Dublin Bay sparkled again for the second day of the UNIO ICRA Nats 2024 from the Royal Irish Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire, with today (Saturday's) only change from Friday being that the wind has been more directly from the southeast to east, recorded at 120 degrees.

There was enough of it for the Race Teams to put through the scheduled three races, even if some of the more conservatively rigged boats like the JPK 10.80 might have preferred a stronger breeze. 

A tightly bunched IRC Zero fleet reaches the weather mark in one of the three round-the-can courses sailed on Saturday at the UNIO ICRA Nats 2024 from the Royal Irish Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire Photo: Afloat

The first race of the day produced a healthy mix under IRC, with scratch boat Searcher going round just under the hour at 57:36. But Valentina came across eleven minutes later and her rating of 1.046 to Searcher's 1.278 put the big black boat back eventually to third, as David Maguire's Cape 31 Valkyrie had finished in between, sufficiently well placed to take second.

Cruisers 0 leader, Johnny Treanor's J/112e ValenTina from the National with Nicole Hemeryck doing the driving to log a history of 1, (2), 1, 2, 1. It's of interest that ValenTina has not been recorded as an ECHO participant (there's posh for you), but under the performance handicap system, Cruisers O is currently led by the Sisk family's WOW raced by Tim Kane to a 1, (4) 1, 2, 2 with Pete Smyth's Ker 46 Seacher Photo: Afloat

Searcher rated 1.376 under ECHO for this race, and managed to stay in second, but first went to WOW on a race rating of 1.137, while Paul O'Higgins JPK 10.80 Rockabill VI, on ECHO 1.145, took third.

FRESH LOOK

Saturday's second race opened a fresh look under IRC, as the Jones family's J/122 Jellybaby from Cork took the win in an hour long race by 38 seconds from ValenTina, with the Corby 33 Impetuous from Abersoch, campaigned by the Miller, Crompton & Hodges team, logging third one minute and 34 seconds later.

The Jones family's J/122 Jellybaby from Cork have missed the 304th Royal Cork 'At Home' Regatta to contest the UNIO ICRA Nats 2024 from the Royal Irish Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire Photo: Afloat

Under ECHO, the second race of the day went to Jellybaby, with WOW second and Searcher third. This sharpened up the ECHO interest for the day's final joust, when the big First 50 Checkmate XX (Nigel Biggs & Dave Cullen) got herself back in the picture with the win on a rating of 1.237, with WOW second on 1.161 and Searcher third on 1.400.

The First 50 Checkmate XX chases the smaller J122 Jellybaby downwind at the UNIO ICRA Nats 2024 from the Royal Irish Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire Photo: Afloat

That third race under IRC in Cruisers 0 showed that Checkmate XX was very much on form, as she managed second behind Valentina, a minute and 20 seconds in front of Jellybaby, thereby keeping ahead of the Joneses, as you might say.