Half-Tonner Head Hunter is Dismasted in First Race of Maples Group IRC Europeans at Dun Laoghaire

12th September 2024

Adam Ovington's Half Tonner Head Hunter was dismasted in the opening race of the Maples Group 2024 RORC IRC European Championships. See the sequence of photos below Credit: Afloat

Adam Ovington's Half Tonner Head Hunter was dismasted in the opening moments of the first race of the Maples Group RORC IRC European Championships off Dun Laoghaire this afternoon.

On opposite tacks after the start, the upper mast of the Dublin Half Tonner 2Farr from Rush Sailing Club clashed with the English visitor, resulting in the dismast just minutes into the first race of the nine-race championships.

Both boats involved were later scored in the official results as 'DNF' or 'did not finish' in the results for race one of the six boat IRC Twowo division fleet by the Royal Irish Yacht Club Race organisers.

2Farr (P. Kelly) sailed in the second race of the day, but Head Hunter headed back to Dun Laoghaire Harbour and was hauled out onto her trailer at the RIYC.

On opposite tacks, the mast of Rush Sailing Club Half Tonner 2Farr (P Kelly) clashes with Adam Ovington's Half Tonner Head Hunter resulting in the dismasting as per the photo sequence below

On opposite tacks, the mast of Rush Sailing Club Half Tonner 2Farr (P Kelly) clashes with Adam Ovington's Half Tonner Head Hunter resulting in the dismasting.

Back ashore in Dun Laoghaire Harbour, Headhunter's crew have the Half tonner back on her road trailer at the Royal Irish Yacht Club

The eighth edition of the IRC European Championship at the Royal Irish Yacht Club features a wide range of boats in action: high-tech racing yachts, hybrid cruiser racers, pocket rockets, and vintage designs.

As Afloat previously reported, racing under the IRC Rating Rule, the fleet will compete to win the overall IRC European crown, a new Corinthian Trophy, and European IRC Class honours.

Published in RORC IRC Europeans, RORC, Half Tonners, Royal Irish Yacht Club

Published in RORC IRC Europeans

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IRC Europeans Championships

Alternating between the North and the South of Europe (the Channel and the Mediterranean Sea), the IRC European Championship is a flagship event of the IRC season and typically aims to bring together more than 60 boats.

IRC is a World Sailing-recognised rating system and the principal yacht measurement system for the rating of racing yachts worldwide.

The event is open to all IRC-rated boats. Typically, it will consist of a minimum of four coastal or tactical races (coefficient 1) and a long coastal race (coefficient 2).

Following the inaugural championship as part of Cork Week in 2016, the event sailed in Marseille in 2017, Cowes in 2018, and San Remo in 2019; the event sailed in Hyères, France in 2021 before moving to Brekens, Holland, in 2022 and in Cannes, France last June.

The IRC rating rule is administered jointly by the RORC Rating Office in Lymington, UK and UNCL Centre de Calcul, Pôle Course du Yacht Club de France, in Paris, France.