Prof O'Connell topped the leader board at the end of the first round round robin stage of the Irish Match Racing Championships in Kinsale. (VIDEO BELOW) Sam Hunt and the Royal St George Gladiators are next and in an unexpected turn of events the defending champion, John Sheehy from Dun Laoghaire, has yet to shine.

John has dominated match racing in Ireland for the last couple of years and is the defending National and Irish Match Racing Tour champion.

For the first couple of flights it looked to be business as usual but then he ran up against Ben Duncan and Mad Match Racing. A first loss lead to second and then a third leaving the event wide open.

A second round robin started late today and will compete tomorrow before a best of 3 race finals. Any one of 5 teams still in with a shot of the title.

As an extra feature of the event the Irish Match Racing team have prepared the following vidcasts from Kinsale:

Local helmsman George Kingston describes his match

Umpires describe events on the water 

 

Andrew Deakin (left) and Brian Carlin describe events on the water 

Vidcast by Brian Carlin