Monday, July 17, 2006
Report from Laser II Open Event
With the cancellation of the Southern regional championships on Friday, our sailors instead gathered in Crookhaven on Saturday morning for a replacement, one day, Laser II open event. The new event was to comprise 5 races sailed inside the harbour, with the first two races being joined in with the local Saturday league racing.
The fibreglass boats nearly melted in the heat while being rigged up ashore, and several of the competitors were tempted to drink their complimentary Lucozades before racing ever began. Not a zephyr of wind could be located on the water and at 10:30am our race officer, Martin Spillet of CHSC, postponed the start until 11:30am. Shane Kennedy had decided the wind would never arrive and elected to stay in bed, and not even an angry visit from the event organisers could convince him to leave it. Then shortly after 11am, the wind suddenly filled in, crews went running for trapeze harnesses, and the 5 assembled Laser IIs went on the water.
The first race started in 10 knots of wind, and Stephanie and Ross Cadogan shot off the line to lead the fleet up the first beat. They rounded the weather mark first, but having gybed to port and set their spinnaker they obstructed John and Donal Burke still on their approach to the weather mark. By the time the Cadogans had done their turns the Burkes had slipped past and skillfully held on to their lead to win the first race.
The fleet was joined at the start of the second race by Shane Kennedy who, having smelt the wind from his bedroom, broke his brother's toe and took Donal Hegarty crewing for him in the freshening breeze. The duo got off to a good start, leading the fleet to the windward mark and holding onto that position to win, while the Cadogans fought off a strong challenge from the Burkes to take second.
By the start of the third race the wind was up to around 14 knots, and both Aisling Hennessy and Mark Barry had torn their kites, forcing Hennessy to retire to while Mark battled on. Ian and Jenny McGowan too were regretting having left their harness ashore when they had launched in lighter wind. Kennedy went on to win all the remaining races, though he was challenged closely in the last two races, where they were caught downwind in the planing conditions but managed to protect their lead upwind.
With discards counted, it was Shane and Donal who won the event, earning them each club rugby shirts - a nice return for their €15 entry fee, and definitely worth getting out of bed for.
| Boat | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | Total | Pos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burke | 0.75 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9.75 | 3 |
| Cadogan | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8.00 | 2 |
| McGowan | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 17.00 | 5 |
| Barry | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 16.00 | 4 |
| Hennessy | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 25.00 | 6 |
| Kennedy | 7 | 0.75 | 0.75 | 0.75 | 0.75 | 3.00 | 1 |
- 1st: Shane Kennedy and Donal Hegarty, 3pts
- 2nd: Stephanie and Ross Cadogan, 8pts
- 3rd: John and Donal Burke, 9.75pts
- 4th: Mark Barry and Mark Spillet, 16pts
- 5th: Ian and Jenny McGowan, 17pts
- 6th: Aisling Hennessy and Ciara Brennan, 25pts
