Lough Erne's J24 Crazy Horse is 2023 Oyster Pearl Trophy Winner at Carlingford

10th August 2023

The Luke McBride skippered Crazy Horse from LEYC was the worthy recipient of the 2023 Oyster Pearl Trophy

The long trail for the crew of the J24 Crazy Horse from the western county of Fermanagh to Carlingford Lough in the east between County Down and County Louth was worthwhile as they went home with the top prize in the classic Oyster Pearl Regatta held last weekend. So too, was the John Conlon skippered Sun Fast 37 Humdinger, who made the long passage from Arklow.

A large fleet of thirteen cruisers came to the starting line in the first of six races in the 2023 event. In competition with local boats, visiting cruisers from Arklow SC and Lough Erne YC battled it out over the two days in a two-day programme with YTC and Echo handicaps being used which to determine results with the winner of YTC to lift the coveted Pearl Trophy and the Pearl Cup to be awarded to Echo winners.

Saturday’s weather provided testing conditions with rain and 11 to 18-knot northerly winds, and as expected, Luke Mc Bride’s very fast J24 Crazy Horse and last year’s winner, the Sunfast 37, Humdinger led the way with local cruisers Warrior, Piglet and Supersonic in hot pursuit. At the end of day one, Crazy Horse with two points, led by three points from Humdinger.

The Arklow crew of Humdinger were winners of the Oyster Pearl Echo Cup

On Sunday, squally north westerly winds, gusting 30 knots, kept the crews on their toes and after a delayed start for windward mark adjustment, racing got underway. Again the Arklow and Fermanagh crews led the way with the local pack on their heels. Bringing up the rear, Rowena, Xanadu, and Pandemonium were enjoying their own close racing battle.

With points tallied, it was the Luke McBride skippered Crazy Horse from LEYC, which was the worthy recipient of the 2023 Oyster Pearl Trophy. Last year’s winner, Humdinger, was pipped to second but had the consolation of winning the Pearl Cup on Echo. Brian Mc Conville’s J24 Piglet took a well-deserved third.

Moneley Oyster Pearl 2023 Results

Moneley Oyster Pearl Trophy (YTP) Crazy Horse Luke Mc Bride LEYC
2nd Humdinger John Conlon Arklow SC
3rd Piglet Brian Mc Conville CLYC
Oyster Pearl Cup (Echo) Humdinger John Conlon Arklow SC

Published in Racing, J24, Northern Ireland Waters

Published in Racing

Tagged under

Oyster Pearl

About The Author

Betty Armstrong

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Betty Armstrong is Afloat and Yachting Life's Northern Ireland Correspondent. Betty grew up racing dinghies but now sails a more sedate Dehler 36 around County Down

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