| Northside Dragon wins Europeans |
The Etchells Europeans was raced in Holyhead over the weekend of May 23rd to May 25th, admirably co-hosted by Holyhead Sailing Club and The Royal Mersey Yacht Club. Twenty two Entries and 4 nations raced 6 races in strong conditions.
The series started on the Saturday afternoon at 12:30 in a southerly 20-28 knots of breeze with a 3ft swell running. Tough conditions took their toll with 6 boats not finishing race one, 10 not finishing race two and 11 not starting race three. Unfortunately this claimed the lives of two rigs, most notably Lady D (Marco Cimarosti from Cirolo Nautico Rapallo) who was ramping up a couple of single digits at the time.
It became very apparent early on in the first race that the right was paying in a big way. Northside Dragon (Jay Bourke – HYC) gave an early display of how to get out of jail on the right after a returned OCS. Meanwhile, Matatu Dubh (David Burrows – HYC) and Crop Duster (Dan O’Grady – HYC) gave a textbook display of first and second. The day continued along the same pattern with Fetching (O’Flaherty / Quinn – HYC) moving into the frame with a second in race 2 and Ragtime (Rob Goddard – Hamble) pulling a third. The last race was an extra race slotted in by the race committee. An unpopular decision with the Howth sailors who were anxious to watch Leinster beat Leicester in the Heineken European cup final rugby match. Matatu Dubh continued her winning streak with another bullet, Northside Dragon was second with Evelina (Sam Carter – RORC) a close third.
Day two started with mill pond conditions vindicating the race committee’s decision for a third race the previous day. However, before long we were sailing in 15 – 20 knots of southerelys, this time with the sun out - glorious conditions. Race one saw the black flag out, removing Crop Duster and Evelina from the running. Swedish Blue (Ante Razmilovic – Royal Thames) finding the lighter conditions more manageable won convincingly with Northside Dragon showing consistency in second. The Conjurer (Alex Lacy – HYC) was back in form in 3rd fresh after winning the Northerns the previous weekend. Race five saw the introduction of some match play as Matatu Dubh shoved Northside Dragon over to be OCS’d. Unfortunately they damaged their own start in the process leaving the series wide open. Crop Duster won the race with The conjurer in second. Fetching was third, placing them in touch with the overall leaders.
The last day saw Northside Dragon, Matatu Dubh and Fetching going in on 9, 15 and 16 points. Another nice day with about 10 knots from the south again. Another bit of light match play bounced Northside Dragon out to the right on a left paying racetrack. Fortunately a convenient 10 degree shift to the right kept her in play. After a highly tactical race where the lead changed on numerous occasions, Swedish Blue was first, Crop Duster 2nd and Matatu Dubh finished third with Northside Dragon in fourth, giving the series to Northside Dragon by 5 points overall from, Matatu Dubh. Fetching finished third, The Conjuror was fourth with the first UK boat being Evelina in fifth.
It was heartening to see the first four boats from Howth with our 4 year old fleet. Certainly, the boats are up to speed, Northside Dragon felt good after a recent faring and refit by MacManus Marine. It is a good sign for the Etchells worlds 2010 in Howth where the conditions we are racing in and our shore facilities are clearly world championship standard. Howth will also host the Irish Nationals on August 2009. |
