Considering there were only two entries in the Inbox of Ballyholme Yacht Club a week before the regatta, the turnout of 19 boats over the weekend of the Fireball Ulster Championships at Ballyholme Yacht Club was quite a turnaround writes Cormac Bradley.  In truth the regatta was never really in jeopardy as the Class has a reputation of entering late and with this being the second regatta in a month, there was a glitch in getting the appropriate documentation out.

Representatives from Skerries (2), Clontarf (1), Howth (2), East Down Yacht Club (1), Sligo Yacht Club (1) were joined a composite crew from Cushendal Sailing and Boating Club/Royal St. George Yacht Club and eleven boats from Dun Laoghaire.

In times past the Fireball Class were regular visitors to Ballyholme, particularly when they hosted a week-long dinghy regatta, but in the time of this scribe’s association with the Irish Fireball Class this has been our first visit. Ballyholme has had a solitary Fireballer in recent times, but unfortunately Denis Findlay lost his struggle with cancer and so he was unable to enjoy the return of the class to this venue on Belfast Lough.

Race Officer Robin Gray, RYA N. Ireland’s Race Officer Co-ordinator did the honours over the weekend and enhanced his reputation as an excellent RO with three superb races on Saturday when we enjoyed a sea breeze of 15/16 knots. In addition to good courses we enjoyed sea conditions that gave us excellent surfing conditions and saw a few stories of rogue breaking waves in Saturday’s post-mortems.  Turnaround times for races were good to the extent that after a solitary black flag start in Race 1, after a General Recall, three hour long races were sailed in beautifully sunny conditions that saw the fleet ashore and showered by 16:30.

 I gather that Sunday was not quite as co-operative from a wind perspective as the wind started light and moved around much more. Due to a family bereavement, I missed the day’s proceedings but was updated on how the day panned out.

Day 1 was claimed by Simon McGrotty & Ruari Grimes who won races 1 and 3 with good upwind speed on the beat and excellent boat handling off wind, particularly in the tight first reaches of the triangles. The blot on their day 1 record was a fourth place which may have been influenced by a wandering gybe mark which had to be substituted by a rib flying an X Flag. There certainly was the unusual sight of Fireballs beating and tacking towards the gybe mark and McGrotty/Grimes may have lost places here. Kenny Rumball & Seamus Moore, Barry McCartin & Conor Kinsella and Damien Bracken & Brian O’Hara were able to take advantage by filling the first three places before McGrotty/Grimes finished in fourth.

After three excellent races, the standings were as follows;

1.     Simon McGrotty & Ruari Grimes            6pts      (1,4,1)

2.     Kenny Rumball & Seamus Moore            8pts      (4,1,3)

3.     Barry McCartin & Conor Kinsella            10pts      (6,2,2)

4.     Noel Butler & Stephen Oram            13pts      (2,7,4)

5.     Louis Smyth & Cormac Bradley            16pts      (3,8,5)

 

The silver fleet was 5-strong for this regatta and included a visitor from the UK. Hannah Showell teamed up with Margaret Casey to provide the third all-female crew of the event and together with Cariosa Power & Marie Barry, Mary Chambers & Brenda McGuire, they contested the regatta with Kate Grimes (helm), Martina Michels (crew) and Karen Caughey (crew), the latter three being joined by Nick Malone, Cearbhall Daly and John Orr respectively. Diane Kissane was the sole female outside the Silver fleet, sailing 14939.

 

What is encouraging for the Irish fleet at this point in time is the influx of young talented sailors into the class. Yes, it may be coincidental with the hosting of the Worlds, but it seems that they are enjoying themselves and there is a camaraderie that is developing among them and with the more “established” members of the fleet. This weekend we were joined by Luke Malcolm & Shane Diviney who bought a Fireball on the back of the Leinsters sailed in their home club of Howth last year. Howth is also scheduled to host the 2012 Nationals and we hope to have fledgling fleet there by the time we visit next summer.

 

Barry McCartin has joined the fleet from the Topper Class where he has enjoyed significant success. Diane Kissane has proven her pedigree in Optimists and has been showed a great turn of speed and ability to handle the Fireball in a very short time. There are other young recruits to the class who contested the Worlds in Ben Malone and Ben Scallan and the hope must be that we can continue to attract this age of competitor to ensure that we remain at the forefront of domestic sailing in Ireland and beyond.

 

My detail on Sunday’s proceedings is based on word of mouth reports from my helm, but I gather that the day’s wind wasn’t quite as steady as Saturday’s. It doesn’t seem to have upset the McGrotty/Grimes charge to the title as they bagged another two firsts to give themselves two-thirds of the regatta’s race wins. The one that “got away” on Sunday went to Frank Miller and Grattan Donnelly.

 

Counting all races, for the sake of analysis, Conor Clancy & Francis Rowan won by a healthy margin, counting a 2,2,4 for the day. On Saturday they had a complicated capsize in race 1 and retired from Races 2 & 3 due to a broken spreader. Thus while they didn’t feature overall on Saturday evening their success on Sunday saw them finish 7^th overall.

 

McGrotty/Grimes had the next best daily score of 12 points (1,10,1), the 10^th becoming their discard, with Rumball/Moore next best with 5,6,2. Butler/Oram’s travails continued with a 4,5,5, for the day which is completely inconsistent with their recent form. Damien Bracken and Brian O’Hara also had a better day with a 8,4,3.

 

In the Silver Fleet Hannah & Margaret had a three point lead over Cearbhall & Martina at the close of racing on the Saturday evening, with Cariosa & Marie in third place a further three points adrift. Cariosa & Marie won the second day with two finishes just outside the top ten and an 18^th to Hannah/Margaret’s 11,12,DNF to leapfrog Cearbhall/Martina into 2^nd place in the Silver fleet.

 

As ever with our northern visits, the hospitality of Ballyholme Yacht Club was excellent with a dinner arranged for the Saturday night at which some unfinished business (a prize-giving) from the Open Championships was concluded. The atmosphere in the Club was welcoming and in particular their provision of race results on both Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon was very fast with multiple score sheets being made available.

 

Robin Gray will definitely be on our wish list for future events, particularly as he ran the regatta exactly as we asked him to. Our thanks also go to Mark Markey, Rear Commodore Sailing who coordinated our visit from a BYC perspective.

 

The Class now enjoys a month’s break until the Nationals which are being hosted by Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club on Dublin Bay over the last Friday/Saturday/Sunday of August, 26 – 28^th. Class coordinator for this event, Neil Colin, has secured sponsorship from Pinnell & Bax and the regatta documentation can be found on both the Irish Fireball website and the club website.

 

The decision to go with a Dublin venue was taken in view of the two-week Worlds regatta in Sligo so that we didn’t have to embrace another distance regatta for the Nationals. Additionally, in recent years the Nationals have been hosted outside the capital (Baltimore, Westport (x2), Cork, Fenit, Wicklow) and the feeling was that it was time for them to return.

 

Pos	Sail No	Crew	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Nett
1	14981	Simon McGrotty & Ruari Grimes	1	4	1	1	10	1	8
2	15058	Kenneth Rumball & Seamus Moore	4	1	3	5	6	2	15
3	14820	Barry McCartin & Conor Kinsella	6	2	2	6	3	7	19
4	15061	Noel Butler & Stephen Oram	2	7	4	4	5	5	20
5	14904	Damien Bracken & Brian O’Hara	20	3	6	8	4	3	24
14	14775	Hannah Showell & Margaret Casey	12	13	13	11	12	20	61
15	14854	Cariosa Power & Marie Barry	15	14	15	18	11	11	66
16	14877	Cearbhall Daly & Martina Michels	14	15	12	14	18	13	68

 

Shoe manufacturer Dubarry saw a 44 per cent increase in overseas sales last year, The Irish Times reports.

The firm, which is a long-time supporter of sailing in Ireland, reported pretax profits of €1.95 million on revenue that topped the €20 million mark, an increase of more than €4 million on the previous year.

Though shoe sales are on the decline in Ireland, growth in export markets - and the success of Dubarry's new clothing range – has more than offset any domestic losses, said marketing director Michael Walsh.

Dubarry was recently title sponsor of the Fireball World Championships at Sligo Yacht Club last month.

The Irish Times has more on the story HERE.

The cruiser racers might be shattered after a two week stint down South but the Fireballers are already back on the water after ten days in Sligo. While they were away they've been eclipsed on Dublin Bay by the Lasers. DBSC Results here. Gold Dust Won last night's Howth Puppeteer Race. Results here.

An Irish debutant leads the fleet after four days of competition in the Three Peaks Yacht Race. Last night Glen Ward's crew were climbing Ben Nevis.

Half the country is heading for the Tall Ships.

400 are now expected for next week's Volvo Dun Laoghaire Regatta.

There's only a month to Calves week in West Cork. The race programme (plus a sponsor) has been unveiled.

One year to go to the finish of the Volvo Ocean race. Galway gets serious.

Who should be June's Sailor of the Month? Water Rat asks are two medals a realistic expectation from London?

And finally, a German Honour on an Irish Lifesaver. Well done Frank Nolan.

All these stories – and more – on our home page this morning!

From a wet and windy Fireball World Championships in Sligo, where another four races were sailed in a building SE wind, it became a case of the fittest having the most fun on the water. Granted there was a World title to be won but the weather took its toll on the fleet with many retrials before the day was done.

The role call of leaders at the first mark of each race was expanded today when Simon McGrotty & Tony Fitzgerald (IRL 14981), and Joerg Nolle & Roger Leeman (GER 14508) took the honours in Races 1 & 2 respectively.

The other races were lead around the weather mark by the "usual suspects".

The Provisional Results for the regatta have just been posted and the 1-2-3 reads as follows;

1. Matt Burge & Richard Wagstaff 16pts
2. Tom Gillard & Sam Brearey 16pts
3. David Wade & Simon Potts 19pts.

Burge/Wagstaff thus take the title on countback.

Burge/Wagstaff scored a 6,2,1,4 to Gillard/Brearey's 1,3,2,3 with Wade/Potts scoring a 2,1,1,2.

Best of the Irish, in 10th overall is Noel Butler & Stephen Oram, followed by Kenny Rumball & Seamus Moore in 12th and Simon McGrotty & Tony Fitzgerald in 13th.

Leading lady is Derian Scott in 14th overall.

The new Fireball World Champions Matt Burge and Richard Wagstaff

Best Irish boat (10th overall) - Noel Butler & Stephen Oram

There has been a change in the overall lead of the Fireball Worlds in Sligo after three races today writes Cormac Bradley.

The leaders now are Tom Gillard and Sam Brearety. The overall results after five races are below. Day four photos from Gareth Craig on the Afloat gallery.

The fleet assembled early in Sligo this morning, ready to embrace a day that offered the prospect of four races.

Big winds, big waves in Sligo. Photo: Gareth Craig. More on the gallery here.

Yesterday's layday, in a true application of Murphy's Law - this is Ireland we don't use Sod's Law - the wind blew and some of our British friends and both the Czech boats took advantage to have a session of their own.

As usual the speculation was on what the wind Gods would give us, Ireland's Sea Area forecast had promised F4 – 5 moderating to F3 – 4, XC Weather were talking of 15 – 20 knots moderating to 10 – 15 knots. That brought varying degrees of pleasure to the fleet!

In the end the wind ranged from 16 – 21 knots during the races with gusts of around 23/24 knots in-between, direction moved during the day.

Conditions were excellent for Fireball sailing with moderate seas and a steady breeze which was its strongest during the first race.

Three races were sailed today even though the programme was for four. As you can appreciate the reporting of three races in one day can't allow for the detail that everyone might want so I will instead try and provide a flavour of the day!

The charge to the first weather mark was tight in every race but in the last race in particular, the lead enjoyed by the first three or four boats was very comfortable indeed, not only over each other but relative to the bulk of the fleet. Included in this bunch were Messrs Burge & Wagstaff, Wade & Potts, Horey & Thompson, Gillard & Brearey, Taylor & Anderton, Rush & Pepperdine and Krailing & Saunders. However, black flags were to dictate who were legal finishers and from this bunch came Taylor/Anderton (1st), Gillard/Brearey (2nd) and Schulz/Bowley (3rd).

Schulz & Bowley scored a win in the middle race and were relieved to see the breeze back on the course and were never outside the top 2, losing a place on a gybe mark but recovering to take the gun. Behind them came Gillard/Brearey, Wade/Potts, Horey/Thompson and Krailing/Saunders.

Matt Burge & Richard Wagstaff opened the day's proceedings with the first race win, leading from start to finish. It was to be their only race finish as they are currently sitting with an OCS and a BFD for races 2 and 3. Wade/Potts took second and Gillard/Brearey 3rd.

Rank	SailNo	HelmName	CrewName
1st	15041	Tom Gillard	Sam Brearey
2nd	14801	Jonny McGovern	Max Capener
3rd	14954	Alan Krailing	Tim Saunders
4th	15065	Tim Rush	Richard Pepperdine
5th	15031	Alex Taylor	Richard Anderton
6th	15045	David Wade	Simon Potts
7th	15062	Ben Schulz	Philip Bowley
8th	15061	Noel Butler	Stephen Oram
9th	15058	Kenneth Rumball	Seamus Moore
10th	15056	Martyn Lewis	Richard Byrne
11th	14917	Remy Thuillier	Loic Berthelot
12th	14941	Darian Scott	Andy Scott
13th	14981	Simon McGrotty	Tony Fitzgerald
14th	15070	Phillip Popple	Doug Shore
15th	14907	Guy Tipton	Matthew King
16th	14820	Barry McCartin	Conor Kinsella
17th	15036	Matt Burge	Richard Wagstaff
18th	15015	Martin Peculier	Cantona Nouel
19th	14976	Stuart Hydon	Nigel Spurr
20th	15024	Joe Jospe	Thomas Egli
21st	14934	Andrew Boyle	Brian Flahive
22nd	14977	Jonathan Carter	Gareth Wilkinson
23rd	14894	Chris Owen	Steve Jobson
24th	15020	Vince Horey	Andy Thompson
25th	14807	Graeme Grant	Hugh Butler
26th	14508	Joerg Nolle	Roger Leeman
27th	15066	Mark Maskell	Nigel Sheppard
28th	14973	Pascal Anselmo	Jean Robillard
29th	14430	Hannah Showell	Barry Smith
30th	14990	Owen Laverty	Ed Butler
31st	14937	Mick Creighton	Cillian Magee
32nd	14809	Jaroslav Verner	Jakub Napravnik
33rd	14790	Diane Kissane	Finbar Bradley
34th	14713	Frank Miller	Grattan Donnelly
35th	15022	John Manson	Ivan Fraser
36th	14799	Claude Mermod	Ruedi Moser
37th	14755	David Ryder	Michelle Ryder
38th	14754	Ben Scallan	David Fitzgerald
39th	14748	Jonathan Evans	Aidan Caulfield
40th	15007	Louis Smyth	Cormac Bradley
41st	14775	Neil Colin	Margaret Casey
42nd	14945	Steve Patten	Brian Aldgate
43rd	14938	Niall McGrotty	Neil Cramer
44th	14691	Louise McKenna	Hermine O'Keeffe
45th	14939	Ben Malone	Matthew Bennion
46th	14921	Maja Suter	Thomas Boehm
47th	14916	John Jerrard-Dunne	Matt Barnes
48th	14854	Cariosa Power	Marie Barry
49th	14781	Jonathan Nicholson	Vivian Bessler
50th	14623 / 14407 / 14740	Ian O'Gorman	Glen Fisher
51st	14877	Cearbhaill Daly	Martina Michels
52nd	14765	Gavin Doyle	Richard Franck
53rd	14853	Ladislav Vomacko	Jiri Gemperle
54th	15063	Mianne Erne	Clay Poulson
55th	14872	Barbara Newson	Guy Newson
56th	14706	Patrick Hughes	Aine O'Gara
57th	14865	Mary Chambers	Brenda McGuire
58th	15060	Beth Armstrong	Peter Armstrong
59th	14595	Brian O'Neill	Una l'Estrange

As another day at the Fireball World Championships is lost to the weather, the plan now is to stage four races on Thursday writes Cormac Bradley. 

Today's racing in Sligo has not taken the regatta any further forward in terms of determining who will be the 2011 Fireball World Champion! Yes, for the second day in a row, no races were completed, but in contrast to yesterday, none were started either.

Sligo was grey and drizzly this morning and combined with a forecast of 1 – 6 knots from a variety of directions on XC Weather, the omens for racing were not good. For some there was an earlier start as the Council Meeting for the Fireball Executive and NCA reps took place this morning and while this might normally cause an anxious eye to be cast the way of the weather outside for those in the meeting, this was not the case today. There was rain and very little wind.

Rainwear by Pinnell and Bax. Taking cover on Day three of the Fireball Worlds in Sligo. Photo: Gareth Craig

As the morning wore on the prospects for racing were put into limbo! Indeed the Council Meeting was asked to consider the implications of the weather in terms of determining a plan of action for the day. A suggestion was offered but almost immediately Numeral 0 and D flags were flown – go afloat........to the outer race area, i.e. beyond the lighthouse.

The fleet launched under a postponement flag at 12:30 and was greeted almost immediately with a rain shower en route to the racing area. That brought some breeze but that died and what was left, in varying degrees of pressure went from SE to almost due N. The difficulty was that during this entire period the strength never stayed above the requisite 5 knots for long enough to consider a start. The consequence for the fleet was a 3.5hr sojourn on the water that ended when the N flag was flown under the postponement flag – abandoned – to be sailed at a later date.

Thus with three days gone, the regatta has two races completed! The plan how is to try and recover races on Thursday with a scheduled start of 10:00 and the prospect of four races on the day.

The perennial debate of using the lay-day to recover races has aired again here in Sligo – understandably – but the difficulty is that for the host club the volunteers may also have made plans for that day.

This evening Sligo is bright again. The Australians will be doing their bit to persuade us all to go to their Worlds in Mandurah, Western Australia, at the end of this year. Also here are Robin Olsen, Race Officer for the Mandurah Worlds and his wife Sue.

Tomorrow is a lay-day which may convince the competitors to rid themselves of the lack of racing frustrations this evening!

Early signs from Sligo this morning indicate it may be another non-sailing day at the Fireball World Championships. Currently there's no wind on Sligo Bay and a heavy drizzle. The forecast only 3knots from the north-west.

It's frustrating for the 120 sailors especially after yesterday's race three abandonment but also because the forecast for tomorrow (Wednesday) is good but that is the scheduled lay day of the event.

A 100% majority of competitors would be needed to agree to change it from lay-day to race day, according to regatta rules.

The forecast for Thursday and Friday is much more positive with moderate winds from the northwest.

Day 2 of the Fireball Worlds dawned sunny! However, the discussions of Sunday evening and this morning were of the forecast for the next few days writes Cormac Bradley. XCW was predicting 5 – 8 knots ESE, in stark contrast to a forecast that had been obtained by others that suggested as little as 1 knot the previous evening. However, as the morning progressed the wind there was disappeared prompting the flying of the postponement flag. Click HERE for Gareth Craig's pics before the wind died, some nice starting line shots too, showing a dip in the middle of the line.

The Race Management Team went afloat but permission for the fleet to do the same was withheld. They positioned themselves outside the lighthouse, probably in deference to the concerns expressed by many about the random shallow spots in yesterday's race area.

Permission to go afloat was given at around 12 noon, but the postponement was continued on the water. The day got greyer before a start was initiated at around 14:20 and aborted under General Recall. The Black Flag came out for the second start.

The Jury, on the water, also identified people transgressing Rule 42 on the start.

The left hand side of the beat appeared to be the preferred side, but a substantial queue of boats was coming in the starboard layline for the first mark. Out of the chaos came the usual suspects – Gillard/Brearey, McGovern/Capener and Wade/Potts who opened a gap on the balance of the fleet, who then provided a continuous stream of boats down the first reach. As the fleet worked their way round the course the wind initially dropped and then filled in from the left leaving a lopsided beat for round two. Of greater concern though must have been the fact that after the initial burst of energy the wind petered out. The downwind leg of the sausage was reduced to a crawl before three guns and blue and white coloured flags signalled a close to proceedings. Just as the call was made a slight breeze filled in from the East to provide everyone with an easy two-sail trip home!

For four combinations though, there was a final throw of the dice when they came ashore – as there had been a Black Flag start, there were transgressors; Ben Scallan & Dave Fitzgerald (IRL 14754), Diane Kissane & Finnbarr Bradley (IRL 14790), Claude Mermod & Ruedi Moser (SUI 14799) and Martyn Lewis & Richard Byrne (GBR 15056). They miss the start of the next race.

With two races lost today, the provisional programme is to race three tomorrow with a 12 noon start – an hour ahead of the original programme.

Tonight's entertainment includes a presentation by Marine Archaeologist Auriel Robinson on the wrecks of the Spanish Armada in this part of Ireland's west coast. Who says sailing can't be cultural?

Sail No	Helm	Crew	Nation	Race 1	Race 2
15036	Matt Burge	Richard Wagstaff	GBR	1	1
14801	Jonny McGovern	Max Capener	GBR	2	2
15065	Tim Rush	Richard Pepperdine	GBR	5	6
14907	Guy Tipton	Matt King	CAN	9	8
14954	Alan Krailing	Tim Saunders	GBR	15	4
14809	Jaroslav Verner	Jakub Napravniik	CZE	10	11
14934	Andrew Boyle	Brian Flahive	IRL	4	18
14917	Remy Thuillier	Loic Berthelot	FRA	7	15
14941	Derian Scott	Andy Scott	GBR	12	10
15070	Phillip Popple	Doug Shore	GBR	16	7
15045	David Wade	Simon Potts	GBR	8	16
15058	Kenny Rumball	Seamus Moore	IRL	14	12
15056	Martyn Lewis	Richard Byrne	GBR	13	13
15061	Noel Butler	Stephen Oram	IRL	3	25
14820	Barry McCartin	Conor Kinsella	IRL	11	17
14430	Hannah Showell	Barry Smith	GBR	6	31
14977	Jonathon Carter	Gareth Wilkinson	GBR	19	23
14981	Simon McGrotty	Tony Fitzgerald	IRL	25	19
14976	Stuart Hydon	Nigel Spurr	GBR	20	24
14894	Chris Owen	Steve Jobson	GBR	24	22
14508	Joerg Nolle	Roger Leeman	GER	21	28
14973	Pascal Anselmo	Jean Robillard	FRA	26	27
14937	Mick Creighton	Cillian Magee	IRL	17	37
15024	Joe Jospe	Tom Egli	CAN	18	38
14807	Graeme Grant	Hugh Butler	IRL	23	33
14790	Diane Kissane	Finnbarr Bradley	IRL	30	26
15066	Mark Maskell	Nigel Sheppard	GBR	27	29
15041	Tom Gillard	Sam Brearey	GBR	60	3
14938	Niall McGrotty	Neil Cramer	IRL	43	20
14713	Frank Miller	Grattan Donnelly	IRL	22	42
14775	Neil Colin	Margaret Casey	IRL	29	35
14755	David Ryder	Michelle Ryder	GBR	32	32
15015	Martin Peculier	Jean Francois Nouel	FRA	60	5
14765	Gavin Doyle	Richard Franck	IRL	35	30
15031	Alex Taylor	Richard Anderton	GBR	60	9
14691	Louise McKenna	Hermine O'Keeffe	IRL	33	36
14939	Ben Malone	Matthew Bennion	IRL	37	34
14990	Owen Laverty	Ed Butler	IRL	28	44
15020	Vince Horey	Andy Thompson	GBR	60	14
14916	John Jerrard Dunne	Matt Barnes	IRL	34	40
15062	Ben Schulz	Phillip Bowley	AUS	60	21
14754	Ben Scallan	David Fitzgerald	IRL	42	39
15007	Louis Smyth	Cormac Bradley	IRL	31	54
14921	Maja Suter	Thomas Boehm	SUI	39	46
15063	Mianne Erne	Clay Poulson	SUI	45	41
14854	Cariosa Power	Marie Barry	IRL	36	51
14945	Steve Patten	Brian Aldgate	GBR	38	50
15022	John Manson	Ivan Fraser	SHE	41	52
14706	Patrick Hughes	Aine O'Gara	AUS	47	47
14877	Cearbhaill Daly	Martina Michels	IRL	52	43
14853	Ladislav Vomacko	Jiri Gemperle	CZE	40	56
14872	Barbara Newson	Guy Newson	GBR	51	45
14748	Jonathan Evans	Aidan Caulfield	IRL	50	48
14407/740	Ian O'Gorman	Glen Fisher	IRL	49	49
14865	Mary Chambers	Brenda McGuire	IRL	46	53
15060	Beth Armstrong	Peter Armstrong	IRL	44	57
14781	Jonathan Nicholson	Vivian Bessler	IRL	48	55
14595	Brian O'Neill	Una l'Estrange	IRL	60	60
14799	Claude Mermod	Ruedi Moser	SUI	60	60

Daily Report: Day 1 Fireball Worlds: The saying goes that a difficult day on the race course still beats a great day at the office and on a day when the sun shone and the wind provided everyone with a challenge, it was infinitely easier to be racing Fireballs than contemplating work in the morning.

57 boats launched from Sligo Yacht Club’s slipway this morning en route to a 13:00 start. It was a great sight to see and must have provided the organisers of this event a hugh sense of relief. The sleepless nights, the speculation as to how many entries there would be evaporated in the sunshine of Ireland’s west coast.

Irish Fireballs competing in race one today of the Sligo World Championships. Photo: Gareth Craig. Gallery HERE.

Round 1 went to the Race Officer who, after two aborted starts, signalled by General Recall, brought out the Black Flag. 4 boats went over the finish line to silence and for Tom Gillard and Sam Brearey (GBR 15041) it must have been particular disappointing as they led for most, if not all, of the race. The front three of Gillard/Brearey, Jonny McGovern & Max Capener (GBR 14801) and Matt Burge & Richard Wagstaff (GBR 15036) seemed to have their own race such was their lead on the rest of the fleet. Behind them the chasing pack consisted of Tim Rush and Richard Pepperdine (GBR 15065), Noel Butler & Stephen Oram (IRL 15061) and Andy Boyle & Brian Flahive (IRL 14934) among others. An ebbing tide made course selection very important and right side of the beat seemed to pay in that respect.

Others to fall foul of the Black Flag were Martin Peculier & Jean-Francois Nouel (FRA 15015), Alex Taylor & Richard Anderton (GBR 15031) and Vince Horey & Andy Thompson. Winners from last week, Ben Schulz & Phillip Bowley had a horror first race eventually retiring to reset their rigging and sails.

Race 1 was thus claimed by Matt Burge & Richard Wagstaff, followed by McGovern/Capener, Butler/Oram, Boyle/Flahive, Rush/Pepperdine, Hannah Showell & Barry Smith (GBR14430), Remy Thuillier/Loic Berthelot (FRA14917), David Wade & Simon Potts (GBR15045), Guy Tipton & Matt King (CAN 14907) and Jaroslav Werner & Jakob Napravnik (CZE14809).

Race 2 saw the committee boat relocated to a more westerly location for two reasons – a wind switch and too much shallow water in the vicinity of the race track. The wind was also in decline, from an early morning high of 9 knots, it would eventually drop to 5 knots – in accordance it must be said with the website forecast that this scribe looked at this morning!

There was a 60/40 split between the right and left hand sides of the beat with those on the left being lifted around the outside of the course to their detriment and the advantage of those who had gone right. The leading bunch were the same as Race 1 – Gillard, McGovern and Burge – but others who were well up included the French (FRA15015), Taylor/Anderton, the Scotts, Andy and Derian, the No.1 Czech Team, Tipton & King, Rush & Pepperdine, Phil Popple & Doug Shore (GBR15070). The right side continued to be the favoured side of the beat. Due to the dying breeze, the significant switch in its direction and probably the lateness of the proceedings saw the Race Management Team shorten course to the 3^rd weather mark.

Burge/Wagstaff took line honours, followed by McGovern/Capener and Gillard/Brearey. Alan Krailing & Tim Saunders (GBR14954) claimed fourth, the French 5^th, and Rush/Pepperdine 6^th. First of the Irish boats was Kenny Rumball and Seamus Moore in 12^th place, followed by Barry McCartin & Conor Kinsella & Boyle/Flahive.

Thus with two races down, the top ten reads as follows;

 

For the home fleet, the pecking order in Boyle/Flahive, Rumball/Moore, Butler/Oram, McCartin/KInsella and Simon McGrotty & Tony Fitzgerald (IRL 14981)

Among the ladies, Derian Scott (Helm/9^th) leads, followed by Hannah Showell (Helm/16^th) and Diane Kissane (Helm/26^th).

 

With just hours to go until the first race of the 2011 Fireball Worlds, hosted by Sligo Yacht Club and the Irish Fireball Class Association, Cormac Bradley speculates on the riders and runners for this regatta. However, unlike most other forms of sport where there is the benefit of bookies to give some indication of what might happen, sailing doesn't allow one to go to the form book.....or does it?

 So, in an almost Who's Who of this regatta, lets speculate on who might be on the winners podium by Friday evening.

The least difficult part of this exercise is to identify those who had form during International Week. Ben Schulz and Phillip Bowley won four of the six races sailed, scored a second in another and deliberately didn't sail one race. In a small fleet they were able to sail low and fast to get to the front of the fleet. They have also had the benefit of three days of racing at the venue. Derian and Andy Scott won a race and were generally at the front end of the fleet, their worst score being a fourth place. Joe Jospe & Tom Egli took third last week and the last race of the regatta was won by Alex Taylor and Richard Anderton. Richard was a to finisher in Barbados last year so clearly their race win last week was no fluke. Of the Irish, Noel Butler and Stephen Oram, Barry McCartin & Conor Kinsella had a good week. So there are six combinations who will have had the benefit of time on the race track.

Of the late arrivals who missed out on any racing last week, the stand-out candidates for this week have to be Tom Gillard and Sam Brearey, the 2010 (and thus reigning) European Champions. They have enjoyed success this year on the domestic Fireball circuit in the UK which in numbers at least is the most competitive circuit in the World.

The Pinnell & Bax stable will also boast candidates who can win this regatta in Dave Wade & Simon Potts and Vince Horey and Andy Thompson. Matt Burge and Richard Wagstaffe were runners up in Barbados and are therefore no strangers to podium positions.

Tim Rush, sailing with Richard Pepperdine is a past World Champion and reports from the UK show that Martyn Lewis, sailing with Richard Byrne is enjoying Open Regatta success with a new boat and a 3DL Main from North.

Jaroslav Werner was the runner-up in the 2010 Europeans and brings a different crew in Jakub Napravnik to Sligo. Granted offshore Sligo is not the same as an inland venue in the Czech Republic, but success breeds confidence. Kenny Rumbal and Seamus Moore of the Irish fleet are a "newish" combination who got together at the end of last season and they will be pushing to be at the front end of the Irish fleet.

Of course there are other combinations that might consider that they should be included in this analysis, but as an avid reader of regatta reports from the UK, I can't think of any immediate candidates that need to be included. Of course there are names on the entry list that I know in their individual capacities but I don't know how they will fare in tandem with their crew/helm. This of course may mean I have set myself up for a substantial portion of humble pie later in the week. But rather than write nothing at all, I have decided to put my neck on the block! To candidates in this category I offer my apologies in adavnace and will be delighted to correct the record in subsequent reports.

Sligo is bright, sunny with a slight amount of cloud. The XCW website for wind is suggesting 8 – 10 knots of WNW winds, but as I have indicted in previous reports, Sligo weather only makes up its mind by about 11am!

Regatta briefing is 15 minutes away!