Consistency was certainly the key to success in the Laser Leinster Championships at Howth over the weekend, with the winners in the Standard, Radial and 4.7 rigs showing impressive form in varying wind conditions to take the titles to the north, east and south coasts respectively.
With the exception of an OCS in the second race, East Antrim's Chris Penney rattled off a series of four second places and one bullet to win the 22-boat Standard Rig division by a clear four points from the early pace-setter, Alan Ruigrok from Rush, who was comfortably ahead of third-placed Ronan Cull of Howth.
The Radial rigs only got five races sailed, and despite a hat-trick of race wins on the first day, Ballyholme's Christopher Eames had a poorer second day, allowing the more consistent Finn Lynch of the National Yacht Club to head the 36-boat fleet and win overall. His worst result was a fourth so he won by a clear six points after discards.
The most outstanding performance of the weekend was by Mark Hassett of Baltimore SC who notched up four race wins and discarded a DNC to top the 20-boat division. At any other time, Conor O'Beirne (Royal St.George YC) might have won the event with a string of top three finishes but had to settle for the runner-up spot on this occasion.
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