Click here for the full final results
The very top
of the fleet may already have been as good as decided, with Mike Hill just
needing to get a top five, and Mark Boylan needing to win both races, but it was
as tight as it could possibly be just a little further down the fleet, with
fifth placed Rachel Guy leading eleventh placed Peter Todd by just eleven
points, and with the second discard still to kick in.
As interesting
as Dee McCormack and Aisling Cronan’s dicso the night before had been, the
racing today was set to be even more so. A brisk force 3 was blowing at the
start of the first race of the day, and the tide was up to it’s usual Sligo
Bay antics. PRO Gus Henry decided to opt for the black flag on the first start
in order to get us all in off the water early. I was right in the middle of the
aforementioned clump of boats vying for fifth place, and the steam was almost
literally coming out of my ears when I found I had been black flagged on the
first start, a general recall. I could only watch as blond kid Adam McCullough,
tenth overnight, flew up the first
beat, and rounded the windward in third place, just behind leader Mark Boylan
and second placed Mike Hill. Fourth was Mark Armstrong and fifth was Karl
Mackey. Just behind were Gerard Healy, Rachel Guy, and Cillian Dickson, all of
whom were involved in the sail-off for fifth.
The leading
trio accelerated away from the chasing pack for Adam to claim a great third
place, as Mark held his lead over Mike. Mark Armstrong was fourth and Karl
Mackey fifth in a surprisingly uneventful race at the front, especially seeing
as the wind was reaching a healthy force 4 by this stage. Also impressive was
Sheila Armstrong, recording a twelfth place, and showing signs of recapturing
the form that put her 24th in Ireland at the age of just 16.
This meant
that Mike Hill was national champion, and he could safely have sailed in to
enjoy a hard-earned pint. This, however, isn’t Mike’s style, and he was
there on the start line for the next race. The wind was only blowing about a
force 2 on the start line, and for a second I thought I might have been black
flagged again while duelling with Hodel Herlihy on the line. I sailed past the
pin a few seconds after the gun, and a few boat lengths behind Cathal
Leigh-Doyle and Gerard Healy, who both port-tacked the fleet. It was now that
things started to get interesting. As far as I could judge, Gerard was in the
lead, Cathal was second, and I was well out on the left in third. Aileen Boylan
was a few boat lengths behind and to leeward, and Cillian Dickson was also close
out on the left. Then Gerard and Cathal were caught in a huge wind hole, leaving
me in the lead of the race, then I sailed into a smaller wind hole, leaving
Aileen firmly in control at the windward, with Cillian second, me third, Rachel
Guy very close in fourth and Mark Armstrong in fifth.
The next reach
had been made very tight by a shift, and the tide was sweeping everybody down to
leeward. Aileen was unlucky to get caught in the tide during the worst of the
lull, and Cillian was swept into the mark, leaving me leading the race again.
Then followed the most nerve-wracking 45 minutes of my life in light conditions,
with Mike Hill, Mark Armstrong and Rachel Guy closing in all the time. Even with
a shortened course I only managed to hold Mike off by a foot for my first ever
win in my last mirror race! Third place was Mark Armstrong, fourth was Rachel
Guy and fifth was Cillian Dickson.
Apologies for
writing an entire report about me, but this is the last chance I get!
The final
standings were-
|
Rank |
Tally |
Fleet |
Div |
SailNo |
Helm |
Crew |
Club |
R1 |
R2 |
R3 |
R4 |
R5 |
R6 |
R7 |
R8 |
Total |
Nett |
|
1st |
31 |
Gold |
Master |
70444 |
Michael
Hill |
Sarah
Hill |
RNIYC |
1 |
1 |
(5) |
1 |
(2) |
1 |
2 |
2 |
15 |
8 |
|
2nd |
32 |
Gold |
Junior |
70428 |
Mark
Boylan |
Eoin
Hickey |
Skerries
SC |
2 |
(42.0
OCS) |
1 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
(9) |
63 |
12 |
|
3rd |
48 |
Gold |
Junior |
69955 |
Karl
Mackey |
Maeve
Dickson |
LDYC |
3 |
3 |
2 |
4 |
1 |
(7) |
5 |
(55.0
DNC) |
80 |
18 |
|
4th |
3 |
Gold |
Youth |
70123 |
Mark
Armstrong |
Barry
Armstrong |
Sligo
Yacht Club |
(7) |
2 |
3 |
(5 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
32 |
20 |
|
5th |
26 |
Gold |
Junior |
69806 |
Rachel
Guy |
Dan
Bergin |
LDYC |
4 |
4 |
8 |
(11) |
(12) |
8 |
7 |
4 |
58 |
35 |
|
6th |
15 |
Gold |
Master |
67592 |
Peter
Collings |
Leo
Hickey |
DMYC |
8 |
7 |
(15) |
2 |
5 |
14 |
(43.0
OCS) |
1 |
95 |
37 |
|
7th |
29 |
Gold |
Junior |
70304 |
Cillian
Dickson |
Cormac
Dickson |
LRYC |
9 |
(10) |
10 |
(15) |
6 |
3 |
8 |
5 |
66 |
41 |
|
8th |
5 |
Gold |
Master |
70031 |
Gerard
Healy |
Kevin
Martyn |
Sligo
Yacht Club |
5 |
8 |
(12) |
7 |
7 |
(17) |
6 |
11 |
73 |
44 |
|
9th |
43 |
Gold |
Junior |
70340 |
Adam
McCullough |
Craig
Martin |
RNIYC |
(46.0
OCS) |
11 |
11 |
6 |
8 |
9 |
3 |
(55.0
DNC) |
149 |
48 |
|
10th |
1 |
Gold |
Junior |
70075 |
Joseph
McLoughlin |
Aoife
Flannigan |
Sligo
Yacht Club |
6 |
(12) |
6 |
9 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
(19) |
82 |
51 |
In closing,
I’d like to say that it has been a joy and a privilege to have been a part of
the best class in the country for the past seven years. Thank you to all of the
PROs, rescue boat crews, trolley girls, soup deliverers (especially Mikaela
Ronan!), but most of all to the sailors. You guys make the circuit what it is,
and I couldn’t have asked to have sailed with a better bunch of people.
Peter Collings
Signing off