Winter Activities
Now that the boats are back in the water, and those hardy people who sailed through the winter have been joined by us ordinary mortals, it’s a good time to review the winter’s activities and look ahead.
We have come through a wet and windy winter in fairly good shape. The Frostbites were a great success thanks to Olivier Prouveur and his team of volunteers who drove ribs, manned the committee boat and helped manage the races. Thanks also to Boathouse Captain Dennis Nolan and his helpers who kept the ribs and launches in action and did heroic work to keep Goose, the committee boat, running.
Captain Jim Kennedy and his trusty helper Peter O’Reilly and with Duncan Hill on technology ran a very successful and well attended “Navigation without Tears” programme in the autumn with a further run after Christmas due to popular demand. Jim resisted blandishments from other clubs, and promises further training in the autumn.
Santa Claus duly came at Christmas with the Lifeboat, and children of all ages were delighted to sit on his knee and get their presents – many thanks to Kevin Burke, Frances Rafferty and all Santa’s little helpers, and thanks to Dave Coleman for all his work putting the set together.
We had an excellent and well attended series of Thursday talks which brought life to the club over the wet and windy weather.
The Art group continued to meet on Wednesdays throughout the winter and provided artworks to grace our wall. Many thanks to Frances O’Rafferty.
House Captain Joe Csibi and a team of volunteers tackled the long standing problem of the leaky roof over the small bar, and in a true DMYC spirit of can-do and self-help, stripped off all the accumulated dead weight, and with the help of member Derek O’Rourke, the roof was at last put to rights, and at little cost to the club.
Dennis Nolan renewed bridles, retrieved dropped moorings, encouraged winter visitors from other clubs to head for home waters, and with help from many volunteers, made sure that moorings were ready for boats at lift-in. He went on to manage the lift in with his usual efficiency, and with his team in place got all boats back in the water, just ahead of bad weather on Sunday.
Membership renewals are coming in on budget with a good level of transfer from the introductory offer to standard membership, and we have had strong demand for moorings, so I would encourage any member who has not yet paid or who needs a mooring to get in touch with Karin as soon as possible.
In the meantime, the Dun Laoghaire Combined Commodores were busy opposing the Harbour Company’s cruise berth application. No expense was spared in putting together a team of experts and professionals, and we all await the outcome of the planning hearing due on April 18th if all goes to schedule. DLCC are busy fund raising to meet the costs of the appeal, and although your club has no outstanding liability for these costs, donations to this fund would be very gratefully received and can be sent care of DLCC convener Liam Owens.
Looking Ahead
We have a busy sailing season coming up, with something for everyone and lots of activity planned.
Our Sailing Secretary Neil Colin has a busy programme of events lined up.
ISA Try Sailing Initiative Saturday 23 April
This is an ISA initiative to encourage pupils at the local schools to try sailing. DMYC has booked the 6 boat ISA Topaz fleet and is planning to make them available to anyone keen to try their hand at sailing in the harbour. The boats should be available to use the week before and for a week after 23rd, so members are welcome to come along and use them.
This is a great opportunity to encourage family members to sail and enjoy the harbour. Neil needs volunteers to help with supervision, ribs and safety on the day
Race Management Course
Neil is also arranging ISA Race Officer Training to run on the first two Wednesdays in May. The course will be presented by Harry Gallagher and will cover all the basic concepts of race management and forms the entrance to progression to more senior levels. – interested people should contact Neil directly on this.
Fireball Training weekend 16/17 April
Taking advantage of the vacant dinghy park the Fireball class will be holding their annual kick off in the DMYC this Weekend, with trainer Gerbil Owens who competed in the 470 class at the Olympic games and more recently features in the GP 14 National events. Members are welcome to join in as assistants to see the training first hand, or if the weather permits, we would hope to get sailors involved in spare boats. This follows on from the Fireball organised “start racing” series held over Sundays last September which saw some less experienced sailors enjoy sailing in a breeze and trying Fireballs.
Also on Saturday 16th, St Michaels rowing club will have an open day at the club.
DMYC Regatta June 11th
Neil is busy planning a new format DMYC regatta to run on June 11. This should be an exciting event with options under consideration including a pursuit race for dinghies and a 3-hour coastal race for cruisers. We need volunteers from all sailing levels to make up race management teams, including time keepers, whistle blowers, flag hoisters, safety officers, trolley dollies, and lots more. There will be a particular need for rib crew for safety and mark laying.
For the cruisers we are considering a “Have Echo” and “Have not” coastal race or cruise, we hope this will encourage all the non-competitive sailors to drop their moorings for the afternoon and cruise a costal route…….
Finally,
Our dinghy racing marks used in the Frostbites and other events are reaching their sell by date. This is an ideal opportunity for a corporate sponsorship, or indeed for a charitable donation. Any ideas please? Contact Barry / Neil / Karin.
Ruffian Programme
Frank Bradley, who is class captain of the Ruffian fleet this year, has arranged a full programme of activity, starting with a talk on the Racing Rules of Sailing. This will be given by Gordon Davies of the ISA, starting at 19:30, on Thursday, April 21st, to which all are welcome.
Other Ruffian events which will operated from the club are: –
- Sat 7th, May’16, Sail training with Maurice O’Connell (the “Prof”)
- Sat 14th May’16, Ruffian sailors will be in the club over the weekend for a North/South team racing event. There will be about 12 sailors from Carrickfergus YC. A reception and dinner is planned for Saturday evening. Racing and prize giving is on Sunday. So, if you come across new faces, please make them most welcome
- Ruffian National Championships, will be hosted in the DMYC on the weekend, 15/17th July’16. There will be a Ruffian class dinner on the Saturday evening.
The Club will need assistance with mark laying and race management teams.
Junior Sailing
DMYC in association with the Sea scouts will run the Junior sailing course for a third year beginning June 6th. There will be 7 courses available, ending July 22nd. Application forms are available from the office. So if you have a child or grandchild that would be interested, please contact Karin.
DMYC continue to participate in the Sailability Programme which promotes sailing for people with disabilities.
Moontour
Moontour will again run an enhanced programme of sailing for young people As Gaeilge, so we will have lots of daytime activity during the week when the club is less busy with members. Please make these young sailors, who will be junior members of your club, most welcome.
Cruising
I hear on the grapevine that summer cruising plans are being hatched with a number of yachts going foreign, and a possible cruise in late June heading south, with either The Isles of Scilly or West Cork as destinations depending on wind and weather. Talk to Joe Csibi for the latest plans.
Joe writes –
“We are dreamers, that’s why we buy boats! Even if it is only 11 miles to Greystones Harbour or Ireland’s Eye for a shake-down cruise or a picnic and a walk on the island. And of course there is Malahide, Skerries, Wicklow, Arklow, all just a few hours sail away, with good sheltered harbours. Great for the not so daring, and for those who did Captain Kennedy’s ‘Navigation without Tears’ course during the Winter to put what they learned into practice.
Last year we had a bad summer – going on the law of mathematical averages, this Summer’s got to be a good one! So how about Carlingford, Isle of Man, Holyhead, Menai Straights to Caernarfon.
Some of us would like to revisit the wonderful cruising grounds towards Dunmore East, Waterford and further to Kinsale and the West of Cork! And if the weather is suitable we might as well keep going and come home going all the way around Ireland, or else down to the Scillies for a few days and the home through Milford Haven to Arklow and home!
So let’s go on dreaming! It makes life worth living. I suggest let’s all get together at the Club supper on the 6th of May to plan out a good ‘Cruise-In-Company’ diary for 2016! And if you need crew, or if you don’t have a boat but would like to crew and learn from experienced skipper, this is the time to make a move!”
Club Suppers and Summer Sailing BBQs
Club Suppers have been very well supported with Seamus Connolly providing excellent and good value food. Book early for the next supper on May 6th.
Summer Sailing BBQs will run again on Saturdays after sailing – as always volunteers needed so if you see yourself in a chef’s hat give Joe Csibi a shout.
Club launch Hours
I am pleased to tell you that Jean Kenny who has been with us on a job bridge programme over the winter will be our Summer launch driver. Joe Csibi has put together a team of volunteers and with their help we will be running our regular launch service from 10.00am to ~8.00pm until further notice.
In Summary
All in all, your club is in rude good health, with renewed membership, full moorings, and a strong programme of activity. The only fly in the ointment is our lease position, which your committee is pursuing with vigour. We are covering our costs in our day to day operations, largely due to the careful management of our finances and the can do DMYC spirit where willing volunteers do much of the work which was costly in the past.
We are monitoring the evolving position in the Harbour with care, and are also proceeding on track to take legal action to assert our property rights. This, together with legacy legal costs, is likely to be an additional but necessary expense. We will keep you informed as the situation develops.
In the meantime, enjoy your boating and sailing and please continue to support DMYC through your membership and willingness to volunteer your help in the day to day running of your club. Should you wish to volunteer or need help in any way please approach the appropriate member of your committee below:
| Commodore | Barry Kenny |
| Vice Commodore | Peter Tobin |
| Sailing Secretary | Neil Colin |
| Boathouse Captain | Denis Nolan |
| House Captain | Joe Csibi |
| Honorary Treasurer | John Mac Aree |
| Honorary Secretary | Chris Fox |
| Slip Master | Dave Colman |
| Committee | Derek Gill, Frances O’Rafferty, Ian Cutliffe, Stephen Ryan |
Barry Kenny
Commodore, DMYC