Review of the year published in the ICC (Irish Cruising Club) annual 2014:
It was a
bumper season for the Dublin Bay Glen fleet.
First the bad news. Two Glens
were not in the water this year. Glencoral G3 is in storage (and for sale,
I understand). Glengesh
G8 did not turn up this year. But the 11
or so Glens which make up the rest of the Dun Laoghaire fleet had a very good
season. The balmy weather helped. Numbers on the starting lines were
consistently high and racing was keen. Luckily
the fleet retained their customary mooring area outside the RSTGYC. Because of the machinations of the harbour
board many of the one design classes have had to move to the marina or, in the
case of Squibs, most are now being dry sailed. Dry sailing, while having advantages, is not conducive
to impulse decisions to go sailing. It is
also more expensive. Consequently fleets
turning up on starting lines suffered.
This is especially so in the case of the Dragons. Dry sailing Glens is not really an option. So, for practical, trouble free, traditional
sailing, get a Glen!
The northern
Glen Fleet came south this year to sail in our boats but the engagement was
hampered by light winds. So too was the
George regatta, sailing being abandoned following one race. At both these events an unusual thing
happened. There was a protest! This is unheard of in the Glens. I never learnt what the outcome of the
protest was. Normally disputes in the
Glen class are settled in the bar.
Failing that, its pistols at dawn.
But never the protest room!
The boats to
beat this year were the usual suspects. Glenluce G67 and Glendun G9. Pterodactyl
G12 was a surprise contender. Glenshane G5 is my boat and we had a
better season than any previous. So
perhaps we are getting the hang of it.
We got the gun twice and got a second placing in one of the Thursday
series.
Glenshane is taking a fair amount of water as
she sits on her moorings and even more if she has a heavy weather race. Several of the Glens now use solar powered
bilge pumps to keep them dry as they await the twice weekly race.
It was the
50 year anniversary of the Glen Class sailing in Dublin Bay or as they say on
the Glen website: ‘Celebrating 50 years of the Dublin Bay Glen Class.’ That seems to have been the extent of the
celebrations marking it. A missed
opportunity to promote the class, in my opinion. Over the winter I am hoping to prepare
Glenshane for a second 50 year term.