| Indian summer continues for Day 2 |
'Indian Summer for Howth Autumn League' was the headline in the Irish Times sailing column preview of the series recently and for the second week in a row that prediction has proven pretty accurate.
The League, sponsored this year by Irish Life Investment Managers, Today FM and Crystal Holidays, has a habit of providing some of the best weather of any season and 2009 is no exception so far. Winds might have been on the light side but otherwise the conditions certainly justified getting out of bed early on a Sunday morning.
On the one-design course, there was a slight delay after the Etchells got away as the wind settled. The Puppeteers had a bunch over at the pin end and the Squibs decided to copy them! Excellent triangle-sausage courses gave a tight reach followed by a broad one which gave plenty of attacking options.
|
Puppeteer - Harlequin - D Clarke
|
The flat sea conditions were clearly to David Clarke's liking as he won the Puppeteer race in 'Harlequin' by a staggering 7 minutes, the most impressive margin of the day, from Terry Harvey and Neil Murphy in 2nd and 3rd respectively. Hardly surprisingly, he won on handicap too and now leads both divisions after two races.
|
Etchells - Blue - Johnston & Others
|
If the gap was mighty in the Pupps, it was the complete opposite in the Etchells where 'Blue' (Johnston & Others) had a mere 3 seconds to spare from Simon Knowles 'Jabberwocky', although those positions are reversed in the overall standings in the series so far.
|
Squibs - Klipbok - E Dalton
|
In the Squibs, Emmet Dalton in 'Klipbok' recovered well from taking penalties to finish second behind race winner Michael Cantwell in 'Whipper Snapper', a finish which keeps him at the head of the fleet overall while Melanie McCaughey in 'Astrix' will be pleased to follow up her 2nd place on handicap last week with a win this week to lead that division.
|
17 Footers - Deilginis - Massey & Others
|
The normal order of things was disrupted somewhat in the Seventeens when the usual suspects did not head the fleet over the finishing line. That honour fell to 'Deilginis' (Massey & Others) with 'Oona' (Peter Courtney) and 'Gladys' (Cronin/Jones) having to play second fiddle for a change. 'Bobolink' (Walsh/Doyle) won on handicap but the result puts 'Deilginis' on top of both divisions for the time being.
|
Class 1 - Crazy Horse - Chambers & Reilly
|
Over on the cruiser courses, there were a few changes in leaders too. Dermot Cronin's 'Mumbo' from Malahide, a former winner of the series in Class 1, was third on the water behind the pre-race favourites 'Crazy Horse' (Chambers/Reilly) and 'Tiger' (Hughes/Harris) but had done enough to take the race on corrected time. 'Makutu' (Doyle & Others) won on ECHO and shares the lead with 'Tiger'.
|
Class 2 - Zoom Baby - C Horrigan (Rush SC)
|
There was a new winner in Class 2 as well, again with a visitor upsetting the odds. 'Zoom Baby' (C.Horrigan) from Rush had almost a minute to spare on the water from 'King One' (David Cullen) who heads the overall standings while two wins in a row for 'C'est la Vie' (Flannelly & Others) on ECHO puts her in a good position going into next Sunday's third race.
|
Class 3 - Starlet - O'Kelly & Walsh
|
Class 3 is shaping up into an 'Alliance'-'Starlet' battle with the two boats swapping results this week and tying for first overall, this time Vince Gaffney getting the nod ahead of Fergus O'Kelly who had the consolation of an ECHO win to head that division.
|
White Sails Class 4 - Bite the Bullet - C Bermingham
|
Colm Bermingham's 'Bite the Bullet' made it two bullets in a row in White Sail Class 4 in both handicap systems ahead of the same two contenders, 'Changeling' (Kieran Jameson) on ECHO and 'Alphida' (Harry Byrne) on IRC.
|
White Sails Class 5 - Blue Eyes - W & C Buckley
|
The White Sail Class 5 are only racing under ECHO and it was a good day for the Buckleys' 'Blue Eyes' with an on the water success converting to handicap success and overall leadership to boot.
|
