2004 Athens 470 Olympic partnership Ger Owens and Ross Killian teamed up again to win the 2021 All Ireland Sailing Championships in convincing style at Royal Cork Yacht Club this afternoon.
After three wins put Owens, representing the GP14 class, firmly into Sunday's final, the dinghy champion then scored another unassailable 3, 3, 1, 1 into today's breezy final raced inside Cork Harbour.
Owens of the Royal St. George Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire Harbour previously won the silver salver trophy 21 years ago, as WM Nixon reports here.
Squib representative Ross Kearney was runner up
Squib representative Ross Kearney finished second overall, a point behind with Owens clubmate Laser Radial sailor Sean Craig taking third place in the eight boat final raced in National 18 Ultras.
As per the forecast, Sunday's final certainly lived up to its heavy air billing, putting a premium on a 90kg wireman.
There was at least one capsize among the borrowed fleet of N18s in the strong winds.
There was also a disappointing retiral from ICRA 2 rep Nigel Biggs. "We just found our 148kg insufficient to race the boat competitively in 20 knots in the first race today", Biggs told Afloat.
Biggs concluded that there was not much point in thrashing a borrowed boat just to get around the course, so he took the difficult decision not to participate in the remainder of the day.
"Pretty gutted as we were quick yesterday, but at least we live to fight another day", he said.
Sean Craig representing the Radial class was third overall Photo: Bob Bateman.
All Ireland Sailing Championships 2021 Overall
All Ireland Sailing Championships 2021 Overall
