Frostbite Final Blown Away

1 April 2013

Frostbite Finale blown away!

The 42^nd Frostbite Series promoted, managed and hosted by Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club, came to a disappointing close yesterday when high winds made racing impossible. While we have not had the heavy snow that has cut off parts of N.Ireland and the UK, we have had very strong winds blowing here since the previous Thursday. Nobody in their right mind would have contemplated going out on Thursday past such was the state of the sea and while the wind seemed to have abated slightly on Friday and Saturday, it came back with a vengeance yesterday.

So rather than racing yesterday, the prize-giving for the Series was brought forward to 14:30!

DMYC's Sailing Secretary, Neil Colin, opened up the proceedings by introducing the DMYC Commodore Liam Owens. Liam commended the Frostbite community for their hardiness in sailing throughout the winter months and indicated that the DMYC would continue to support as much sailing as could be accommodated in the context of the proposed harbour development plan. He said it was very encouraging to see so much use being made of the harbour by the Frostbite Series.

Frostbite Organiser, Olivier Proveur expressed his appreciation to all those volunteers who had contributed of their time to make the series possible. He made particular mention of Race Officer Kevin Cullen who had not missed a single race of the 42^nd Series. He also thanked the rescue crews who double up as the mark layers and gave special mention to the catering staff of the DMYC who were available every Sunday, including the St. Patrick's Day, this year, to look after the Frostbiters après racing.

Going into the last race of the Series, Noel Butler and Stephen Oram were two points behind Kenny Rumball and David Moran despite the fact that the former combination held an 8pt advantage in the second Series. Thus, leaving the Club the previous Sunday we all had an expectation of a match race between the two boats to determine the winner of the Series overall. Both combinations are well capable of sailing the opposition "down the pan" to try and gain the necessary advantage in this situation but the weather didn't "play ball". Thus the positions as advised in this report last week remained.

For the Fireball Class, there is now a short break before we get into summer (!!!!) mode. Our first event post-Easter is an Adam Bowers training weekend hosted by the DMYC over the weekend of 20/21^st April. Thereafter, we have events in May, June, July (2) and a season closing event in September. The Worlds are also scheduled for Slovenia in September.

At the conclusion of the prize-giving a number of dinghy initiatives were announced by Hugh Sheehy (OK Dinghy) to try and entice lapsed sailors back onto the waters of Dublin Bay and the burgee of the Dublin Bay Sailing Club who organise racing during the summer months. Under the umbrella organisation of Dun Laoghaire Dinghies and making use of the Internet, Facebook and Twitter Hugh and a number of DBSC dinghy stalwarts are looking at a variety of racing, coaching and social events to draw more people back into the sport in our locale.

The prize-giving was also advised that one of the stalwarts of the Frostbite and Dun Laoghaire sailing scene, Bob Hobby, suffered a slight stroke on Monday of last week. Bob's partner, Louise McKenna, was able to advise those who attended the prize-giving that Bob has suffered some complications but the medical advice is that they were not as severe as they might have been. The Fireball community, in particular, would like to wish Bob a speedy recovery and offer Bob and Louise all our support and best wishes.

This is the last of the Frostbite reports for the 2012/13 Series. I will endeavour to bring you reports from the regatta season when it gets underway in May.