#DRAGON – A London Olympic Games Race Officer, a weather forecast showing winds up to 20 knots and a pumped up Irish Dragon class all sounds like a recipe for a successful one design weekend which makes it all the more harder to fathom how the East Coast Cup failed to be presented at the National Yacht Club, Dun Laoghaire yesterday afternoon.
After losing Friday's race entirely due to lack of wind the fleet were summoned to a four race day on Saturday, unheard of in dragon circles, to put the event back on schedule.
It was just as well OOD Jack Roy insisted on the early start because two races were all that the crack NYC race management team could get as Dublin bay's local flukey winds and choppy seas won out over what appeared a perfect forecast of 20 knots from the east.
Frustratingly the Dragon fleet had to look on becalmed in the bay as the ICRA fleet racing in Howth powered along five miles to the East and in plenty of breeze.
Worse followed, the fleet stayed ashore on Sunday before racing was scrubbed (local SB20 racing was also cancelled) at lunchtime reducing the six race affair to just two races, an insufficient number for the class title to be awarded.
Kinsale Yacht Club Commodore Cameron Good and crew Henry Kingston and Simon Furney made the best of the situation tho recording a 1,2 to win overall in the 17-boat fleet from Dublin Bay's Neil Hegarty, Peter Bowring and David Williams.
Third was Belfast lough visitor Simon Brien crewed by Kenny McCullough and Oliver Lougheed. It was Brien's second weekend on the bay he raced an RS Elite last weekend at the RAYC Baily Bowl.
Results are available to download below as a PDF.
There is little over a month now to the Edinburgh Cup in Cultra on Belfast lough, the first Irish Dragon Grand Slam event.
