#ROWING: Philip Doyle of Queen’s University set the fastest time – six minutes 1.3 seconds – at the Ulster indoor rowing tournament. Doyle and second-placed Sam Keown, who won the under-23 section in 6:08.5, were using the event to record times in the Rowing Ireland assessment process. The event was part of the BUCS (British University) indoor rowing series.

Scroll down for ULSTER INDOOR RESULTS 

 

 

W U15			DISTANCE	CLUB	TIME	CLASS	H/P
	Rebecca	JONES -	1000m	MCB -	03:45.3	W U15	N
	Kayla	MCCANN -	1000m	P'DOWN -	03:56.9	W U15	N
	Laura	JEFFERS -	1000m	MCB -	03:58.3	W U15	N
	Hannah	WILSON -	1000m	MCB -	04:00.9	W U15	N
	Caitlin	WOODS -	1000m	MCB -	DNS	W U15	N
	Emily	HOBSON -	1000m	BRC -	DNS	W U15	N
M U15			DISTANCE	CLUB	TIME	CLASS	H/P
	Xeno	YOUNG -	1000m	MCB -	03:25.3	M U15	N
	Alexander	WILSON -	1000m	MCB -	03:32.4	M U15	N
	Aaron	ROURKE -	1000m	MCB -	03:34.1	M U15	N
	Olly	RYDER MOORE -	1000m	MCB -	03:42.6	M U15	N
	Jackson	CORDNER -	1000m	MCB -	03:51.1	M U15	N
	James	KELLY -	1000m	MCB -	03:54.2	M U15	N
	Peter	GILMORE -	1000m	MCB -	04:00.4	M U15	N
	Callum	MCEVOY -	1000m	MCB -	04:00.5	M U15	N
	Callum	MARTIN -	1000m	P'DOWN -	04:05.5	M U15	N
W U16			DISTANCE	CLUB	TIME	CLASS	H/P
	Hannah	SCOTT -	2000m	BANN -	07:38.7	W U16	YES
	Rachel	MCBRINN -	2000m	MCB -	07:42.8	W U16	YES
	Lucy	MCINTYRE -	2000m	MCB -	07:47.5	W U16	YES
	Lucy	TAYLOR -	2000m	BRC -	07:56.7	W U16	N
	Catherine	MCGARRY -	2000m	MCB -	08:06.6	W U16	N
	Sophia	HART -	2000m	MCB -	08:19.7	W U16	N
	Claudia	COULTER -	2000m	BRC -	08:23.0	W U16	N
	Nicky	EAMES -	2000m	MCB -	08:32.2	W U16	N
	Rhianna	BETTS -	2000m	MCB -	08:41.0	W U16	N
	Fiona	CHESTNUTT -	2000m	BANN -	DNS	W U16	YES
	Rowena	WALKER -	2000m	P'DOWN BC -	DNS	W U16	YES
M U16			DISTANCE	CLUB	TIME	CLASS	H/P
	Aaron	CHRISTIE -	2000m	BANN -	06:45.9	M U16	YES
	Callum	MACRAE -	2000m	MCB -	06:57.4	M U16	YES
	Rory	EAKIN -	2000m	MCB -	06:59.7	M U16	YES
	Connor	EVANS -	2000m	CAI -	07:19.4	M U16	N
	Dawson	BROWN -	2000m	MCB -	07:23.5	M U16	N
	Matthew	LOGUE -	2000m	CAI -	07:47.8	M U16	N
	Fergus	CLARKE -	2000m	CAI -	08:24.8	M U16	N
	Rhys	FREW -	2000m	CAI -	09:02.2	M U16	N
	Ryan	FREW -	2000m	CAI -	09:09.1	M U16	N
	Zach	SMITH -	2000m	CAI -	DNS	M U16	N
	Christopher	PARISH -	2000m	BANN -	DNS	M U16	YES
W U18			DISTANCE	CLUB	TIME	CLASS	H/P
	Erin	BARRY -	2000m	BANN -	06:57.8	W U18	YES
	Katie	SHIRLOW -	2000m	BANN -	07:31.2	W U18	YES
	Chloe	DEYERMOND -	2000m	MCB -	07:32.4	W U18	N
	Rebecca	MENAGH -	2000m	BANN -	07:45.4	W U18	YES
	Ochre	ANDRESS -	2000m	MCB -	08:16.4	W U18	N
	Amina	MARTIN -	2000m	P'DOWN -	08:40.3	W U18	N
	Cassie	FLACK -	2000m	P'DOWN -	08:56.0	W U18	N
M U18			DISTANCE	CLUB	TIME	CLASS	H/P
	Aidan	MURRAY -	2000m	BBC -	06:27.9	M U18	YES
	Timothy	DAVIDSON -	2000m	BANN -	06:38.4	M U18	YES
	Ethan	MAGILL -	2000m	MCB -	06:48.7	M U18	N
	Adam	KENNEDY -	2000m	MCB -	06:58.6	M U18	N
	Jacob	BLEAKLEY -	2000m	P'DOWN -	06:59.5	M U18	N
	Aleksander	LAVINS -	2000m	P'DOWN -	07:02.2	M U18	N
	Josh	JORDAN -	2000m	BRC -	07:05.0	M U18	N
	Gary	ALLEN -	2000m	CAI -	07:07.4	M U18	N
	Jonathan	WOODS -	2000m	CAI -	07:10.9	M U18	N
	Aaron	MCFARLAND -	2000m	CoD -	07:11.6	M U18	N
	Miles	TAYLOR -	2000m	MCB -	07:14.8	M U18	N
	Andrew	MCINTYRE-	2000m	CAI -	07:15.3	M U18	N
	Peter	STEWART -	2000m	CAI -	07:21.9	M U18	N
	Chris	CLARKE -	2000m	MCB -	07:23.3	M U18	N
	Conall	GRAY -	2000m	MCB -	07:25.4	M U18	N
	John	ANDERSON -	2000m	CAI -	07:25.6	M U18	N
	Jordan	GREGG -	2000m	CAI -	07:37.7	M U18	N
	Kyle	MILLAR -	2000m	CAI -	07:52.7	M U18	N
	Louis	CHAMBERS -	2000m	P'DOWN -	DNF	M U18	N
	Dylan	MITCHELL -	2000m	BANN -	DNS	M U18	YES
W U23			DISTANCE	CLUB	TIME	CLASS	H/P
	Olivia	BLUNDELL -	2000m	BBC -	07:28.7	W U23	YES
M U23			DISTANCE	CLUB	TIME	CLASS	H/P
	Sam	MCKEOWN -	2000m	P'DOWN -	06:08.5	M U23	YES
M U23Lwt			DISTANCE	CLUB	TIME	CLASS	H/P
	Joel	KELLY -	2000m	QUB -	06:32.5	M U23Lwt	BUCS + HP
	Luke	MCCANN -	2000m	QUB -	06:47.3	M U23Lwt	BUCS + HP
	Michael	CURRAN -	2000m	CAI -	07:16.9	M U23Lwt	N
	Oliver	GAGE -	2000m	CAI -	DNS	M U23Lwt	N
W Olwt			DISTANCE	CLUB	TIME	CLASS	H/P
	Sarah	QUINN -	2000m	BBC -	07:16.8	W OLwt	YES
	Rachel	BROWN -	2000m	QUB -	07:54.1	W Olwt	BUCS
	Alicia	GREENE -	2000m	QUB -	07:57.8	W Olwt	BUCS
	Stephanie	MCIVOR -	2000m	QUB -	07:59.5	W Olwt	BUCS
	Samantha	FISHER -	2000m	QUB -	08:17.8	W Olwt	BUCS
	Cathy	HINDS -	2000m	QUB -	08:35.1	W Olwt	BUCS
	Abi	BUCK -	2000m	QUBLBC	09:01.2	W Olwt	BUCS
M Olwt			DISTANCE	CLUB	TIME	CLASS	H/P
	Joel	KELLY -	2000m	QUB -	06:32.5	M Olwt	BUCS + HP
	Liam	MORAN -	2000m	QUB -	06:41.9	M Olwt	BUCS
	Luke	MCCANN -	2000m	QUB -	06:47.3	M Olwt	BUCS + HP
	Lloyd	WHITE -	2000m	QUB -	06:49.6	M Olwt	BUCS
	Ben	SMITH -	2000m	QUB -	06:59.2	M Olwt	BUCS
	David	ROY -	2000m	QUB -	07:21.1	M Olwt	BUCS
	Jordan	ALLEN -	2000m	QUB -	07:21.4	M Olwt	BUCS
	Aaron	MEENAGH -	2000m	QUB -	DNS	M Olwt	BUCS
W O			DISTANCE	CLUB	TIME	CLASS	H/P
	Roisin	MAGUIRE -	2000m	QUB -	07:16.2	W O	BUCS
	Ruth	TAYLOR -	2000m	QUB -	07:53.4	W O	BUCS
	Lana	MULLAN -	2000m	QUB -	08:00.6	W O	BUCS
	Ellie	HOLMES -	2000m	QUB -	08:02.0	W O	BUCS
	Rosanna	MCBRIEN -	2000m	QUB -	08:03.3	W O	BUCS
	Caroline	MCCAMMON	2000m	QUB -	08:23.8	W O	BUCS
	Brooke	BURNSIDE -	2000m	QUB -	08:43.0	W O	BUCS
	Victoria	COULTER -	2000m	QUB -	08:53.1	W O	BUCS
M O			DISTANCE	CLUB	TIME	CLASS	H/P
	Phillip	DOYLE -	2000m	QUB -	06:01.3	M O	BUCS + HP
	Tiernan	OLIVER -	2000m	QUB -	06:09.7	M O	BUCS + HP
	Oliver	GRAHAM -	2000m	QUB -	06:19.8	M O	BUCS
	Phillip	PATTON -	2000m	QUB -	06:26.6	M O	BUCS
	Jonny	ERSKINE -	2000m	QUBBC	06:28.3	M O	BUCS
	John	VINCENT -	2000m	QUB -	06:40.7	M O	BUCS
	Ross	WILLIAMSON -	2000m	QUB -	07:02.7	M O	BUCS
	Gareth	HERRON -	2000m	QUB -	DNS	M O	BUCS
	Adam	BOREHAM -	2000m	QUB -	DNS	M O	BUCS + HP
W Beg			DISTANCE	CLUB	TIME	CLASS	H/P
	Siofra	CORR -	1000m	QUB -	03:49.4	W Beg	BUCS
	Millie	JESSUP -	1000m	QUB -	03:51.9	W Beg	BUCS
	Sarah	MCELROY -	1000m	QUB -	03:53.9	W Beg	BUCS
	Katherine	DAWSON -	1000m	QUB -	03:56.0	W Beg	BUCS
	Michaela	RYDEN -	1000m	QUB -	03:58.3	W Beg	BUCS
	Rachel	MEEK -	1000m	QUB -	03:58.4	W Beg	BUCS
	Rebecca	DAVISON -	1000m	QUB -	04:04.3	W Beg	BUCS
	Holli	BURGON -	1000m	QUB -	04:04.5	W Beg	BUCS
	Natalie	JONES -	1000m	QUB -	04:09.7	W Beg	BUCS
	Colleen	O'SULLIVAN -	1000m	QUB -	04:10.6	W Beg	BUCS
	Mia	JOHNSTON -	1000m	QUB -	04:11.7	W Beg	BUCS
	Katherine	BEATTIE -	1000m	QUB -	04:11.8	W Beg	BUCS
	Amy	FOSTER -	1000m	QUB -	04:13.8	W Beg	BUCS
	Rebekah	CRAIG -	1000m	QUB -	04:15.4	W Beg	BUCS
	Claire	BECKINGHAM -	1000m	QUB -	04:17.4	W Beg	BUCS
	Emma	DONALDSON -	1000m	QUB -	04:20.1	W Beg	BUCS
	Anna	SMYTH -	1000m	QUB -	04:22.0	W Beg	BUCS
	Heather	THOMPSON	1000m	QUB -	04:23.0	W Beg	BUCS
	Ali	GALLAGHER -	1000m	QUB -	04:27.6	W Beg	BUCS
	Victoria	TRUESDALE -	1000m	QUB -	04:43.2	W Beg	BUCS
	Emma	JONES -	1000m	QUB -	04:46.2	W Beg	BUCS
	Chloe	HOGG -	1000m	QUB -	04:46.3	W Beg	BUCS
	Jenny	SALMON -	1000m	QUB -	DNS	W Beg	BUCS
	Charlotte	MCCAUSLAND -	1000m	QUB -	DNS	W Beg	BUCS
	Katie	MCCOMB -	1000m	QUB -	DNS	W Beg	BUCS
	Emma	BOYD -	1000m	QUB -	DNS	W Beg	BUCS
M Beg			DISTANCE	CLUB	TIME	CLASS	H/P
	Caolan	HARKIN -	1000m	QUB -	03:03.2	M Beg	BUCS
	Ryan	URQUAHART -	1000m	QUB -	03:14.4	M Beg	BUCS
	Evaldas	PARSIUNAS -	1000m	QUB -	03:15.7	M Beg	BUCS
	Niall	STEVENSON -	1000m	QUB -	03:17.3	M Beg	BUCS
	Alex	CROWLEY -	1000m	QUB -	03:18.8	M Beg	BUCS
	Evan	COYLE -	1000m	QUB -	03:20.7	M Beg	BUCS
	Kem	SMOOTH -	1000m	QUB -	03:21.7	M Beg	BUCS
	Michael	YOUNG -	1000m	QUB -	03:21.8	M Beg	BUCS
	Jordan	WILSON -	1000m	QUB -	03:23.2	M Beg	BUCS
	Scott	ADAMS -	1000m	QUB -	03:23.9	M Beg	BUCS
	Mitchell	BARR -	1000m	QUB -	03:24.6	M Beg	BUCS
	Justin	QUERIPEL -	1000m	QUB -	03:25.9	M Beg	BUCS
	Roger	DAWSON -	1000m	QUB -	03:26.6	M Beg	BUCS
	Mathew	LOWE -	1000m	QUB -	03:26.8	M Beg	BUCS
	Chris	ADDIS -	1000m	QUB -	03:29.9	M Beg	BUCS
	Patrick	MARTIN -	1000m	QUB -	03:32.3	M Beg	BUCS
	David	HELGUERA -	1000m	QUB -	03:32.9	M Beg	BUCS
	Michael	QUINN -	1000m	QUB -	03:34.0	M Beg	BUCS
	Tiernan	TRACEY -	1000m	QUB -	03:35.4	M Beg	BUCS
	Chris	HAYES -	1000m	QUB -	03:35.4	M Beg	BUCS
	Mark	HEGAN -	1000m	QUB -	03:36.1	M Beg	BUCS
	Daniel	LAVERY -	1000m	QUB -	03:36.4	M Beg	BUCS
	Timothy	IRVINE -	1000m	QUB -	03:36.9	M Beg	BUCS
	Jonny	BIRCH -	1000m	QUB -	03:38.1	M Beg	BUCS
	Harry	PARKER -	1000m	QUB -	03:39.2	M Beg	BUCS
	Eoin	BARNES -	1000m	QUB -	03:39.8	M Beg	BUCS
	Harry	WRIGHT -	1000m	QUB -	03:43.8	M Beg	BUCS
	Declan	COLEMAN -	1000m	QUB -	03:47.0	M Beg	BUCS
	Ross	TAYLOR -	1000m	QUB -	03:47.7	M Beg	BUCS
	Philip	CONLON -	1000m	QUB -	03:49.2	M Beg	BUCS
	Ronan	CONWAY -	1000m	QUB -	03:52.9	M Beg	BUCS
	Calum	SORDY -	1000m	QUB -	03:55.1	M Beg	BUCS
	Edward	CHESTER -	1000m	QUB -	DNS	M Beg	BUCS
	James	DURKAN -	1000m	QUB -	DNS	M Beg	BUCS
	Jason	NICOLETTI -	1000m	QUB -	DNS	M Beg	BUCS
	Jamie	ROBINSON -	1000m	QUB -	DNS	M Beg	BUCS
M 50+			DISTANCE	CLUB	TIME	CLASS	H/P
	Gaetano	DURSO -	1000m	CoD -	03:12.3	M 50+	N

#fireball – Despite forecasts of much heavier winds in y'days Sea Area forecast of 6pm the Fireball Ulsters had to wait until the 4th race of the day to use trapezes in anger writes Cormac Bradley. 2 trapezoids (R1 and 2) and 2 Olympic races were sailed. We had 3 different race winners in Niall Mc Grotty and Neil Creaner, Ed Butler (Jnr) and Conor Kinsella, and Neil Spain and Francis Rowan (R3 and 4).

This gives Spain/Rowan the overall lead after Day 1 but only by a 1pt margin over Noel Butler and Stephen Oram. They together with Kenny Rumball and Dave Moran proved to be the most consistent over the four races scoring 7, 3, 2, 3 and 3, 4, 3, 5, respectively. Thus the top 4 boats are separated by a pont between each place with 5th and 6th tied on 12 points and 2 off 4th place overall. Niall and Simon McGrotty dominated R1 with Niall 1st and Simon 2nd. In thid place are Butler/Kinsella who scored a 4, 1, 4 but also had a DNF.

Almost everyone is carrying one bad result. Colin/Casey scored a 15, Smyth/Bradley a 17, Mike Murphy/Alex Voye a 17 and Laverty/Butler a DNF.

Conditions were light with grey skies but breeze came in as the afternoon wore on. There are 20 Fireballs here at EDYC and no doubt there will be many a post mortem over the BBQ this evening.

1 N Spain and Francis Rowan 7pts

2 N. Butler and Stephen Butler 8pts

3 Ed Butler and Conor Kinsella 9pts

4 Kenny Butler and Dave Moran 10pts

5 Niall McGrotty and Neil Creamer 12pts

6 Simon McGrotty and Ruairi Grimes 12pts

Leading Silver Fleet boat is Michael Ennis and Marie Barry in 13th overall from a 20-boat entry.

#WEATHER - Met Éireann is warning that more gale force winds will affect many parts of Ireland and the Irish Sea today (28 December).

According to the forecaster, stormy conditions over Connacht, Ulster and parts of north Leinster will see gale force westerly winds with gusts of between 100 and 130 km/h.

The worst winds are expected in exposed coastal and hilly areas of Ulster and Connacht. There is also an increased risk of flooding as a result of high astronomical tides combined with very high seas.

#WEATHER - The Irish Coast Guard has warned people to stay away from cliff paths and other coastal areas as near hurricane force winds continue to batter the country, the Irish Examiner reports.

As of this morning, Met Éireann was expecting gusts of up to 140 kilometres an hour in Connacht and Ulster.

All Irish coastal areas are expected to experience strong gales. Winds will occasionally reaching violent storm force 11 on coasts from Rossan Point to Malin Head to Fair Head this afternoon, according to meteorologists.

Howth's Ben Duncan sailing Sharbait has etched another victory in the SB3 class following a weekend of very up and down conditions with some sizeable shifts and changes in pressure at the SB3 Northern Championships at Royal Ulster Yacht Club.

But the PRO team were well able and a full schedule of racing was completed on the Lough. Three of the top four Irish boats from the Worlds took three of the top four spots and had pace on pretty much every one, a further indication that going to Torbay has definitely given these boats a lift.

The Vaughan brothers continued their upward trajectory with a very solid second place. Andrew Ageo had a win in race 2 and pretty steady results to finish third. Dave Cheyne had an up and down regatta. The local sailors was very fast in patches but got buried a couple too many times to challenge.

Sharbait was lucky enough to not have to make too much of the conditions and sailed the fleet to produce another overall win.

Highlights of the weekend for the winners were winning the first race by 2:30 minutes and getting caught up in a match racine with Dave Cheyne for race 3. Cheyne pipped the Howth boat on the line by about a foot.

The next event in the SB3 calendar is the national champs in four weeks time. Flipper and Mel Collins are expected to be back in the fleet along with plenty of further competition.

1st Sharkbait
2nd Toucan 3
3rd Flutter
4th Team Cheyne

Royal Ulster presents Sharkbait their winning prize. Photos: Ken Hunter

Considering there were only two entries in the Inbox of Ballyholme Yacht Club a week before the regatta, the turnout of 19 boats over the weekend of the Fireball Ulster Championships at Ballyholme Yacht Club was quite a turnaround writes Cormac Bradley.  In truth the regatta was never really in jeopardy as the Class has a reputation of entering late and with this being the second regatta in a month, there was a glitch in getting the appropriate documentation out.

Representatives from Skerries (2), Clontarf (1), Howth (2), East Down Yacht Club (1), Sligo Yacht Club (1) were joined a composite crew from Cushendal Sailing and Boating Club/Royal St. George Yacht Club and eleven boats from Dun Laoghaire.

In times past the Fireball Class were regular visitors to Ballyholme, particularly when they hosted a week-long dinghy regatta, but in the time of this scribe’s association with the Irish Fireball Class this has been our first visit. Ballyholme has had a solitary Fireballer in recent times, but unfortunately Denis Findlay lost his struggle with cancer and so he was unable to enjoy the return of the class to this venue on Belfast Lough.

Race Officer Robin Gray, RYA N. Ireland’s Race Officer Co-ordinator did the honours over the weekend and enhanced his reputation as an excellent RO with three superb races on Saturday when we enjoyed a sea breeze of 15/16 knots. In addition to good courses we enjoyed sea conditions that gave us excellent surfing conditions and saw a few stories of rogue breaking waves in Saturday’s post-mortems.  Turnaround times for races were good to the extent that after a solitary black flag start in Race 1, after a General Recall, three hour long races were sailed in beautifully sunny conditions that saw the fleet ashore and showered by 16:30.

 I gather that Sunday was not quite as co-operative from a wind perspective as the wind started light and moved around much more. Due to a family bereavement, I missed the day’s proceedings but was updated on how the day panned out.

Day 1 was claimed by Simon McGrotty & Ruari Grimes who won races 1 and 3 with good upwind speed on the beat and excellent boat handling off wind, particularly in the tight first reaches of the triangles. The blot on their day 1 record was a fourth place which may have been influenced by a wandering gybe mark which had to be substituted by a rib flying an X Flag. There certainly was the unusual sight of Fireballs beating and tacking towards the gybe mark and McGrotty/Grimes may have lost places here. Kenny Rumball & Seamus Moore, Barry McCartin & Conor Kinsella and Damien Bracken & Brian O’Hara were able to take advantage by filling the first three places before McGrotty/Grimes finished in fourth.

After three excellent races, the standings were as follows;

1.     Simon McGrotty & Ruari Grimes            6pts      (1,4,1)

2.     Kenny Rumball & Seamus Moore            8pts      (4,1,3)

3.     Barry McCartin & Conor Kinsella            10pts      (6,2,2)

4.     Noel Butler & Stephen Oram            13pts      (2,7,4)

5.     Louis Smyth & Cormac Bradley            16pts      (3,8,5)

 

The silver fleet was 5-strong for this regatta and included a visitor from the UK. Hannah Showell teamed up with Margaret Casey to provide the third all-female crew of the event and together with Cariosa Power & Marie Barry, Mary Chambers & Brenda McGuire, they contested the regatta with Kate Grimes (helm), Martina Michels (crew) and Karen Caughey (crew), the latter three being joined by Nick Malone, Cearbhall Daly and John Orr respectively. Diane Kissane was the sole female outside the Silver fleet, sailing 14939.

 

What is encouraging for the Irish fleet at this point in time is the influx of young talented sailors into the class. Yes, it may be coincidental with the hosting of the Worlds, but it seems that they are enjoying themselves and there is a camaraderie that is developing among them and with the more “established” members of the fleet. This weekend we were joined by Luke Malcolm & Shane Diviney who bought a Fireball on the back of the Leinsters sailed in their home club of Howth last year. Howth is also scheduled to host the 2012 Nationals and we hope to have fledgling fleet there by the time we visit next summer.

 

Barry McCartin has joined the fleet from the Topper Class where he has enjoyed significant success. Diane Kissane has proven her pedigree in Optimists and has been showed a great turn of speed and ability to handle the Fireball in a very short time. There are other young recruits to the class who contested the Worlds in Ben Malone and Ben Scallan and the hope must be that we can continue to attract this age of competitor to ensure that we remain at the forefront of domestic sailing in Ireland and beyond.

 

My detail on Sunday’s proceedings is based on word of mouth reports from my helm, but I gather that the day’s wind wasn’t quite as steady as Saturday’s. It doesn’t seem to have upset the McGrotty/Grimes charge to the title as they bagged another two firsts to give themselves two-thirds of the regatta’s race wins. The one that “got away” on Sunday went to Frank Miller and Grattan Donnelly.

 

Counting all races, for the sake of analysis, Conor Clancy & Francis Rowan won by a healthy margin, counting a 2,2,4 for the day. On Saturday they had a complicated capsize in race 1 and retired from Races 2 & 3 due to a broken spreader. Thus while they didn’t feature overall on Saturday evening their success on Sunday saw them finish 7^th overall.

 

McGrotty/Grimes had the next best daily score of 12 points (1,10,1), the 10^th becoming their discard, with Rumball/Moore next best with 5,6,2. Butler/Oram’s travails continued with a 4,5,5, for the day which is completely inconsistent with their recent form. Damien Bracken and Brian O’Hara also had a better day with a 8,4,3.

 

In the Silver Fleet Hannah & Margaret had a three point lead over Cearbhall & Martina at the close of racing on the Saturday evening, with Cariosa & Marie in third place a further three points adrift. Cariosa & Marie won the second day with two finishes just outside the top ten and an 18^th to Hannah/Margaret’s 11,12,DNF to leapfrog Cearbhall/Martina into 2^nd place in the Silver fleet.

 

As ever with our northern visits, the hospitality of Ballyholme Yacht Club was excellent with a dinner arranged for the Saturday night at which some unfinished business (a prize-giving) from the Open Championships was concluded. The atmosphere in the Club was welcoming and in particular their provision of race results on both Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon was very fast with multiple score sheets being made available.

 

Robin Gray will definitely be on our wish list for future events, particularly as he ran the regatta exactly as we asked him to. Our thanks also go to Mark Markey, Rear Commodore Sailing who coordinated our visit from a BYC perspective.

 

The Class now enjoys a month’s break until the Nationals which are being hosted by Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club on Dublin Bay over the last Friday/Saturday/Sunday of August, 26 – 28^th. Class coordinator for this event, Neil Colin, has secured sponsorship from Pinnell & Bax and the regatta documentation can be found on both the Irish Fireball website and the club website.

 

The decision to go with a Dublin venue was taken in view of the two-week Worlds regatta in Sligo so that we didn’t have to embrace another distance regatta for the Nationals. Additionally, in recent years the Nationals have been hosted outside the capital (Baltimore, Westport (x2), Cork, Fenit, Wicklow) and the feeling was that it was time for them to return.

 

Pos	Sail No	Crew	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Nett
1	14981	Simon McGrotty & Ruari Grimes	1	4	1	1	10	1	8
2	15058	Kenneth Rumball & Seamus Moore	4	1	3	5	6	2	15
3	14820	Barry McCartin & Conor Kinsella	6	2	2	6	3	7	19
4	15061	Noel Butler & Stephen Oram	2	7	4	4	5	5	20
5	14904	Damien Bracken & Brian O’Hara	20	3	6	8	4	3	24
14	14775	Hannah Showell & Margaret Casey	12	13	13	11	12	20	61
15	14854	Cariosa Power & Marie Barry	15	14	15	18	11	11	66
16	14877	Cearbhall Daly & Martina Michels	14	15	12	14	18	13	68

 

Monaghan's Elaine 'Shooter' Alexander will soon begin her challenge to be come the first Northern Irish woman to circumnavigate the island of Ireland by kayak, the OutdoorNI Adventure Blog reports.

On 3 May she will set off from the newly refurbished County Antrim Yacht Club at Belfast Lough on a 1,000-mile trek that's expected to take two months to complete.

Alexander will be paddling clockwise around Ireland, taking on tides, cliffs, headlands - and Ireland's unpredicable weather.

The Ulster woman has been training since last year for the challenge, which is intended to raise funds for the Fermanagh-based SHARE, a charity that brings together disabled and non-disabled people in arts and outdoor-based activities.

“Last year I paddled around Ulster which took 26 days and prepared me for some of what to expect for this expedition," says the competitive kayaker, who represented Northern Ireland twice at the Surf Kayak World Championships.

'Shooter' will also be posting regular updates of her trip on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Details on this as well as how to donate are available on her website www.canoearoundireland.com.

The OutdoorNI Adventure Blog has more on the story HERE.