Be that as it may, Annalise Muphy of the National YC is clear winner of the Afloat.ie/Irish Independent "Sailor of the Month" award for May after recording an outstanding five race wins in the 63-strong Women's Laser Radial class at Medemblik, an event which was blasted by the severe weather of May.
On this summery weekend, that weather is now but a vague memory. But the reality of the 21-year-old Murphy's performance looks even more remarkable the more we look at it. Twice she led overall, twice she lost it to regain the lead, yet at the end, despite those five great wins, she failed to get into the medals.
It was a regatta of extremes, and the tougher the weather, the better the Irish sailor's showing. On Day 3, conditions deteriorated so rapidly that all fleets except the Laser Radials were ordered back to port before racing could be completed.
But the Laser Radials, with Murphy in the lead, had powered through their race to such good effect that they were finished before the winds and weather went completely crazy. Thus Ireland's hope went into Day 4 nicely in the points lead, but things then went completely pear-shaped.
In both that day's races, she was in a group that was over the line at the start. That results in disqualification. In a series like this, you can carry maybe one DSQ, but not two. Yet she showed her mettle with more wins before the series finished on Sunday, even if that wasn't enough to offset the two losses.
In all, an astonishing, extraordinary, startling, mind-blowing performance, stellar stuff, and worthy of the mad May award. But there's barely time to digest it, as Ireland's Olympic hopefuls are now squaring up for next week's Sail for Gold regatta at the 2012 Olympic venue off England's Dorset coast – racing is from June 6th to June 11th, and the stakes are high.
