Great win for Azure

Sailing Bob and Bairbre Stewart's Dubois 40-footer Azure scored a memorable victory at the weekend when the Dún Laoghaire boat…

SailingBob and Bairbre Stewart's Dubois 40-footer Azure scored a memorable victory at the weekend when the Dún Laoghaire boat won the IRC championship at the Dublin Bay Sailing Club Cruiser Challenge.

The five-race no discard series was shortened to three by thick fog and packed with incident, including a collision between favourite Voodoo Chile and Xerces that saw the latter holed just above the water-line.

In Friday evening's opening race, Gloves Off and Cracklin' Rosie were disqualified for premature starting. And a disqualification for Nimmo on Saturday postponed his rematch of the Sovereign's Cup with Gloves Off until the forthcoming Howth Autumn League.

Meanwhile at Nieupoort in Belgium, the Quarter Ton Cup ended with Blue Berret Pi from Dün Laoghaire third overall. A pro crew on local entry Generale Tapioca won overall.

David Branigan

David Branigan

David Branigan is a contributor on sailing to The Irish Times