Consistency earned Niall O'Brien and Ronan O'Briain their second Flying Fifteen National Championship title at the National Yacht Club on Dublin Bay on Sunday, September 21st.
The Connemara duo, sailing Checkmate, scored 19 points from seven races, discarding a fifth place. They led home Strangford Lough's Peter Kennedy and Stephen Kane in Icarus on 23 points.
Dermot Flaherty and Brendan Mac Donnacha finished third in Inchamakinna with 25 points, giving Connemara two boats in the top three.
It is the second Dublin Bay victory for the Checkmate duo, also winning in July at Dun Laoghaire's Volvo Regatta.
National Yacht Club Commodore Peter Sherry (left), a competitor himself, presents the Flying Fifteen Championships of Ireland Trophy to Connemara's Niall O'Brien and Ronan O'Briain.
Three races were sailed on the final day in a 20-knot north-westerly, completing a full and testing series at the National Yacht Club.
Phil Lawton and Neil O’Hagan’s Puffling placed fourth overall on 27 points. Defending champions Shane MacCarthy and Hugh McNally were fifth in Mr Potato Head.
MacCarthy and McNally won four of the seven races, but a U-flag penalty in the penultimate race left them on 30 points.
Trevor D’Arcy and Alan McClernon’s SISU took sixth. Sean Craig and Alan Green in Mach FFive were seventh, ahead of Ian Mathews and Keith Poole in Mike Wasowski.
Andrew McCleery and Colin Dougan’s Foxtrot Oscar finished ninth, with Lee Statham and Andy Paul’s Trigger’s Brush completing the top ten.
“The fleet coped well with a strong breeze and tight racing,” said a race official. “It was a fair test over seven races.”
The result marks O'Brien and O'Briain’s second national title, winning their first in 2023, their steady scores proving decisive against a high-scoring field.
