Strong turnout for invitation race

Dun Laoghaire Flying Fifteen

There was a strong turnout for the Tuesday evening invitation race on May 29. Racing took place in light winds on the DBSC course, within the harbour. Darren Burke was first of the visiting helms, on Deranged, while Trish Daly led the new crews on Snow White.

See below for pictures and full results…

DLFFF Secretary Alan Dooley reports:

The Flying Fifteen Fleet is one of the biggest in Dun Laoghaire, and certainly one of the most active. Over the past few months, there has been an increased interest in the class, and several inquiries were received from sailors who wanted to try one.

We had taken people out on the odd Thursday or Saturday, but this tended only to happen when the regular crew/helm was unavailable (things are very competitive).

Captain Peter Murphy and his Committee decided to run an Invitation Race to address this and to follow-on from our successful “Try-a-Fifteen” day in October, and the wheels were duly set in motion.

The word was put out and we were very pleasantly surprised with the response. As we only had 13 boats available, these were rapidly allocated, and it looks like we will need to run the event again to satisfy the demand.

DBSC very kindly gave us a start, behind the other classes. On race day, the wind went very light and looked like it might die altogether, but Race Officer Mick Hanney (Mermaid class) wisely decided to get under way inside the harbour, and got us going on schedule.

The wind remained light, but never died, and we had an excellent race on a tight windward-leeward course.

Darren Burke, with Alan Green doing the housework up front, seemed to have an instinct as to where the little morsels of pressure were developing, and duly led the fleet, pretty much from start to finish.

Ciaran Crummy and Trish Daly needed good teamwork to keep the pressure on Darren, and also keep the gaggle behind at bay. Ben Malone and Adrian Cooper showed great skill in fighting their way up through the fleet, after a slowish start, to take the third spot.

In spite of the very light conditions, all really enjoyed the event, which showed that the Fifteen is not just a boat for the heavy stuff, but a joy to sail in all weathers.

Back at the National Yacht Club, we had a very pleasant evening, and a “surprise” prize-giving. Trophies were awarded to Darren and Trish, and all of the invitees got a souvenir medal, kindly sponsored by Leinsterboats.ie and Boatjumble.ie (well done Ronan).

We are already planning another similar event, next time we’ll be hoping for a bit of a breeze!

Anyone interested in acquiring a Flying Fifteen will get plenty of support from any of us in the Dun Laoghaire fleet. Send us an email, or call Alan Dooley (DL Fleet Sec) on 087-8173398.

Pictures on the water by Ronan Beirne and in the clubhouse by Alan Dooley

{oziogallery 118}

RESULTS

Position

Boat Number

Helm

Crew

1

3665

Darren Burke

Alan Green

2

3747

Ciaran Crummy

Trish Daly

3

3198

Ben Malone

Adrian Cooper

4

3897

Luke Malcolm

Ken Dumpleton

5

3556

Emma O’Carroll

Frazer Mitchell

6

3749

Conor O’Regan

Peter Sherry

7

3762

John O’Sullivan

Eoin Lynch

8

3773

Alan Dooley

David Cullinan

9

3704

Helen Cooney

Peter Murphy

10

3383

Valerie Mulvin

Deirdre Keena

11

2548

Robin Hilliard

Svetlana Frolova

Thrown out

 

Dave Mulvin

Richard Goodbody

Chickened out

 

Niall Meagher

Rob Bloomer

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