GP14 Championships of Ireland at Skerries Sailing Club

by Ossian Gerraghty 2 Sep 2016 17:13 BST 27-29 August 2016

GP14 Irish Nationals at Skerries © Andy Johnson

Skerries Saiing Club which has a long history of hosting excellent GP14 events welcomed the GP14 Class back for the 2016 Championships of Ireland sponsored by Bacharach. The event attracted an entry of 37 boats.

The first day of the event was characterised by medium strength winds. Recently returned from the UK having defended his UK British GP14 title Shane McCarthy crewed by Damien Bracken led the charge to the first mark followed by Niall Henry and Ossian Geraghty, Sligo Yacht Club. The Gallagher brothers from Lough Foyle powered through Henry /Geraghty and McCarthy/Bracken on the first reach and led to the first race to the finish. In the second race it was the turn of Tim Corcoran and Brendan Brogan, Sligo Yacht Club who took line honours snatching the lead from Hugh Gill and Conor Twohig from Sutton Dingy Club. At the end of the first day of racing it was obvious that consistency over the series would be the deciding factor in the event with many of the top boats collecting double digit point in the first day. Alan Blay and David Johnson Sutton Dingy Club and McCarthy/Bracken were in overall pole position leading into day two of the Championship.

Day two was like dying and going to sailor's hell. There were light winds with rolling waves and the most awful chop on the water all day. It was very difficult to get the boats moving at all and when you did you couldn't stir with the risk of stalling. Hugh Gill made it look easy leading this race from start to finish with Timmy Corcoran constantly trying to close the gap without success. The course was switched to Windward/Leeward which made for lots of passing opportunities. Race 4 was finally claimed by Niall Henry after an epic battle with reigning GP14 World Champion Shane McCarthy. After a lot of waiting around and two false starts the Officer of Day Liam Dineen abandoned the third race much to the delight of the weary fleet.

The final day of the Championships began with little to no wind which filled gradually as the morning progressed. After a number of attempts to set a course the wind finally moved south and built throughout the day. There was only four points separating the top five boats so it was all to play for in the last two races. With the building winds, shifts of up to thirty degrees, strong gusts and windward/leeward courses there was a lot of position changes during this race. JP and Caroline McCaldin from Lough Erne Yacht Club won Race five chased closely by Keith Louden and Alan Thompson from Sligo Yacht Club. The last race of the series was similar and the event was won/lost of the last run. It Curly Morris and Laura McFarlands turn at line honours in this final race but Timmy Corcoran who made five places on the final run to finish second to become the National Champions for 2016. This was a splendid way for Timmy to bow out and we wish him good luck in his move to Spain.

In the Silver Fleet a similarly epic battle was taking place and with the final gun there was only 3 points separating the top 3 Silver Finishers; Peter Boyle/Stephen Boyle, Steven Nelson/Brenda Preston and Katie Dwyer/Michelle Rowley.

Peter and Stephen Boyle, Silver Fleet Champions in the GP14 Irish Nationals at Skerries - photo © Andy Johnson

In the Bronze Fleet Youghal sailors Adrian Lee and Edward Coyne sailed a very consistent series beating most of the Silver boats to take the overall Bronze fleet. I suspect these guys need a promotion up to Silver the way they are sailing.

Adrian Lee and Edward Coyne, Bronze Fleet Champions in the GP14 Irish Nationals at Skerries - photo © Andy Johnson

The next GP14 event is the Autumn Open/Youth Championships which takes place on the 24th and 25th of September at Sligo Yacht Club. We look a good turnout. If you know of any Youth sailors who would like to compete please contact Ossian Geraghty, geraghty.ossian@gmail.com to arrange a boat and crew.

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Boat Name	Fleet	Youth/Master	Helm	Crew	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Pts
1	13036	Tabella	Gold		Tim Corcoran	Brendan Brogan	Sligo	6	1	2	4	3	2	12
2	14130	Kalaco	Gold	Master	Hugh Gill	Conor Twohig	SDC	10	2	1	6	5	3	17
3	13993		Gold	Master	Niall Henry	Ossian Geraghty	Sligo	2	10	3	1	7	6	19
4	14158		Gold		Shane Mac Carthy	Damien Bracken	Greystones	4	3	8	3	4	7	21
5	13977	Temerity	Gold		Alan Blay	David Johnston	SDC	3	4	6	2	8	39	23
6	14143		Gold	Master	John Mc Guinness	Donal Mc Guinness	Movile BC	11	5	7	8	16	8	39
7	14068		Gold		Keith Louden	Alan Thompson	Sligo	9	19	13	11	2	11	46
8	14192	Bossy boots	Gold	Master	Alastair Duffin	Andy Conkill	NSC & EDYC	14	6	16	7	20	4	47
9	14077	Trouble I've Seen	Gold	Master	Curly Morris	Laura Mc Farland	East Antrim & NSC	15	16	11	16	9	1	52
10	14116		Silver	Youth	Peter Boyle	Stephen Boyle	SDC	7	15	5	12	14	16	53
11	13901	Kanaka	Silver		Steven Nelson	Brenda Preston	DSC	8	14	12	14	6	17	54
12	14105		Silver		Katie Dwyer	Michelle Rowley	SDC	13	18	4	5	15	19	55
13	14054	Still Thinking	Silver		Doire Shiels	Andrew Sexton	SSC	5	11	14	13	18	14	57
14	14080	Blueberry Muffin	Silver	Youth	Gareth Gallagher	Richard Gallagher	LFYC	1	7	23	19	13	18	58
15	14047	Duffi	Gold		JP Mc Caldin	Carolyn Mc Caldin	Sligo	17	17	15	20	1	9	59
16	13207	This One	Bronze	Youth	Adrian Lee	Edward Coyne	YSC	20	9	9	10	19	13	60
17	13891	Cloud Nine	Gold		Richard Street	Simon Dick	BSC	12	13	10	9	17	20	61
18	13113	Wuf	Silver	Master	Jean‑ Louis Simons	Mark Hinton	WKSC	16	12	17	15	10	12	65
19	14166		Silver	Master	Richard Ham	Stuart Boyle	TSC	21	8	27	28	11	10	77
20	13917	Kmit	Silver	Master	Michael Cox	Josh Porter	Newtonards	27	25	25	25	12	5	92
21	14144	No Surprise	Gold		Coleman Grimes	David Lapin	SSC	22	27	20	17	22	15	96
22	13910	Keito	Bronze		Brian Andrews	Claire Cromie	Newtownards	19	23	24	22	21	21	106
23	14074		Silver	Master	Cathal Sheridan	David Cooke	SSC	18	30	19	24	26	22	109
24	14138		Silver		Simon Cully	Libby Tierney	Blessington	24	21	18	23	23	25	109
25	13847		Silver	Master	Noel Clarke	Chris Horrigan	SSC	25	20	21	18	34	39	118
26	13951	Gizmo	Bronze	Master	Steven Preston	Alison Boyd	DSC	28	22	29	26	29	26	131
27	13782		Bronze	Master	Michael Collender	Brian Walker	MSC	29	26	30	30	25	23	133
28	14171	Ananda	Silver	Master	L. Baalham	R. Richardson	DSC	26	24	26	21	39	39	136
29	13819		Bronze	Master	Duncan Greenhalgh	Liam O' Callaghan	Bassenthwaite SC	30	28	34	33	24	24	139
30	14133	Kylie	Bronze	Youth	Jack Buttimer	Adam McDonagh	YSC	32	32	33	32	27	27	150
31	13644		Bronze		Stuart Mc Cormack	Bernie Briody	MSC	23	29	31	29	39	39	151
32	13840		Bronze		James Hackett	Rosie Hackett	MSC	31	31	22	31	39	39	154
33	13890	Wave Dancer	Bronze		Ian Fitzpatrick	Colm Fitzpatrick	SSC	35	35	32	27	32	31	157
34	13981	Acceleration	Bronze	Youth	Matthew Street	Lee Mc Mullon	BSC	33	33	38	36	28	29	159
35	14	Infinity & Beyond	Bronze	Youth	Jordan Lupton	Finn O'Brien	YSC	34	36	28	34	31	32	159
36	13608		Bronze		Keith Leonard	Barbara Leonard	Swords	36	34	36	38	30	30	166
37	13257		Bronze	Master	Maurice Baalham	Colin Watson	DSC	37	37	35	35	33	28	168
38	13131	Holy Smoke	Bronze		Niall McMahon	Liam Kieran	SSC	39	39	37	37	39	39	191