Lawless adds DBSC Cup to haul

SAILING:KEN LAWLESS'S Supernova added Dublin Bay Sailing Club's (DBSC) Smalldridge Cup to her trophy haul this season following a three-year campaign that puts the 30-year old boat firmly on top of DBSC's biggest fleet.

Lawless’s overall IRC handicap result is just one of 40 perpetual trophy results announced this week (see panel) following the conclusion of the country’s biggest sailing league last Saturday.

Three hundred and thirty boats and over 1,350 sailors contested the series and Dún Laoghaire’s Royal Irish Yacht Club took overall prizes in many of the 17 different cruiser and one-design divisions. The results are provisional as a number of protests are pending.

In a season of successes for the vintage Dubois Star flash design Dún Laoghaire sailor Lawless and his partners Sybil McCormack and Pat Shannon have already won class honours in June’s Lambay race.

The quarter-tonner has taken overall honours too in Dublin Bay Sailing Club’s first series and in July it won boat of the week in the Volvo Dún Laoghaire Regatta.

The latest win makes up for disappointment last month when a broken boom cost Supernova the Cruiser Challenge trophy in the last race of that event.

Part of the reason for the Supernova success has been a series of overhauls to the 1978-design, including extra downwind sail area and improved stability with the relocation of its floorboards. The improvements brought about better performances downwind, especially in light airs.

Also in line for DBSC honours is George Sisk, who takes the Knox Gore Trophy for his performance in his new 36-footer J111 Wow.

In Class one Sisk’s Royal Irish club-mate Colin Byrne wins the Weir Trophy for Saturday IRC series.

In the Flying Fifteens, Tom Leonard’s Mellifluence from the National Yacht Club wins the coveted Gun trophy for mid-week performances.

A quarter of the 150-boats entered for Howth Yacht Club’s WD40-sponsored Autumn League didn’t make the start line for the first race last weekend held in blustery conditions. Pat Kelly’s Storm continued its winning run this season with a comfortable win in class one on IRC handicap, which saw the first four boats crossing the line within a minute.

Ten 1720 sports boats will add extra spice to Sunday’s 80-boat fleet for the start of Royal Cork’s October League. Such is the large entry of White Sail cruisers the club have split this division. First gun on Sunday is at 12.25pm.

Offshore skipper Matt Davis, at the helm of the Sigma 400 Raging Bull, has successfully defended his Irish sea Offshore Racing (ISORA) title. The Skerries Sailor lifts the coveted Wolf’s Head Trophy for a consecutive year after a series of 10 races that for the first time also included June’s Dún Laoghaire to Dingle Race.

The only hat-trick winner of the Irish Sailing Association’s (ISA) All Ireland Sailing Championships, Royal Cork’s Nicholas O’Leary, will not be defending the title when the event is sailed next week. The 16 invitees, drawn from dinghy and keelboat classes, were announced this week.

All three ICRA Cruiser classes are racing and O’Leary’s father, Anthony, is representing Cruiser class zero. The 2010-winning Commodores Cup skipper has finished second three times in the event.

Another Royal Cork helm, the 2011 1720 National Champion, Mark Mansfield, a past winner of the event, is also racing.

Nicholas O’Leary is one of 12 invitees ­ either national champions or top ranked sailors – who are unavailable to attend. Only 16 of 28 invitees had accepted the invitation by last week’s entry deadline.

The Waterways Ireland-sponsored event takes place at Lough Derg Yacht Club, which was originally scheduled for three days but is now running on October 8th-9th only. The event is raced in J80s.

ALL IRELAND INVITEES:Adrian Allen, Ballyholme Yacht Club (Multihull); Roger Bannon, National Yacht Club (Mermaid); Noel Butler, ISA (Fireball); Alan Claffey, Royal St George Yacht Club (Ruffian); Ben Duncan, Howth Yacht Club (Laser SB3); Brian Goggin, Kinsale Yacht Club (ICRA '2'); David Gorman, National Yacht Club (Flying Fifteen); Alan Henry, Sutton Dinghy Club (IDRA 14); George Kenefick, Royal Cork Yacht Club (ICRA 3); Mark Mansfield, Royal Cork Yacht Club (1720); John McGuinness, Moville Sailing Club (GP14); Flor O'Driscoll Howth Yacht Club (J24); Anthony O'Leary, Royal Cork Yacht Club (ICRA 0); Pat O'Neill, Clontarf Yacht Boat Club (E-Boat); Gordon Patterson, Royal North Yacht Club (Squib); Ryan Seaton, Ballyholme Yacht Club (Olympic 49er).