Jalapeno gifted opening victory

SAILING DÚN LAOGHAIRE REGATTA:A LIGHT north-westerly breeze pushed the 460-boat fleet out into Dublin Bay yesterday for the first races of the Volvo Dún Laoghaire Regatta, with fleets on seven courses between Howth and Killiney.

The big-money fleets, IRC1, IRC0 and the one-design J109s sailed a showcase single windward-leeward race in the middle of the bay.

In the J109s, it looked a local hero would kick things off with a win.

Peter Redden’s Jetstream, helmed by son Simon, finished first only to be disqualified for a false start.

“We were miles ahead of the rest, so to be called out was a real kick,” said Simon.

That handed the win to Jalapeno, with Belfast boat Juniper coming home third having led at the first mark.

Across the bay in the Sutton course, there were challenging conditions for the SB3 and J80s, who were battling the weather as much as each other.

“It was very, very shifty” said local sailor Aidan O’Connell.

“We had a 50-degree shift in the second race – results were very up and down.”

Kiwi helm Ben Duncan continued a good run of form to head the pack after two races.

However first blood went to local Seán Craig who posted first in race one.

The forecast today is for extremely light and variable conditions on the bay, with a stronger breeze forecast for later in the weekend.