Spring was very much in the air - for the time being anyway - as the intriguing selection of boats in a growing fleet took to the water in glorious sunshine in the HYC Dinghy Frostbites on Sunday, with the
prospect of a good morning's racing and leaderboard consolidation top of the agenda.
Race officer Liam Dineen planned for three races: two windward-leewards followed by one all triangles. As the breeze sparked up in Race 2, the support RIB cover was put to work, aiding some unfortunate capsizes on
the runs, so the decision was confirmed to send competitors on a more stable triangular course to close out the day. The breeze was from the west, sharpened with a building flood tide in the sound to push some sailors over the start line.
Out on his own. Daragh Sheridan, with the RS Aero 6, regained his overall lead in the PY division. Photo: HYC
The PY Fleet turned out in growing strength, with 17 sailors across 9 boat types. Daragh Sheridan (Howth) undoubtedly came away as the winner of the day with race victories in his RS Aero 6, while the GP14s of Sam
Street (Blessington), Alan Blay (Sutton) and Conor Twohig (Sutton) took the remaining podium places for the first two races.
In Race 3, HYC's Fiachra and Cormac Farrelly stormed onto the podium in their "John the Baptist" Melges 15, taking their first third place of the year in HYC's latest doublehanded class, which should be present in strength when the next series comes around. Sheridan regains the lead on the series overall with 12 points, followed closely by Alan Blay on 14, with Sam Street on 30.
Alan Blay's GP14 is two points off the overall lead in the PY Division. Photo: HYC
BALTIMORE LEADS ILCA 7s
The ILCA 7s had 10 boats on the water, and Rory Lynch of Baltimore showed why he continues to lead the series with a 2, 1, 1 across the races. Race 1 saw an individual recall for Dave Kirwan and Conor Murphy,
who returned and then had to fight their way through the packed fleet. Dan O'Connell (Cove of Cork) stormed into the lead, followed by Lynch and Colm Cunningham (Howh). Race 2 saw another individual recall, this time for Rory Lynch, who fought hard and tenaciously made his way through the fleet, regaining the lead by the end of the six leg race, followed by a photo finish between Murphy and O'Connell. The shift to a triangular course didn't slow Lynch down, and he was joined on the podium by Cunningham and Kirwan, making the most of the fast reaches. Lynch extends his lead on the series (11), followed by Murphy (16) and
O'Connell (22).
Cork's Dave O'Connell with it nicely in hand for the time being on Conor Murphy (Howth) and Dave Kirwan (Malahide) Photo: HYC
The ILCA 6s were flying once again, in the mix with the ILCA 7s for much of the racing across the day. Ciara McMahon started the day strong with a win in Race 1, followed by Tom Fox (Rush) and Viktor Samoilov. Tom Fox then went on to win the remaining 2 races, followed by McMahon & Peter Hassett in Race 2, then Hassett and Samoilov in Race 3. Fox extends his lead on the series counting just 10 points, with Hassett (18) and Samoilov (21) not far behind. The ILCA 4s saw Oleksandr Bezpalyi take the win over Charlie Power in each of the races, bringing Bezpalyi to the top of the leaderboard.
INCREASING FOCUS ON ISLAND RACE IN MARCH
With two Sundays remaining in the regular Frostbite series, attention will soon shift to the annual Round the Island Race Every-which-way on Saturday, 9th March. With plenty of prizes up for grabs, it's sure to be
a great day on the water followed by a memorable lunch and prizegiving, so be sure to get signed up. Entry is available on www.hyc.ie. Series results are available here.
Spring was very definitely in the air off Howth on Sunday, but there might be a brief return of winter in a day or two. Photo: HYC
