Mirror Nationals Day 3 Report

 

After an interesting night that saw Melissa Daly win the dubious honour of a hot date with Don McCormack, it was a surprise that nobody seemed particularly bleary-eyed arriving at the club on Saturday morning, although Adam McCullough was sporting a very fetching black eye. It was blowing about a force 3 when everyone was launching, so for once the tide wasn’t a problem. I had an excellent view of this, because I was on the balcony fixing my burgee, which had slipped down into the bracket again. Neil McCullough asked to be included in this report, as he was nearly knocked into the water fixing the offending burgee from a RIB yesterday.

  The first race got away after one general recall. It was Niall Carbery who was the most impressive up the first beat, and he rounded the windward mark with Mike Hill. The chasing pack contained Karl Mackey, Mark Armstrong, Mark Boylan, Cillian Dickson, Gerard Healy and myself.

  This leading group managed to break away from most of the chasing pack, with only Joe McLoughlin hanging onto the coat tails. Niall Carbery was unlucky not to keep in sync with the shifts up the second beat, and began to drop back, and so it was Karl, Mike and the two Marks who were left fighting for the lead in a race of their own. Cillian and myself were left to race for fifth place in exciting downwind surfing conditions. Final results were Karl Mackey in first, after a thundering first career victory. Mike was second and Mark Boylan third. Fourth place was Mark Armstrong, and fifth was myself. Colm Hackett gets a special mention for sailing an entire force 4 race with no tiller extension, although he gives credit to his instructor last year!

  The second race was started under a black flag, and the leading group around the windward were Mike, Mark Boylan, Cillian Dickson and Graham Daly, after an incredible first beat. I was in fifth, followed by a group containing Joe McLoughlin, Karl Mackey and Mark Armstrong.

  The top group accelerated away up the second beat. I decided to go left, following a slight right shift, and was shocked when the wind kept shifting to the right, leaving me out of the tide, and  well out of touch with the leaders. The final order at the finish was Mike in first, Mark Boylan second, and Cillian Dickson in third. Fourth place was a resurgent Mark Armstrong, and fifth was Graham Daly, an excellent result in his first nationals.

  The only protest of the day was withdrawn, leaving the overall standings going into the final day as follows-

 

Rank

Tally

Fleet

Division

Boat

SailNo

Helm

Crew

Club

R1

R2

R3

R4

R5

R6

Total

Nett

1st

31

Gold

Master

Dead on

70444

Michael Hill

Sarah Hill

RNIYC

1

1

 

1

2

1

11

6

2nd

32

Gold

Junior

Better Late Than Never

70428

Mark Boylan

Eoin Hickey

Skerries SC

2

 

1

3

3

2

60

11

3rd

48

Gold

Junior

Gee-Czar

69955

Karl Mackey

Maeve Dickson

LDYC

3

3

2

4

1

 

20

13

4th

3

Gold

Youth

We Take Plastic

70123

Mark Armstrong

Barry Armstrong

Sligo Yacht Club

 

2

3

5

4

4

25

18

5th

26

Gold

Junior

Kaizon

69806

Rachel Guy

Dan Bergin

LDYC

4

4

8

11

 

8

47

35

6th

15

Gold

Master

Levante

67592

Peter Collings

Leo Hickey

DMYC

8

7

 

2

5

14

51

36

7th

29

Gold

Junior

 

70304

Cillian Dickson

Cormac Dickson

LRYC

9

10

10

 

6

3

53

38

8th

5

Gold

Master

Remedy

70031

Gerard Healy

Kevin Martyn

Sligo Yacht Club

5

8

12

7

7

 

56

39

9th

1

Gold

Junior

Lap Dancer

70075

Joseph McLoughlin

Aoife Flannigan

Sligo Yacht Club

6

 

6

9

9

10

52

40

10th

43

Gold

Junior

Kiss my aft

70340

Adam McCullough

Craig Martin

RNIYC

 

11

11

6

8

9

93

45

11th

38

Gold

Youth

Mach II

69170

Peter Todd

Toby McCollough

RNIYC

10

6

4

10

16

 

64

46

12th

7

Gold

 

George

69683

Cathal Leigh(Doyle

Shauna Armstrong

Sligo Yacht Club

12

 

16

8

11

11

74

58

13th

27

Gold

Junior

Twice Daly

70465

Graham Daly

Melissa Daly

Skerries SC

16

9

 

16

13

5

77

59

14th

6

Gold

Youth

Reality Bites

70017

Cian Gallagher

Peter Connolly

Sligo Yacht Club

14

15

7

12

15

 

79

63

15th

33

Gold

Junior

Keep On Smiling

70087

Aileen Boylan

Roisin Leneghan

Skerries SC

 

5

13

19

21

6

112

64

16th

12

Gold

Junior

Breaking Wind

70464

Barry Ronan

Suvi Ronan

Sligo Yacht Club

15

14

9

14

 

13

82

65

17th

28

Gold

Youth

Vengeance

70333

Niall Carbery

Andrew McGonigle<