27 boats took to the water in glorious sunshine in the HYC Dinghy Frostbites, all eager to get a good day’s racing in and consolidate some leaderboard spots. Race officer Liam Dineen planned for 3 races; 2 windward leewards followed by 1 all triangles.

As the breeze sparked up in Race 2, the support RIB cover was put to work aiding some unfortunate capsizes on the runs, so the decision was made to send competitors on a more stable triangular course to close out the day.  The breeze was from the west, with a building flood tide in the sound pushing sailors over the start line.

PY Fleet

The PY Fleet turned out in great numbers, with 17 sailors across 9 boats. Daragh Sheridan undoubtedly came away as the winner of the day with 3 race victories in his RS Aero 6. The GP14s of Sam Street, Alan Blay and Conor Twohig took the remaining podium places for the first 2 races. In Race 3, HYC’s Fiachra and Cormac Farrelly stormed onto the podium in their Melges 15, taking their first 3rd place of the year in HYC’s latest doublehanded class. The Melges 15 fleet is due to grow in the springtime, expect many more podiums for Melges 15s in the Frostbite series in years to come! Sheridan regains the lead on the series overall with 12 points, followed closely by Alan Blay on 14, with Sam Street on 30.

ILCA 7

The ILCA 7s had 10 boats on the water, and Rory Lynch showed why he continues to lead the series with a 2, 1, 1 across the races. Race 1 saw an individual recall for Dave Kirwan and Conor Murphy, who returned and had to fight their way through the packed fleet. Dan O’Connell stormed into the lead, followed by Lynch and Colm Cunningham. Race 2 saw another individual recall, this time for Rory Lynch, who fought hard and made his way through the fleet, and regained the lead by the end of the 6 leg race, followed by a photo finish between Murphy and O’Connell. The shift to a triangular course didn't slow Lynch down, and he was joined on the podium by Cunningham and Kirwan, making the most of the fast reaches. Lynch extends his lead on the series (11), followed by Murphy (16) and O’Connell (22). 

ILCA 6

The ILCA 6s were flying once again, in the mix with the ILCA 7s for much of the racing across the day. Ciara McMahon started the day strong with a win in Race 1, followed by Tom Fox and Viktor Samoilov. Tom Fox then went on to win the remaining 2 races, followed by McMahon & Peter Hassett in Race 2, then Hassett and Samoilov in Race 3. Fox extends his lead on the series counting just 10 points, with Hassett (18) and Samoilov (21) not far behind.

ILCA 4

The ILCA 4s saw Oleksandr Bezpalyi take the win over Charlie Power in each of the races, bringing Bezpalyi to the top of the leaderboard. 

Results

Here is a link to the event results.

Round the Island Race

With 2 Sundays remaining in the regular Frostbite series, attention will soon shift to the annual Round the Island race on Saturday 9th March. With plenty of prizes up for grabs, and what is sure to be a great day on the water followed by a lunch and prizegiving, so be sure to get signed up .

Entry is now open for the Round the Island race and you can register on hyc.ie

Report kindly provided by Conor Murphy.  Photo credits to Neil Murphy.