SID Newsletter April/May 2010
Summer sailing is now in full swing, with regular dinghy and keelboat sessions and racing. In a new departure, SID is taking part in offshore racing for the first time. On shore, we are looking forward to the imminent inauguration of our new base.
DBSC Racing Series
Ruff Diamond is competing on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays
in this series with 21 members signed up to race. To date, our
results are:
Tuesdays: joint 4th out of 23
Thursdays: 23rd out of 23
Saturdays: 13th out of 23
We need to get Ruff Diamond out more on Thursdays when we have competed in only 2 out of 7 races so far.
Slots can now be booked on the website up to the end of July, so put your name down as soon possible. We need people for Thursdays and Saturdays in particular. Ruff Diamond can race with just three crew if they have sufficient experience.
ISORA Racing
SID is competing in the ISORA series of offshore races for the first time this year, in Obsession. Here is David's account of out first outing in the series and some handy tips for future races.
The NYC have corrected the results from the Arklow Offshore Race, using our correct handicap. We finished 18/20! Not bad for our first ever offshore race, against many boats with experienced racing crews and some with very fancy sails. Well done to Damien, Jo, Marco, Tom and Pat!!!
It was a long race (8hrs:18:50 - 3:15 to get to North Arklow, and about 5 hours to return) but a really good experience, in strong conditions (20-25 knots all day - despite all forecasts predicting a reduction from F6 to F5 to F4). We started with 1 reef and #2 genoa, shook out the reef and changed up to #1 genoa on the downwind section, then reefed and changed down to #2.5 genoa for the beat back.
We kept the other boats in view on the leg to North Arklow, with speeds over 8kn from Obsession but the faster boats really took off upwind back to DL. Two boats were in view in the distance on the way back and when we crossed them on tacks we were pretty close, we were amazingly close to them at the finish, 1 just ahead, 1 just behind - showing how important it is to concentrate on ever detail for the whole race!
It was not a very tactical race as the tide was directly with us on the way down and with us on the way back, and with strong winds there seemed to be no advantage in choosing a different route to the mark - all boats seemed to point directly for the mark on the way down.
All of our preparations for the race paid dividends: The tightened guard rails, new jackstays and non-slip tape made foredeck work a lot safer when changing headsails in the strong conditions, while the leecloths allowed crew to rest on the high side of the boat. All of the other work ensured that we complied with the race regulations and were in a safe environment.
The main lessons for future races are:
- Good helming is absolutely vital, you need to be 100% focused on not losing ground when sailing upwind due to a lack of concentration, as that will lose you a lot of ground over the day and consequently a few places at the finish.
- CONSTANT sail trimming is essential, rather than just setting them once and then falling into cruising mode, otherwise you lose a lot of ground and places. Sailing just 0.25kn slower adds up to 2.5M or 1/2 hour if sailing at 5kn over 10 hours!!
- We need to learn a lot more about sail trim, as increased knowledge in this area would really move us up a few places. Start reading those sail trim books!
Jo, Piero and I took part in the Holyhead - DL (via Rockabill) ISORA race on Sat as part of our training with Sailing West, Paul (the owner/skipper) had great tactics, is a super helm and was getting us to adjust trim settings every few minutes for the 14.5 hour race (which started about 1.5 hours after we delivered the boat to Holyhead!!), it really paid off as we were 3rd over the line and 3rd in class after leading the race for the first 9 hours!! It was a very tactical race as we were sailing cross tide and then against the tide.
Our next training weekend for the RI will include include the Dun Laoghaire ISORA day race in which we will be racing against Obsession!! (crewed by Donal, Ann, Bryan, Marco, Monica and Carlos)!!
Frostbites Postscript
For those who didn't catch up on the Frostbites, (now fading into distant memory), here is a short report from Jo
SID enjoyed another seasons racing and hospitality at the DBSC Frostbites this year. Twenty three SID members signed up to brave the elements on Sundays over the winter and nearly all showed up at some stage. While the rest of the PY racers were not all shaking in their boats, mugs were still won. Eight SID members now have DMYC frostbite mugs in their kitchen presses (in some cases trophy cabinets). Racer egos were inflated and bruised and inflated again over the course of series 1 & 2. Thanks to DMYC for organising and providing facitities for showers and refreshments to restore circulation, see you all again next year.
There are lots of events to look forward to over the remainder of the summer, including (but not restricted to) the following races and regattas:
| RAYC Bloomsday Regatta | June 19th |
| RIYC Regatta | June 26th |
| RStGYC Regatta | July 3rd |
| Dun Laoghaire Regatta | July 9-13 |
| Cork Week | July 10-16th |
| Howth Dinghy regatta | July 10th |
| Ruffian Championships | July 23/24/25 |
| East Coast Regatta | August 1st |
| SID Regatta | TBA |
| Baltimore Regatta | August 1st/2nd |
| SE Regatta - Wicklow Sailing Club | August 1-2 |
| Ruffian Ladies Race | August 18th |
| September GISC Collanmore Regatta | September 11-13 |
| October GISC Baltimore Regatta | October 2-4 |
AGM
The SID AGM was held on April 28th at the National Yacht Club with 31 members in attendance. The minutes are available on the SID website.
In addition to the usual AGM business, we had several talks; David told us about the forthcoming ISORA races and also gave a talk on safety. Jessica and Regina told us about the work they had done in promoting the club and Damien talked about skills development among members. Finally Stuart gave a talk about boat maintenance. The slides from all these talks are available in the minutes.
Thanks also to Juliane for taking the minutes and Bronagh for arranging the post AGM dinner.
New SID Base
It's nearly here!
The new SID Base (which is far too grand to be called a mere container) is to be installed this Saturday, June 19th. It will be a big job, so we are looking for as many volunteers as possible. Contact Jo if you can help out. Suggestions for names for the new structure should also be submitted to Jo.
Thanks to Jo, Peter and the other members of the SID Container Committee for all the hard work they have put into making this happen.
Maintenance
Thanks to all who participated in the major maintenance tasks that have been carried out over the last two months, including the dinghy maintenance day (organised by Stuart), the Ruffian preparation and lift in (organised by Bryan), the Obsession antifouling (organised by Pat) and the preparation of Obsession for the ISORA races (organised by David).
This year we also bade farewell to our two old 420 dinghies, which have found a good home elsewhere.
A SID Facebook account has now been set up by Damien, for members to post stories, photos, videos, thoughts, and whatever you're having yourself. Please bring it to the attention of family, friends, colleagues who may be interested in our activities..
SID Dinner
The Sid midsummer dinner will take place aboard La Peniche on the Grand Canal on Thursday June 24th. Contact Sara to book your place.
SID and the Tall Ships
There will be a SID presence on the Belem, a nineteenth century ship which will sail from Brittany to Dublin in July. Chris, our representative, has managed to get himself on the front page of the Irish Times; unfortunately without either a SID jumper or a SID hat...
Social
Thanks to Regina for the following account of SID's recent extracurricular activities.
Apart from the AGM, two other social occasions, both of high calibre, were enjoyed in the past months by our cultured SID members. In early March a group including Gaspare, Linda, Gil, Chris, Regina, Tony and friends attended the Gate Theatre to see Les Liaison Dangereuses . We were promised "Lust. Seduction. Revenge: The Game As You've Never Seen It Played Before". The Gate lived up to its high standard in set design and costume and it proved to be a powerful performance with some explicit scenes to keep us talking at the interval (though as usual it was more of a treat for the male members of the audience that the females ones).
In May, we went to see the RTE National Concert Orchestra play at the National Concert Hall. These Friday night concerts are a real treat and this night was no exception. Brahms and Beethoven were on the programme but the highlight was a DvoráViolin Concerto with one of the leading violinists on the international concert scene, the delightful German violinist Arabella Steinbacher. The full force of her playing was evident when one of her violin strings broke but she quickly swapped the damaged violin with the one from the first violinist (who in turn swapped it with the second violinist and so on down the string section of the orchestra). After the concert, Susan, Wyn, Regina, Paul, Chris and some of our friends from Glenwalk retired to the Conrad for a drink and chat.
Happy Sailing
