Twelve teams at Howth Inaugural Match Racing

27th July 2009

Howth Yacht Club played host to the inaugural Dublin Match Racing Open on Saturday and Sunday. Chief umpire Mike O’Conner and PRO Dave Lovegrove put on a superb weekends racing – 11 teams from around Ireland and one from the US enjoyed feisty conditions from 10 to 25kts.

With another superb all-round performance John Sheehy, Donagh O'Connor, Paddy Kirwin and Marty O'Leary took the honors taking their lead in the Match Racing Tour of Ireland to 20 points. The team from North Sails Ireland (Maurice O’Connell, Nuairi Hegarthy, Eoin Leahy and John Downey) came second, their extra boat speed making up for their lack of experience in the prestart. Tom Fitzpatrick, David McHugh, Marcus Spillane and Brendan Fafiani came in third at the open, taking them to second place on the Tour.

Thanks to the success of this event the Dublin Match Racing Open looks set to become a regular feature on the HYC calendar.

Final Results – 1 John Sheehy, 2 North Sails Ireland, 3 Tom Fitzpatrick, 4 Martin Mahon, 5 Andrew Fowler, 6 Brian Reilly, 7 Thesaurus Software, 8 Conal Casey 9= Ben Duncan, 9= Alex Barry, 9= Andy Deakin, 12 Kim Stewart.

Tour standings after 2 rounds – 1 John Sheehy (20 points), 2 Tom Fitzpatrick (12 points), 3 Martin Mahon (9 points), 4= North Sails Ireland (8 points), 4= Brian Reilly (8 points), 4= Ger Owens (8 points), 7 Thesaurus Software (5 points), 8 Andrew Fowler (4 points), 9 Ben Duncan (2 points), 10 Andy Deakin (1 point), 11 Conal Casey (1 point).

Photos: Gareth Craig (fotosail.com) – see Gareth's gallery of the event here

Published in News From the Afloat.ie Archive

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