Keelboat Wednesday

With the leftover bruises fading and repairs completed after the taxing wind and sea conditions experienced on the Lambay Races weekend, the 18 boat Wednesday night keelboat fleet enjoyed a fantastic night’s racing in much more benign weather.  The wind ranged from 10 to 15 knots and was relatively steady in direction while the threateningly dark clouds skirted to the north of the race area.

In Class 1, Simon Knowles’ Indian and the Evans brothers’ The Big Picture kept company throughout the race but the two minutes advantage enjoyed by the Evans at the finish was not enough to save their time on Simon’s very competitive J109, which took the honours on both HPH and IRC.

In Class 2, the six-boat fleet enjoyed close racing with the two Sportsboats, Pat O’Neill’s Mojo and Nobby Reilly’s Ghost Raider, particularly enjoying the reach from Island to Hub that allowed them to show their downwind speed under asymmetric kites. However, the long beats from Hub to Cush and then from Hub to the finish gave the displacement boats their chance to shine and the results show Mata (Darren Wright) and No Excuse (Wormald, Walsh, O’Neill) each taking a win and a second place on HPH and IRC.

Class 3 saw a three-boat turnout, Stephen Mullaney’s Sigma 33, Insider, being joined by the J24s sailed by Brian McDowell and the HYC K25 Team. Brian’s J24, Scandal, took first on HPH while Insider won on IRC.

Class 4, the Whitesails fleet, took the honour of biggest fleet on the evening with seven boats afloat.  Terry McCoy’s Out and About topped the HPH results but Toughnut (Dermot Skehan) added another IRC win to his already impressive hoard of race victories this season, including his clean sweep of three IRC wins over the Lambay weekend.

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Report and photos, Neil Murphy

Photo Album

Dinghy Thursday

A total of 9 Optimists joined the session under the steady guidance of coach Matthew, who helped the young sailors navigate the shifty breeze and a strong ebb tide. 

Out on the racecourse, 10 PY dinghies lined up for what turned out to be a challenging single race. The light winds made boat handling and sail trim crucial, while the strong ebb tide kept everyone on their toes, testing both tactical awareness and patience.

Thank you to our race committee and support crews for managing the evening smoothly, and hats off to all competitors for their persistence. Here's hoping for a steadier breeze next week!

See you on the water next Thursday!

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Report David Sargent