#sb20 – A solid breeze of 12 to 15 knots made up for the overcast and somewhat unseasonal chill in the air. Seven SB20s made the start line for the Royal Irish Regatta and were treated to two races on a windward leeward course, each consisting of 3 rounds.
A slight pin end bias became exaggerated during the starting sequence for race 1 with the majority of the fleet towards the pin for the off. Manamana (Graeme Grant, Ronan Downing, Joseph Murphy) lead off the line closely followed by Timber (helmed by Alan McNabb with Marty Cuppage in the middle) and Venuesworld (helmed by Ger Dempsey with his nephew Rory onboard) carrying on on starboard tack. Sacrebleu and Probably lead the rest of the fleet out right on the lifted tack. Manamana tacked off into the middle of the course to cover the split but found less breeze. Timber had a healthy lead by the weather mark with Manamana, Probably and Venuesworld scrapping it out for second and rounding together. With the wind out of the North East and the waves out of the east, the starboard gybe was on a plane. Less wind at the leeward mark made finding an accurate gybe angle next to impossible. Timber lead to the leeward mark followed by Manamana with Venuesworld in hot pursuit. Timber carried on on port tack on what appeared to be a small left shift with Manamana learning their lesson from the first beat and heading out left for more breeze. Manamana and Venuesworld fought it out for the lead at the next weather mark with Manamana stealing the lead by barely eeking around the weather mark and forcing Venuesworld to dip their stern. Positions remained unchanged for the first two with Bad Kilcullen (Gerry Dowling, Dave Barry, Jimmy Dowling) storming through the pack to take third.
After some quick repairs on Sacrebleu (it is never ideal to have to take your main sail down) the fleet got away off another pin end biased line. After a pile up at the pin, Manamana lead Bad Kilcullen out to the left side of the course with much cross tacking and dipping in their wake. With a solid 15 plus knots of breeze for the second race the entire fleet enjoyed the downwind legs planing and playing dodgems with the other classes on our course. In a less eventful race at the front of the fleet, Manamana lead Bad Kilcullen to the finish with Venuesworld taking third which is the order the top 3 finished for the regatta.
Despite the inclement weather, a large turnout remained at the club for refreshments and to cheer on the winners. The SB20 fleet winners where honoured to accept the Baker Cup.
Full RIYC regatta results
