The second race of the Galway Bay Sailing Club's Dinghy Late Summer Series got off to a sparkling start in 20+ knots of wind with views out the bay of the Green Dragon Team in training. The next time Galway sees the Green Dragon team will be in May of next year as we welcome them home from their transatlantic leg from Boston, that other home from home for so many Galway people over the decades.

Earlier in the evening Eamon Conneely,speaking on national radio in an interview from the boat, reported winds of over 35 knots off Aran so the locally based dinghy sailors knew they were in for a challenging sail. Overhead the Galway Races helicopters had panoramic views of racing of a different sort.

The race start was line-perfect with boats crossing the start exactly on time. Due to the southerly breeze the first leg was a reach and quickly saw the Hobie Tiger of Tim Breen & Noel Harvey take the lead on the water in the multihull fleet closely followed by Gerry Murray on an FX 1, and Tony Murphy and Ruth on a Dart 16. The monohull fleet was led across the start line by Cathal Clarke & Mags Leech in a 420, a lead they held to the finish. In all twenty boats took part - 8 multihulls and 12 monohulls with a total of 36 competitors. A wonderful turnout on a wet and windy evening.

The sailors had plenty of work to do to get round the course with a number of capsizes in both of the fleets. First to go over in the multihull fleet was D. Broderick's FX1, soon followed by T Murphy and R Considine's Spitfire. At least two crew in the monohull fleet were treated to additional swimming practice as they hurried to re-unite themselves with the boats they had just fallen off. Rear Commodore for Dinghies, Yannick Lemonnier, sailing with his aunt Cathy from France on an ISO also worked hard to make up time after his capsize. The Vago sailed by Cormac Fahy and crew Pascal Lally had two capsizes to recover from and did not feature in the race as a result.

The first spinnaker of the night was hoisted by Gerry Drudy and his crew Dympna O Byrne in the monohull fleet and Johnny Murphy sailing an FX 1 raised the first spinnaker of the evening in the multihull fleet. First time competitor Niall Cosgrove on a Laser Radial sailed a well-judged race. Junior racers Aidan, Eoin and Connor sailing with Martin Breen on a Laser SB3 enjoyed the experience of the winds and the competition. Overall the results in the monohull fleet went to sailors on 420 boats, the conditions suited them.

The Race Officer thanked the rescue drivers Cillian Lally and Rachel Ní Thuathail for their exemplary work on the night. Full racing results can be viewed on www.gbsc.ie - click on 'Results' - Dinghy.

Race Results GBSC Late Summer Series Race 2:

Monohull Fleet
1st Cathal Clarke & Mags Leech 420
2nd Gerry Drudy & Dympna O Byrne 420
3rd Brendan Gallagher & Astrid 420

Multihull Fleet
1st Tony Murphy & Ruth Dart 16
2nd Tim Breen & Noel Harvey Hobie Tiger
3rd Gerry Murray FX 1

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