Howth Yacht BAM skippered by Conor Fogerty has won Class 3 in RORC's Caribbbean 600 race after a tense battle over the last 24 hours where there were only minutes to spare against some international competition in the 600–mile race around 11 islands in the West Indies.
In a top set of results for the north Dublin Club, another Howth competitor, Southern Child, skippered by Kieran Jameson, finished third in IRC 2.
24 hours ago and with 87 miles still to sail, Fogerty’s Sunfast 3600 Bam was flying after some mid race set backs. The Dublin crew was level on the water with German Swan 44 Best Buddies, skippered by Susann Wrede with the HYC crew gaining the lead in IRC Class 3 yesterday afternnoon, and continuing to be second in CSA 2 signalling some fine silverware for the Irish. Bam took line honours in an elapsed time of 3 days 11 hours 1 mins 7 secs. Bam also won the class win after IRC time correction by just over six minutes. The team on Bam are all Irish, bar Welshman Roger Smith and all live in Dublin. Bam crew member, Simon Knowles has competed in five Round Ireland Races and one Fastnet: "Conor and all the team were over the moon; we have never sailed together as a crew before, so to come here and win our class is brilliant. As the smallest boat racing in IRC and an amateur team, we knew it was going to be tough and the most important thing was just to keep going. Best Buddies kept reeling us in on the upwind legs and we were faster downwind. At Redonda we had a six mile lead but we knew they would be eroding that. It was very tense at the finish, especially as there was confusion about the location of the finish line. From a navigational point of view this is the toughest race I have done, but the race course is fabulous and you are always thinking about the next move. We celebrated when we finished, but we still have something in the tank for tonight's prize giving."
The other Howth crew on Southern Child were 25th overall in IRC, taking a third in IRC 2.
Of all the Irish sailors involved, it is RORC Commodore Michael Boyd of the RIYC who finished best in fleet, finishing 11th overall on the Grand Soleil 48 Belladonna which he is navigating for Andy McIrvine. The British yacht had an excellent fourth in class one when they got back to Antigua.
