Ross Kearney and Adam McCullough win 2005 Mirror Worlds

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Ross Kearney and Adam McCullough win 2005 Mirror Worlds in Sweden with Simon McGrotty and Melissa Daly in 2nd.

In a day of strong winds, and after the second race had to be abandoned in unusual and dramatic circumstances (as one of two leewards mark drifted off course), the Mirror Worlds 2005 came to a successful conclusion with Ireland scoring 1st, 2nd and 7th in a great contest.

Friday morning the winds were up with force 4 to 5 as predicted giving excellent but tough conditions for the final days racing. Responding to the inevitable tensions that occupy the thoughts of all who were competing in a very close race for 1st, the Irish team were quick to ensure that their spirits were up with a loud and rousing rendition of “Father Abraham” the team ballad, followed up by cleverly getting the event radio station to play “Irelands Call” as the boats passed through the safety gate. Who says that minds cannot be won over as well!

Of the 3 leaders, any one of Ross Kearney, Simon McGrotty or John Clementson could win, and while Ross enjoyed a small lead, he had been black flagged in a previous race meaning that he could not afford any more poor results. It was all to play for. Simon in 3rd was very close and with nothing to lose, and no bad discards could afford to come out fighting. John Clementson, a very experienced and capable sailor with several UK Nationals to his credit, was no slouch either. John made a point before each race in wishing his IRL competitors good racing, and following those words with similar actions throughout the event, a great sportsman.

In race 9, after a tentative start, Simon McGrotty showed his pace opening out a good lead with all others chasing. Ross Kearney slowly improved his position to 2nd, with John Clementson taking 8th. The more experienced UK sailors took a lot of the remaining top 10 positions, except for 7th which was taken by 2004 highest ranking Mirror Sailors ‘Woo” Kearney and Craig Martin. Simon had now narrowed the lead to just a few points, with no discard worse than 13th, so it would all be down to the last race.

Race 10 started well, with Simon and Melissa taking an early and commanding lead, Ross and Adam quite far down the fleet and The Clementsons similarly out of contention. After the 1st leg, when one of the 2 leeward marks drifted out of position, to the disadvantage of the many sailors who choose to round that mark, the PRO Dan Bjorkman was forced to abandon the race being the only fair way to deal with the problem.

In the restarted race, Ross and Adam took no chances, getting a good start to the windward side and paying close attention to Simon and Melissa. By the weather mark Ross had a good lead with Simon down the fleet with John Clementson further back. The strong UK sailors were again out in front  relishing the windy conditions and making Ross work hard for his place. Ross and Adam in the style of true and deserving World Champions went on to win the race with the next Irish boat, Simon and Melissa in 7th. Doire Shiels had a less satisfactory day in the windy conditions getting 13th and 20th respectively but holding on to a very creditable 7th place overall.

In the end the 2005 Mirror World Championships were won by Ross Kearney and Adam McCullough (of Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club) with an incredible 5 first places, with 24 points, from Simon and Melissa who were very consistent but could only capture 2 firsts and 3 seconds, on 36 points, with John and Jamie Clementson 3rd with 52 points, having to count a 21st in their results. In the end Ross and Adam emerged very worthy champions, having taken on the best, dealt with the pressure that follows from leading throughout the event, and getting excellent results when the chips were down.

Ireland also won the Team Prize with Simon McGrotty andMelissa Daly of Skerries Sailing Club in 2nd and Doire Shiels with Graham Daly (Melissa’s brother) also from Skerries in 7th. Ronan Cull and Conall Kinsella from Sutton Dinghy Club were 10th, narrowly beaten out of 9th place by the leading Australian boat sailed by Nick Davis and leading Ozzie Mirror builder, John Collova. Ireland took 9 of the top 20 places with many of the following sailors competing again in the 2006 Europeans in Poole next July.

Patrick Blaney