2022 was a special year for Kinsale Yacht Club’s St. Stephens Day race for the Gunsmoke Bell Trophy. This year marked thirty years of race sponsorship by long-standing club member Sammy Cohen.
For the nine boats that took part this year, they were lucky enough to sail in perfect sailing conditions for this time of year with blue skies and a steady southwesterly breeze which died at the end, leading some boats to struggle to get to the finish line.
The Race Officer, Denis Kieran, laid a course outside the harbour, and Tom Roche’s Meridian led the fleet out of the harbour and around the course.
Stephen Lysaght, skipper of Reavra Too, accepts the Gunsmoke Trophy from Sammy Cohen
As the wind died close to the finish off the marina in Kinsale, three boats (Meridian, Reavra Too and Chancer) battled it out for line honours, with all three being just over a minute apart.
In the end, it was Stephen Lysaght’s Reavra Too that won the trophy on Echo, with Chancer in second place and Meridian in third place.
