Good Racing Conditions Continue as Discards Kick in
Another Sunday notable for fine racing weather, with westerly winds of over 10 knots gusting stronger (but with plenty of holes too) and a few class leaders thankful for the introduction of discards as they recorded their worst race results to date!
Race four in the Autumn League - jointly sponsored by Crystal Holidays, Irish Life Investment Managers and Today FM - saw several new race winners coming to the fore while a number of the usual pathfinders in some classes suffered by taking the wrong options or sailing into the aforementioned holes.
Pot Black - Squibs
Biggest upset of the day was in the Squibs where the McMurtrys' 'Pot Black' took advantage of the rest of the fleet playing tactical games, went hard right and took the gun to win on scratch and handicap, and now shares the overall handicap lead with 'Asterix' (Melanie McCaughey) who wasn't sailing. 'Klipbok' (Emmet Dalton) was third on the water, which he discards to hold on to the overall scratch leadership.
Bobolink - 17 Footers
Ian Malcolm in 'Aura' will remember October 4th for all the wrong reasons. He collided with a Squib before racing even started and lost his bow-sprit. 'Rita' (Lynch/Curley) duly won the Seventeens in his absence and jumped ahead of him in the overall standings by just 1.5 points while a handicap win for 'Bobolink' (Walsh/Doyle) ahead of Derek Bothwell's 'Sheila' leaves those two heading that division.
Ladies Who Launch - Etchells
It was the usual suspects in the Etchells, with Simon Knowles' 'Jabberwocky' edging out 'Crop Duster' (O'Grady/Reilly) and narrowing the latter's overall lead to just one point with two races to go.
Cloud Nine (red) - Puppeteer
Alan Pearson's 'Trick or Treat' followed up last week's good win with a good second behind race winner (and series leader) 'Harlequin' (Dave Clarke) in the Puppeteers where the racing is so tight that the first four boats finished within 80 seconds. That result brings 'Trick or Treat' up to second overall while there was a new HPH winner in the shape of 'Mr.Punch' (NiBhroanain/Wilson), with 'Haemoglobin' (Mullen/O'Dea) retaining the overall lead despite a poor result on the day.
Cogar - Class 5
Another new winner appeared in Class 5 with Skerries visitor 'Dobharchu' (Fox & others) enjoying success ahead of clubmate Declan Higgins in 'Tully Too' who now leapfrogs Andrew Knowles' 'Sandpiper' in the overall standings.
Harmony - Class 4
In the other white sail division, Class 4, it was Michael Fleming's day as his 'Trinculo' led the fleet over the line for IRC success and 2nd on ECHO behind another first-time winner, Katy Moore's 'Mystic Force'. Colm Bermingham didn't have the best of days on ECHO but still manages to stay on top of both handicap divisions overall, albeit only by narrow margins.
Wild Mustard - Class 3
The 'Starlet' - 'Alliance' double act at the head of Class 3 continued in Race 4 although the bragging rights belong O'Kelly and Walsh and crew on 'Starlet' for an emphatic win of almost five minutes on the water to beat their rival by an impressive margin on handicap. The two are locked together at the top of the standings with identical points and identical discards so the betting starts in earnest now! The Magann's 'Drumbeat' won on ECHO but it's Antrim visitor Alfred Mayrs in 'Quickflash' who leads overall.
Toughnut - Class 2
In Class 2, Ian Byrne and the crew of 'Sunburn' will be mightily chuffed with a second successive bullet, although the tightest finish of the day - a mere two seconds - ahead of Anthony Gore-Grimes' 'Dux' saw the former Commodore win on IRC and 'Sunburn' taking second on both handicaps. It also moves them into second overall on IRC behind Dave Cullen's 'King One'. ECHO was won by 'Rum Doodle' (Declan Byrne) but 'C'est la Vie' (Flannelly & others) still head the table with a comfortable margin.
Tiger - Class 1
In Class 1, the first three finishers crossed the line inside a minute with 'Tiger' (Hughes/Harris) taking the gun (and an ECHO win to maintain dominance there) but with Matt Davis's 'Barafundle' from Skerries enjoying a second successive IRC success and so closing the gap with overall leader 'Crazy Horse' (Chambers/Reilly) to just a single point.
