Viking Marine Frostbites Series Series 1 prize-giving at Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club
by Cormac Bradley 7 Jan 10:58 GMT
5 January 2025
The last Sunday of Series 1 of the Viking Marine sponsored Frostbites, hosted by Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club, December 22nd, fell victim to strong winds in the same way that the previous two Sundays had. However, the Frostbite fleet was given early notice that the prize-giving would proceed regardless of whether we got to sail or not.
An early notification of the cancellation of the racing was feasible because the wind forecast was so bad. It is unusual for three Sundays in a row to be cancelled and I can only recall it happening once before, in the post-Christmas Series 2 earlier this year.
There was a good gathering in the DMYC clubhouse for the 16:30 prize-giving, buoyed by the invitation to DMYC club members to join the occasion with mulled wine and mince pies.
MC for the afternoon and Race Officer for Series 1, Cormac Bradley, welcomed everyone to the occasion and introduced the recently elected Commodore of the DMYC, Derek Gill who had succeeded Ian Cutliffe.
Viking Marine had generously sponsored the prizes for Series 1 with Rick Tomlinson calendars and these were also used to acknowledge the time put into the Frostbites racing by the volunteers. It was noted that a minimum of fifteen people were required to run an afternoon's racing between committee boat crew, mark layers/rescue and the processing of results. Presentations were therefore made to those volunteers who were in attendance before the competitors received their prizes.
PY Fleet, Series 1; Overall. (25 boats)
1st: Noel Butler, Aero 6
2nd: Alan Leddy & Norman Lee, GP14
3rd: Sarah Dwyer, Aero 6.
ILCA 7s, Series 1; Overall (12 boats)
1st: John Marmelstein
2nd: Niall Cowman
3rd: Hugh Delap.
ILCA 6s, Series 1 Overall. (28 boats)
1st: Conor Clancy
2nd: Sean Craig*
3rd: Brendan Hughes
1st Lady: Shirley Gilmore (4th Overall)
Discretionary prizes (for those outside the 1-2-3) were also awarded across all three fleets.
PY Fleet.
1st Lady: Nicole Hemeryck (Fireball helm 14676, 13th overall)*
1st Family Crew: Pierre, Paul & Remy Long (IDRA 161, 6th overall)*
1st Newcomer: Alan Blay & Hugh McNally (Fireball 14641, 14th overall)*.
ILCA 7s
1st Newcomer: Matteo Valentini (4th overall)*
ILCA 6s
1st Newcomer: Harry Dunne*
Fireball Fleet. (13 boats)
1st: Barry McCartin & Harry Thompson*
2nd: Nicole Hemeryck & Michael Keegan**.
3rd: Alastair Court & Gordon Syme*.
Aero Fleet (7 boats)
3rd Roy van Maanen*
1st Newcomer: Neil Colin.
*Indicates that the recipient wasn't in attendance.
**As Nicole was already a prize-winner, Michael gets a prize as the 2nd-placed crew.
John Marmelstein (ILCA 7) proposed a vote of thanks to the volunteers for their time in providing the racing of Series 1 stating that the racing had been very enjoyable. This was endorsed by those present.
Series 2 of the Frostbites gets under way on Sunday 5th January. As this piece is being written, the forecast for Sunday is showing 12/13 knots with gusts at 20-22knots.
As this will be the closing report for Series 1, may I record my thanks to the volunteers and competitors for turning out for the racing. I would also like to thank David O'Brien at Afloat for publishing the Sunday reports and allowing me to use the Afloat website to keep competitors informed as to what is happening.
From a DMYC perspective, may I thank Ian O'Meara of Viking Marine for the continued support of the Frostbites.
Happy New Year - see you on Sunday!