#squib – Cousins Ross and Andrew Vaughan, in 'Joint Venture', have secured the Rodgers & Browne Squib Irish Championship in mixed weather conditions at Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club at the weekend.
Supported by North Down Borough Council, the event attracted 24 boats from all over the island of Ireland. A strong local Royal North contingent was boosted by visitors from Howth, Dun Laoghaire and strong representation from Killyleagh Yacht Club and the Quoile.
Day one brought perfect sailing conditions – bright sunshine and 10-12 knots of breeze - which made for exciting, close racing and a bar full of smiling sailors when they all returned ashore. The first raced ended with a near photo finish. 'Joint Venture' (RNIYC) won by inches from 'Inshallah' (David Eccles/Phil Hutchinson, RNIYC) and 'Quickstep III' (Gordon Patterson/Ross Nolan, RNIYC). In Race 2, 'Inshallagh' secured first place and the third race was won by 'Perfection' crewed by Jill Fleming and Conor O'Leary from the RSGYC. After three races 'Aficionado' crewed by John Driscoll and David Cagney (RNIYC) were topping the leader board by one point from 'Joint Venture', followed by 'Quickstep III' in third place.
However, the tail end of hurricane Bertha made its presence felt on Sunday and the sun was replaced with continuous rain and a stiff breeze. Smiling faces were hard to find as sailors left the warmth of the club house to head out to the moorings for the scheduled three races. The north easterly wind direction meant that the race area was close to the moorings and racing got underway after a short postponement as a result of a slightly shifting breeze.
The conditions suited the Vaughans and they got line honours in all three of the day's races with 'Aficionado' clocking in three second places. 'The Worm' (Sam Lyness/Eric Hayes, RNIYC), 'Quickstep III' and 'Kerfuffle' (Jonathan Craig/Hazel Ruane, Howth YC) secured third place in races four, five and six respectively.
This left the Vaughans four points ahead of 'Aficionado' overnight and 'Quickstep III' in third place. However, the Vaughans' 10 point discard coupled with John Driscoll and David Cagney's consistent scoring meant that the race for the Championship was far from over. Race seven was certainly shaping up to be an interesting one...
Monday morning dawned bright but very breezy with a number of boats deciding not to race. 'Inshallah' led the race at the first windward mark with 'Joint Venture' and 'Aficionado' in hot pursuit. However by the next lap, 'Joint Venture' had managed to pull out into the lead. However, in the end it was 'Aficionado' that crossed the line first with 'Joint Venture' second and 'Quickstep III' in third. Second place was enough to secure the Championship for the Vaughan cousins in 'Joint Venture'.
The Squib Class will now focus its attention on the Inland Championship in Lough Derg in October.
