau 21 Cup | Saturdays SCRATCH Overall | Billy Whiz | James Conboy-Fischer |
| Jimmy Fischer Trophy | Saturdays ECHO Overall | Ventuno | Rowan Fogarty |
| Waterhouse Rose Bowl | Thurs/Sat Comb ECHO | Beeswing | Pat Shannon |
| Cruisers 5 | |||
| Burford Trophy | Thursdays IRC Overall Div A | Persistence | Charles Broadhead |
| Gerry Henry Salver | Thursdays ECHO Overall Div A | Katienua | Thomas Dunne |
| Trevor Wood Trophy | Thursdays ECHO Overall Div B | Gung-ho | Grainne O' Shea |
| White Sail Class Trophy | Sats A and B IRC Overall | Gung-ho | Grainne O' Shea |
| Ana Livia Trophy | Sats A and B ECHO Overall | Spirit | C O'Brien and E Gill |
| Galileo Cup | Not winning another trophy | The Great Escape | P and D Rigney |
| 31.7s | |||
| Feanor Trophy | Thursday Racing Scratch | Prospect | Chris Johnston |
| Horrigan Cup | Thursday Racing Echo | Kernach | Eoin O'Driscoll |
| Arandora Trophy | Saturday Racing Scratch | Levante | John Power Michael Leahy |
| Cut Glass Tumbler | Tuesday Racing Scratch | Levante | John Power Michael Leahy |
| Long John Silver Cup | Saturday Racing Echo | Attitude | Trina Milner |
| Dragons | |||
| Oxford and Cambridge Cup | Thursday Racing | Zin Zan | Adrian Masterson |
| RIYC Cup | Saturday Racing | Phantom | David Williams |
| Old Time Cup | Comb. Thurs and Sats | Phantom | David Williams |
| Torry Cup | Not winning another trophy | D-cision | Joey Mason |
| Glens | |||
| Cut Glass Tumbler | Tuesday racing | Glenroan | Keith Malcolm |
| The McMullen Cup | Sat and Thurs Combined | Glendun | David Houlton |
| Pterodactyl Cup | Thursdays Racing | Glendun | David Houlton |
| Harry Maguire Memorial Cup | Saturday Racing | Glenluce | R O'Connor L Grant & M Pearson |
| Ruffians | |||
| British Airways Trophy | Saturday Racing | Bandit | A Kirwan/B Cullen/C Brown |
| J. Lamont Trophy | Thurs and Sats combined | Bandit | A Kirwan/B Cullen/C Brown |
| John Donnelly Perpetual Cup | Tuesday Racing | Bandit | A Kirwan/B Cullen/C Brown |
| Huet Trophy | Thursday Racing | Shannagh | Stephen Gill |
| Shipmans | |||
| Cut Glass Tumbler | Tuesday Racing | Poppy | Alan Deladiennee |
| The Melindi Cup | Saturday Racing | Jo Slim | John Clark |
| Shipman Perpetual Trophy | Thurs and Sats combined | Jo Slim | John Clark |
| SB20 | |||
| The Crichton Cup | Thursday Racing | Ted | M O'Connor, D Taylor, Ed Cook |
| Saturday SB Cup | Saturday Racing | Ted | M O'Connor, D Taylor, Ed Cook |
| Bealtaine Trophy | Saturdays series A | Carpe Diem | Richard Hayes |
| Lunasa Trophy | Saturdays series B | Venues World | Gerry Dempsey, Chris Nolan |
| Equinox Trophy | Saturdays series C | So Blue | J Burke, C Helme, A Claffey |
| Mixed Sportsboats | |||
| Cut Glass Tumbler | Tuesdays | George 5 | Jonathan Craig |
| Thursday Sportsboat Cup | Thursdays Overall 8 Races | Jester | Declan Curtin |
| Saturday Sportsboat Cup | Saturdays Overall 16 Races | Jambiya | Martin Ryan |
| Water Wags | |||
| Goldsmith Cup | Wednesday 1st Place | Swift | Guy Kilroy |
| Bluebird Trophy | Wednesday 2nd Place | Pansey | Vincent Delany |
| G.Pugin Meldon Trophy | Wednesday 3rd Place | Tortoise | W and L Prentice |
| Flying 15's | |||
| Fifty Something Cup | Tuesday Racing | Ignus Caput | David Mulvin |
| Brian S Ryan Trophy | Saturday Racing | Ignus Caput | David Mulvin |
| Flying Fifteen Gun | Thursday Racing | Frequent Flyer | Chris Doorly |
| Blake Cup | Midweek Handicap racing | Rodrigues | Ken Dumpleton |
| Fireballs | |||
| Nuit St. George Trophy | Tuesday overall | 14990 | E Butler F Miller |
| The Fireball Saturday Cup | Saturdays overall | 14990 | E Butler F Miller |
| IDRA 14's | |||
| Bay Cup | Tuesdays Scratch | Dart 161 | Yves and Paul Long |
| Melampus Cup | Tuesday Handicap | Dutch Courage | Sailing in Dublin |
| The Kennedy Cup | Saturdays Overall | Dart 161 | Yves and Paul Long |
| Cr Challenge Cup | Special Conditions | Dart 161 | Yves and Paul Long |
| The Halfway Trophy | Most successful Yacht | Slipstream | Julie Ascoop |
| PY Single Handed | |||
| Windmill Cup | Tuesdays Overall | RS Aero Orion 328 | Noel Butler |
| Early Bird Trophy | Saturdays overall | RS Aero Minty 1321 | Brendan Foley |
| Lasers | |||
| Lanavere Cup | Tuesdays Overall Std | 166313 | Ronan Wallace |
| Sanderling Trophy | Saturdays Overall Std | 211099 | Finn Walker |
| Sailcraft Tray Trophy | Tues and Sats Std | 216894 | Rian Geraghty McDonnell |
| Jimmy MooneyTrophy | Tues and Sats Radial | 213042 | Sean Craig |
| Cut Glass Tumbler | Tuesdays Overall Radial | 213042 | Sean Craig |
| Cut Glass Tumbler | Saturdays Overall Radial | 207800 | Connor Gorman |
| Cut Glass Tumbler | Tuesdays Overall 4.7 | 194650 | Luke Turvey |
| Cut Glass Tumbler | Saturdays Overall 4.7 | 194650 | Luke Turvey |
