O’Leary’s Antix storms to Zero win

A FULL RANGE of sailing conditions on Cork Harbour delivered a complete test to the combined fleet of more than 60 boats for the annual Irish Cruiser Racing Association (ICRA) national championships that ended yesterday.

Four titles were decided with the trophies awarded at Crosshaven yesterday.

In the aftermath of last Summer’s historic victory at the Commodores’ Cup in Cowes, the gathering of club racing crews from around Ireland and further afield was a test of strength for ICRA and an indicator of this week’s Sovereigns Cup regatta at Kinsale.

Commodores’ Cup team captain Anthony O’Leary on Antix won class Zero with ease counting five wins from seven races while Kieran Twomey’s Gloves Off was best of the chasing four boats, managing to nip past O’Leary for two wins. However, it was amongst the smaller boat sizes that the bigger turn-outs helped deliver plenty of competition despite the conditions that were decidedly challenging at times.

Pat Kelly’s Storm from Howth was rewarded for making the journey south for the championship with the Class One national title.

Kinsale’s Brian Goggin is the new Class Two national champion after Allure managed consistent top four places throughout the three-day series and clearly beat Raymond McGibney’s team on Dis-Array from Foynes who in turn were narrowly ahead of a string of Royal Cork YC boats led by Vincent O’Shea on Yanks $ Francs though the host club sailor won the ECHO handicap prize for the class.

The ECHO system — that handicaps a boat based on previous results rather than the boat’s specifications used for the main IRC system – was able to split the results in Class Three where Neil Kennefick’s Tiger counted six race wins to take the overall title under IRC while Eamon Rohan’s Anchor Challenge placed second. The places reversed under the ECHO system.