9-12kts, flat water and weekend long sunshine made for perfect conditions for the opening leg of the Irish Match Racing Tour. Lough Derg Yacht Club pulled out all the stops for the Munster Match Racing Open with a full round robin on each day.
The winter tutelage of Bill O’Hara and Tids Ownes clearly paid dividends for the teams that attended their workshop in the winter and yet again the standard has moved up a level. Respected international umpire Mike Butterfield attended the event and commented that, although the event was ISAF grade 4 due to the lack of international team, the sailing on display was at strong grade 3 standard across the board.
John Sheehy, Paddy Kirwan, Nick Smyth and Darragh O’Connor continue to stay ahead of the curve and with a 15-1 record - the loss coming to a clearly fired up Prof O’Connell - they took the event but in a much less assured way that the was seen last year and the final score suggests. 2nd place went to North Sails Ireland and 3rd to Team Lazarus. Full results and photos to follow.
April the 11th sees the colleges head to Howth for the IUSA Student Match Racing Championships.
