Martin Mahon leads a three-way tie at the top of the J/24 Northerns at Carlingford Yacht Club after four races on the opening day, with Charles Heather and Mark Usher also counting seven points.
"All very tight at the J/24 Northern Championships at Carlingford Lough Yacht Club, with two races left to complete the series its wide open", the class's Mark Usher told Afloat.
Mahon's J/24 posted scores of fifth, fourth, second and first, discarding the fifth to finish the day on seven points. Heather matched that total with a 3-5-1-3 scoreline after redress in the fourth race, while Usher's 2-2-3-3 results also leave him on seven points. The provisional standings place Mahon first, Heather second and Usher third.
JP McCaldin is fourth on nine points after a consistent 4-3-4-2 series, while David Bailey lies fifth on 12 points. Bailey claimed the second race victory, adding seventh, sixth and fifth places across the other three contests.
Luke McBride opened the championship with victory in Race 1 but subsequently recorded seventh, eighth and sixth places to sit sixth overall on 14 points. Under-25 sailor Fiachra Farrelly is seventh on 15 points after improving through the latter part of the day with fifth and fourth places.
Four crews shared the individual race wins. McBride took the opener, Bailey won Race 2, Heather claimed Race 3 and Mahon completed the day's racing with victory in Race 4.
Tim Rippey leads the Silver Fleet contingent in ninth overall on 25 points, while Farrelly is the leading Under-25 entry. The results remained provisional when published on Saturday evening, with Races 5 and 6 scheduled for Sunday, 16 August.
Results downloadable below
