The most disappointing - weather-wise - series in the 26-year history of the Autumn League came to an even more frustrating end when the final races had to be cancelled because of winds reaching gale force on Saturday.
Four races cancelled - two for lack of wind and two for too much - means that the GreenWorks-sponsored 2008 Autumn League has been decided on the basis of just two races for most classes (some classes had 3 races). While the various class winners will no doubt be pleased to pick up their prizes, there will inevitably be a feeling of dissatisfaction that more races couldn't be run due to Mother Nature's untimely interventions.
And since only a couple of classes got to sample the newly introduced Slalom Course, nobody can decide if it's a successful formula yet! Spare a thought too for visitors from other clubs, some of whom travelled considerable distances each Sunday just to be disappointed!
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Class 0 - Rosie - R & V Dickson - HYC
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Class 0 - Tiger - Hughes & Harris - HYC
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Even with only two races, there are a number of familiar names to the fore in their respective classes. Roy Dickson's 'Rosie' won the Class 0 IRC title again while 'Tiger' (Hughes & Harris) won on ECHO.
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Class 5 - Alphida of Howth - Harry Byrne - HYC
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Harry Byrne's 'Alphida' won Class 5 and 'Kinetic' (Murphy & Colwell) had the biggest winning margin on IRC of any class when winning Class 2 (although visitor Conor Ronan's 'Ruthless' had a bigger lead on ECHO in the same class). 'King One' (Bourke & Cullen) won the Class 2 IRC Restricted Division.
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Class 2 - Kinetic - Colwell & Murphy - HYC
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Squib - Klipbok - E Dalton - HYC
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17 Footer - Gladys - Cronin & Jones - HYC
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Etchells - No Money No Honey - O'Grady/Beshoff/Reilly - HYC
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In the one-design classes, it was no surprise to find Emmet Dalton, Des Faherty, the O'Grady/Beshoff/Reilly combination and the Cronin/Jones partnership head up the Squib, SB3, Etchells and Howth 17 fleets respectively. Handicap winners in the Squib and 17s were 'Astrix' (Melanie McCaughey) and 'Eileen' (O'Byrne/Finucane).
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Class 1 - Rockabill V - P O'Higgins - NYC
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Class 1 - Mumbo.ie - D Cronin - MYC
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Class 1 honours went out of Howth, with Paul O'Higgins' 'Rockabill V' from National YC holding a narrow lead on IRC and 'Mumbo', Dermot Cronin's J35 from Malahide heading the ECHO standings.
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Class 3 - Shenanigans - Douglas & Keane - MYC
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It was another Malahide entry - 'Shenanigans' (Douglas / Keane) - that took top spot in Class 3 on ECHO while on IRC it was Antrim visitor Albert Mayrs on 'Quickflash' who goes home with the silverware.
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Class 4 - Bite The Bullet - C Bermingham - HYC
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Puppeteer - Harlequin - D Clarke - HYC
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Class 4 saw Colm Bermingham's 'Bite the Bullet' win on both IRC and ECHO while it was tight at the top of the Puppeteers, 'Harlequin' (Dave Clarke) getting the nod on scratch, with 'Ghosty Ned' (Donal Harkin) the handicap winner.
The Olympus Team Trophy was won by the 'If Only' Team comprising 'Rosie', 'Kinetic', and 'No Money No Honey', all individual winners of their own classes
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Team Results