Joining the fleet, fresh from his triumphant performance at the UK IRC Nationals, is Royal Cork’s Dave Dwyer in Marinerscove. Dwyer took first place IRC 1 class in the Solent last weekend and also won the RORC (Royal Ocean Racing Club) overall trophy. He has been running a very tight schedule to make it back in time to defend his ICRA title, won at Howth last year.
Stiff competition in Class Zero is expected at Tralee Bay for the three-day Championships from Eamon Rohan’s King 40 Blondie IV, also RCYC, and Dubliner Tim Costello’s Mills 43. In Class One, Royal Cork Admiral Mike McCarthy in Checkmate will be one to watch, but there are plenty of diverse competitive boats to make it difficult for him. One of these will be Royal Cork’s Anthony O’Leary’s modified 1720 Antix Beag. This modified sports boat has been turned into a mini cruiser racer with the addition of a cabin, guard rails and berths.
In Classes 2 and 3, equally strong competition is expected from the Colwell/Murphy Corby 25, Kinetic, from Howth, winner of the class last year and expected to turn in a very strong performance. Class 3 is as competitive as ever with Vincent Gaffney’s Alliance topping the bill, being a past class champion.
The forecast for the event is for very light winds and this could indeed shuffle the pack. Race officers for the event are Alan Crosbie, Rob Lamb and Liam Dineen.
Today (11th June) sees the start of the first ever Irish Cruiser Racing Association National Championships to be held on the West Coast of Ireland, running until Saturday the 13th June. Hosted by Tralee Bay Sailing Club, the event is being sailed in beautiful Tralee Bay at Fenit, where fleets have converged from Dublin, Cork and Galway to join with the local fleets from the Kerry and Shannon regions, making a total entry of over 70 cruiser racers.
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