Autumn Leagues take centre stage across the country
With both annual ISA All-Ireland Championships settled, the Autumn Leagues around the country are now in full swing, a subtle shift of gears between the main sailing season and the hardcore enthusiasts of the sport has taken place.
Once, in the not so distant past, the winter months would be a time for concentrating on shore-based activities.
But with the advent of modern clothing and some milder weather for at least part of the winter months, Ireland is close to having a year-round option on the sport.
Not that Lough Ree last weekend was able to rival a tropical hotspot despite good sunshine for the Al-Irelands: near gale force winds on Sunday took over from a chilly northerly breeze on the opening day of competition.
But there was little to split the finalists on Sunday and the weather-shortened championships saw two-times Olympian Peter Kennedy from Strangford split the tied threesome at the front of the fleet after two races of the final round.
That tie-break saw past-winner Alex Barry from Monkstown knocked back to second overall.
Had the weather allowed the two other scheduled races, would there have been a match-race to a different outcome?
In any event, Kennedy has his well-deserved turn to add his name to the famous silver salver that has been awarded on seventy previous occasions.
The previous weekend, Atlee Kohl of the Royal Cork Yacht Club had a similar battle of tie-breaks and a near identical weather pattern in Dun Laoghaire to lift the junior All-Ireland title.
Both events round off a season of highs across the sport, both inshore and offshore though there has been some amount of controversy to sort out in the winter months.
Chief amongst the issues is the Irish Cruiser Racing Association which failed to deliver a national championships as planned in Galway two months ago. The association that represents around 400 boat-owners – including an estimated 7,000 + crew-members – will attempt to restore order after a fractious 12-months at its AGM in Lough Derg YC on Saturday November 3.
But aside from the politics of the sport, plenty of results marked a busy season.
Notable events included the Volvo Round Ireland Race in June that attracted a near-record fleet of 55 boats but was also marked by the absence of any exotic maxi-sized entry.
That left the field open to a smaller boat winner and Niall Dowling’s professional-led Baraka Gp entry navigated by Ian Moore of Carrickfergus won the event outright after a typically robust passage up the west coast.
A past race winner and a veteran of the Volvo Ocean Race, Moore likened the Round Ireland to an ascent of Mount Kilimanjaro, neatly blending the competitive and adventure appeal of offshore sailing that is enjoying resurgent interest.
Not one but two Irish entries in the annual French single-handed offshore Figaro Race appears to confirm this trend which was also boosted by one of these being Joan Mulloy, the first Irish-woman to compete.
An attempt to be the first Irishman to race solo, non-stop around the world ended deep in the Southern Ocean after three months at sea for Gregor McGuckin when he was dis-masted in a terrifying 360 degree roll in a vicious Roaring forties storm.
Happily, he survived and opted to be rescued and landed in Western Australia from where he returns next Monday to recount his experiences.
Other highlights of the summer included the biggest turn-out for the re-styled Volvo Cork Week that is now in countdown to the tricentenary of the Royal Cork YC as the world’s oldest yacht club in 2020.
After all that, it’s little wonder that many regular sailors take a rest for winter months.
