First championships in the books
A fleet of 9 Melges 15 and 50 ILCAs were treated to a variety of conditions at the Grant Thornton Sprint Regatta. Wind conditions on Dublin Bay were unstable shifting in direction and strength with sailors seeing between 15 knots and 0 knots at times on the Bay. Despite this Race Officer Barry O’Neill and his team managed to get in 5 ILCA Races and 6 Melges15 Races to complete the series.
The Melges 15 fleet get ready to start, where’s the bias?
After arriving in the Bay this Summer, this was the very first Melges 15 Regatta. Sailing the demo boat were Fireball and RS400s aces Barry McCartin and Conor Kinsella, while Howth sailor Darragh O’Connor crewed by Sligo Yacht Clubs Lauren Donaghy also joined the fleet for the first time.
The crews across the fleet were made up many family and friend combinations; on the family side there was husband and wife, father and daughter and uncle and niece teams, on the friend side old team racing combos, fireball aces and a youth team. Would blood be thicker than water?
Gerald O’Driscoll and Sean Hooper roll into a gybe
The first two races saw very light conditions and two inversions. Despite multiple position changes, sailing the ‘in and out’ conditions best were Barry and Conor who invariably popped out in front of the fleet just before the finish. Maybe years of experience sailing together counted with cool decisions made at the right times.
Unexpected light air zone causes chaos for all bar event winners Barry and Conor
The wind continued to be unsteady but ultimately a 15 knot westerly was looking to establish itself in a small pocket up by Blackrock were the fleet was racing. This strong wind gave the Melges sailors the chance to sail the angles downwind, looking to maximise boat speed and generate apparent wind. Thrills and spills and last second dodging of the LICA fleet kept everyone on their toes with a top speed of the day being recorded at 16.3 knots.
Old friends Mary O’Loughlin and Karena Knaggs make their fleet debut in style
After the dust settled, it appeared that blood is not thicker than water with long time sailing friends Barry and Conor winning clearly with Uncle and Niece John and Katie leading the Melges charge.
The most important race, the race to the dock!
