Reavra edges lead in Spring Series

In contrast to last week’s bruising battle, a dying, shifting breeze, pleasant sunshine and shortened courses were the order of the day for competitors in the North Sails-sponsored third week of the Kinsale Yacht Club Spring Series.

OD Donal Hayes sent the White Sail fleets out from Charles Fort to Hake Head, but had to end the race there to ensure all finished before the zephyrs died out. Nonetheless, in White Sail One, the three leading boats crossed the line within 19 seconds on the water, Stephen Lysaght’s Reavra claiming the bullet by one second from the Murphy, Hennessy and Dann team on Val Kriss. Peter Kelly’s Magic Elfin popped up in third place again after being blown out last week.

Overall it’s tight at the head of affairs, with the top six separated by just four points — Reavra holding a one-point lead from both Dave Ross’s Sonas and Val Kriss.

In White Sail Two, the Lannigans’ Privateer claimed an impressive bullet, by six seconds on corrected time, from the in-form Windrose skippered by Billy Joyce. The ladies on Guiness Kann came home third with the Goode and Forde duo also in third overall on 10 points. Dave Cullinane’s Delos is in second on eight points and Windrose is a further point ahead.

With discards in White Sail not applying until five races have been completed, it’s likely both classes will see a final day shoot-out for the podium spots.

Out near the Bulman Buoy, OD Tony Ireson set about giving the Class Three and Class Four fleets a challenging coastal course. Both fleets headed out to Black Head and then east to the Sovereign Mark. In tough conditions, the Marron and O’Connell partnership on Bandit found themselves parked up and enviously monitoring Class Three rival Padraig O’Donovan’s progress on Chameleon.

Bandit took its chance later and went on to score a crushing victory, claiming a fifth bullet in succession in IRC and leading Chameleon home by over 30 minutes and the Ryan/Tyler team on Away on Business by over 40 minutes on corrected time.

Bandit is on out on her own at the top of the IRC Three leaderboard, with the discard coming in to play this week. Finbarr Dorgan’s No Half Measures is second on eight points, even though she missed this week’s events and Chameleon lies third a further four points in arrears.

In ECHO Three, the finishing order was the same, albeit much closer with the progressive handicapping well reflecting the boats’ potential. Overall, No Half Measures holds onto top spot with Bandit and Chameleon tied on points just one point behind.

In IRC Four, Alan Mulcahy’s yellow-hulled Sundancer led Richard Hanley’s Saoirse home in the sunshine for the third race in a row, with Michael Murphy’s Shelly D claiming third. The three have this class to themselves and this week’s action reflected the overall picture, with Sundancer holding a two-point lead from Saoirse, with Shelly D four points further adrift.

In ECHO Four, Saoirse claimed the bullet, with Shelly D pushing Sundancer down to third spot on the day. Overall, Saoirse holds a slender one-point advantage over Sundancer, with the Higgins and Morrison pairing on La Maraquita holding onto third spot, despite retiring from Sunday’s lengthy challenge.

A mile or more south of the Bulman Buoy, OD Tony Small and team set up the windward-leeward courses for classes zero, one and two. All fleets were well-behaved for the first races’ starts, with both the Class Two and the combined Class Zero and One fleets getting away cleanly.

The top mark was initially laid west of the Sovereign Mark and the shifting breeze and the wind shadow from the Sovereign Rocks presented plenty of opportunities for big gains and losses. In IRC 2, Brian Goggin’s Allure came home first by 14 seconds on corrected time from Clem and Wendy McElligott’s Sea Hawk with the RCYC team on Bad Company just 19 seconds further behind.

There was a delay and then an abandoned sequence before the breeze settled sufficiently to lay a new windward mark. In the second race, John O’Regan and company on The Main Four read the conditions best and came home to claim the bullet from Sea Hawk with Allure third.

Overall in IRC Two, Brian Goggins’ Allure leads the way, with the Desmond, Ivers and Deasy outfit on Bad Company in second overall, despite having a race to forget in their latter outing on Sunday. Fortunately for them the discard is in play and gives Bad Company a three-point lead from the KYC team on Sea Hawk.