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By Maurice Withers
Ross Kearney and Adam McCullough sailing "Gee-Czar" (Sail 69955) won the Irish "Mirror" class two-day Northern Championships at Ballyholme at the end of April. They clinched the title with no fewer than three first places out of a total of four races sailed - a third place in the second race was discarded. Their marvellous achievement in the 48-strong fleet came hot on the heels of their overall victory at the "Mirror" class Eastern Regional Championships at Malahide Yacht Club over the Easter weekend at which some 60 "Mirrors" took part (See Rosemary Todd's full report). They confirmed their most recent success with a mere three points. In second place with seven points was Skerries S.C. pair Simon McGrotty and Melissa Daly - "Balls of Fire" sail 69917. The southern duo managed to notch up one first place, a second and a fourth position. Royal North entries took three of the top four places. Our other major success was with "Halo" (69949) sailed by Michael Hill and Adam Hill. "Halo" came in third overall with nine points made up of two second places, and a fifth - a very creditable performance indeed. Another "Mirror" from the Club that helped to dominate the highly competitive series was "Insomniac" helmed by Woo Kearney and crewed by Craig Martin. The highly motivated pair managed to achieve 10 points with a second, a third and a fifth position against tough competition from sailors belonging to clubs from all over Ireland. With the rather poetic, brilliant if individual name of "Kiss My Aft" (sail 70340) Andrew Todd with Patrick Luft crewing managed an 11th overall placing with their 32 points being made up of two 11th places and a 10th. "Turmoil 2” - Gordon Patterson and Katie Patterson - (see Spring 'Spreader' page 1) were 25th. All these boats sailed with the 'gold' fleet. Sailing in the 'silver' fleet, Andrew Vaughan and Ryan Gilmore on board "Can Too!" finished in 18th position overall (17/23/16) while Peter Todd and Jessica Brien with "Mach 2" (bronze fleet) were placed in the 32nd spot. The pair managed to win the lovely Weatherdial Perpetual Trophy which was presented by Mr. Declan Murphy, a director of Met. Eireann. Light airs and a dense and persistent sea mist that could almost be described as fog on Saturday, followed by a torrential downpour and a strong mid-morning squall as boats were being launched on Sunday, failed to dampen spirits during the highly popular and enjoyable event. The "Mirror" championships were run in tandem with Ballyholme Y.C.'s Spring Opening Day and the Irish Multihull Northern Championships. Other dinghy classes - "Lasers" (6), "Toppers" (4), "SB3s" (3), "RS 200s" (3), a "Laser 2000", a "'29-er" and a "'49-er" - also took part in the early season festival of sail which involved a total of 145 competitors and probably a similar number of parents and supporters. Altogether, 48 "Mirrors" from all over Ireland took part in the Championship for these lovely little red-sailed boats. The only local club to be represented was Royal North which entered eight boats making up 17 percent of the fleet. Regional Northern Ireland "Mirror" Class representative Nigel Kearney said, " The 'Mirror' is a fabulous little dinghy for youngsters and we know there are more out there owned by enthusiasts who want to race. It's a great pity indeed that more Ulster sailing clubs aren't represented in this class this weekend. But Royal North will do what it can to make up for it!" Other "Mirror" dinghies had been brought to Co. Down from Skerries (10), Royal Cork YC at Crosshaven (7), Lough Derg (8) and Sligo (7) with the remainder of the fleet being made up of boats from the Dublin and Mahahide areas. The treacherous, unpredictable and fluky conditions demanded skilful management of the two parallel championships (sailed in separate areas) by their respective Principal Race Officers - Michael Kearney ("Mirrors") and Jimmy McKee (Spring Open and "Multis".) Michael decided to postpone the start of racing on Saturday morning owing to the lack of visibility. It's a difficult enough job, you know, to keep a close eye on 98 children in small boats on a good day without having the added complication and danger of sea mist, and that additional burden placed on highly vigilant rescue boat crews. The decision to hold off sailing for most of the morning (only one of the three planned races for Saturday was sailed) was absolutely correct, and went a long way to demonstrate the high degree of professionalism and sense of responsibility among Ulster yachting championship "PROs". Lifeboat As "Mirror" crews wisely awaited ashore on Saturday, Donaghadee lifeboat was sent out of harbour to come to the aid of three canoeists who had become disorientated and lost in the sea mist during an attempted crossing from Scotland to Northern Ireland. While the boats were well equipped with mobile telephones and a radio, and Coastguards kept fully informed of the planned crossing beforehand, the incident underlined the good thinking and expertise of PRO Michael Kearney at the weekend. The tricky conditions were caused by Northern Ireland being situated in two filling areas of low pressure - one lying over sea area Biscay and the other to the NE of the Faroes. Very light conditions were forecast for Saturday - the extent of the mist was rather unexpected - while the Met. Office forecast heavy rain and freshening southerly winds on Sunday. The sun only came out in the afternoon. Indeed, just as all of the boats were being launched on the second day, a downpour enveloped Ballyholme and strong southerly winds made launching particularly difficult - especially for the young "Mirror" crews using the north 'hard' and slipway at BYC. The boats were launched at low water - there was little depth in which to lower dagger boards to stop them from drifting downwind, and several experienced considerable difficulty in preventing their boats from being blown onto a line of rocks immediately downwind. Some crews had to jump into the icy water and hold boats head-to-wind to prevent them from being damaged by the jagged rocks. Anxious parents and BYC members looked on with a degree of concern as the youngsters got sea-borne - in many instances with considerable difficulty. The cold wet start was another factor that Michael Kearney had to keep in mind when it came to calling it a day. Other classes using the southern slipway experienced much less difficulty, and shot across Ballyholme Bay like bullets once afloat. Although representing only 17 per cent of the "Mirror" fleet, Royal North dominated the two-day series. In the "Multihull" Northern Championships, BYC Vice Commodore Elaine Taylor and her husband David ("Yani") were in third overall position with eight points while Adrian and Mike Allen of the host club took second place with their Hurricane 5.9 SX. (seven points). The overall title went to Jimmy Nyhan and Maritta Buwalda in their Hobie Tiger "Tigerific" with four points. During the weekend, the lovely Skandia class sloop "Pride of Man 2" representing Sailing for the Disabled dropped her hook in Ballyholme bay as did a 100-year-old gaff yawl of quite sizeable proportions which drew admiring glances from competitors. I didn't manage to catch her name…. The prizes were presented by the wife of the BYC Commodore Mrs. Edith Lawther. Commodore Mr. Brian Lawther returned on Sunday after participating in Antigua Week. Mr. Declan Murphy, director of Met Eireanne (RTE) presented Peter Todd and Jessica Brien with the Weatherdial Perpetual Trophy. The two committee boats were "Isle of Barra" (Mr.Peter Kennedy) and "Pintail" (Mr. David Wylde.) Shorebound duties were carried out by BYC Sailing Secretary Mr. David McMullan (results), Mrs. Elaine Taylor (Multi. Assoc. Rep.) and Mr. Nigel Kearney (RNIYC) for the "Mirrors". During the weekend BYC provided crews with hot meals. Results. "Mirror" Northerns - 1. 'Gee-Czar'; 2. 'Balls of Fire' (Simon McGrotty and Melissa Daly, Skerries S.C.); 3. 'Halo'; 4. 'Insomniac'; 5. 'Lapdancer' (Gerard 0'Sullivan and Simon Pearon, Sutton Dinghy Club and Howth Y.C.); 6. "Still Thinking!" (Doire Shiels and Graham Daly, Skerries S.C.). Silver Fleet - 1. "Tantalizer" (Niall Carbery and Simon Glynn, Malahide Y.C.); 2. "In the Red" (Peter Moriarty and Joseph Bruen, Royal Cork Y.C.); 3. "Geepers" (Bernard Lee and Karl Mackey, Lough Derg Y.C.); 4. "Levante" (Peter Collings and Andrew Collings, Dun Laoghaire M.C.); 5. "Kaizen" (Rachael Guy and Mickey McLoughlin, Lough Derg Y.C.) 6. "Can Too!" (Andrew Vaughan and Ryan Gilmore, Royal North.). Bronze Fleet - 1. "No. 69831" Alison Pyke and Clare McMahon, Skerries S.C.); 2. "Mach 2" (Peter Todd and Jessica Brien, Royal North.); 3. "George" (Cathal Leigh-Doyle and Lauren Leigh Doyle, Sligo Y.C.); 4. "Boda Zapha" (Patrick Monaghan and Christina Hegarty, Sligo Y.C.); 5. "Que Passa" (Andrew O'Donoghue and Evie Ward, Royal Cork.) 6. "Vintage 95" (Joseph McLoughlin and Callum McLoughlin, Sligo Y.C.). Irish Multihull Northern Championships.
SB3 Class.
Fast Handicap.
Topper Class.
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