SAILING:SOME FAMILIAR names lifted trophies at five separate sailing venues around the coast last weekend. In a climax of summer sailing three national titles and two regional ones were fought for as September winds produced some of the finest one-design racing of the season.
National championships were decided in the J24, 1720 and 420 classes. Dragon and Topper regional titles were also settled.
Andrew Craig is the 2010 Irish Dragon South Coast Champion following a tight contest in the three-man keelboat at Kinsale Yacht Club. National champion Martin Byrne took an early lead in the 17-boat fleet but was overtaken by his Royal St George YC club-mate. Craig, together with crew Mark Pettit and Brian Mathews, is heading for the Dragon World Championships in Melbourne in January.
Also on the south coast, Cian O’Regan and Scott Flanigan built on the success of their 14th overall at the class European Championships earlier this season when they won the 15-boat 420 National Championships in Cork harbour.
In West Cork, Commodore’s Cup captain Anthony O’Leary was back on the water last weekend and led the 1720 National Championships from start to finish at Baltimore. He finished the seven-race series in his familiarly-named Antix with four first places in the 19-boat fleet.
In Howth, Flor O’Driscoll and his crew from the Royal St George YC sailing Hard on Port deservedly won the J24 national title from a fleet of 17 boats by the impressive margin of 19 points.
On Dublin Bay, Blessington’s Finn Lynch added the Topper Leinster title to his 2010 roll of honour when he emerged as winner of the 50-boat event at the National Yacht Club in Dún Laoghaire yesterday. The Carlow-based teenager was the winner of the British Topper Championships sailed at Abersoch in August.
One-design action this season did not end last weekend, in a week’s time the Flying Fifteen class head to Carlingford for its East Coast Championship and the SB3 Midland Championships, and the Squib Championship is set for Lough Derg on October 16th.
The Overall Irish Sea Offshore Champion of 2010 is Matt Davis and “Raging Bull” from Skerries Sailing Club. “Just Enough”, Stephen Tudor from Pwllheli Sailing Club, took second place, while “Tsunami”, Vincent Farrell from the National Yacht Club, took third. The prize-giving dinner will be in the National Yacht Club on November 6th and go-ahead ISORA Commodore Peter Ryan intends to use the occasion to thrash out issues for 2011, including a change to how races are scored.
In Cork Harbour, the South Coast Offshore Racing Association (SCORA) Championships will take place at Cove Sailing Club on September 25th/26th. The event precedes Royal Cork’s October league, also sailed in the harbour.
Howth Yacht Club’s annual six-race autumn league starts this Sunday, with 130 entries in 10 classes in to date. An invitation has been extended to the four Dún Laoghaire waterfront clubs to coax boats round the Baily and enter the cruiser challenge, which coincides with the end of the DBSC summer racing programme.
Last Wednesday, windsurfer Oisín van Gelderen claims to have broken the Irish speed sailing record, clocking a speed of 47.17 knots at West Kirby in England. The Skerries sailor beat January’s record time of 42.52 set by Dubliner John Kenny. The new time is subject to verification by the world speed sailing council.
