Clarke sets pace in Dublin Bay

SailingEngland's Keir Clarke leads Howth's Gavan Jones after the first race of the 130-boat Laser national championships at the National Yacht Club yesterday evening with three separate divisions competing for national titles in Dublin Bay: standard, radial and 4.7 rigs.

The Key Events-sponsored championships got off to a light-air start off Seapoint with Declan Gibbons leading the radial class and Jones's club-mate Alistair Kissane leading the 4.7 rig fleet.

Dublin Bay Sailing Club commodore Jim Dolan intends to build on the bay's growing reputation in these islands as a centre of IRC handicap-racing excellence with today's first race of the annual club cruiser challenge, with new sponsor Cocoon and a buoyed-up entry of 60 boats.

A few British newspapers have identified the growing prowess of the Irish cruiser-racer fleets and it led one columnist, Andi Robertson, to declare "the standard on Dublin bay at the moment is higher than on the Solent".

In attracting such a large end-of-season turnout the event, also known as the Irish Sea IRC championships, which includes the Sigma 33 one-design fleet, provides Royal Irish skipper Colm Barrington the first real home chance to show off his new Jason Kerr 39-foot design Flying Glove since her Commodore's Cup performance a month ago.

David Nixon returns to the water after June's Round Ireland race to mount another 02-sponsored entry. This time his crew have chartered Cracklin' Rosie, to take on Flying Glove in class zero. Sailmaker Tom McWilliam has been drafted in as the 02 tactician.

Before sacked Alinghi syndicate skipper Russell Coutts, the three-times winner of the America's Cup, becomes involved in the next America's Cup regatta in 2007 he is practising off Howth with Jan Neggard and Sam Evans today for tomorrow's inaugural Irish Etchells national championships, which has a 16-boat line-up.

The news that the international star, along with some high-profile British sailors, such as David Bedford, will be lining up in the six-race Irish Affinity-sponsored championships is a coup for Howth and the fledgling class in Ireland.

Also in Howth, Royal Cork's Katie Tingle pulled off the Optimist class coup of the season by beating a field of 150 boys and girls to lift the Musto Irish title last weekend, having finished third overall behind two Dutch entrants in the open event.

She beat the defending champion, Lough Derg's Conor O'Brien, and competitors from Britain, Holland, the United States and Zimbabwe. Although she didn't win a race in the series, her consistency paid off as she discarded a fifth from her final score tally from the windy regatta.

On the bay, Royal North's Simon Brien, crewed by Danish Olympic gold medallist Pol-Rickard Hoj-Jensen and Royal Cork's Aidan O'Connell, emerged winners of last weekend's 25-boat Dragon championships after a six-race event in winds ranging from very light to a last-race blow-out last Sunday.

Second overall was Royal St George's Johnny Ross Murphy, Ed Peel and Ailbe Millerick with the overnight leaders Ward Woods, Mark Pettit and Brian Mathews finishing third.

In other keelboat news on the bay, the Irish Beneteau 31.7 class is set to outlaw professional crews for its inaugural class championships in September following publication of its notice of race that closes the door on professional crews and helmsmen.

"We have no problem with individual sailors joining existing crews but we are dead against boats being jockeyed up for the event and running away with the prizes so we have banned them," the class measurer John Hall said.

The event, sponsored by BJ Marine, will be run from the Royal St George Yacht Club and has a line-up of 18 boats.

OLYMPIC ROUND-UP: Yesterday at the Games, the Howth and Portaferry partnership of Tom Fitzpatrick and Fraser Brown ended their double-handed campaign in Athens 16th out of a 19-boat fleet overall after scoring 12th in the final light-air race in the 49er dinghy.

Crosshaven's Mark Mansfield and Killian Collins lifted themselves off the bottom of the scoreboard - but only momentarily - during race 10 of the Star keelboat event at Agios Kosmos. The pair, who have struggled in this week's patchy conditions, rounded the weather mark second before dropping to 13th and ending up 17th. Their final race is tomorrow.