Weather hits All-Ireland championships at Howth Yacht Club

Perhaps unsurprisingly for the time of year the weather again appears set to dictate racing plans as sailing changes gear after a busy season.

Storm force winds last Sunday put paid to a full programme of races for the Irish Sailing Association’s All-Ireland Sailing Championship at Howth Yacht Club where 18 nominated sailors from clubs and classes around the country had gathered.

Class maestro Ben Duncan of the SB20 fleet emerged overall winner after a weather shortened series at Howth.

Competing on his adoptive home waters off Ireland’s Eye, the New Zealand sportsboat champion had a mix three wins and two second places across the five-race competition to become the 66th winner of the famous silver Helmsman Championship trophy.

Gale force winds and a severe weather warning for the weekend saw two races held for each flight of eight boats on Saturday morning followed by a break ashore to allow winds abate leading to a three-race finale.

National champion
The runners-up were led by the 2013 Junior All-Ireland champion, Seafra Guilfoyle from the Royal Cork Yacht Club while Flying 15 national champion Ian Mathews of the National YC placed third.

The nominees for the event included several ‘wild card’ nominations from the ISA though none of the higher profile Olympic sailors were available this year, reportedly due to commitments elsewhere.

Included in these other events was the Moth class World Championships in Hawaii where almost 80 boats gathered from around the globe to contest this evolutionary dinghy that relies on foils to sail clear almost entirely above the waves.

This weekend should provide a useful barometer of how the Irish class is developing as Howth Yacht Club once again is the venue for late-season racing and the first Irish Moth Open championship.

A fleet of up to 12 boats is expected including some of the Olympians absent from last weekend’s All-Ireland’s.

And like last weekend, the weather forecast is for storm-force gusts tomorrow and more moderate winds on Sunday.