Saturday 13^th July heralded the resumption of the DBSC summer series following the Regatta Season break this year.  This occurs every two years while in alternative years the Dun Laoghaire Volvo Regatta which is run over a four-day period in early July replaces the individual club regattas. It was a change to be back to normal DBSC round the can racing with afternoon start and there were some overheard comments about missing the sharp competitiveness of the windward leeward format favoured by the regattas however the long established DBSC show most go on!  

Low water at 11.09 meant that there was a rising tide for the race duration. The wind was easterly c80 degrees so beating against wind and tide was the order of the day. The race started at the hut as normal and the course was E6, orange pin start - Molly, Bay, Poldy, Bay, Omega & Turning.

All boats, fully crewed, were rigged and out in the bay well before the start which facilitated practice tacking and gybing and determine race strategy in good time. Approaching the start time the starting manoeuvres were evident with Geraldine, Garavogue and Naneen electing to stay in tight to the wall with Estelle remaining close to the pin end. At the start signal Geraldine and Garavogue were battling each other for supremacy off the line close to the hut with Naneen staying out of the way a little behind. Estelle chose a port start from pin end - not something the Twentyones have a name for this season so far, however it was a good call as they crossed both Garavogue and Geraldine with some room to spare.

Given the flood tide all boats, and indeed all fleets, chose a close tacking inshore course keeping close to the harbour mouth with Garavogue and Geraldine following, heading deep into the harbour to stem the tide somewhat. Clearing the harbour and opening up to Scotsman Bay Estelle seemed to be still in the lead crossing in front of Garavogue who was on port before tacking to join them heading deeper inshore. Geraldine, by now the seaward boat, had a better visual on the first mark, Molly, and albeit to leeward of the others, maintained a starboard course heading directly for the mark. Estelle and Garavogue soon picked up where Molly was and immediately tacked back to Starboard with Estelle leading but on a more leeward track than Garavogue.

Approaching the mark Geraldine was the clear leader and passed the mark well in front of the others. Estelle was next in the rounding sequence but by virtue of having to tack to port to sail the last few boats lengths to round the Mark was caught on a port / starboard situation with Garavogue coming in fast on starboard and clearly asserting their rights. Estelle had taken a wide rounding to account for adverse tide giving Garavogue ample room to tack inside at the mark thereby gaining place advantage. Naneen was a little behind bringing up the rear.

It was a reach back to Bay mark, however all boats stayed a little high to stem the flooding tide so in the final approach to the mark all had to sail deeper on quite a broad reach to round the mark. There was no change in positions with Geraldine the clear leader, Garavogue second, Estelle third and Naneen the back marker.  After rounding Bay all hardened up and continued on port tack towards Sandycove. Geraldine tacked out first with Garavogue following shortly but on a more windward track.

Estelle elected to sail deeper inshore before tacking out close to the yellow separation marks at 40ft whereby some swimmers admired her from close quarters. Naneen had tacked earlier and was parallel but well to leeward of Estelle heading up the beat. The order rounding Poldy remained as before with Geraldine in pole position. A soldier’s race was now established with no change to order passing Bay for the 2^nd time, a short fetch to Omega before the run back to Turning and home. On the run the fleets did close in somewhat but not enough to challenge position change. Estelle took a more inshore line hoping to gain better tide push and did narrow the distance but by doing so sailed a slightly longer course having to sail around the starting marks as per the rules. Garavogue by this time was within challenging distance of Geraldine as they rounded Turning and both headed in towards the pier wall before tacking back to port aiming for an inshore finish close to the hut. Estelle chose to stay out into the stronger tide to try something different but, while not suffering unduly, was never going to gain sufficient ground on the leaders.

On the final beat home Paddy Power would have closed the book on Geraldine as they held their prime position and seemingly on course for an easy sail to the finish line for a well-deserved win. However, no race is over until it is. Both Geraldine and Garavogue were on starboard tack with Garavogue behind and a little closer inshore. Being more mid line Geraldine elected for a final tack inshore to cross the finish line ahead of Garavogue close to the hut but made a bad tack and could only watch in horror and dismay as Garavogue clipped along at pace to secure line honours. Geraldine still achieved second place with Estelle third to Naneen’s fourth.

Garvogue were naturally delighted with their race having won the battle with Estelle at Molly and then taking the win over Geraldine just yards from the line. Garvogue’s Crew was comprised of John Keogh, Fionnuala Rogerson, Jerome Coffey, Hal Sisk and Jenny Needham.

Garavogue crew - John, Jenny, Fionnuala, Hal & Jerome

Jenny is a wheelchair user and Garavogue picked her up and dropped her off at the marina which has excellent wheelchair accessible facilities, something which the waterfront clubs sadly lack. Having Jenny out proves the accessibility of the Twentyones for lesser abled people, something that not many boats can offer. We hope to see Jenny, and indeed other less abled people, on the Twentyones in the future and are keen to spread the word that the Dublin Bat Twentyones provides sailing for all.