The penultimate race in the Dinghy Spring Series took place on a fabulous evening for sailing, Tuesday 13 May. There was a fresh and gusty wind coming in from the East and it was both sunny and warm. Aoife Lyons, race officer, moved the start line to outside the moored cruisers to give room for all seventeen boats in the fast downwind start.

Gerry Drudy showed the previous weekend of 420 training paid off by making a perfect start at the pin end. The multihulls gybed their way downwind and make quick progress to the leeward mark. Further back many of the dinghies were in close-quarters and had a hard tactical battle to get into clear air and down to the mark. Gerry Drudy rounded first in the mono-hulls closely followed by Cian Baynes, Dave Vinnell and Cormac and Joan Fahy.

The beat to the windward mark was challenging for all boats in the fresh wind and strong gusts. Gerry Drudy and Dympna O'Byrne consolidated their lead on the first beat and put themselves into a controlling position, which they kept until the end. Cian Baynes capsized at the leeward mark on the last rounding but made an amazingly quick recovery to stay in a clear second place. Vincent Jordan took third place in the monohulls.

In the multihull fleet the gusty conditions made for dramatic sailing. Many boats were lifting up onto one pontoon and Ger Murray had a spectacular capsize in a particularly strong gust. He recovered well to take fourth place behind Tim Breen in first, Anthony Murphy second and Bernard and Noreen third.

There will be an exciting finish to the series in the last race. In the multihull fleet Breen and Murphy have equal points with Ger Murray only four points behind. In the monohull fleet Gerry Drudy has a strong grip on first place, but Vincent Jordan is in a close second. Cormac and Joan Fahy are third overall but have to be careful as Declan McKinney is only three points behind.

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