13 boats travelled to Blessington Lake last weekend (10th May) for the Fireball Leinster Championships, more in hope than expectation, given the forecast for very little, if any, wind over the two days, writes Neil Cramer.
Arriving at what is surely one of the most beautifully located sailing clubs in Ireland, sailors from both Fireball and Mirror classes unloaded and set-up their craft at a leisurely pace given the lack of any breeze at that stage. Briefing on schedule at the clubhouse by R.O. Richard Street was informative and brief. Once the usual course descriptions and layouts were advised, Richard then laid out is vision for how the event would unfold; "relax, take your time, we will get racing but not for a few hours yet, but rest assured there will be racing". Taking Richard at his word, sailors retired to enjoy scones and coffee (managed by BSC member Emma Lyons & Val Thorpe), on the lawn whilst the younger sailors took to the lake on various canoes and vessels to enjoy the downtime.
Finally launching at around 4 pm as the wind settled from the south, racing finally got underway in very light and shifty breezes. Event favourites Barry McCartin and Finbar Bradley took the bullet with Ed Butler & Iso Inan taking 2nd.
Race 2 commenced with an admirably rapid turnaround, and the spoils went this time to Ed & Iso, with Barry and Finbar in second and Adrian Lee and Ossian Geraghty in third. After race 2, however, all sailors were in no doubt that conditions were very tricky, and anyone could be elevated to the podium or spat out the back as the wind gods dictated where the holes or shifts lay.
Race 3 was called back under General Recall as the fleet, anxious to get ashore for food and to fulfil social engagements (it was past 6pm at this stage), jumped the gun en masse. Relegated to start after the Mirror fleet, we chomped at the bit to get back onto the racecourse. Ed & Iso were unable to capitalise on Barry & Finbar's absence, and victory went to the boat of Daniel Thompson from Wexford.
3 races completed and well past 7pm, sailors & race management retired to the clubhouse for pizzas, cooked by local sailor Sam Street, whilst those with other engagements rushed off with apologies at the ready for impatient spouses & partners.
Sunday morning witnessed not enough wind to get racing however, RO Richard Street had sold his soul to the devil the previous night and assured us there would be enough steady wind by mid-morning. 12:30 saw enough steady breeze to launch and 2 more races were achieved by the hard-working race management team to finish up just inside the 3pm deadline. Race 4 was won by Alan Blay & Hugh McNally by a massive margin, which was exceptional given the close finishes in every other race over the weekend. The top 6 boats were only 5 points apart at the event's end, with Barry/Finbar being the only team to achieve 2 bullets.
The prizegiving was delayed for some time while results were tallied, and the sailors, finally home, had experienced an amazing weekend of hospitality and excellent racing, which Richard and his team provided. Commodore Colm Maguire, who had also given up his entire weekend to be part of the race management team on the water, presented the prizes.
Fireball Leinster Championships 2025
- Barry McCartin, Finbar Bradley
- Alan Blay, Hugh McNally
- Adrian Lee, Ossian Geraghty
Full results downloadable below
