Intense Mirror battle reflects health of class

SAILING/Column: After more than 40 years, the appeal of the Mirror dinghy is undiminished, with testimony readily available from the 120 crews competing in the Waterways Ireland European Championship at Dromineer this week. Believed to be the first international sailing event to be held on Irish inland waters, the regatta is benefiting from the world-class facility at Lough Derg Yacht Club's recently constructed clubhouse and dock.

Typically enough, weather has been keeping everyone on tenterhooks. After a perfect pre-event weekend, Monday saw a storm that resulted in four crews receiving medical treatment when they were struck by lightning. The first three races were sailed on Tuesday before a calm on Wednesday.

But yesterday saw ideal weather on Lough Derg and another three races were completed. Pressure is now on going into today's finals, with just three races remaining and the overnight leaders subject to the outcome of a protest hearing late last night.

Provisional leaders Andrew Woodward with James Bendon from Royal Cork YC had two seconds and a race win yesterday and have 10 points. The British father and son team of David and Joric Gebhard had two thirds before discarding a 34th and are on 18 points. Local sailors Brian Cox and Rory Rafferty are in third on 23 points.

The fortunes of the class in Ireland appear cyclical as new Youth Development structures take effect. While just two years ago the British Championships fielded a fleet of 50 boats, this year numbers swelled to 90 crews.

In Ireland, the Mirror is used as a feeder class into the International 420 whereas in previous years it was the principal Junior two-handed boat. This has resulted in a drop in the ages of winning helms from around 18 to 15 or 16 years old as older helms are encouraged into the 420 as the next competitive step.

Appropriately enough, this weekend sees the next level step up to the plate as the Liffey Developments 420 Junior Europeans opens tomorrow at the Royal St George YC at Dun Laoghaire. Eighty crews from 16 nations have registered, including several medallists from the recent Volvo ISAF Youth Worlds.

Meanwhile, among the single-handed fleets, Ciara Peelo from Malahide YC repeated her impressive performance from the 2002 World championships when she finished third in the Open Women's Championship in the Laser Radial Europeans held at Ballyholme last week. This return to form was in spite of having taken last year out to coach fellow Irish sailors, George Kingston and Claudine Murphy, both prize-winners in the same event.

Last weekend saw the Flying Fifteen Championships of Ireland at Killyleagh Sailing Club at Strangford Lough, where a closely fought six-race series saw the local crew of Darren Martin and Simon Murray emerge victorious. They were followed by Morgan Sheehy and Jan Van de Puil of Kinsale, while another local crew, Gerry Reilly and Peter Quail took third.

The recently renovated Mayo Sailing Club is this weekend hosting the Northwest Offshore Racing Association (NORA) annual regatta on Clew Bay. A fleet of 25 boats from Kerry, Galway, Mayo and Sligo, including Dark Angel, Roxanne and Whats the Rush is expected to make this series a regional season decider.