Two days of sunny Dublin Bay perfection, with light easterlies on Saturday and an initially brisk westerly on Sunday, provided the notably sociable DBSC Cruisers 3 with an ideal launch pad for their new style championship, which produced an oven-ready event simply by combining the penultimate DBSC Saturday Race with the annual DMYC Kish Race on Sunday.

Almost all of the Class 3 fleet turned up for both races, and over two very different contests, there wasn't a single OCS, DNF, or DNC – it was a credit to the Class, and made for some great racing.

Saturday's DBSC race was on the cusp of being cancelled, but the RO wisely postponed for about 30 minutes and sure enough, a light breeze filled in, enough to stage a reasonable race around the bay. The course was wisely chosen so as not to interfere with the J/109 Championships which were being held in close proximity to the DBSC fleet. As the RO described it the conditions turned out to be champagne sailing, a light breeze of just 7kts and an almost flat sea. A great race ensued around 4 marks, ending at the MacLir finish line just outside the Harbour entrance.

Morning start. All the promise of a great day's sailing as the Kish Race fleet head away from the pier start, with the restored DB21 Garavogue on right and below

Sunday's Kish Race was a stunning day out. Forty-one boats crossed the start line off the DBSC Hut, which is no mean feat in itself, and set off on a downwind run to the Kish Light. Conditions couldn't have been better with a 10kt apparent wind and just a slight sea, spinnakers set and many colours flying.

The Cruiser 3's were well up with the leaders and remained so all the way out to the Kish. Then there was a huge fleet split, some going northwest on a port tack up towards Howth, the remainder going southwest towards Killiney on a starboard tack, with both groups being heavily affected by a strong ebb tide, and there's still discussion as to which way paid best.

Fascinating yacht design mixture, with the Nich 31 left, a Shipman 28 at centre, and the Dublin Bay 21 Garavogue on right

When the results were posted, there were clear winners in both IRC and ECHO. The Quarter Tonner Cartoon (Ken Lawless & Sybil McCormack) posted an impressive win on IRC on both Saturday and Sunday to take the overall prize, with the Formula 28 Starlet (Kevin Byrne) posting second overall and Maranda (Myles Keogh) coming in third. The ECHO prize was won emphatically by the vintage Beneteau First Papytoo (Frank Guilfoyle), followed by Eleint (Michal Matulka) in second with Cartoon emphasising the solidity of her performance by posting another podium place on third under ECHO.

The Trapper Eleint (Michal Matulka) on her way to the Kish

Perfect sailing conditions prevailed out at the Kish LV

It all made for a wonderful finale to the season with two days of cracking sailing and some great competition on the Bay. Class Captain Kevin Byrne issued a big thanks to DBSC, DMYC and Colin McMullen for all their help in staging the Championship, and especially to the skippers and crews for taking part to provide a great turnout with a solid showing of boats that augurs well for the future of Cruisers 3.

The prizes will be awarded at the Class Dinner on the 27th November in the Royal St George YC

The new champion. The Fauroux Quarter Tonner Cartoon at the start of Kish Race in the late summer weather of the championship weekend. Photo: Afloat.ie/David O'Brien

Success in sailing's organisational development can sometimes be found in seeing previously "invisible" underlying patterns in the existing fixtures list, and a talent for doing this has added value as we try to optimise the amount of sailing available while the inevitably limited main season of 2021 draws towards the traditional closing time.

Cruisers 3 in the greater Dublin area was always a happy hunting ground for some novel ideas, as it has always had a greater variety of boats than the more orthodox classes provided for craft of larger size. So although the largest focus of the class is now in Dun Laoghaire with Dublin Bay SC, current Class Captain Kevin Byrne and his organisational team have shown they're in the long line of Cruiser 3 innovation, with a fresh look at this weekend's events which provides them with an oven-ready Cruisers 3 Championship, and one with a slight offshore element to add spice.

The Championship will consist of the normal (penultimate) DBSC race around the cans on Saturday 18th, and then the following day Sunday 19th - with the kind permission of the DMYC - the fleet will compete in the annual Kish Race, quite a distance for the fleet. The results will then be collated by DBSC Race Officer Colin McMullen to produce a winner, and prizes will be awarded on both IRC and ECHO.

Cruisers 3 Class Captain Kevin Byrne races the Formula 28 Starlet

The Cruiser 3 fleet has been active this season, as it is the second-largest keelboat class in Dublin Bay SC, and actively competes on all three days of keelboat racing on the bay. It is regularly the largest fleet in Tuesday evening racing, and is well supported in the ever-popular Thursday evening and Saturday afternoon series. Earlier in the season, Novice Helm and Ladies races were run, and the new-look Championship finishes off the season for the fleet, with prizes being presented at the Class Annual Dinner on the 27th November in the RSGYC.

The fleet thrives as a fascinating mix of boats, spanning a wide handicap range - double that of other Cruiser Class fleets – as it runs from .800 to .919. It has an extensive and eclectic selection of members, from the stately and elegant Nicholson 31 Saki (Michael Ryan & Paget McCormack) to the Fauroux Quarter Tonner Cartoon (Ken Lawless & Sybil McCormack), with much variety in between, including a pair of First 285 sister ships, Pamafe (Gerry Costello) and Papytoo (Frank Guilfoyle).

In addition to newer boats, the Cruisers 3 fleet provides a welcoming home for a wide variety of vintage Firsts from the Beneteau stable. Photo Afloat.ie/David O'Brien

The class is also home to a number of Sonatas such as Ceol na Mara (Melvin & Heaney), and naturally a close companion is the Senator 22 Maranda (Myles Keogh). Class Captain Kevin Byrne has been having a good year of it with the Formula 28 Starlet in a selection which includes Wynward (Wyn McCormack) and the Hanse 301 "Grasshopper II" (Kevin Glynn).

The Trapper Eleint was the 2019 DBSC Turkey Shoot winner and competes in the 2021 Cruisers III Championships Photo: Afloat

More recent additions to the fleet include Eleint (Michal Matulka), and the First 260 Krypton (Alan Turner) which has been showing well on the leaderboard in recent races.

Senator 22 Maranda (Myles Keogh) Photo: Afloat

Nevertheless like most other fleets on the Bay, Cruisers 3 has been somewhat reduced in numbers as a result of the pandemic. But basically, it has remained active and resilient throughout, and looks forward to resurgence next season with a full return to normality. Meanwhile, this will be a busy weekend with every promise of some close competition and great sailing for a friendly group of boats sharing that special time-honoured Cruiser 3 camaraderie.

Racing round the Kish will be the highlight of the two-day Cruisers 3 Championship.