Racers frustrated at Kinsale as world championships delayed

Fine weather played havoc with the opening races of the Cork County Council IFDS World Championships at Kinsale yesterday, where racing was postponed due to lack of wind.

A combined fleet of 130 boats in all three paralympic classes comprising around 200 sailors is waiting to begin what was scheduled to be a five-day series. Light winds are also forecast for today though fresher conditions are expected from tomorrow onwards.

The summer conditions also caused a delay to racing at Howth Yacht Club yesterday where 40 boats from 10 nations are competing in the BMW J24 World Championships.

A light northerly breeze of less than five knots conflicted with a flood tide running at almost two knots so the start of race one was postponed for two hours as the race management team waited for wind. Eventually, a moderate sea breeze took hold to get the series underway.

Brazilian defending champion Mauricio Santa Cruz fared well on his opening day with two third places, though it was not quite the consistent form of the overnight leader. Seattle skipper Keith Whittemore had two second places and the pair have opened a slight gap at the head of the leaderboard at this early stage.

Britain’s Ian Southworth from Cowes is third overall. It was a mixed day for Travis Odenbach from Rochester, New York, with a 13th place and a race win, to seal fourth.

Between the tide and the sometimes fluky breeze, the 10 Irish boats competing were mostly in the bottom half of the fleet after day one.

However, John Murphy and Martin Darrers’ Stouche competing for Howth and the Royal Cork yacht clubs respectively were best Irish entries with a 10th and an eighth and are seventh overall.