The longstanding commitment of Facet Jewellers to the Flying Fifteen Class in Dun Laoghaire Harbour manifested itself again this past Saturday when the Facet Trophy was raced for by ten Flying Fifteens in a relatively empty Dublin Bay. Indeed, a start of ten boats might have been a high for the day in terms of overall participation.

The forecast for the weekend had been dire from the middle of the week, but as the week wore its way towards Friday, there was a sense that the conditions were set to moderate. However, anyone who was awake very early on the Saturday morning (3 – 4am) would have heard a howling gale outside. By 13:00, the concern wasn’t so much the wind but the sea state! However, a preliminary reconnaissance by the committee boat deemed that racing could proceed.

With the wind set to be slightly west of north, according to XCWeather, we set off for a start area in the vicinity of Merrion with a weather mark that was initially in transit with the leading lights at the mouth of the Liffey.

The wind was pretty much as forecast 16/17 knots with gusts coming through with each pass of grey cloud. However, with the tide still having just over an hour of flooding and the course being inshore, in relative terms, the seas were quite confused and lumpy. The majority of the fleet started on starboard tack for the first race with David Gorman & Cormac Bradley (4099) about halfway down the line in the company of Ian Mathews and Keith Poole (4093), David Mulvin & Ronan Beirne (4068), with Neil Colin & Margaret Casey (4028) also in this group. Unbeknownst to this scribe, three boats went hard right – Ken Dumpleton & Joe Hickey (3955), Joe Coughlan & Andrew Marshall (3913) and Jill Fleming (3747). The consequence of the latter group going hard right was that the former group, having done their best to get away from their colleagues in the middle and left of the course, found themselves playing second fiddle to Dumpleton & Hickey who were never headed after the weather mark and won by a comfortable margin. Behind them, the running order was Gorman & Bradley in very close company with Mulvin & Beirne and Mathews & Poole. Down the first leeward leg, Mathews and Mulvin closed on Gorman with Alastair Court & Conor O’Leary (3753) behind this group. Colin & Casey were also not far away from the chasing three.

As the chasing group gybed and gybed again to get to the leeward mark, Mulvin sneaked in ahead of Gorman while Mathews dropped a little behind. Within the last few boat-lengths to the mark, Gorman came back again, and while he had no room, Mulvin made sure that he wasn’t tempted to squeeze in, by slamming the door shut. At this stage, Mathews and Poole parted company, giving Gorman the chance to chase Mulvin up the next beat unfettered. Court also took advantage to get into fourth place.

There were no changes up the second beat and subsequent run in the lead group, leading to a finishing order of Dumpleton, Mulvin, Gorman, Court, Mathews, Colin, Alan Balfe & son (3995), Coughlan, Mick Quinn & Mary-Jane Mulligan (3960) and Fleming. Back on shore Dumpleton said his decision to go hard right was influenced by the cloud movement and while there wasn’t unanimity about that on the boat, it paid dividends.

For the second race, the RO, Barry O’Neil moved the weather mark quite a bit westward to compensate for the shifting breeze. Once underway the reverse of the first race applied! The bulk of the fleet worked the middle and right of the course after a starboard tacked start. Gorman, peeled off first, taking a modest port tack before coming back into the middle of the course again. Mathews, Court and Mulvin took the port tack later and Gorman found himself leading this bunch as he worked the middle part of the course. But where were Colin & Casey? In contrast to Dumpleton the first time round, they worked the extreme left of the course as Dumpleton had done before on the right and lead the fleet around the weather mark. Behind them came Gorman and Court with a bit of distance before Mathews, Mulvin and Dumpleton rounded.

The run to the leeward mark required only a single gybe and a much later one at that. Colin, Gorman and Court all rounded safely without giving anything away to those who were chasing them. All three set off on the second beat holding a port tack before Court became the first to peel off and go shore-wards. Gorman took the decision to chase Colin and as the beat developed it appeared that was a good decision as some distance had been eked out from Court and Colin’s lead was slightly reduced.

While Gorman had closed on Colin, he had to keep an eye on Court as a slip at this stage might change the whole scene in overall terms. Again, the run to the mark was a single tack sail with a gybe late on to accommodate the short three sail reach to the finish, the wind having swung a bit further westward. Gorman gybed before he reached the leeward mark which allowed him a more relaxed set of the spinnaker and a higher windward slot to the finish. Colin’s later gybe did not go quite so smoothly and Gorman was able to take advantage and the winning gun. Ashore, Colin’s explanation of his first beat tactics was working the shifts on the left hand-side.

Since a recent session on rigging and tuning by John Lavery, there has been a much greater awareness of the need to change rigs in accordance with conditions. Post-race it seems everyone had taken heed of John’s advice as most people made a rigging change between the two races.

The finishing order for the second race was; Gorman, Colin, Court, Mathews, Mulvin, Dumpleton, Coughlan, Balfe, Fleming.

Over the two races the points were as follows; Gorman (4), Court, Mulvin and Dumpleton (7), Mathews (9), Coughlan and Balfe (15), Quinn and Fleming (19), meaning that tie-breaks were needed to resolve the 1-2-3 in both the Silver and Gold Fleet.

Ronan Beirne & David Mulvin (4068) were 2nd Gold Fleet in the Flying Fifteen Facet Trophy race and were presented with the trophy by Pat Shannon of Facet Jewellers (right) Photo: Dasha Hilliard

Ken Dumpleton (left) & Joe Hickey (3955) were 3rd Gold Fleet in the Flying Fifteen Facet Trophy race and were presented with the trophy by Pat Shannon of Facet Jewellers (centre) Photo: Dasha Hilliard

Gold Overall
1. David Gorman & Cormac Bradley 4pts
2. Ken Dumpleton & Joe Hickey 7pts
3. David Mulvin & Ronan Beirne 7pts

Silver Fleet
1. Joe Coughlan & Andrew Marshall 15pts
2. Alan Balfe & son, 15pts
3. Mick Quinn & Mary-Jane Mulligan 19pts.

Alan Balfe & son (3995) – 1st Silver Fleet in the Flying Fifteen Facet Trophy race Photo: Dasha Hilliard

Andrew Marshall & Joe Coughlan – 2nd Silver Fleet in the Flying Fifteen Facet Trophy race Photo: Dasha Hilliard

Mick Quinn (3960) was 3rd Silver Fleet in the Flying Fifteen Facet Trophy race Photo: Dasha Hilliard

Class Captain Robin Hilliard, ably assisted by his daughter Dasha, officiated at the prizegiving at the National Yacht Club with Facet Jewellers’ Pat Shannon in attendance to hand out the prizes. Pat commended the fleet for the day’s racing and referenced the longstanding relationship between Facet Jewellers and the Flying Fifteen Fleet. He also thanked Class Captain Robin Hilliard for his work in putting the event together.

In relative terms, Sunday’s conclusion to the Volvo Dun Laoghaire regatta in the Flying Fifteen class was probably the best day on the water – the wind had abated somewhat, after some initial rain, the sun came out, a single race was scheduled, and we had the best turnout of competitors on the day.

As the regatta leaders from Day 2 onwards, Shane McCarthy & Alan Green (4085) were safe in the knowledge that they couldn’t lose the regatta, and probably Phil Lawton & Neil O’Hagan (3803) were in a similar position with respect to second overall, so the only potential place changes in the pecking order were further down the fleet. Lee Statham & Andy Paul (4070) and Tom Galvin & Cormac Bradley (3757) were tied after three days, so they were in a winner takes all situation, and Neil Colin & Margaret Casey (4028) were also in a position to move up the order with a good final race.

A clean start for the three-lap Windward-Leeward race was achieved by the fleet, and the majority went right to the shore before making their way towards the weather mark on the right-hand side of the course. Leading the charge up the right-hand side was Colin & Casey, who were rewarded by being 1st at the weather mark. Others to feature at this stage were Peter Murphy & Ciara Mulvey (3774) and Alastair Court & Conor O’Leary (3753), and the four boats holding the first three places overall.

At this stage, Galvin had a boat between himself and Statham. The run saw Murphy & Mulvey go wide while others sailed inside them and used a couple of gybes to get to the leeward gate. My recall is that Murphy may have rounded the leeward gate first but with Colin not far behind. The recipe for the subsequent beats was the same as before - go right initially and then fine-tune the approach to the weather mark. Statham was still behind Galvin at the latter stage of the beat, and the overlapping Dragons, who were on the same course, forced him into a couple of extra tacks that I’m sure he could have done without. At the weather mark for the second time, the regatta leaders were at the front of the fleet and Lawton had also moved up. However, Murphy, Court and Colin were still hanging in and Galvin was still ahead of Statham, though there was no boat between them anymore.

On the third beat, the running order had settled and rounding the weather mark for the last time, the order was McCarthy, Lawton, Colin, Murphy, Court. Galvin and Statham. A hiccup on Galvin’s spinnaker hoist allowed Statham to close the distance between the two boats, but importantly for Galvin, he remained ahead. However, about 100m from the leeward gate, Statham got past and went on to finish 6th to Galvin’s 7th, thus taking 3rd overall.

The regatta showed just how competitive the Flying Fifteen class is! In an eight-race series, we had three different race winners – Shane McCarthy & Alan Green (5), Tom Galvin & Cormac Bradley (2) David Gorman & Chris Doorly (1). The top five boats overall came from four different clubs. On Friday, 5 boats started a race in very high wind conditions, and all five finished, albeit with some spectacular spinnaker broaches and capsizes. Phil Lawton & Neil O’Hagan announced their presence on the scene with seconds and thirds in all but two races, and a competitive debut for Galvin & Bradley saw them win two races. And for the mixed-gender crews, there was ample evidence that they can be competitive when the breeze is up.

Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta Flying Fifteen Results - Top Five

Day 3 of the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta saw the Flying Fifteens return to the race management of David Wilkins and the South Bull course, which was pushed further northwards. The sunshine helped with the sense of the breeze which was still up. A 1-hour postponement had been signalled ashore, possibly because in the expectation of a major wind shift or maybe to allow the slightly softer breeze to come in.

The day saw three different race winners, with Lee Statham redeeming his swimming yesterday by taking the first race of the day with crew Andy Paul. Second home were regatta leaders Shane McCarthy and Alan Green, with Phil Lawton & Neil O'Hagan third. Fourth, again were Tom Galvin & Cormac Bradley.

In the second race of the day, an OCS was signalled and while boats went back, not all the transgressors did. Among those on the naughty step were Galvin and Statham. In the actual race the wind started changing about halfway up the second beat, swinging severely south and making the run into a glorious 3-sail reach. On the water the 1-2-3 was McCarthy, Statham and Galvin. However, the actual result saw Lawton elevated to second, with Niall Meagher & Nicki Mathews third.

The RO relocated his committee boat for the last race, which was sailed in a good south-easterly. A clean start saw the fleet off on a long beat. At the top mark the order was McCarthy, Meagher, Galvin, Lawton and Statham and we enjoyed a great run down to the gate.......which McCarthy sailed through en route to a finish, with Meagher and Lawton following. In between, Bradley confirmed to Galvin that the course was 2A, meaning 2 laps, and Statham/Paul shared that view by also dropping spinnaker.

It gave Galvin/Bradley a commanding win on the water, with Statham/Paul second, Lawton/O'Hagan third, Meagher fourth and McCarthy 5th.

McCarthy & Green still lead with Lawton & O'Hagan second and Statham & Paul and Galvin & Bradley tied on points!! All to play for!

The National Yacht Club's Tom Galvin and Cormac Bradley were the winners of Thursday's first Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta race in the Flying Fifteen class.

As southerly winds topped 30 knots, only five starters from a fleet of 22 came to the startline of the Salthill course area in the northwest of Dublin Bay. 

Where nearly every other Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta class was cancelled, five hardy 20-foot Flying Fifteeens battled it out on the Salthill course with Lee Statham and Andrew Paul to windward and race winners Tom Galvin and Cormac Bradley furthest left Photo: Bob Bateman

Over a trapezoid course, shortened by international Race Officer Peter Van Muyden, one of the favourites, Shane McCarthy and Alan Green were second, with Royal St. George's Phil Lawton and Neil O'Hagan finishing third.

Shane McCarthy and Alan Green go downwind in 30 knots of breeze in the first race of Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta Photo: Bob Bateman

Lee Statham and Andrew Paul (closest to camera) chase Shane McCarthy and Alan Green downwind Photo: Bob Bateman

A race protest is pending, however, as one skipper says that en route to the race area, he was asked by a race committee RIB to "return to shore as all racing was cancelled".

In a protest against the race committee, Conor Cronin, skipper of the Flying Fifteen 'Fast Idiots' from Waterford Harbour Sailing Club, in his protest description, claims he "confirmed this with a committee boat and another rib vessel, and we're confirmed as n/a [racing cancelled] for all fleets".

RACE REPORT

Perseverance pays off for five Flying Fifteens at VDLR

An “alleged declaration” that the Race Officers would set courses for Day 1 of the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta and allow competitors to make their own decision on racing did nothing to dispel the pessimism ashore that racing would be possible writes Cormac Bradley. The Volvo flags flying at the bandstand on the East Pier were flying “stiff as a board” all morning and the tricolour at the end of East Pier was also advising that there was lots of wind further out as were the numbers from the Dublin Bay Buoy.

Despite all these signs there was a sense that boats wanted to sail, and a collection of boats across all the classes exited the harbour. Included in this expression of enthusiasm for racing were five Flying Fifteens – Shane McCarthy & Alan Green (4085), Tom Galvin & Cormac Bradley (3757), Chris Arrowsmith (he of ILCA 7 pedigree) & Conor O’Leary (3753), Lee Statham & Andy Paul (4070) and Phil Lawton & Neil O’Hagan (3803). Galvin & Bradley flew the spinnaker to the start area but, in the squally conditions, broke the end of the pole at the inboard end. It limited their options for the race, which, it turned out, wasn’t the end of the world.

Phil Lawton and Neil O’Hagan are well in control under spinnaker in the big breeze of the first day of Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta Photo: Bob Bateman

The start was not contested between the boats, Galvin had a loose hold on the pin, Arrowsmith was halfway between the pin end and the committee boat and the remaining three boats were closer to the committee boat.

Arrowsmith powered over Galvin but wasn’t sailing with the same height as the latter and when they crossed tacks, Galvin had the starboard rights. At this stage Statham was looking good but McCarthy wasn’t a million miles away and Lawton was showing his pedigree by staying in close company. Conditions inshore were slightly flatter and the three boats that had chosen this side of the course seemed to have gained an advantage. Given the very blustery conditions, it was quite surprising that the fleet was as condensed as it was at the first weather mark, where the order was (I hope) Statham, McCarthy, Galvin, Lawton and Arrowsmith.

Statham and McCarthy flew spinnaker and looked very comfortable doing so until Mother Nature intervened and both crews found themselves in dinghy mode, but rather than standing on a centreboard, they were standing on a keel. Lawton too had spinnaker issues while Arrowsmith gybed early and sailed down the inshore side of the run and appeared to be rewarded for doing so. Galvin sailed the early part of the run goose-winged but when the gybe was called, this configuration no longer worked.

Shane McCarthy and Alan Green going well upwind in 30-knot gusts on the Salthill course Photo: Bob Bateman

At the leeward mark, three boats headed inshore, Statham, Arrowsmith and Galvin. Arrowsmith was first to “bail” and followed by Statham shortly thereafter. Taking the advice of a prominent Flying Fifteener to go to land when the wind is South or South-East, Galvin persisted with a port tack to shore before putting in a starboard tack to get up to the windward mark. At this stage, Lawton and Arrowsmith were closest to Galvin but both were to leeward of him. The other two then came inshore, having pursued a starboard tack-biased beat. Galvin tacked just short of the port lay-line with Lawton and Arrowsmith sailing a parallel course but to leeward. The question then was whether McCarthy & Statham had done enough to get ahead of Galvin? The answer was No! Galvin’s last tack for the weather mark alerted him to the fact that a shortened course signal was flying, and he crossed the line with McCarthy a very short distance behind, followed by Lawton, Statham and Arrowsmith. Simultaneously, the weather mark rib signalled that racing for the day was finished.

Wind strengths were recorded at 34 knots by the windward mark rib and a severe rain-induced squall on the second beat certainly rattled the rigging, which was rattling quite readily already and as the fleet sailed through the harbour on the way home, another severe squall offered a final test of endurance for the returning fleet.

Results are provisional 

The Flying Fifteen fleet for the Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta boasts a 22-boat entry with two visitors from Dunmore East and all the Flying Fifteen club fleets in Dun Laoghaire represented.

The National Yacht Club takes the lion’s share of representation, understandably as this is where the bulk of the DL fleet is situated, but four boats (from seven) hail from the Royal St George and the DMYC has a solitary representative, which translates to a 100% turnout for them.

“Defending Champions”, David Gorman and Chris Doorly, who took the majority of race wins in 2019, are back to defend their title. GivenVolvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta the projected robust winds, they must be considered one of the favourites on the podium. David (4099), with a selection of crews, currently dominates the DBSC Saturday Series thus far, proving that he has the form and speed to do well. Chris is no stranger to the front of the fleet and has enjoyed National success with David.

But who will join them as front-runners? There are a number of obvious selections, starting with Shane McCarthy (4085) crewed by Alan Green.

Shane is a very successful helm, holding the GP14 “Triple Crown” – World, British and Irish Titles at one stage and is also an accomplished Solo campaigner. Add to that Alan Green’s very substantial FF pedigree, and you have a very potent on-the-water combination.

FF pair - Ian Mathews and Keith Poole Photo: Afloat

Ian Mathews (4093) flies in and out for the major events of the year, and his week-to-week absence from Dublin Bay doesn’t seem to adversely affect a seamless transition into the boat and with long-term crew Keith Poole. They too must be considered as a combination who will be looking at a podium finish.

Next up must be one of the visiting combinations from Dunmore East, Lee Statham and Andy Paul (4070). They are always competitive and this showed at the Frostbites at the end of last season that Dublin Bay holds no surprises for them.

Given the projected weather conditions, there is the potential for some dark horses to emerge from the chasing pack, and one of those must be the most recent recruit to the fleet, Phil Lawton (3803) – an Irish Olympian.

Individual race podiums will be sought and shared by the likes of Neil Colin & Margaret Casey (4028), who lead the DBSC Thursday Series, Ken Dumpleton & Joe Hickey (3955), Alastair Court & Conor O’Leary (3753), Niall Meagher & Nicki Mathews (3938) and a brand new combination of Tom Galvin & Cormac Bradley (3757) might enjoy the breeze enough to get to the upper rungs of the ladder.

On a day that started with grey skies and torrential rain showers in my part of the world, the latter part of the day presented an evening of sunshine and light winds for a fifteen-boat fleet of Flying Fifteens in the third DBSC Thursday of 2023. In that regard, it was also in stark contrast to the previous Thursday when huge seas from the Easterly that had blown hard all day caused racing to be cancelled.

There was some doubt ashore as to whether a race would take place so genteel were the conditions ashore, but once outside the harbour, it was apparent that there was a nice breeze for this early part of the season – a NE of around 10 knots at its strongest. With high tide at approximately 17:00, relative to an 18:40 start this was also going to be a factor in the prevailing conditions.

A group of Fifteens decided that the best way to get underway was to start on port at the pin. Included in this group were David Gorman & Chris Doorly (4099), Neil Colin & Margaret Casey (4028) and Shane McCarthy & Cormac Bradley (4085). Alan Green & daughter Caroline (4026) were close to this group but on the opposite tack. An early exchange of hails characterised the start between Gorman & McCarthy right on the pin, and given the wind strength, the fleet also found themselves having to negotiate a course populated by Dragons (3) and Sportsboats. An interesting interpretation of a port on starboard situation also manifested itself on this first beat to an “installed” Zebra mark.

At the first weather mark, Zebra, an inflatable, the lead group was Gorman, Green and McCarthy, with Colin and Ken Dumpleton & Joe Hickey (3955) a little further behind. McCarthy came up the port lay-line, found a spot in the train of boats coming in on the starboard lay-line and then kissed the weather mark, prompting a penalty turn. That allowed Dumpleton & Colin to take advantage on the water.

The spinnaker leg to Bay was a challenging leg in the still fickle conditions, with both wind and tide having to be managed. Alan Green led the fleet around Bay with Gorman and McCarthy in close pursuit, and my sense was that Dumpleton and Colin occupied the next two places. The leg to Battery was a no-tack beat, resulting in no place changing. The first three went right initially for the long beat to East with Green ahead and to leeward of Gorman and McCarthy about five boat-lengths behind Gorman but to weather of him. McCarthy started closing the straight-line distance between them while maintaining his height, but Gorman tacked off, earlier than the other two, before McCarthy also went left. This leg was the making of the race for the winner. Gorman went hard left and came up the left-hand side of the beat smelling of roses – and in reality, was never threatened thereafter. Later, he would claim they were “just lucky”, but that claim has been made too many times in conditions like these.

Dumpleton and McCarthy also went left, but while the former enjoyed a good dividend from the investment, McCarthy wasn’t as fortunate and at times, the likes of Frank Miller & Suzie Mulligan (3845), Adrian Cooper and Joe (3896) and Phil Lawton (3803) were a lot closer than had been the case earlier in the race.

By the rounding of East, on the way to Bay for the second time, there was an established order with Gorman and Dumpleton comfortable in 1st and 2nd, Green and Colin 3rd and 4th but still in “close-ish” company relative to each other. McCarthy rounded fourth with Gill Fleming (3747) close on his transom. There was more wind for the second spinnaker leg to Bay, and at this stage, the majority of the boats ahead of the Flying Fifteens were SB20s. Green caused a flurry of excitement at Bay by a very late realisation that he was rounding the mark the wrong way, resulting in a very late adjustment of course and a flogging spinnaker that became a hindrance to upwind progress.

Having gone left once, Gorman paid his dues by going left again, safe in the knowledge that he had ample distance on the next boat. Dumpleton did likewise, while the next three worked a middle and left approach to the early part of the beat to the finish before coming in from the right-hand side of the course to finish.

DBSC: Flying Fifteens; Thursday 11th May.
1. David Gorman and Chris Doorly, 4099
2. Ken Dumpleton and Joe Hickey, 3955
3. Neil Colin & Margaret Casey, 4028
4. Alan and Caroline Green, 4026
5. Shane McCarthy & Cormac Bradley, 4085.

Overall (after two races sailed).
1. Neil Colin & Margaret Casey 5pts
2. Niall & Laura Coleman, 9pts
3. Phil Lawton & crew, 10pts
4. Alan & Caroline Green, 11pts
5. David Gorman & Chris Doorly, 14pts.

Seventeen boats contested the Flying Fifteen Westerns in Connemara this past weekend with visitors from Strangford Lough (1), Dunmore East (2) and Dublin Bay (6).

Early arrivals on Friday were treated to an evening’s sail on a Galway Hooker and photographs of the occasion show that they appeared to enjoy a sunny evening on the water. Indeed, sunshine seems to have been the order of the day for the entire weekend.

On Saturday evening, there was a tie on points between Ian Mathews & Keith Poole (NYC/4093) and Neil Colin & Margaret Casey (DMYC/4028), with the former scoring 4, 2 and the latter 2 x 3rd. The locals, Niall & Ronan O’ Briain (FFC/4092) took the last spot on the podium counting a 6, 1. Visitors occupied the next three spots with Charlie Boland & Rob O’Connell (WHSC/3883) on 9pts (1,8), Andrew Baker & Peter Chamberlain (SLYC/3756) also on 9pts (2,7) and Lee Statham & Andy Paul (WHSC/4070) on 13pts, (9,4). Stalwarts of the class and one with a World Championship regatta already sailed in 2023, Chris Doorly and Alan Green were in the unaccustomed location of 8th overall counting 8,6. That left them astern of another local boat, Dermot Flatherty & Joe McDonagh (FFC/3704).

A further three races were sailed on the Sunday that gave the northerners, Baker & Chamberlain the Western title as they scored a 1,4,3 with a two point margin, after discard, on Niall & Ronan O’Briain (4,7,1) who had a single point advantage over Green & Doorly (3,2,2).

Ben Mulligan Memorial Trophy Photo by Chris Doorly

Flying Fifteen Chonnemara, the host club, commissioned a special trophy, made on the Arran Islands, in memory of Ben Mulligan and the first recipients, a youth crew from the home club, were Cian Mac Donnacha & Siofra Mac Donnacha.

With six Dun Laoghaire-based Flying Fifteen crews contesting the Western Championships in Connemara and one other absentee, a turnout of ten boats for the second Saturday of DBSC 2023 wasn’t too bad a head count and those who made the effort to get out enjoyed a hut-based start and a single long race with a course that spanned Bullock in the East and Seapoint in the West of Dublin Bay.

Some new combinations were on the water with Alastair Court crewing for Peter Sherry and Cormac Bradley crewing for David Gorman but there were regulars in attendance as well; Ken Dumpleton & Joe Hickey, Niall & Laura Coleman, Louise McKenna & Hermine O’Keefe and Mick Quinn & Mary Jane Mulligan.

The wind strength was around 10knots with maybe a little more in the gusts, and the Race Officer picked a course from the “H suite of courses”, suggesting a wind direction of SSE, which was in keeping with the forecast I studied beforehand.
Our assessment was to start at the outer end of the line to benefit from the “just-turned” tide and avoid any wind shadow from the harbour wall. A number of others shared that view with the Colemans, Dumpleton & Hickey, and McKenna & O’Keeffe in a group at the outer end of the line. We didn’t see a signal that anyone had been declared OCS, but it turned out there were a number of transgressors in this regard.

The Colemans went furthest on the initial starboard tack off the start line and were followed in this respect by Gorman and Dumpleton. Gorman soon felt that he was not where he wanted to be and took a short port hitch to clear his wind before reverting to his starboard tack course. About 3 – 400m off the start line he was crossed by Coleman on his inward journey to the shore. However, Gorman persevered with his seaward route and by keeping a weather eye on the SB20s and the Dragons (2), soon made his decision to commit to the port layline for the rounding of Battery. At this stage, while the Colemans were much further inshore, they were also quite a bit down on Gorman, meaning that Dumpleton, who had stayed out to sea that bit longer, was Gorman’s closest chaser. Gorman rounded Battery with a 50m lead on Dumpleton, and these two kept close company all the way to Pier, where a J80 was soon made aware that trying to get around Pier in the close company of two competitive Flying Fifteens wasn’t in his best interests.

With Dumpleton astern and slightly to leeward, Gorman applied a loose cover to make sure nothing untoward happened on the second beat to Bullock. At Bullock, the rewards for that tactic were a slightly enhanced lead over the chasing boat. Behind them the Colemans, Adrian Cooper & Tom, the ladies and Sherry & Court were a moderately comfortable distance astern of Dumpleton.

On the next spinnaker leg to Pier, Gorman pulled out a short distance on Dumpleton which meant that it was a case of watching his chaser rather than actively applying the cover to be doubly sure he wasn’t catching. By Omega, however, the scene had changed for Dumpleton. Now he had two boats to watch, the Colemans and Cooper, one either side of him. The attention of Dumpleton to his more immediate situation meant that Gorman was able to get away a bit more on the long spinnaker leg to Seapoint – which must be one of the longest legs of the suite of DBSC courses on offer. At this stage, all the fleets that had started at the hut were converging on Seapoint so the general location of this mark was easy to distinguish.

The three Fifteens behind Gorman kept close together, with the Colemans sailing the inshore track and Cooper outside Dumpleton. Dumpleton may have lost second place at the preliminary stages of this leg, but at Seapoint, he and Coleman rounded with probably less than a boat length between them. By going in low, Dumpleton came out high and into the weather slot relative to Coleman. That allowed him to dictate how the last leg would be sailed. Cooper dropped out of the running by not being able to maintain the height of the other two.

From Seapoint to Turning mark it was an easy beat until a tack was required inside Turning mark for the short hitch to the finish. Silence greeted the Colemans and Peter Sherry/Alastair Court on crossing the finish line.

DBSC: Saturday 6th May.
1. David Gorman & Cormac Bradley, 4099
2. Ken Dumpleton & Joe Hickey, 3995
3. Adrian Cooper & Tom, 3896
4. Jill Fleming & crew, 3747
5. John O’Sullivan & Pat Keirsey, 3762.

As the Flying Fifteen World Championships in Australia pass the halfway point, Ireland's John Lavery and Alan Green will be hoping that a full series can be sailed following a black flag penalty in race seven that has knocked them out of the top ten overall.

The National Yacht Club pairing, who were ninth overall, and as high as seventh after a very solid start, dropped five places to 14th after the setback. 

If more than nine races are sailed, however, two discards come into play, allowing the possibility of an Irish recovery.

There was just one race on Monday on yet another hot late summer day in Fremantle as the regatta passed the halfway point. The fleet was held ashore for a few hours until a soft sea breeze perked up about midday.

Race 7 began in 7 - 11 knots from the SW.

Course six was set, which consisted of two windward/leeward legs followed by a beat to the finish. The race was started under black flag after one general recall.

Britain's Graham Vials and Chris Turner maintain a comfortable lead in the championship. Australia's Nick Jerwood and Brad Sheridan are second, with Britain's Ian Pinnell and Ian Cadwallader third.

Full results here

Wednesday is a layday with two races scheduled for Thursday

After six races sailed and five to count, Ireland's John Lavery and Alan Green are in the top ten of the Flying 15 World Championships at Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club in Australia.

Steady sailing from Dublin Bay's Lavery and Green saw them in seventh overall after four races sailed, but the pair have dropped after six to ninth overall. 

The NYC duo are on the same nett points as Australian's Philippa Packer and Dean McAullay in eighth overall. 

There will be a maximum number of 12 races for the World Championships. 

In a mix of conditions so far in Fremantle – including a long second day on the water waiting for the wind to fill in – Britain's Graham Vials and Chris Turner have made it three wins in six races to take a comfortable lead in the championship.

Britain's Ian Pinnell and Ian Cadwallader are lying second, and Australia's Nick Jerwood and Brad Sheridan are third.

Top ten after six races sailed of the Flying 15 World Championships at Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club in Australia

Full results here