Double-chasing Crosbie hoping for fresh finish

Sailing Round Ireland RaceAs Ireland's West and Teng Tools continues to outclass bigger rivals, there was a growing acceptance, yesterday afternoon, among many skippers faced with a freshening forecast that the 2006 BMW Round Ireland race has turned into a small-boat race for its closing stages today.

Force five winds from the southwest veering westerly are expected on the west from this morning. If the fresher weather reaches the fleet from behind it means bad news for many mid-sized entries, a typical outcome for the biennial race.

The dire effects of the light wind are underlined by the performance of the biggest boat in the fleet: Konica Minolta limped over the line off Wicklow a full 24 hours outside the record time she came here to beat.

The Kiwi boat, with the America's Cup helmsman Gavin Brady on board, is capable of 30 knots but never saw more than 11 on her speedo in this circumnavigation.

Last night Brady lifted the trophy in Wicklow Sailing Club for line honours but it was small consolation for a crew of pros holding many Southern Hemisphere records.

In the final 150 miles from Rathlin, how the boats plied the North Channel overnight will have proved crucial.

Unfortunately for the handicap front runners Minnie the Moocher and Jeronimo, they both entered the North Channel yesterday teatime with a foul tide.

This will give the chasing fleet, such as Eamonn Crosbie's Teng Tools and Ireland's West (Aodhan Fitzgerald), more compression. In the same way Minnie and Jeronimo also benefited relative to Creative Play and Alice II, who were a little ahead.

Interim results are the perennial problem for this race and at noon yesterday Wicklow SC posted results for Eagle Island that showed Alice II (a 45 footer) at the top of the leaderboard, a result that does not stack up.

Her time between Slyne Head and Eagle Island is only six hours, suggesting an average 20 knots for the leg - an unlikely scenario in a less-than-seven-knot breeze.

Stronger winds might be on the cards, but off Innistrahull it was shorts and T-shirts weather for the 32-footer Teng Tools yesterday afternoon as the eight-man crew plied the north coast in an 11-knot southwesterly.

At 3pm Crosbie was drying gear on deck following a 48-hour stint on the rail. They could see the boat they think is their main rival for handicap honours, the Galway Bay entry Ireland's West, to leeward about a mile ahead.

It was the same mood on Minnie the Moocher passing Lough Foyle. "Everything has been dried and the boat cleaned. We could be at the start of the race instead of two-thirds round, the mood is so good," reported Anthony Richards.

As the race travels down the east coast this morning there are a dozen likely winners. Crosbie (55) is keenly aware if he can catch the fresher winds he can equal the late Denis Doyle's consecutive wins of 1982 and 1984.

Previous winners

1980: Raasay of Melfort B Coad 6 days 3 hours 37 minutes and 44 seconds

1982: Moonduster D N Doyle 4:03:45:25

1984: Moonduster D N Doyle 3:16:15:43

1986: Spirit R Burrows 5:06:49:19

1988: Lightning L Shanahan 5:13:27:46

1990: Rothmans L Smith 3:12:56:06

1992: Whirlpool C Barrington/R Dix 4:00:43:06

1994: Bridgestone P Wilson 4:06:38:19

1996: Big Earsa M Boyd 4:11:27:27

1998: Jeep Cherokee C Barrington 3:04:23:57*

2000: Imp G Radley 6:04:05:16

2002: Cavatina E Lisson 4:15:24:11

2004: Calyx Voice and Data E Crosbie 4:10:19:05

*current record