Laser and OK go sub hour

Saturday was a day of much excitement on Dublin Bay, but it started with a few dinghy sailors discovering that there was no DBSC racing for dinghies. Apparently everyone else knew.

So, with the wind from the South West, Keane's Laser and Sheehy's OK Dinghy decided to take a shot at the Island Trial route. The tide wasn't quite perfect but it was close enough and both boats broke the 1-hour barrier - a mark previously only achieved by Chambers and Oram in their foiling moths

Keane set a new time of 55 minutes and 16 seconds, with Sheehy a couple of minutes slower in 57:28.  The Moths' lead is now only 4 minutes over a Laser! 

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Sheehy started just before Keane, who was still getting his tracker started, but then he headed for Bay instead of Forty Foot and let Keane take the lead. Silly.

There was plenty of wind coming in 20+ knot puffs down over Scotsmans Bay and Killiney Hill so the sailors had to work hard. Keane's lead stretched and shrank as first he then Sheehy caught a puff.

Rounding the Island saw Sheehy perhaps overcompensating for his caution last time. While he didn't touch bottom, the GPS track shows he must have come pretty close. Stories were told in the bar later of Glens rock-hopping around Dalkey Island, but let's just opt for a bit more space.

The return trip saw similar conditions, with Keane first stretching ahead then Sheehy catching up as the puffs went through. Keane aimed to finish close to the East pier while Sheehy took the longer outside route. Both worked out even.

A short run out into the bay was followed by the approach of the BBC (Big Black Cloud) which sent both boats hurrying for the shore. With both dinghies ashore the rest of the DBSC fleets had a rather exciting half hour with 34+ knot gusts.