#ICRA2012 – Howth may have basked in glorious sunshine for the best part of the BMW ICRA Cruiser Nationals’ first day but lack of wind created enormous frustration among the record 123-boat entry as the Race Officers were obliged to delay racing until such time as completing even one race was a possibility. Full results below.
On the windward-leeward course, Division 0 did manage two races, with the honours in the first going to the defending champion Antix (Anthony O’Leary) of RCYC ahead of Richard Fildes’ Impetuous from South Caernarvonshire YC, winner of last week’s Corby Cup. The positions were reversed in the second race, so the two share the overall lead by four points over the next challenger going into the second day.
J109s filled three of the top four places in the only race sailed by Division 1, with Jelly Baby (Nagle & O’Malley) from the Royal Irish YC heading last year’s ICRA winner Storm (Pat Kelly) from Rush.
Divisions 2 and 3 had a two-hour wait to get going but it was worth it in the end, with a fresh north-easterly making for some frantic action. It also provided a rare enough occurrence when Dux (Anthony Gore-Grimes) from Howth and Royal St. George YC visitor Nigel Biggs’ Checkmate XV recorded exactly the same corrected time and so share the lead in Division 2 after day one.
In Division 3, White Mischief, Tim Goodbody’s Sigma 33 from the Royal Irish YC lived up to pre-race speculation by leading the fleet home, ahead of 2011 champion Tiger (Keneficks) from Royal Cork and winning on handicap too, while Howth’s Vincent Gaffney will be satisfied with 3rd spot in his new boat Alliance II. First of the seven J/24s participating was Stouche (Darrer & Murphy).
The smallest fleet in the championships is Division 4 with just six boats and its one race ended in a Howth one-two, with Toy Yot (Team Toy Yot) heading Eddie Kay’s Contessa 26 Julia, with Dun Laoghaire visitor Asterix (Counihan et al) in third.
The Non-Spinnaker Classes were also afflicted by lack of wind but when they did get away, it was a Welsh visitor, John Collins’ Jet Stream from Pwllheli which took A Fleet honours from three local boats led by Colm Bermingham’s Bite the Bullet. In Fleet B, the smallest boat in the white sails divisions, the Club Shamrock Demelza (Laudan/Ennis) showed size isn’t everything, taking first place from Harry Byrne’s Alphida.
BMW Cruiser Nationals & Corinthian Cup 2012, Howth Yacht Club, Provisional results after Day 1: Division 0 IRC: 1.ANTIX, Anthony O'Leary 2.IMPETUOUS, Richard Fildes 3.ELF TOO, Christine Murray. Division 0 ECHO: 1.ANTIX, Anthony O'Leary 2.IMPETUOUS, Richard Fildes 3.LYNX CLIPPER, Martin Breen. Division 1 IRC: 1.JELLY BABY, Ian Nagle & Paul O'Malley 2.STORM II, Pat Kelly 3.ROCKABILL V, Paul O'Higgins. Division 1 ECHO: 1.JELLY BABY, Ian Nagle & Paul O'Malley 2.ROCKABILL V, Paul O'Higgins 3.STORM II, Pat Kelly. Division 2 IRC: 1.CHECKMATE XV, Nigel Biggs 2.DUX, Anthony Gore-Grimes 3.SLACK ALICE, S Statham & T OLeary. Division 2 ECHO: 1.CHECKMATE XV, Nigel Biggs 2.DUX, Anthony Gore-Grimes 3.SLACK ALICE, S Statham & T OLeary. Division 3 IRC: 1.WHITE MISCHIEF, Timothy Goodbody 2.TIGER, Kenefick's 3.ALLIANCE II, Vincent Gaffney. Division 3 ECHO: 1.WHITE MISCHIEF, Timothy Goodbody 2.TIGER, Kenefick's 3.SUPERNOVA, Lawless/McCormack/Shannon. Division 4 IRC: 1.TOY YOT, Team Toy Yot 2.JULIA, Eddie Kay 3.ASTERIX, Counihan/Bowhell/Meredith. Division 4 ECHO: 1.TOY YOT, Team Toy Yot 2.JULIA, Eddie Kay 3.ASTERIX, Counihan/Bowhell/Meredith. Non-Spinnaker A IRC: 1.ON-THE-ROX, C & J Boyle 2.JET STREAM, John Collins 3.BITE THE BULLET, Colm Bermingham. Non-Spinnaker A ECHO: 1.ON-THE-ROX, C & J Boyle 2.CHANGELING, Kieran Jameson 3.BITE THE BULLET, Colm Bermingham. Non-Spinnaker B IRC: 1.ALPHIDA OF HOWTH, Harry Byrne 2.VOYAGER, Joe Carton 3.DEMELZA, W. Laudan / S. Ennis. Non-Spinnaker B ECHO: 1.Lolly Folly, Colman and Lesley Phelan 2.ALPHIDA OF HOWTH, Harry Byrne 3.VOYAGER, Joe Carton.
