SAILING: Scoring a first then a fourth over the two offshore races Eamonn Coneelly's team aboard Siemens had the most productive day yesterday to take them to the top of the leaderboard of the 20-boat Breitling Med Cup TP52 fleet at the 25th Copa del Rey, Mallorca.
The Galway Bay Sailing club team now lead by five points from Tom Stark's Rush Vallee Romano.
The overall trophy is still wide open in this final round and Coneelly's helmsman, Britain's Ian Walker, one of a number of British pros on the Irish boat, is keen to add the Med Cup, sailed from the prestigious Real Club Náutico de Palma, to the Global championship won in January.
In other cruiser racing news, Dún Laoghaire's Kerr 32 Voodoo Chile (Eamon Crosbie) from the National Yacht Club is the latest entry in tonight's Crosshaven/Fastnet/Schull offshore race.
The race is the latest round of the South Coast Offshore Racing Association (SCORA) series and is a feeder to next week's Calves week in west Cork.
Crosbie, second overall in last month's BMW Round Ireland, will go head to head with at least two of the recent Commodore Cup boats, Anthony O'Leary's Antix and Connor and Denise Phelan in Jump Juice. Current class one league leaders Kieran Twomey and Jim O'Mahoney in Gloves Off will be joined by the two leading Kinsale boats: Colm Dunne in Grin and Bear It from class two and Pádraig O'Donovan's class three Chameleon.
In dinghy news, following his disappointment at the World Championships in Bordeaux in France last month, due to a cycling accident, the Irish National Laser 4.7 champion, Barry McCartin (16) of Cushendall Sailing Club, returned to winning ways at the National Yacht Club in Dún Laoghaire last weekend, becoming the Leinster Laser 4.7 champion and Irish Junior National champion. McCartin, who now holds three national titles, travels to Scotland for the UK Nationals in Largs later this month.
On freshwater, a clinker regatta gets under way on Lough Derg today as 50 Shannon One Design dinghies launch from the newly renovated Lough Ree Yacht club for the first of 38 races over the next three weeks. The class association chairman, John Leech, has made a plea for extra crew and welcomes new sailors to the class.
WEEKEND FIXTURES
Squib National Championship, Howth YC; South East Coast Regatta, Arklow SC; Shannon One Design Regatta, Lough Ree YC; Calves Week, Schull SC.
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