Dunmore East lived up to its reputation for big waves and strong winds on day one of the ILCA Ireland Leinster Championships hosted by Waterford Harbour Sailing Club.
With a large southerly swell and 18 to 22 knots from the southwest, it was not for the faint-hearted. The 85-boat fleet launched under the watchful eye of Race Officer Michael Conway, Safety Officer Philip Scallan and Beachmaster Geoff Plant.
With a strong current pushing towards the line the ILCA 7's sat back and attacked the line at speed as the gun fired, the ILCA 6s were not so well behaved with three general recalls before getting away on the fourth attempt. The ILCA 4 fleet had a long wait before getting started. As wind and waves increased, the call was made to finish early with three races for the ILCA 7, but only two for the 4s and 6s.
Big seas and sunshine in Dunmore East for the ILCA Ireland Leinster Championships hosted by Waterford Harbour Sailing Club
This proved to be a good call as on Sunday the conditions were much more favorable. The swell reduced and the fleets got off the line clean in 8 to 12knots. After four races in ILCA 7 it was all to play for as Dan O'Connell, Rory Lynch and Dan McGaughey were all on 5 points. McGaughey took the lead with a first in race 5, but Lynch did enough in race 6 with a race win to push McGaughey into second overall and O'Connell into third.
Andrejs Samoilovs showing how its done on the downwind at the ILCA Ireland Leinster Championships hosted by Waterford Harbour Sailing Club
In ILCA 6 Bobby Driscoll and Daniel Palmer were leading after day one with Sienna Wright close behind. With four races on Sunday Wright showed her ability with two race wins taking the lead comfortably with a race to go. Driscol and Palmer had to settle for second and third respectively. Sean Craig led the ILCA 6 master's fleet throughout finishing 6th overall with, Robert Jeffries taking second Master and Gavin Doig taking third.
Seth Walker going fast downwind at the ILCA Ireland Leinster Championships hosted by Waterford Harbour Sailing Club
In a new initiative to encourage development and acknowledge the competition at all levels silver fleet prizes were awarded to sailors who finished 19th, 20th and 21st in the ILCA 6. Rory Pollard, Megan O'Sullivan and Robert Jephson took first, second and third place respectively.
James Gorman battling in the 27 boat ILCA 4 fleet at the ILCA Ireland Leinster Championships hosted by Waterford Harbour Sailing Club
In the ILCA 4 fleet Rory White showed dominance by winning four of the six races. Jules Start, fresh from the ILCA 4 World Championships, showed consistency, discarding a third to take second, while Joseph Robinson took third. Also fresh from Portugal, Riona McMorrow Moriarty finished as the top female with a win in race four. Emily McAffee took second female while local sailor Sarah Clooney took third, holding off Zita Tempany just one point behind. In the ILCA 4, local Julia McConnell, 14th, Andrew O'Neill, 15th and Kate Kenny, 16th, were awarded Silver Fleet prizes.
A big thank you to Barry McConnell, Harry Hermon, and everyone on shore for their organisation and hospitality.
The next major ILCA event is the ILCA 6 Youth European Championships, which will take place in Ballyholme. The event is organised by EurILCA and hopes to run twelve days of racing with 370+ boats representing 38.
Full Results are downloadable below as a pdf
