#ICRA – The second day of action in the BMW Cruiser Nationals at Howth saw a repeat of the welcome sunshine but, in stark contrast to Friday, there was no shortage of wind, with strong easterlies and a big sea providing plenty of frenetic activity afloat on all three courses.
It was the turn of Divisions 2, 3 and 4 to compete on the windward-leeward courses set off Malahide and three back-to-back races tested the three fleets to the limit. In the most outstanding performance of the day, Nigel Biggs Checkmate XV from the Royal St.George dominated proceedings in Division 2, leading throughout on the water to record three bullets and open up a 5-point lead over nearest challenger, Anthony Gore-Grimes’ Dux of the home club, after five races. It was so impressive that they also lead on ECHO.
Two wins and a third was enough to see defending Division 3 champion Tiger (Keneficks, RCYC) jump ahead of Tim Goodbody’s White Mischief in the overall standings (although the latter heads the ECHO results to date) while winning the fifth race helped Flor O’Driscoll’s J/24 Hard on Port to close the gap and secure a comfortable 3rd on IRC (and 2nd on ECHO) overall.
In the small Division 4 fleet, it’s all one-way traffic for Team Toy Yot (HYC) which has notched four straight wins to lead second-placed Goyave (Camier/Fitzpatrick, Malahide YC) by a comfortable 7.5 points, although the margin is a little smaller on ECHO.
Over on the round-the-cans course, the bigger boats were also given three races. Notably, Anthony O’Leary’s Antix did not have everything its own way in Division 0, playing second fiddle to Welsh visitor Richard Fildes’ Impetuous on the day. The Corby 37 from South Caernarvonshire scored 1-1-2 while the Cork boat registered 2-3-1, a combination that sees the two boats tied on 8 points overall and everything to play for on Sunday.
It is very tight at the top of Division 1, with one point separating the top four boats and it was a good day for the Royal Irish YC contingent, filling three of those places overall after four races. Paul O’Higgins’ Rockabill V shares the lead with Jelly Baby (Nagle & O’Malley) although it was their clubmate Colin Byrne’s Xtravagance which made the biggest impression. A second followed by two wins brings them into serious contention, lying third equal with Pat Kelly’s Storm II, both one point adrift, so the title will be decided between the four on Sunday. Howard McMullen’s new acquisition Another Adventure heads the ECHO standings.
The two non-spinnaker classes both got two more races in and both continue to be dominated by Howth entries. In the A fleet, two top-three finishes by On-the-Rox (C&J Boyle) and Changeling (Kieran Jameson) sees them share the overall lead, with Changeling also heading the ECHO table. In the B fleet, Harry Byrne’s Alphida maintains the overall lead (on both handicaps) but a second and first by Joe Carton’s Voyager narrows the IRC gap to just two points.
Overall situation after today's racing: BMW Cruiser Nationals & Corinthian Cup 2012, Howth Yacht Club, Provisional results after Day2:Division 0 IRC: 1.ANTIX, Anthony O'Leary 2.IMPETUOUS, Richard Fildes 3.JUMP JUICE, Denise Phelan.Division 0 ECHO: 1.LOOSE CHANGE, Mitton/Redden 2.LYNX CLIPPER, Martin Breen 3.TSUNAMI, Vincent Farrell.Division 1 IRC: 1.ROCKABILL V, Paul O'Higgins 2.JELLY BABY, Ian Nagle & Paul O'Malley 3.XTRAVAGANCE, Colin Byrne.Division 1 ECHO: 1.ANOTHER ADVENTURE, Howard McMullen 2.JELLY BABY, Ian Nagle & Paul O'Malley 3.XTRAVAGANCE, Colin Byrne.Division 2 IRC: 1.CHECKMATE XV, Nigel Biggs 2.DUX, Anthony Gore-Grimes 3.KING ONE, Dave Cullen.Division 2 ECHO: 1.CHECKMATE XV, Nigel Biggs 2.KING ONE, Dave Cullen 3.DUX, Anthony Gore-Grimes.Division 3 IRC: 1.TIGER, Kenefick's 2.WHITE MISCHIEF, Timothy Goodbody 3.HARD ON PORT, Flor O Driscoll.Division 3 ECHO: 1.WHITE MISCHIEF, Timothy Goodbody 2.HARD ON PORT, Flor O Driscoll 3.SUPERNOVA, Lawless/McCormack/Shannon.Division 4 IRC: 1.TOY YOT, Team Toy Yot 2.GOYAVE, Camier/Fitzpatrick 3.JULIA, Eddie Kay.Division 4 ECHO: 1.TOY YOT, Team Toy Yot 2.GOYAVE, Camier/Fitzpatrick 3.ASTERIX, Counihan/Bowhell/Meredith.Non-Spinnaker A IRC: 1.ON-THE-ROX, C & J Boyle 2.CHANGELING, Kieran Jameson 3.BITE THE BULLET, Colm Bermingham.Non-Spinnaker A ECHO: 1.CHANGELING, Kieran Jameson 2.PRETTY POLLY, Chris Horrigan 3.LULA BELLE, Liam Coyne.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.ALPHIDA OF HOWTH, Harry Byrne 2.VOYAGER, Joe Carton 3.SANDPIPER OF HOWTH, Andrew Knowles.
