Viking Marine Frostbite Series 1 at Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club - Day 5
by Cormac Bradley 11 Dec 2023 11:52 GMT
3 December 2023
Mary Chambers receives a Frostbite Mug for Race 9 of the Series from Neil Colin - Viking Marine Frostbite Series 1 at Dun Laoghaire © Cormac Bradley
Having enjoyed the biggest fleet of the Viking Marine Frostbites on the last Sunday of November with 50+ entries, the first Sunday of December registered the smallest fleet of the series thus far with only forty boats on the water. The lion's share of the fleet was in the PY category with eighteen boats while the ILCA7s had a close to maximum nine boats. The principal absentees came from the ILCA6s who only mustered thirteen boats.
At a small prize-giving in the DMYC, populated by the Fireballs, Aeros and a few ILCA participants, a very popular winner of a Frostbite Mug was in attendance. Everyone who is in anyway familiar with the ILCAs will be aware that they have a very well-established system of age category racing and the Mug Winner for the ILCA6s came from the (currently) very exclusive category of Great Grandmaster in Ireland. I may not be thanked for drawing attention to this achievement, but it was "whispered in my ear" that it should be acknowledged.
Mary Chambers has served an appropriate apprenticeship in the ILCAs having previously campaigned a Fireball for an extended period. Thus, she was acclaimed by all present as the make up of the audience in the DMYC came from people who would be familiar with Mary's dinghy exploits.
ILCA 6 race
And the Mug was won on merit, with Mary leading the fleet around the first weather mark of a 5-lap Olympic configuration course. For the balance of the race, she remained in the top five boats mixing it with the overall leaders of the series, Conor Clancy (1), Shirley Gilmore (2), Darren Griffin (3) and Judy O'Beirne (4). She crossed the finish line in second place, only bettered by Conor Clancy. Congratulations, Mary!
ILCA 6 Race 9 results:
1. Conor Clancy
2. Mary Chambers
3. Darren Griffin
4. Shirley Gilmore
5. Judy O'Beirne
ILCA 6 Overall:
1. Clancy (11)
2. Gilmore (17)
3. Griffin (28)
4. O'Beirne (29)
5. Justin Geoghegan (31)
ILCA 7 race
The ILCA7s had a turnout of nine boats which is only one off their biggest turnout thus far. In this fleet, Theo Lyttle has assumed the role of the rabbit most Sundays with the greyhounds being made up of Gavan Murphy and Gary O'Hare. This past Sunday, they were joined by John O'Driscoll who was rewarded with second place on the water and the day's Frostbite Mug. Having won the majority of the races thus far, Theo enjoys a 4pt advantage over second-placed Gavan Murphy, with Gary O'Hare in third, five points adrift of Murphy.
ILCA 7 Race 9 results:
1. Theo Lyttle
2. John O'Driscoll
3. Gary O'Hare
ILCA 7 Overall:
1. Lyttle (7)
2. Murphy (11)
3. O'Hare (16)
PY Fleet race
The PY fleet was the biggest of the day and while the start line had been fixed in length for the ILCA6s, the PY were the actual beneficiaries, though for the first time this year, they were subject to a General Recall and eventually got away on a black flag after another aborted start. The General Recall relegated them to the back of the starting sequence after the Aeros and Fireballs hid the pin end from the Race Officer. Four boats fell foul of the black flag start, two Fireballs, an Aero and a Finn. And it wasn't a marginal call, they crossed the line almost immediately after the one-minute signal was sounded. The RS200 of Katie Tingle was well up the running order at the first weather mark, but her race seemed to go a little pear-shaped shortly thereafter. The Fireballs of Neil Colin & Margaret Casey and Alastair Court & Gordon Syme diced each other for the early part of the race with Colin & Casey leading the way round the first triangle only to lose out to Court & Syme up the second beat, before recovering on the downwind leg of the sausage. Colin & Casey, having regained the lead on this leg then increased their lead to win comfortably on the water.
The Fireball finished in 58:50 and of the first five on handicap, Roy van Maanen (Aero 6) was the last home in 68:02, nine minutes and twelve seconds behind. On corrected time van Maanen beat Colin by 14 seconds, but Pierre Long and son Remy, in the IDRA 14 and Noel Butler in the Aero 6 both beat van Maanen into third place on time, with Colin fourth and Katie Tingle in the RS200 fifth, tied on corrected time with the Fireball at 61:48. Colin's margin on the water was comfortable, relative to his fellow Fireballs and the balance of the PY fleet so it must be a bit frustrating to have been relegated to fifth on corrected time.
PY Fleet Race 9 results:
1. Pierre & Remy Long (IDRA 14)
2. Noel Butler (Aero 6)
3. Roy van Maanen (Aero 6)
joint 4. Katie & Jamie Tingle (RS200)
joint 4. Neil Colin & Margaret Casey (Fireball)
PY Fleet Overall:
1. Butler (9)
2. Long & Long (16)
3. Sarah Dwyer (20)
4. Tingle & Tingle (27.5)
5. Court & Syme (29)
With the wind forecast all week showing a very modest 5 - 6 knots for the day and temperatures down to 4/5 degrees, the plan was to sail a single long race that could be shortened if necessary, rather than risk people getting excessively cold waiting for a second race. For the majority of the afternoon, while the sun was out, the temperature recorded in the committee boat was 7 degrees, but as soon as the sun disappeared behind cloud, it dropped almost immediately to 6 degrees and got even cooler as grey cloud came in and it started to drizzle. No-one seemed to have a problem with dropping the fifth lap of the race, in order to return to their respective clubs.