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19th –20th June 2010
East Down Yacht Club
The weekend of 19th / 20th June saw a small but competitive fleet of Wayfarers gather in East Down YC for this years Irish National Championships, which was run concurrently with the Fireball Ulsters and a Drascombe rally! Thankfully the weather gods did their best and sailing conditions were perfect over the weekend, giving a variety of winds in sunny weather. Sailing took place on Strangford Lough, venue for the 2001 Wayfarer Worlds.
On Saturday morning, everyone was greeted by sunshine and a steady F4 northerly, which remained pretty steady throughout the day. Race Officer, Roy Edwards got everyone off first time in race 1 in an ebbing tide, with locals Trevor Fisher and Ian Luney leading from start to finish around the trapezoidal course. They were followed by last years Irish Champions, Monica Schaefer and Rob Lyne (Greystones SC) and Gordon Jess / Robin Anderson (EDYC) who were enjoying the stronger winds! In Race 2, a port end bias on the start allowed a number of boats to make early gains, with Trevor Fisher again leading from the start. Laurence Denyer made big gains by heading left on the first windward leg, but was eventually overhauled by Schaefer who took second place again, behind Fisher. Denyer finished third, followed by Jess.
A slacker tide for race 3 resulted in a number of boats misjudging the start line, with Fisher, Schaefer and Henry O’Friel / Elaine Vogan all over and having to re-start and try and work their way back through the fleet. A slightly stronger wind resulted in Jess showing the fleet a clean pair of heels, with Fisher coming through to take second. Denyer sailed well, to take his second third place of the day.
The wind dropped slightly for the final race, with a few gusts coming though to keep everyone on their toes. Fisher again led from start to finish, with Denyer (2nd) sailing well to hold off Jess, who took third in front of the Skerries SC crew of Gerry Byrne / John Knox. O’Friel squeezed in to take fifth, in front of Schaefer, who had capsized in a gust on one of the runs.
The fleet returned to shore, to join the Fireballs and Drascombes for a very sociable mid-summer barbeque in EDYC. After day 1, Fisher (3 points) led from Jess (7), Denyer (8) and Schaefer (8).
Day 2 dawned to a forecast of less wind and the Race Officer decided to run the races in Holm Bay, south of the previous days course. Olympic courses replaced the trapezoidal courses of the previous day. The fleet drifted out, through occasional patches of wind and big holes. Fortunately the Race Officer did not rush to get the fleets away, but waited until a steady F 2/3 north easterly settled in.
A square line in Race 5 resulted in the tightest race of the series so far, with Fisher, Schaefer and Denyer all in close contention on the first lap. An infringement by Schaefer at the first gybe mark resulted in her having to do penalty turns, letting O’Friel come through to take third behind Fisher and Denyer in 1st and 2nd. This gave Fisher the title with a race to spare.
In the final race of the event a wind shift shortly before the start allowed Fisher to make a port tack start and cross the fleet, but good use of the windshifts allowed Schaefer and Denyer to close the gap. A close race followed, which Fisher took, followed by Schaefer and Denyer, giving the title to Trevor Fisher (who’s father, Mike, had previously won the event four years in a row in the 90’s!) and Ian Luney, Laurence Denyer and Gordon Reid took second (showing that a well sailed Plus S is still very competitive) with Monica Schaeffer and Rob Lyne in third.
It was unfortunate that the turnout was so poor, but this was probably due to the fact that the event was held relatively early in the season and returned north for a second year in a row. However we are all looking forward to a big turnout for the UK and Irish Nationals next year – see you in Dun Laoghaire!!!
Results,
6 races sailed, with 1 discard.
1st 10686, Hofreki T.Fisher & I. Luney (EDYC) 5 pts
2nd 10400, Swifter L. Denyer & G. Reid (EDYC 13 pts
3rd 10606, Liquidasset M. Shaefer & R. Lyne (GSC) 14 pts
4th 10596, Hart-Beat G. Jess & R. Anderson (EDYC) 18 pts
5th 8045 G. Byrne & J. Knox (SSC) 25 pts
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