| Day 3 - 1st October |
| by Graham Smith |
As the Anglo Irish bank Autumn Leagues reaches its half-way point, two boats - 'Rosie' in Class 0 and 'Kookaburra' in the Squibs - hold centre stage as the only ones with a 100% record of three straight wins. And next best are 'Holly' and 'Erica' who lead Class 3 and the 17s respectively with 5 points each after the third race in the series was sailed in light south-easterly winds.
It had all looked so promising just before the start with a healthy 14 knots over the deck but it dropped considerably after that and a lumpy sea didn't help, although the wind picked up a little near the finish.
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Class 0 - Independent Bear - M Davis - HYC
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In Class 0 was a very good day for Roy Dickson's 'Rosie'. Line honours and a win on IRC and ECHO mean an overall lead on both handicaps, with a four point margin over 'Independent Bear' and 'Tiger' respectively.
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Class 1 - Same Old Story - D Cronin - MYC
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In Class 1 it was also a good day for Dermot Cronin's J35 from Malahide 'Same Old Story' whose series got even better by taking the gun by just 19 seconds from another visitor, the Tyrrell's J109 Aquelina from Arklow, and then winning on both handicap systems.
That success confirms the J35's top of the leaderboard position on both IRC and ECHO with Emma McDonald's 'Equinox' (two 3rd today) 2nd overall in both, while 'Baily' (Fitzpatrick/Glennon) have moved up to 3rd in the ECHO standings after a 2nd place today.
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Class 2 - Kinetic - Colwell, Murphy - HYC
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Things are certainly hotting up in Class 2, both on and off the water, with overseas visitors 'Crewsaver Harmony' very much the centre of attention. 'Kinetic' (Colwell/Murphy) got the gun but the fast half-tonner was only 20 seconds off the pace and took the honours on IRC with two other HYC boats - 'Superhero' (Banahan etc) and 'King One' (Cullen/Bourke) - filling 3rd and 4th slots.
Overall positions, however, won't be decided until certain off-the-water activities take place later in the week!
'Impetuous' (Noonan & others) headed the ECHO standings and despite a 6th place in race 3, 'Sunsari' (Soffe/Salter) maintains her overall lead.
In the Restricted IRC division, 'The Big Picture's' (Evans & others) success also moves her into the overall lead ahead of Dermot Skena's 'Toughnut'.
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Class 3 - Goyave - Camier, FitzPatrick - MYC
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Basil McMahon's 'Holly', a model of consistency over the years, won Class 3 on IRC from another consistent performer this season 'Goyave' (Camier/Fitzpatrick) and now has a one point lead over the Malahide boat overall. The two boats also share the overall lead on ECHO, although it was 'K9' (C.O'Dea) that took the honours in race 3. 'Hydrogin' (Colbert/Davis) from Malahide got the gun but not by enough to make it count when the elapsed times were adjusted.
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White Sail Cruiser - Alphida - Harry Byrne - HYC
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By his high standards, 7th in race 3 may not rank as good for Harry Byrne and his crew on 'Alphida' but it was enough to keep the overall lead in the White Sail Cruiser class, with just a two point gap over 'Changeling' (Jameson & McManus). 'Fanatix' (R.Fanning) took line and handicap honours with 2nd and 3rd places on corrected time going to 'Brazen Hussy' and 'Bite the Bullet'.
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Etchells - The Chill - C McCormack - HYC
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Win of the day went to 'The Chill' (C.McCormack), with 4.5 minutes to spare in the Etchells Class ahead of national champions Beshoff/O'Grady/Reilly in 'Mandeline Reign' - and in one-design racing, that's a mighty big margin. It's not quite enough to prevent the favourites from heading the fleet overall but the gap is down to a mere 3 points now.
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Puppeteer - Harlequin - Dave Clarke - HYC
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After two average results (by his standards, anyway), Dave Clarke got 'Harlequin' back its more customary position at the head of the Puppeteer fleet and it was good enough to move into 2nd overall behind 'Ibis' (G. May) who had to be content with 2nd on the water in race 3. A good 6th place for the Jennings' 'Sanderling' gave them handicap honours but Tim Chillingworth's 'Gannet' has a healthy 7-point lead in the overall rankings.
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Squib - Femme Fatale - T Concannon - HYC
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It was a case of three-in-a-row for Gillian Guinness/Se O'Leary as they take the Squib Class by storm in this series, finishing with a minute and a half to spare over 'Femme Fatale' (Tim Concannon), and so stretching their overall lead over 'Pot Black' (R. McMurtry) to 8 points. 'Roxanne' (J. O'Flynn) won on HPH but 3rd placed 'Gizmo' (Murphy/Wheeler) retain the overall lead.
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Squib - Erica - Cronin, Massey, Kenny - HYC
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In the 17s, it was something of a Cronin show, with one Cronin on 'Erica' beating another on 'Gladys' by over 2 minutes to take the overall lead while pre-event favourite 'Oona' (Peter Courtney) was just 18 seconds further behind on the water. 'Zaida's' (Houlihan/Hassell) win on HPH confirms her status as handicap leader, with over 6 points of a margin over 'Bobolink' (Walsh/Doyle).
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