Rivals hot on Crosbie's tail

Sailing Round Ireland RaceEamon Crosbie's Teng Tools continues to lead into this morning's closing stages of the 2006 BMW Round Ireland race, but the National Yacht Club crew are being challenged by previous winners from Royal Cork and Kinsale Yacht Clubs that have reputations for late challenges.

Although Super Zero boats crossed the line in Wicklow before lunchtime yesterday, they are resigned to the fact that, from a pack of chasing smaller boats (up to 24 hours behind) which are sailing in a fresher breeze, there will emerge the 2006 champion tomorrow.

Two Western Yacht club entries from the Shannon estuary were first and second in the Super Zero class. Ger O'Rourke's Altana Chieftain adds this class win to January's Sydney-Hobart class title. Wicklow official Dennis Noonan, who steps down as race organiser tomorrow, fired the finish gun..

The Volvo 60, Spirit of Kilrush, chartered by O'Rourke's club-mates, finished second. Solune, Jean-Phillipe Chomette's Nacira 60, which smashed the Round Ireland speed record in 2005, came home in sixth place taking twice the time it took to establish the 57-hour record last May.

"The last shall be first and the first shall be last" could form part of the sailing instructions to the 2008 Round Ireland race, such is the regularity for this race now to be turned on it's head. Yesterday fresh winds swept changes into the final east coast stage.

Three previous small boat winners, Imp (George Radley), Teng Tools (Crosbie) and Cavatina (Eric Lisson) are among the pack fighting for the overall prize that are due to cross the line in Wicklow later today.

Teng Tools still led on the water yesterday evening but the news that slower boats had dramatically caught up was confirmed when Royal Cork's Lisson, the skipper of the Granada 38, radioed his check-in call to the Malin Head coastguard yesterday morning at 7.19am. These times allowed the 2002 winner to leapfrog from 11th at Eagle Island to third at Innistrahull.

Teng Tools passed Mew Island with fair tide at 2.50pm yesterday and was on target to pick up the first of the south-going tide at 8pm off Newcastle, Co Down. She was beating in to 12-knot winds from the south and had 90 miles left to the finish.

Cavatina passed Rathlin but faced six hours of strong adverse tide in the North Channel last night and this tide alone, although it is a neap, may have compromised the ground she had gained up to this point. Between Cavatina and Teng Tools is George Radley's 2000 race winner Imp from Kinsale. Cavatina came from behind to win this race in 2002 and finished third in 2004. She finished second overall in last year's Fastnet Race with the same slow boat tactics and tomorrow evening will show if she can do it again.