Finally some racing again on Sun 31-Mar as the Spring series in RNIYC resumed! Sunshine and a lovely 12 - 15 kts from the east welcomed the RS400 class after a few weeks of no sailing due to poor weather. Some teams even brought out the new cloth in preparation for the season ahead which is fast approaching.
The plan for the day was 4 races starting on-time given the sublime conditions and it certainly was with tight racing around the course and any mistake punished. Barry McCartin and Andrew Penney continued to dominate the series with 3 race wins showing fantastic speed downwind with the new boat of the sailed by Ross & Andrew Vaughan nicking the final one. There were loads of changes throughout the racing with Peter Kennedy & Steve Kane, Ruan O'Tiarnaigh & Catherine, Trevor Darcy & Ginge, Stephen McL & Ryan Wilson, Liam Donnelly & Sharon Doherty all showing turns of great speed throughout mixing at the front.
Some of the leeward gate action that took place during the 4 races caused some hairy moments as boats came planning back together and heated exchanges (no names mentioned). All this certainly acts as a prelude to what we will see in the summer when the UK/Irish nationals come to Belfast Lough when there could be upwards of 70+ boats!
Now less than month out from the first regional events, Barry and Andrew look the Partnership to beat from this series and the competition need to find an extra gear over the closing races to reign them in! It’s also great to see lots of new faces and some familiar faces who are getting back into racing.
Another 2 weeks remain of the winter series, hopefully some more of the same conditions. There were a few absentees due to Mother’s Day duties – so numbers back to full capacity next week would be great. Thanks as always to PRO Gerry and his sublime team of volunteers doing marks, safety, results etc giving us the opportunity for quality racing at 2019 UK/Irish Nationals venue.
