Howth Yacht Club continue to put their time with the ISA Sailfleet J80s to innovative use with a regatta pitting Howth's top sailing families against each other in a one-design race-off series over the weekend. The HYC Family Sailing Championships saw 14 famliy teams racing in the J80s off Howth, with the Evans Familybesting all the families who participated. The regatta turnout included the Buckleys, Burkes, Cagneys, Cahills, Coopers, Evans, Harrisses, Kissanes, Klimckes, Knowles, Lynches, Markeys, McMahons and Reillys.
A very wide range of competitors participated with ages ranging from approx 6 years to 76 years. Bonus points were added for teams with extra generations of family aboard and it was great to see so many of the junior sailors out sailing in the J80s and showing their parents and grand-parents how sailing should be done!
Particular congrats to Erica Markey who was the youngest helm in the regatta.
A great family day was had by all in varying breeze conditions, ranging from 3-18 knots in a changeable wind direction - initially north-westerly changing 180 degrees to south easterly!
2 flights were held (with 3 races in each flight), to determine which top 8 teams would progress through to the finals. In heat 1 the top 4 teams to progress through to the final were as follows:
- Evans
- Knowles
- Kissanes
- Burke
In heat 2 the top 4 teams to progress through to the final were as follows:
- Lynch
- Harris
- Reilly
- Cooper
An exciting 2 race final was held in a decreasing south-easterly breeze. The racing was very close and in the end the Evans sailed excellently to win overall! The Knowles and the Kissanes finished joint second, followed by the Coopers in 4th, the Burkes in 5th, Reillys in 6th, Lynches in 7th and Harrisses in 8th. Please see excel spreadsheet for full results. A fun day of racing was followed by a family BBQ where all the competitors relaxed in the sunshine after 8 exciting races!
Emmet Dalton kept interested supporters updated via live Twitter updates all day which can be read on http://twitter.com/HYC_Events