Saturday 29th June was the opening day of the annual 29er Irish Nationals at the National Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire with sailors competing for the coveted Cullen Cup.
A millpond greeted the competitors on arrival, but as the first gun approached, a light but constant breeze filled in to provide exciting and tactical racing under the expert supervision of the Race Officer, Brian Matthews. With 5 windward-leeward races scheduled for each day, a quick relocation of the course at the mid-point was required due to the close proximity of the cruiser racing, but once complete, the remaining races were finished by mid-afternoon and with stronger winds forecast for the following day, a very exciting event was on the cards. At the halfway point of the championships, Lola and Atlee Kohl were in pole position with Rian Geraghty-McDonnell and Nathan Van Steenberge trailing by one just point, but with a discard at race 6 and race 10 to come into play, there was still the opportunity for major shifts in the leaderboard.
As forecast, during the night the stronger winds had filled in and two exciting races were completed before the Race Officer decided to call it a day due to increasing wind strength. At the finish of racing, the winners of the Cullen Cup were Rian Geraghty-McDonnell and Nathan Van Steenberge from NYC (in addition to U17 category winners and first All-Male team). Second place, from RCYC, went to Lola and Atlee Kohl with Chris Bateman and Lucy Klempen, also from RCYC, grabbing the third place slot. NYC’s Leah Rickard and Eimer McMorrow-Moriarty won the All-Female category.
Thank you the National Yacht Club for hosting the event and to our sponsors, Hiremate.com and Deutsche Leasing. Many thanks to Brian Matthews who did an excellent job as Race Officer and to all of the parents, club members and helpers who made this such a great event.