Howth YC Under 25 team lift Irish National title(Howth, Ireland)- Howth Yacht Club hosted the recent J/24 Irish Championships, an event which was both a warm-up for Irish competitors and a fine tune for the race management team, in advance of the imminent BMW J/24 World Championship. With the top three determined by just one point, it's indicative of how close the class has become competitively amongst its top practitioners!
Saturday morning saw the fleet held ashore for a few hours by PRO David Lovegrove due to high winds. Nobody wanted to risk serious damage a week out from the main event. The later start still allowed the 20 entrants from Ireland, Great Britain and USA to enjoy four races held in a variety of conditions. Sun, rain, squalls, flat calms, big shifts and a changing tide all created a very unusual mix for Howth. As one race official noted, "If you don't like the weather, hang on for five minutes!"
In
spite of the weather challenges, GBR visitors IL RICCIO (Italian for
"The Hedgehog") sailed by Ian Southworth dominated the first day and
headed for the bar with a 1-2-1-1 score. Just behind them was fellow
Brit Bob Turner on SERCO with a 5-1-3-3 and Ireland's Flor O'Driscoll
sailing HARD ON PORT into third with a 3-5-5-10. The top Americans all
had great scores, save for bad drop races, like Keith Whittemore's FURIO
from Seattle, Washington and Tony Parker's BANGOR PACKET from
Georgetown, DC. Top of the Irish boats at that stage was Howth's Mossy
Shanahan who bagged a tasty 2-10-4-7. The dividends were paid to those
who played relatively conservatively and kept their noses clean.
Lighter
and less variable conditions treated the fleet to incredibly tight
racing on Sunday with another four races banged off in quick time. By
the end of Race 6, IL RICCIO had sewn up the regatta, pocketing a
further two wins, not needing to race in the last two. A clinical
display of extraordinary seamanship and sailing! The fleet did its best
to push the 3PM deadline for a last start by forcing a general recall in
the penultimate race. Taking second for the regatta was Seattle's Keith
Whittemore on FURIO, posting a 2-2-1.5-1- in the last four races to
nearly pull off the ultimate upset sailing the last day, losing by just a
0.5 pts. Third was the UK's Bob Turner on SERCO just another 0.5 pts
back!! Rounding out the closely fought top five were Tony Parker's
BANGOR PACKET crew in fourth and the Brit's JIGGY 2 led by Paul Williams
in fifth. Irish National title winner was the HYC Under 25 crew sailing EURO CAR PARKS KILCULLEN followed by Flor O'Driscoll's team HARD ON PORT in second and taking third Irish Nats on the podium was the Darrer/ Murphy team on the old STOUCHE.
With a calendar of coaching and tweaking, polishing and measuring, ahead of the J/24 Worlds, the Howth will be a beehive of activity this week. Many of the visitors have threatened golf outings, punctuated by busy evenings in local hostelries and pubs!! Story contributed from Emmet Dalton. Sailing photos credits- Tom Gruitt For more Irish J/24 Nationals sailing information
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