#mirrorworlds – Royal Cork Yacht Club pairing Douglas Elmes and Scott Levie are top Irish boat after day one of the 91-boat Mirror World Championships at Dromineer on Lough Derg today. This is the first time a world sailing championship has been held on the inland waters of Ireland.
Leading after the day's two races are the Robinson siblings from the UK, second overall is fellow British pairing David and Edward Coady and third are mother and son Sarah and George Richards.
Racing began late this morning in squally, rainy conditions with gusts reaching as high as 20 knots. The 91 boat fleet got off to a clear start for Race 1 but three teams in particular clearly dominated from the beginning. Leading around the first mark were David and Edward Coady from the UK followed closely by mother and son duo Sarah and George Richards, also from the UK, and Ridgely Balladares and Rommel Chavez from the Philippines. Try as they might, none of the other sailors were able to catch the three pairings but competition for the prestige of first race win was fierce. Battling hard and coming up from behind, it was ultimately Balladares and Chavez from the Philippines that took the win followed Richards and Richards in 2nd with Coady and Coady 3rd.
Local Lough Derg Yacht Club sailors Alfie Wisdom and Sam Warren were the first Irish boat, finishing in 5th.
The breeze died down slightly, the clouds parted and the sun emerged for Race 2. As the fleet rounded the first mark it was the Irish that were dominating by taking the lead and also filling two more of the top five spots. Young Douglas Elmes and his crew Scott Levie from Cork made a break and left the rest of the fleet behind, all except for siblings Ryan and Michaela Robinson from South Africa who tailed them frantically. In a hotly fought game of skill and tactics it was eventually the Corkonians who reigned supreme winning Race 2 and finishing Day 1 in 4th overall and the highest placed Irish boat.
182 sailors in 91 boats began were are competing today on Lough Derg. Sailors have travelled to Lough Derg Yacht Club from the UK, Australia, the Philippines, South Africa, Canada, Sweden as well as parts of Ireland to compete in this highly respected two-man dinghy regatta. The biennial regatta was last held in Australia in 2011 and will be hosted by South Africa in 2015.
Racing continues until Friday.
