HARD ON PORT J/24 Western Champions!

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(Lough Ree, Ireland)- In the “it’s never too late to report department”, it’s heart-warming to see J/24 fleets like the those in western Ireland continue to have fun and have great sailing amongst a closely-knit group of sailors.  This year’s Western Championships for Ireland took place at the beautiful, quaint Lough Ree YC.  It was Flor O’Driscoll and crew on their rocketship called HARD ON PORT that took this year’s “Western’s”.

There were a dozen entries for the event, including two relative new comers to the fleet, SCORPIO JUNIOR and JUMPIN JIVE-  both from Lough Derg.  Two local boats JEB and DJANGO (formally JIBBERISH) along with six from Howth and two from Lough Erne made up the fleet.

The forecast was for challenging conditions over two days including 20 kts of wind from the WSW with occasional gusts of 25 knots!  Due to the impending World Championships to be held in Howth, skippers were understandably reluctant to put their boat in harms way. A meeting of all skippers was held on the Saturday morning to put racing to the vote. All agreed that it was worth the risk to go on the water!! (Editor's note- who can blame them, better than driving a desk at work!?).

The PRO for the event, John Banham, and their on the water team had their work cut out for them. The high winds made anchoring the Committee Boat a bit of a challenge considering that his team was all female.  Mark-laying was also difficult with both the windward mark and the pin end dragging. John managed to get three races in despite the blustery conditions.

The racing (all windward leeward with 2 legs) started in 11 to 16 knots. The testing conditions brought out the best in the fleet with the J/24 showing why it’s still so popular.  Any crew brave enough to fly a spinnaker were rewarded with blistering downwind speeds and an exhilarating ride which didn’t always end well.  Yes, indeed, there were some spectacular broaches with some waving their keels at those upwind of them!

Day two, Sunday, was cancelled following an early morning scouting mission up the lake by two helms – Andrew Mannion and Martin Darrer. They reported an increase in wind pressure combined with a change in wind direction to North West resulting in a larger swell on the lake. Therefore the three races on Saturday constituted the event.

The defending National Champion JP McCaldin had a poor start to the event on Saturday with an OCS in the first race. This was followed by a 6th and a 3rd giving a total of 13 points and 6th place overall.

The Under 25 team sailing from Kilcullen and helmed by local sailor Cillian Dickson, were out to prove a point and pushed hard through out the day. Their persistence paid off with bullet in the first race followed by a 2nd and a 5th giving a total of 8 which secured second place overall.

Experience won the day however with Flor et al on board HARD ON PORT scoring a 2nd, a 3rd and a 2nd giving a total of 7 points and the event.

The silver fleet trophy went to Brendan Gallagher on board JUVENESCENCE followed in 2nd place by GOSSIP, helmed by Peter Barron.

The food provided by Georgina and her team at LRYC on Saturday evening was well received. While they dined, the frayed nerves of the 60 competitors were soothed by the “Ree Duet” who played both classical and traditional melodies. Thanks must go to Andrew Mannion and his shore crew. Launching and hauling out went like clockwork.

The event was a success despite the cancellation of the second day. The facilities at Lough Ree lend them selves to events like this and the club looks forward to hosting the J/24 fleet again soon!  For more J/24 Western Championship sailing information

Britain's Southworth Tops J/24 Irish Nationals

Howth YC Under 25 team lift Irish National title
(Howth, Ireland)-  Howth Yacht Club hosted the recent J/24 Irish Championships, an event which was both a warm-up for Irish competitors and a fine tune for the race management team, in advance of the imminent BMW J/24 World Championship.  With the top three determined by just one point, it's indicative of how close the class has become competitively amongst its top practitioners!

Saturday morning saw the fleet held ashore for a few hours by PRO David Lovegrove due to high winds. Nobody wanted to risk serious damage a week out from the main event. The later start still allowed the 20 entrants from Ireland, Great Britain and USA to enjoy four races held in a variety of conditions. Sun, rain, squalls, flat calms, big shifts and a changing tide all created a very unusual mix for Howth. As one race official noted, "If you don't like the weather, hang on for five minutes!"

In spite of the weather challenges, GBR visitors IL RICCIO (Italian for "The Hedgehog") sailed by Ian Southworth dominated the first day and headed for the bar with a 1-2-1-1 score. Just behind them was fellow Brit Bob Turner on SERCO with a 5-1-3-3 and Ireland's Flor O'Driscoll sailing HARD ON PORT into third with a 3-5-5-10.  The top Americans all had great scores, save for bad drop races, like Keith Whittemore's FURIO from Seattle, Washington and Tony Parker's BANGOR PACKET from Georgetown, DC.  Top of the Irish boats at that stage was Howth's Mossy Shanahan who bagged a tasty 2-10-4-7. The dividends were paid to those who played relatively conservatively and kept their noses clean.

Lighter and less variable conditions treated the fleet to incredibly tight racing on Sunday with another four races banged off in quick time. By the end of Race 6, IL RICCIO had sewn up the regatta, pocketing a further two wins, not needing to race in the last two. A clinical display of extraordinary seamanship and sailing! The fleet did its best to push the 3PM deadline for a last start by forcing a general recall in the penultimate race. Taking second for the regatta was Seattle's Keith Whittemore on FURIO, posting a 2-2-1.5-1- in the last four races to nearly pull off the ultimate upset sailing the last day, losing by just a 0.5 pts. Third was the UK's Bob Turner on SERCO just another 0.5 pts back!!  Rounding out the closely fought top five were Tony Parker's BANGOR PACKET crew in fourth and the Brit's JIGGY 2 led by Paul Williams in fifth.

Irish National title winner was the HYC Under 25 crew sailing EURO CAR PARKS KILCULLEN followed by Flor O'Driscoll's team HARD ON PORT in second and taking third Irish Nats on the podium was the Darrer/ Murphy team on the old STOUCHE.

With a calendar of coaching and tweaking, polishing and measuring, ahead of the J/24 Worlds, the Howth will be a beehive of activity this week. Many of the visitors have threatened golf outings, punctuated by busy evenings in local hostelries and pubs!!  Story contributed from Emmet Dalton.   Sailing photos credits- Tom Gruitt   For more Irish J/24 Nationals sailing information