Howth's Ben Duncan sailing Sharbait has etched another victory in the SB3 class following a weekend of very up and down conditions with some sizeable shifts and changes in pressure at the SB3 Northern Championships at Royal Ulster Yacht Club.
But the PRO team were well able and a full schedule of racing was completed on the Lough. Three of the top four Irish boats from the Worlds took three of the top four spots and had pace on pretty much every one, a further indication that going to Torbay has definitely given these boats a lift.
The Vaughan brothers continued their upward trajectory with a very solid second place. Andrew Ageo had a win in race 2 and pretty steady results to finish third. Dave Cheyne had an up and down regatta. The local sailors was very fast in patches but got buried a couple too many times to challenge.
Sharbait was lucky enough to not have to make too much of the conditions and sailed the fleet to produce another overall win.
Highlights of the weekend for the winners were winning the first race by 2:30 minutes and getting caught up in a match racine with Dave Cheyne for race 3. Cheyne pipped the Howth boat on the line by about a foot.
The next event in the SB3 calendar is the national champs in four weeks time. Flipper and Mel Collins are expected to be back in the fleet along with plenty of further competition.
1st Sharkbait
2nd Toucan 3
3rd Flutter
4th Team Cheyne
Royal Ulster presents Sharkbait their winning prize. Photos: Ken Hunter
