Mariners Cove helps Ireland extend advantage at Cowes

DAVE DWYER’S marinerscove.ie led the Irish charge for the offshore race of the Rolex Commodores’ Cup in Cowes yesterday, winning Class 2 in the 180-mile race that lasted more than 24 hours.

His result — along with a second for team captain Anthony O’Leary on Antix and a fourth for Roxy 6 skippered by Andrew Creighton — extended Ireland’s overall lead of the event.

The outcome of the high-scoring race saw Ireland share the win for the course with Hong Kong which now moves into second overall, displacing Britain’s GBR Red as an up and coming force within the event that has now passed the halfway mark.

The much-anticipated challenge from the three French teams as noted offshore specialists was apparent at times but lacked consistency across all crews in all three teams.

Nevertheless, the event has been close to an Irish victory in the past and hard lessons learnt are foremost in the Irish Cruiser Racing Association’s strategy.

“We have gone through this so many times before, every knows it’s not over, so we’re quite calm about getting on with it — we’re here to race and nothing else,” Dwyer said yesterday after finishing the race.

The offshore race that counted for 2.5 times normal race points placed huge demands on the crews as conditions gusted to 25 knots throughout the course around the northern coast of the English Channel.

“Not one person gave up, we’re representing our country and we wanted this, so every person pushed as hard as possible,” said Dwyer.

“It was a memorable result and it’ll never be forgotten.

“We knew this was a turning point, even though there’s more to go, it was a huge race for us and I couldn’t fault even one of our crew.”

Antix’s second-place finish continued its consistent streak so far. Roxy 6’s position was a continued development of a highly competitive small boat class that saw key rival Rockall III win yesterday for Cork helm David Kenifick.

The remainder of the event counts a long inshore course today followed by a round of the Isle of Wight course tomorrow that counts for 1.5 times points. The deciding inshore race on Saturday counts for double points.