Irish Squib Southern Championship at Kinsale Yacht Club
by Michele Kennelly 2 Jul 2018 09:45 BST
30-1 July 2018
Irish Squib Southern Championship at Kinsale © Michele Kennelly
Kinsale Yacht Club hosted the Squib Southern Championship over the weekend. Six races were sailed over the two days with different wind and sea conditions each day.
Saturday had a 12 – 15 knot breeze coming from due east so there was a swell which made for testing conditions while Sunday saw gusts over 20 knots but flat seas as the wind was due north.
Race 1 saw Colm Dunne & Fiona Ward on Allegro dominate from the start with Ian Travers & Keith O'Riordan on Outlaw 2nd and Denis & Brid Cudmore on Sensation 3rd. With less than 3.5mins between the last finisher and the warning signal for the next race Race Officer Peter Crowley had his team running like a well oiled machine. Race 2 saw the lead boats reversed with Outlaw in command and Allegro in 2nd. Bodacious with Jeff Cochrane & Finbarr O'Regan were battling with Sensation for 3rd but Sensation prevailed.
Race 4 on Sunday had Allegro in front from the start. Sensation tacked up the middle of the course and gained several places to secure 2nd and Bodacious was 3rd. Outlaw was 4th which meant that this was possibly his discard. Race 5 got underway and Allegro was 1st and Outlaw 2nd. Sensation was jockeying with Bodacious again but secured another 3rd.
Race 6 got underway with Allegro and Outlaw on equal points. They tacked up the beat covering each other. Outlaw got to the windward mark first on the final beat but Allegro caught him on the run and they arrived to the leeward mark together. Allegro managed to push Outlaw up after rounding and this gave Allegro the edge he needed to beat to the line and secure the championship.
Thanks to Mamukko Kinsale, Matthews of Cork and CH Marine for sponsoring the event. Also to Peter Crowley, Race Officer, and his team aboard Spare Time, and all the mark layers.