Ewen Barry and his daughter, Thea, were clear winners of the Fireball Leinster Championship at Skerries SC at the weekend. In a fleet of 16 boats and in a wide variety of conditions, they sailed consistently fast to beat the second-placed Fireball of Chris Bateman and Bella Waterman by 8 points to 15. Third place went to Josh Porter and Cara McDowell on 15 points. By scoring two wins on day one of the event, they beat frequent winners Noel Butler & Stephen Oram into 4th place on a tie-break.
Second Step: Chris Bateman and Bella Waterman take the runner-up spot
Third Place: Josh Porter and Cara McDowell secure a podium finish
The event, in tandem with the 420 Ulsters, took place over two days of the bank holiday weekend. Saturday’s racing saw great conditions with winds of about 12-18 knots south-easterly, while Sunday's racing was postponed for about 30 minutes to allow the lighter winds to settle in direction and strength. Principal race officer Liam Dineen, assisted by Helen Ryan and Micheline Shiels, set trapezoid courses on Saturday. Somewhat constrained by geography, these were short, sharp courses which, for Fireballs, involved a long final reach and a downwind finish. While on the short side, this allowed both fleets to enjoy four races on Saturday, leaving Sunday open for two much longer races to complete the series of six.
Sunday's racing on traditional Olympic Triangle courses took place in about 6-10-knot winds. Race five was shortened after the second leeward rounding as the breeze became increasingly feeble, but the final race saw a steadier wind, especially out to sea. The tricky judgement call all weekend was where to go - wind versus tide, versus possible wind bends and shifts, all the while trying to remain in decent pressure. On Saturday, there were frequent inshore gains due to a wind bend, despite better breezes out to sea. On Sunday, heading out to sea seemed to pay best, especially in race six. In the silver fleet, Jack McDowell & Hugo Micka took first, followed by Alan Henry & Alan Stamp, and Rachel Deasy & Daithi Murphy.
Silver Win: Jack McDowell and Hugo Micka top Silver fleet
All in all, this was a fantastic first summer event for the Irish Fireball fleet, frustrated from seeing the Munsters postponed due to the fuel protests. It was a great shakedown for a very busy season, which will probably see the largest ever Irish Fireball fleet head to the UK in July for the World Championship in Torbay. One interesting observation about the fleet and affordability over the weekend: the winning boat was the newest design, with twin poles and all the modern bells and whistles, but the second-placed boat was 30 years old! As always, it's not really the boat, it's the sailors....
Next Travellers Event for Fireballs is the Nationals at Howth Yacht Club, 19, 20, 21st June, but before that, there is a great opportunity for Fireballs (and other dinghies) ro enjoy decent racing at the two-day DMYC regatta, 6th & 7th June. All dinghies welcome!
