After light winds prevented racing taking place the week previously, the HYC Dinghy Frostbites were back in action on Sunday 16th November. With Storm Claudia bringing some hairy days in the run up to Sunday, there was some relief as sailors awoke to a nice breeze from the north-east. Race officer Harry Gallagher and his trusty team aboard Sea Wych got to the usual task of running 2 well set courses. 

The north-easterly breeze, blowing from Ireland’s eye onto the race course, combined with a strong ebb tide made for challenging conditions around the course. The top half of the beat especially got tricky, with the island casting shadows and driving shifts around the course, as well as the ebb tide causing a topsy-turvy sea state. The first race saw competitors race around a triangular course, with the race officers erring on the side of caution in tricky conditions. The wind appeared to ease towards the end of the first race, and a windward-leeward course was declared for race 2. Both the ILCA and the PY fleets fell foul of being overly eager on the starting line - the first race saw an individual recall for both fleets. Some of the guilty parties returned, some guilty parties continued on, and some innocent parties also returned!

The PY fleet had a strong turnout yet again, with the mix of Melges 15s, RS Aeros, IDRA 14s and Finn battling it out around the course. Race 1’s triangular course benefitted Daragh Sheridan’s RS Aero hugely, coming into its own on the fast reaches and taking 1st place. 2nd PY and first Melges went to Mike and Sarah Evans, with Cormac Farrelly and Justin Cullen taking 3rd. Race 2’s windward leeward allowed the Melges to make the most of it’s fast downwind capability, with the Evans taking pipping Daragh Sheridan to take the win. Cormac & Justin again took 3rd. Tris Nelson’s RS600 also made a brief appearance and we look forward to seeing how it stacks up against the competition!

The ILCA 7s saw Dan O’Connell continue his clean sweep - despite his best efforts to sabotage himself by returning to restart under the individual recall, when he ultimately was innocent and had started cleanly. He fought back through the fleet on the first upwind, took first and didn’t let go from there. Tom Fox sailed a clean race to take 2nd and Conor Murphy took 3rd, after also returning unnecessarily at the start, but not able to make quite the gains that Dan had. Race 2 saw Conor Murphy take first at the first mark, but Dan O’Connell’s downwind speed saw him take 1st on the next leg and held it from there. Tom Fox was on the verge of taking 2nd on the final downwind, but a capsize put paid to that idea, finishing 3rd behind Murphy. 

The ILCA 6s saw experience triumph over youth, with Dave Kirwan and Peter Hassett taking a 1st and a 3rd each, while Darragh Peelo showed consistency taking 2nd in each. All showed pace to be no problem, keeping up and beating some of the ILCA 7s around the course. Stay tuned over the course of the series to see if the youth coaching pays dividends and levels the playing field. ILCA 4s sees Nicole Quinn retain her lead in the series with 2 wins over Faolan O'Murchu-Toner. 

The pre-Christmas series continues until 14th December, with the post-Christmas series running until 7th March. Entries will remain open throughout the series, and all late comers are very welcome! Entries can be made here.

Full results available here.

Race Report: Conor Murphy

Pictures: Cillian Macken