David Evans and William Draper are the new Fireball Ulster Champions after four races at Mullaghmore Sailing Club over the weekend. At just 18 years of age their win represents a breakthrough for the growing number of talented youth sailors in the class.
Attendance at the event was a little disappointing, but to some extent understandable in the face of a very dubious-looking forecast for the weekend. That the event was a huge success is down to the huge work put in by many volunteers at the club, not least the commodore Jen Farrell and to the skilful judgement of race officer Cormac Bradley.
David Evans and William Draper are the new Fireball Ulster Champions after four races at Mullaghmore Sailing Club
For the week leading up to the event forecasts had been showing winds of up to 35 knots from a fairly exposed northerly direction. This led to a certain amount of fence sitting by lighter teams who ultimately sat this one out, and also to a few no-shows based on a pessimistic reading of the forecast. Happier events such as a new baby, and another one due soon, and post-Worlds fatigue also contributed to the numbers dropping from thirteen entrants to 10 active teams. Those who rocked up were treated to exhilarating and challenging conditions on both days. By Friday night it was clear that Saturday would be sailable, albeit lively, and that Sunday looked even more moderate.
In his briefing, race officer Cormac Bradley stressed safety protocols and the need to return ashore promptly if things looked like they were getting too extreme, but several forecasts, including Met Eireann and the Arome model on Windy, proved to be absolutely accurate. Thus, the fleet was treated to winds of between 16 and 23 knots on Saturday. The tricky bits were the gusts and as the day wore on the increasingly large and tricky wave patterns. In particular, the bottom end of the sausage was extremely entertaining and not for the faint of heart. In the waves, there were many opportunities to submarine the boat, especially when crews went forward to set or drop spinnakers. Suddenl,y the newest deck design with a shorter aft tank, allowing the helm to shunt further back, made complete sense. Among those who sought the depths were Frank Miller sailing with Grattan Donnelly who had a messy capsize in race two leading to them retiring for the rest of the day.
Race one was won by David Evans & William Draper just ahead of regular event winner Noel Butler, sailing this event with a new crew, Mark Greer, while Adrian Lee & Ossian Geraghty came third. In race two Butler & Greer prevailed over Evans & Draper with Lee & Geraghty again third. And in the final race of Saturday Evans and Draper took the gun ahead of Butler & Greer giving the young team the overnight lead. With the full-on conditions the fleet were content to rest their bones and enjoyed an excellent meal at the nearby Pier Head Hotel where many stayed thanks to a special discount rate for the event. Whether in their hotel rooms or in their tents the sailors rested overnight to the sound of whistling gusts, far more than forecast but by morning there was little or no wind. The fleet went out and the race team set a course once the light north westerly airs appeared to settle. The start of race four was tricky however with about six knots of breeze in a very lumpy sea. While everyone could see a line of wind on the horizon figuring out the best route to that breeze was far from obvious. In the event Evans & Draper found the best track to the pressure and took the gun, this time with another young sailor Jack McNaughton sailing with Iso Inan snapping at their heels and Butler & Greer following in third.
The race team did a quick reset of the course for the fifth race, and with the wind back to a more northerly direction and steadily increasing, most boats adjusted their rigs to heavy settings. This turned out to be an essential move as a squall of close to thirty knots moved in over the course during the first beat, whipping up the sea and flattening the majority of the fleet. The race officer made the immediate call to abandon the race and everyone returned ashore promptly and without damage to bodies or boats. Nobody complained when the decision was made to call it a day, allowing for a timely pack-up and prize-giving.
Evans & Draper took the overall win with a total of just three points to Butler & Greer’s five. Third place in the gold fleet went to Lee & Geraghty on ten points, with young McNaughton & Inan just one point adrift. The silver trophy went to another youth team, the current U25 Fireball World Champions, with Harry Thompson helming with his brother Daniel on the wire, a first for young Harry! Second silver went to Brian Jones & Ed Hynes, a much-deserved prize as the pair suffered a long and tricky capsize on the Saturday. The third silver prize went to Rachel Deasy & Daithi O Murchadha, who travelled all the way up from Tralee for the event. At the prize-giving, much thanks and praise went to Commodore Jen Farrell and her team at Mullaghmore, and to race officer Cormac Bradley for sticking with the event in the face of a difficult forecast. Thanks also to Atlantic Technical University for sponsorship of refreshments and generous spot prizes for competitors.
Silver fleet winners Harry, left, Thompson and brother Daniel, with MSC Commodore Jen Farrell
While the Ulsters represent the final formal event in the Fireball Travellers Series the fleet are not content to hang up their dinghy boots just yet. A special End of Season Challenge event has been arranged for Howth Yacht Club for the weekend of October 25th & 26th. Sailors are invited now to enter via the HYC website. The Howth event is an ideal way to prevent rust setting in before the two key Frostbites series for Fireballs over the winter at the DMYC and Monkstown Bay SC, respectively.
