#HOWTH YC – The forecast of fresh north-easterlies in a big lumpy sea was enough to dissuade several skippers from completing this year's Key Capital Private-sponsored Spring Warmers Series last Saturday but despite the smaller numbers, there was exciting action afloat and two closely contested races in the eight classes.
Class 1 was a two-horse race between Equinox (Ross McDonald) and Storm (Pat Kelly) with the former winning both races on the last day to share the overall lead with the latter, with Equinox getting the nod on the final race result. Class 2 was a similar two-boat affair with Paddy Kyne's Maximus edging out Ian Byrne's Sunburn by a single point overall.
With Gecko not sailing, the result in Class 3 was guaranteed in favour of Starlet (Bourke & Others) while what was effectively a Squib match-racing event saw Kerfuffle (Craig/Ruane) notch two more wins to confirm their ascendancy over Dave Sheahan's Too Dee.
Dan O'Grady's Kootamundra again stamped its authority on the Etchells fleet to take the honours ahead of Fetching (Quinn/O'Flaherty) and Alan Pearson's Trick or Treat recorded another double bullet to see off the challenge of Harlequin (Clarke/Egan) by a comfortable 5-point margin.
It was a matter of consistency in the two largest classes, the SB3s and the J/24s. Twelve boats hit the line in the SB3s and while Sharkbait (Duncan/Moran) scored two more wins, missing the first weekend put paid to their overall chances. Instead, Dinghy Supplies (Shane Murphy) was consistently in the top three and won the event by a healthy seven points from RStGYC visitor Ruby Blue (O'Connell/Horgan).
Six J/24s contested the final day and with a third and a first, Flor O'Driscoll's Hard On Port had three points to spare over Lough Erne visitor Jamais Encore (JP McCaldin) in the overall standings, despite the northern crew recording a 1 and 2 on the final day.
