#ICRA2012 – Three Cork IRC victories, two titles retained and local success on ECHO and in the BMW Corinthian Cup were the outstanding features of the overall results of the BMW Cruiser Nationals run by Howth Yacht Club for the Irish Cruiser Racing Association, with the 7-race series finishing on Sunday in glorious sunshine but in tricky northerly breezes.
The event brought together 123 boats in one of the biggest fleets of the Irish sailing season with 80% of the fleet visitors to Howth. This year the event got a Government approval when Marine Minister Simon Coveney TD lent his support to the Cruiser National Championships when it opened last Friday.
Anitx and the view the other Class Zero competitors got. The Royal Cork Yacht retained her Irish IRC title
Royal Cork boats Antix and Tiger retained their Division 0 and 3 Irish titles respectively but in totally different ways. Anthony O'Leary's Antix was pushed so hard all the way by Richard Fildes' Impetuous that the Welsh Corby 37's double win on the last day set up the intriguing scenario of a tie after discards. With four wins to Fildes' three, O'Leary made it by the tightest of margins.
Welsh yacht Impetuous hoists on the tail of Jump Juice
Neil Kenefick's Tiger from Royal Cork sailing to success in Howth
The opposite was the case in Division 3 where the Keneficks' dominance on Tiger was underlined by two more wins on the third day to seal an emphatic victory by the biggest margin (9 points) of any fleet. The pre-event favourites saw off the early challenge of Tim Goodbody's White Mischief, although the Royal Irish boat had the consolation of winning the ECHO award from another RIYC boat Quest.
Dun Laoghaire's Sigma 33 White Mischief skippered by Tim Goodbody held an early lead in class three IRC and won overall on ECHO
In Division 0, Crazy Horse from Howth (Chambers/Reilly) took the ECHO honours, with four race wins enough to beat the National's Vincent Farrell in Tsunami by two points. Only two points separating the top three showed how competitive Division 1 was on IRC with another Royal Cork entry Jelly Baby (Nagle & O'Malley) emerging on top, with a final race win the difference in edging out Xtravagance (Colin Byrne) from RIYC while more success went to the Dun Laoghaire club with Rockabill V's (Paul O'Higgins) narrow on ECHO.
Colin Byrne's Xtravangance from Dublin Bay was at the top in Class One but was edged out by Cork yacht Jelly Baby (Ian Nagle and Paul O'Malley) below.
After the first day, it was pretty straightforward for Checkmate XV, Nigel Biggs' entry from the Royal St. George, and three more race wins was enough to finish with a 7.5 points gap over second-placed Dux (Anthony Gore-Grimes of HYC). The performance was also sufficient to take the ECHO plaudits too, although the margin over Howth's Dave Cullen in King One was a little closer.
The only perfect scoreline in the Championships came in Division 4 where Team Toy Yot from Howth had a clean sweep on IRC while consistency earned Malahide visitor Goyave (Camier/Fitzpatrick) second overall, with the latter reversing the order on ECHO by virtue of one more race win.
Howth boats were very much to the fore in the non-spinnaker classes competing for the BMW Corinthian Cup, winning the A and B fleets on both handicap systems. On the Rox (C&J Boyle) wrapped up the A division with two wins to finish six points ahead of Bite the Bullet (Colm Bermingham) while they had five points to spare over Colm Buckley's Blue Eyes on ECHO.
Howth boat On the Rox won the Corinthian A fleet divison. More photos in the gallery below.
In the B fleet, Harry Byrne's Alphida (with Paddy Cronin on helm) stayed in the top four throughout and also recorded three wins to beat off the challenge of Joe Carton's Voyager on both handicaps. A second and a bullet on the last day brought Richard McAllister's Force Five into the top three frame on ECHO at the end.
At the prize-giving ceremony, Barry Rose, Commodore of the Irish Cruiser Racing Association complimented Howth YC on its handling of this major national event for a third time, and paid particular thanks to the organising committee, the three race officers and their teams of helpers and RIB drivers.
BMW Cruiser Nationals & Corinthian Cup 2012, Howth Yacht Club, Winners and (provisional) results after Day 3:
Division 0 IRC:
ANTIX, Anthony O'Leary
Division 0 ECHO:
CRAZY HORSE, Chambers/Reilly
Division 1 IRC:
.JELLY BABY, Ian Nagle & Paul O'Malley
Division 1 ECHO:
ROCKABILL V, Paul O'Higgins
Division 2 IRC:
CHECKMATE XV, Nigel Biggs
Division 2 ECHO:
CHECKMATE XV, Nigel Biggs
Division 3 IRC:
TIGER, Keneficks
Division 3 ECHO:
WHITE MISCHIEF, Timothy Goodbody
Division 4 IRC:
TOY YOT,
Division 4 ECHO:
GOYAVE, Camier/Fitzpatrick
Non-Spinnaker A IRC:
ON-THE-ROX (C & J Boyle)
Non-Spinnaker A ECHO:
ON-THE-ROX, C & J Boyle
Non-Spinnaker B IRC:
ALPHIDA OF HOWTH, Harry Byrne
Non-Spinnaker B ECHO:
ALPHIDA OF HOWTH, Harry Byrne
BMW Cruiser Nationals & Corinthian Cup 2012, Howth Yacht Club, Provisional results after Day 3:
Division 0 IRC: 1.ANTIX, Anthony O'Leary 2.IMPETUOUS, Richard Fildes 3.JUMP JUICE, Denise Phelan. Division 0 ECHO: 1.CRAZY HORSE, Chambers/Reilly 2.TSUNAMI, Vincent Farrell 3.LOOSE CHANGE, Mitton/Redden. Division 1 IRC: 1.JELLY BABY, Ian Nagle & Paul O'Malley 2.XTRAVAGANCE, Colin Byrne 3.ROCKABILL V, Paul O'Higgins. Division 1 ECHO: 1.ROCKABILL V, Paul O'Higgins 2.JELLY BABY, Ian Nagle & Paul O'Malley 3.XTRAVAGANCE, Colin Byrne. Division 2 IRC: 1.CHECKMATE XV, Nigel Biggs 2.DUX, Anthony Gore-Grimes 3.KING ONE, Dave Cullen. Division 2 ECHO: 1.CHECKMATE XV, Nigel Biggs 2.KING ONE, Dave Cullen 3.DUX, Anthony Gore-Grimes. Division 3 IRC: 1.TIGER, Kenefick's 2.WHITE MISCHIEF, Timothy Goodbody 3.HARD ON PORT, Flor O Driscoll. Division 3 ECHO: 1.WHITE MISCHIEF, Timothy Goodbody 2.QUEST, J Skernilt 3.HARD ON PORT, Flor O Driscoll. Division 4 IRC: 1.TOY YOT, Team Toy Yot 2.GOYAVE, Camier/Fitzpatrick 3.ASTERIX, Counihan/Bowhell/Meredith. Division 4 ECHO: 1.GOYAVE, Camier/Fitzpatrick 2.TOY YOT, Team Toy Yot 3.ASTERIX, Counihan/Bowhell/Meredith. Non-Spinnaker A IRC: 1.ON-THE-ROX, C & J Boyle 2.BITE THE BULLET, Colm Bermingham 3.CHANGELING, Kieran Jameson. Non-Spinnaker A ECHO: 1.ON-THE-ROX, C & J Boyle 2.BLUE EYES, Colm Buckley 3.PRETTY POLLY, Chris Horrigan. Non-Spinnaker B IRC: 1.ALPHIDA OF HOWTH, Harry Byrne 2.VOYAGER, Joe Carton 3.DEMELZA, W. Laudan / S. Ennis. Non-Spinnaker B ECHO: 1.ALPHIDA OF HOWTH, Harry Byrne 2.VOYAGER, Joe Carton 3.FORCE FIVE, R&J McAllister.
