Weather Rules on Autumn League Opening Day Day 1 - Sunday 16th September
by Graham Smith
South-westerly winds that touched 40 knots at times were the dominant feature of the first race in the Anglo Irish Bank Autumn League with no less than 50 of the 140 starters being forced to retire with an assortment of gear damage, particularly masts and gooseneck fittings. Another 20% of the total 177 entries obviously thought better of the conditions when waking up on Sunday morning and decided not to compete!
Dux - Anthony Gore-Grimes
Biggest fleet on the water was Class 2 with 23 starters and it was Anthony Gore-Grimes' 'Dux' that lead the 15 finishers home, with 2.5 minutes to spare on corrected time from 'Superhero' (Banahan & others) although the latter had the compensation of winning on ECHO. Dermot Skehan's 'Toughnut' won the first race in the IRC Restricted Division.
Harlequin - Dave Clarke
All bar seven of the 28 Puppeteer entries hit the starting line and after two hours on the water, David Clarke's 'Harlequin' resumed normal service with an emphatic 6-minute win. Alan Pearson's 'Trick or Treat' lead the chasing pack where only 4 minutes separated the next five boats.
Biggest win of the day was reserved for 'Hydrogin', Sean Colbert & Andy Davis's Hydro 28, in Class 3.
The Malahide boat revelled in the heavy conditions which forced nine retirements and increased its lead throughout the race to finish an impressive 11 minutes ahead of second-placed Vince Gaffney's 'Alliance'.
It was good enough to earn them the ECHO spoils as well.
Hydrogin - Colbert & Davis
Another boat to enjoy success on the double was Harry Byrne's 'Alphida' in Class 4, with a narrow win over Michael Fleming's 'Trinculo' and then 'Changeling' (Jameson/McManus) on IRC but a more convincing one on ECHO over the very same boats.
Only three boats made it to the Class 0 start and Roy Dickson's 'Rosie' got the gun as expected but 15 seconds ahead of 'Tiger' (Hughes & Harris) was not sufficient to take the IRC honours from their rival.
The third boat in the equation - Alan Chamber's 'Infinity' - pipped 'Tiger' on ECHO by a mere 3 seconds on corrected time.
Rosie - Roy Dickson
Half of the Class 1 entries are visitors and in the heavy winds, it was two of the non-Howth boats that won the two handicaps.
In IRC, 'Contango' (B. Cunningham of the Royal Irish) headed the best place local boat, Emma McDonald's 'Equinox', by 3 minutes on corrected time.
Martin Reilly's 'Esperanto' from Sligo added the ECHO honours to a third on IRC.
Photo Opposite: Contango - B Cunningham
Snow Patrol - Dan O'Grady et al
Etchells national champions Dan O'Grady et al on board 'Snow Patrol' were never in serious danger of being beaten, with some five minutes to spare over ISA President Robert Dix in 'Glance' who was pushed by the 'Ladies Who Launch' (O'Loughlin & Dwyer) and 'pEtchellant' (Cagney & others) for the runners-up spot.
Betsy Blue - Fergus O'Kelly
Only half of the Squibs made it to the finish and it was Fergus O'Kelly's 'Betsy Blue' that had the best of the on-the-water exchanges with a 3-minute gap ahead of 'Bateleur' (Ruane/Craig) who took the HPH honours.
Class 5 was another with just half the starters completing the course and it was Kyran O’Grady in the veteran 'Bandersnatch' that saw smoke and ECHO success over second-placed 'Man O'War' (B&C Smith).
Photo Opposite: Bandersnatch - Kyran O’Grady
In the Seventeens, Ian Malcolm's 'Aura' also recorded a double win, taking the gun a minute ahead of Pater Courtney's 'Oona' and winning by a minute and a half on the HPH system.
