Bray Sailing Club reintroduced one of the club’s longest standing trophies this weekend as its first 'Senior Helmsman’s' Championship in fifteen years was sailed. The trophy was put on ice when dinghy sailing declined in the early 2000’s but the recent increase in adult members gave the club an opportunity to reintroduce this prestigious event.
Five invited helms from both cruiser and dinghy classes competed for the trophy. The event was sailed in Flying Fifteens (kindly lent by the owners) and the helms sailed one race in each boat, rotating after each race to remove any boat advantage. The event was umpired on the water by International Judge Gordon Davies, who is a member of the club.
After Saturday’s deluge, conditions were perfect for this white sails event with a light north-easterly breeze in bright sunshine holding steady for long enough to allow RO Mark Henderson to get all five races completed in good time, using a combination of triangle and windward-leeward courses.
The trophy (which will be formally presented at the club’s annual prize-giving in November) was won by Philip O’Reilly, with Peter Lundy in second place and Ray Comiskey in third. The best-placed boat over the event was Anorvega, crewed by Fiona Cassidy.
Speaking at the prizegiving, Commodore Declan Lavelle commented: “We are delighted to be able to reintroduce this prestigious event to our annual sailing calendar. It provides further evidence of the health of the club and the revitalising of dinghy sailing in Bray.”
The club’s Junior Helmsman’s Championship (to be sailed in Picos) was abandoned on Saturday due to lack of wind and has been rescheduled to Sunday 28th October.