Third time lucky as racing conditions prove perfect

SAILING:DÚN LAOGHAIRE got the thumbs up from competitors last night for the staging of its combined clubs' regatta, with a range of testing conditions from light winds to full gales over the last four days.

The country’s biggest regatta ended yesterday with a flotilla of hundreds of competing boats escorting Ireland’s Volvo Ocean Race entry Green Dragon safely back to port after its round-the-world journey.

Although previous events suffered through lack of wind the curse appears to have been lifted on the third staging of the Volvo Dún Laoghaire regatta after overnight gales on Saturday evening gave way to sunshine and moderate breezes for the final races, with the 460-boat fleet sailing their last races in perfect conditions on Dublin Bay.

There was a lot still to play for in nearly all of the 21 classes and the overall prize for the Volvo trophy. Three contenders were identified going into the final day, with the leaders of the three handicap classes all looking like they could take the top regatta prize.

In Class IRC Zero Paul Richard Harris’s Tanit won the last race of the regatta, but the overall title went to Alan Hogg’s Mills 40 Argie Bargie with Richard Fildes’s Corby 37 Impetuous second in class and Peter Rutter’s Corby 36 Quokka in third.

In IRC Class One, DMYC’s Barry Cunningham, racing Contango, won the last race of the day in sparkling conditions in Killiney Bay. That made sure of third place overall in class but Paul O’Higgins’s Rockabill V was the overall winner of class IRC One, with Steven Northmore’s Plymouth-based A35 Waterjet in second.

In IRC Two, Anthony Gore-Grimes’s Dux, went out with a bang, winning the last race and securing second overall behind John Murphy’s Corby 26, Kinetic, which had sewn up the class victory yesterday.

However, it was Flor O’Driscoll’s J24, Hard on Port, which took their fourth bullet of the event to win the overall IRC prize. A Corkman, O’Driscoll sails under the burgee of the Royal St George YC.

Only one boat in the entire 460-boat fleet managed to keep a clean sheet for the entire event. David Gorman and Chris Doorly of the National Yacht Club took the Flying Fifteen title and the overall one-design dinghy trophy with his string of six consecutive victories, not dropping a single race all weekend.

In the one-design keelboats, top marks went to Laser SB3 skipper Ben Duncan, adding another event win to his incredible winning streak for 2009. Duncan and crew slipped on the last day to win the event on count back from local sailor Seán Craig, with Sligo skipper Brian Reilly putting in two wins on the final day to finish third.

Topping the J109 fleet, Christie Cancer Care put opening day jitters behind them to open up a commanding lead at the top, with a string of firsts and seconds putting them six points clear in the end.

The Fireball dinghy title was one of many that went to visitors from overseas. Andy Pearce and crew, Adam Broughton from Bristol, were the first of a pair of English entries heading the 25-boat fleet.