National Yacht Club sailors John Lavery and William Russell finished seventh overall at the Flying Fifteen European Championship in Palma, Mallorca, after a second-place finish in the final race on Saturday (October 10th).
Peter and Juliette Kennedy of Strangford Lough Yacht Club also ended the championship strongly, taking third in the final race to finish tenth overall and complete an Irish double top-ten result in the 32-boat fleet.
The Kennedys also collected the prize for the first mixed crew at the championship.
Irish Crews Among Final-Race Leaders
The final race was sailed in a light southerly breeze of eight to ten knots after competitors waited for conditions to settle on Palma Bay.
Lavery and Russell, sailing FFMF (IRL 4071), were among the leading group throughout the two-lap windward-leeward race.
They rounded the final leeward gate just behind Britain's Gregory Wells and Andrew Jameson before going on to secure second place.
The result brought their championship total to 24 points after five races, with their 14th-place finish discarded.
Peter and Juliette Kennedy, sailing Icarus (IRL 4134), followed Friday's fourth place with third in Saturday's concluding race.
Their two final performances lifted them into tenth overall on 32 points after discarding their opening 16th place.
Final-Race Disqualification Decides European Title
A protest hearing following the final race decided the European Championship, after Gregory Wells and Andrew Jameson appeared to have secured the title on countback.
The British pair were subsequently disqualified from the fifth race following an incident involving rivals Andy Tunnicliffe and Richard Rigg.
The decision handed the European title to Tunnicliffe and Rigg of Bassenthwaite Sailing Club on nine points.
Wells and Jameson retained second overall on 11 points after discarding their final-race disqualification, while Spain's Victor Perez Campos and Mark Branagh finished third on 14 points.
Seven Irish Crews Complete Championship
Ian Mathews and Keith Poole of the National Yacht Club finished 17th overall in Mike Wazowski, with David Gorman and Chris Doorly 18th in Fomo.
Alan Green and Caroline Hanniffy, also representing the National Yacht Club, finished 19th in Mach Ffive.
Niall Meagher and Nicki Matthews took 23rd in Shadow Ffax, while Niall and Laura Coleman were 27th in Flyer.
Only five of the eight scheduled races were completed at the championship, hosted by Club de Mar in Palma.
Race management was led by principal race officer Ines Cabrer and an all-female team.
