International 12 Footer & Dublin Bay Sailing Club 12 Footer Irish Championship
by Vincent Delany 29 Aug 2016 10:30 BST
28 August 2016
Dorado to leeward of Scythian during the International 12 Foot and DBSC 12 Championship © Vincent Delany
These two classes share the same hull design, but they carry different rigs, the International 12 uses a single sail in a balanced lug, while the DBSC 12 has the same sail area in a gunter rig with a small jib. Racing within Dun Laoghaire harbour commenced with a force two wind from the north west. The race was held over a triangular course.
In race one, two DBSC 12s, Albany and Sgadan quickly pulled away from the fleet, and swopped places several times during the two lap race, before veteran sailor David Sarratt and his friend Gail Varian in Sgadan took the gun.
By race two the wind dropped to a fickle force one, causing the race to be reduced to one lap. On the upwind beat the DBSC boats performed best, with Sgadan and Albany well ahead of the rest. However the larger mainsail of the international boats enabled the international boats to travel faster, resulted in Cora leading from Pixie at the leeward mark where the entire fleet became bunched, and whistling for more wind. At the finish it was George and his son Andrew Miller in Pixie who took the gun.
When the fleet went ashore for lunch, Sgadan, Albany and Pixie were all on 9 points, leading the fleet. When they returned to the racing area the wind was very fickle from the north east, so the race was shortened after one lap. Cora was recalled at the start which set her back. In the force one wind, Albany the DBSC 12 sailed by brothers-in-law Tim Varian and Gavan Johnson won race 3.
The final race was sailed in a force two breeze which kept all the competitors bunched for the entire race of two laps. Again, it was Sgadan which pulled out ahead with Pixie second.
These two were on equal points, and thus the Irish 12 foot championship went to Sgadan, winner of the final race.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Helm | Crew | Boat Name | Type | Sail No | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | David Sarratt | Gail Varian | Sgadan | DBSC 12 | L 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 9 |
| 2 | George Miller | Andrew Miller | Pixie | International 12 | IRL 11 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 9 |
| 3 | Tim Varian | Gavin Johnson | Albany | DBSC 12 | IRL 9 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 11 |
| 4 | Margaret Delany | Gerry Murray | Cora | International 12 | IRL 8 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 15 |
| 5 | Andrew Johnston | ~ | Sythian | International 12 | Aus 1 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 18 |
| 6 | Aidan Henry | Billy | Dorado | International 12 | IRL 5 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 23 |
| 7 | Paul Gillespie | Joe | Calypso | DBSC 12 | IRL 37 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 27 |