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Results were processed by the oppy class so are listed separate to our main results section.
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Prize Giving Photos >>
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Boat Photos are now in the Gallery ...
Apologies, between one thing and another I couldn't process the boat photos until September.
John
7th September
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Event Report by Neil Murphy
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HYC's Timothy O'Laoire overcame a succession of runner-up results in recent events to finish as clear winner of the 98 Optimist entries for the Saab Easterns, sailed over the weekend at Howth YC.
The strong winds and heavy rain made sailing the first day difficult and caused its complete abandonment on the scheduled second day.
Tim won two of the four races sailed and finished with a comfortable four point margin over Ross Vaughan (RNIYC) and Mathew O'Dowd (RStGYC), who had to be separated by the tie break mechanism, and Diana Kissane (HYC) in 4th place. Oliver Keenan (HYC) won the Silver fleet, and promotion to the Gold fleet for the rest of his Optimist career.
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The Sponsor, Mark Walsh of Tom Walsh Motors,
congratulates Timothy O'Laoire - HYC
Winner and SAAB Eastern Optimist Champion
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The early morning forecasts on Saturday made it doubtful if there would be any racing possible. Warnings of gales and heavy rain were not what either PRO Harry Gallagher or the fleet of young sailors wanted to hear.
The forecasts were agreed on the outcome but differed on the timing and, after weighing up the situation, Harry decided to go afloat and complete as many as possible of the four races per day permitted by the Sailing Instruction whilst conditions allowed.
The 76 strong main fleet raced between Portmarnock and Ireland's Eye and the first race got away promptly at 10.30am in a pleasant southwesterly force 3. Wesley Brownlow (RCYC), Cian O'Regan (KYC) and Richard Harrington (RCYC) made it a clean sweep for Cork.
The wind started to back as the first race neared completion but, after a quick adjustment of marks, the second race was got away promptly and this time HYC's Alan Ruigrok was first home, ahead of clubmate Diana Kissane and Alexander Rumball (HYC/RStGYC).
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Cormac, Tiarnan, Meadb & Cillian Dickson from Lough Ree YC
The Lough Ree YC team consisted of Clodagh & David Dickson's children above. I'm told that its most unusual for a complete oppy team to be fielded by one family.
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The breeze continued to freshen and by the time the third race was ready for the off, it was beginning to hit 20 knots and had swung around to due south. Again, the marklayers sprang into action and had the course realigned by the time the fleet had arrived back in the start area. A general recall resulted in recourse to the feared black flag and five sailors were disqualified on the restart.
The more challenging conditions brought new faces to the top three places and Timothy O'Laoire (HYC), Matthew O'Dowd (RStGYC) and Ross Vaughan (RNIYC) showed their prowess in dealing with the strong gusts and longer course. The rain had by now started to fall and made conditions thoroughly miserable, particularly for the younger sailors and those who had assumed that the earlier sunshine would continue for the day.
Race 4 was a real test of skill as the gusts got up towards 25 knots and the lulls rarely fell below 18 knots. The first three finishers from Race 3 repeated their results with Tim winning again and Matthew and Ross swapping their 2nd and 3rd places. With the rain getting heavier and the wind testing the reactions of the sailors to the full, they were glad to go ashore.
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The 22 boat Regatta fleet enjoyed a morning of coaching and short races in the sheltered area behind the West pier. This fleet included a number of children who have only started sailing this year and they were looked after by a team of IODAI appointed coaches, all ex-Optimist sailors.
After a few hours of race coaching they sailed three races before going ashore for lunch. By the time they were ready to come out again the weather had deteriorated and it was decided that games ashore were a better option.
Sunday's weather made sailing impossible and, after waiting an hour for the wind to abate, the decision was made to abandon and allow the travellers to get way early.
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European Optimist Team
(L->R) Patrick Daly, Wesley Brownlow, Diana Kissane, Jane Butler, Alan Ruigrok
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Prizes were presented by Mark Walsh of Tom Walsh Motors, the local Saab main dealer, who provided generous sponsorship for the event.
Despite the fond expectations of the prize winners, keys for the beautiful Saabs displayed around the prizegiving area were not handed over but there were more than enough goodies for the Gold, Silver, Bronze and Regatta fleets and for the underage prize winners. In the Regatta fleet, HYC sailors did exceptionally well with Mark Condy, Lewis Eickholt and Phoebe Tyrell finishing 2nd, 3rd and 4th overall. The overall results are available elsewhere on the website.
The event was the result of a huge effort by HYC and particular thanks must go to the many people who helped out over the three days that the Optimists were at the Club. The huge effort put in by Caroline Burke, chairperson of the organising committee, deserves particular mention and the smooth way it ran is a credit to her anticipation and prevention of all the problems and oversights that could have otherwise interfered with it.
Thanks also to the marina staff and the volunteers for their work in clearing the deck area, the rescue and mark layers (including the people from neighbouring Clubs) who did trojan work afloat on Saturday, those who provided support boats, the umpires, the people in the race office, the caterers, the club management and everyone else who contributed to the event's success, including the parents who took home boats for the weekend to leave space for visitors and the management of The Burrow National School for their assistance with trailer parking.
Finally, thanks to PRO Harry Gallagher, whose success in getting four races completed in the short window available before the weather closed in on Saturday made the difference between having a championship or not.
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