(Dublin, Ireland)- An exhibition of how to win sailing races on the second day of the Irish J/24 Championships saw Flor O'Driscoll and his crew from the Royal St.George YC on HARD ON PORT deservedly win the national title by the impressive margin of 19 points at Howth Yacht Club near Dublin, venue for the 2011 J/24 European Championships.
Three bullets on day two, including one which required coming from behind to outfox former champion Stefan Hyde by the final leeward mark, was sufficient to give the pre-event favourite the championship. O'Driscoll's cause was certainly helped when overnight leader and defending champion Mickey McCaldin on MURDER PICTURE (LEYC) was one of five boats 'black-flagged' on the first race start after PRO David Lovegrove imposed the penalty following a couple of general recalls.
That effectively ended the Ulster crew's challenge and it was followed by two other poor results which ultimately dropped them to 6th overall. The black flag decision also had a significant impact on other overall results, with another Lough Erne entry, Diarmuid O'Donovan's SAYONARA jumping four places to earn the runners-up spot, thanks to two second places and an 8th. It was enough to edge past clubmate and J/24 Class President Robin Eagleson who wasn't as effective as on the first day but did more enough to justify 3rd overall and also first in the silver fleet for the older boats.The 17-boat fleet, one of the biggest J/24 fleets in recent years, augurs well for the J/24 Europeans at Howth next year, with around eight nations already confirming their intention to compete. Final results were HARD ON PORT first with a regatta dominating 13 points, followed by O'Dononvan's SAYONARA with 32 points and Robin Eagleson's LUDER TOO in third with 34 points. Just off the pace by a tack or two was Fergus O'Kelly's JIBBERISH in fourth with 35 points and incredibly only one more point back was Andrew Mannion's JEB STUART with 36 points in fifth. Could've bet more than a few points of Guinness on that one as to who was the luckiest Irishman of the bunch, eh?! Great regatta to all...watch out to all those arriving next year for the Euro's! Sailing Photo Credits- FotoSail For more Irish J/24 Nationals sailing information.
