Every Sunday from January to March, HYC is open for the Dinghy Frostbite Spring Series. Why not join in this weekend?

 

A classic event that has been running for many years at our Club, Frostbites make the perfect opportunity to merge fun, training, community and competition sailing on ILCA and PY fleets.

 

Once called Lasers, the recently rebranded ILCA Class (International Laser Class Association) has three subclasses, which share the same hull and differ in mast height and sail size to suit sailors of different height and weight.

 

 

The ILCA Formula developed by the Association aims at making sailing an enjoyable experience for everyone… and making dinghy a boat for life.

 

The ILCA 7 can be sailed in light winds by drivers of all weights, but as the wind increases, it is better suited to higher sailor weights. The ILCA 7 is a single-handed dinghy for men at the Olympic Games.

 

The ILCA 6 is the medium sized rig, which uses a more flexible and slightly shorter lower mast together with a sail area 18% smaller than the ILCA 7. 

The popularity of ILCA 6 has grown in recent times in the community of HYC Members and sailors, thanks to the outstanding performance of our very own World Champion, Eve McMahon.

In addition to having a strong following among lighter-weight sailors, the ILCA 6 is the women’s single-handed dinghy at the Olympic Games. 

 

The ILCA 4 uses a short pre-bent lower mast to maintain a balanced helm and a sail area that is 35% smaller than the ILCA 7. It is ideal for the lighter-weight sailor graduating from Optimist.

 

 

Besides ILCA Class boats, PY (Portsmouth Yardstick) dinghies can also race in the Frostbite Spring Series.

The PY Class allows different types of dinghies to race together and it is based on a handicap system that takes into account a boat’s relative performance against competitors, its crew’s skills, and racing weather and sea conditions. Classes such as RS Aero, GP14, Enterprise, B14, IDRA14 and Melges 15 are currently racing in the PY Class at the Frostbites.

 

 

Spring is in the wind and entries are open on the HYC website for this Sunday’s Frostbite racing event and for the final race of the series, the Round the Island race on Sunday 10th March. This is an open event where the fleets sail around Ireland’s Eye, choosing their direction to compete - clockwise or anti-clockwise.  

The Dinghy Round the Island race is free for Frostbites sailors and there is a nominal entry fee for those who want to challenge in this race.