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Maritimo 2023 M600 LEADERBOARD

GP14 Ulster Championship at Lough Erne Yacht Club

by Ger Owens 22 Jun 2015 14:16 UTC 13-14 June 2015
GP14 Ulster Championship at Lough Erne © Donnie Phair / www.donniephair.com

Always be apprehensive of a venue described as picturesque...

Lough Erne was described as the most picturesque venue one would ever sail and it definitely delivered on that promise. I got to see every nook and cranny of the beautiful venue as we tried to navigate our way around the very trying race course. We arrived Saturday morning with the sun splitting the slipway and the breath-taking views were teeing up a very exciting event in Rory McIlroy's second favourite venue for golf. A great turn out of boats meant a large fleet would make any defending champ (in this case, Alan Blay) nervous at the prospect of holding onto a title. We rigged and launched eager to get around the corner to see the sailing venue for the racing.

A chilly breeze was an early warning sign to anyone who thought this was going to be another sailing event. The Race Officer got the racing off to a quick start and it was clear from the outset that the training Shane MacCarthy and Damian Bracken had put in over the winter was paying dividends and provided them with the extra boatlength required when situations were tight around what was set to be the most tricky racing in the GP's this year.

Lough Erne was a venue where consistency and patience were currency, and no amount of money in the bank would have bought you a race without them. Keith Louden (our lake specialist) was also on form and determined to topple the Macarthy winning streak. Alan Blay, the defending champion, was fired up and ready, staying for the weekend with local tactical genius JP McCaldin to increase his chances of a successful defence. The leader in every race came from the left hand side, crossing the fleet and using the right hand side to approach the top mark. The wind shifted ferociously and the 'bold child' that was Lough Erne laughed as the rest of the fleet sailed in circles trying to deal with the shifting conditions. Tim Corcoran had left himself a lot of work after being over the line in the first race. Over the weekend the naughty GP fleet were to try the patience of the race officer on more than one occasion with multiple restarts because they could not stay behind the line.

Day two launching was similar to day one with gorgeous sunshine guiding our way - however everyone had gritted teeth this time and for good reason. The difficult shifty conditions were to continue and stringing a couple of consistent results together for anyone was rare. Everyone had glimpses of the front of the fleet but hanging onto a lead was virtually impossible. The positions throughout the races were yo-yoing to say the very least except those of Shane and Keith who had set themselves up for a deciding match race in the natural amphitheatre that was Lough Erne. The rest of the fleet could only marvel as two gladiators of Irish GP's wrestled their way through the pack to try and win the title of Ulster champion. The title swapped and changed between the two several times contending with bonkers shifts that literally tacked boats uncontrollably at times. Keith had the lead at the top mark and Shane kept him in his sights throughout the race. Pile ups at three of the marks meant getting around the race course unscathed was a skill in itself, (Not something yours truly managed to do).

A nail biting last broad reach decided the championship and Shane was a well deserved champion, the wind had shifted to favour the chasing pack and filled in from behind, Shane was to leeward and in front of that same pack and chose to use his last ace card to hold the inside lane on Keith at the leeward mark and clinch the title, the boat length which himself and Damian had worked so hard to gain over the winter had been the small inch required to win. The rest of the fleet had to watch and enjoy the spectacle going on around them as they tried to make sufficient sense of the conditions to finish the race.

Special mention must go to the youth sailors in the bronze fleet who showed some of the gold and silver fleet how it's done - Gareth and Richard Gallagher and Peter Boyle sailing with dad Stephen put in a great performance over the weekend. It was also fantastic to see the return of Richard Street - Richard, we've missed you. And thanks again to the event organisers and members at Lough Erne Yacht Club for providing a warm welcome and great racing.

Overall Results:

PosBoatSail NoClubHelmCrewFleetR1R2R3R4R5R6Pts
1st 14158GreystonesShane MacCarthyDamian BrackenG1‑7131410
2nd 14055ISAKeith LoudenAlan ThomsonG3141‑13514
3rdTrue Belle14076Royal St GeorgeGer OwensMelanie MorrisG5235‑7217
4thDaisy Chain13993SligoNiall HenryOssian GereightyG4872‑19627
5thTewerity13977Sutton BCAlan BlayNiamh McCormackG26‑1194829
6th 14143Moville Boat ClubJohn McGuinnessDonal McGunnessG8328‑17930
7th 14036SligoTim CocoranBrendan BroganG(OCS)418781038
8thBlueberry Muffin14080Lough FoyleGareth GallagherRichard GallagherB614511‑32743
9thTrouble Ive Seen14077East Antrim BCNSCCurly MorrisLaura McFarlandG‑161261021646
10thKanaka13901DCSSteven NelsonJonny NelsonS‑17108691346
11thKarma14127SligoColm OFIaghertyJoe MurrayG11‑1891651051
12thNo Surprise14144Skerries SCColman GrimesDavid LappinG1211‑1512612530
13th 14138 Simon CullyLibby TierneyS81717‑2214360
14th 14142SYCG GilliganLucia NicholsonS‑15131313101463
15th 12661SDCPeter BoyleStephen BoyleB285124(BFD)1766
16thCloud Nine13891BlessingtonRichard StreetSimon DickS71510(DNF)201567
17thThis One13207Youghal SCAdrian LeeEdward CayneB10‑221414121868
18thKHIT13917NBCM CoxJosh PorterB139161818‑2174
19thDan's Yer Man13833Ballyronan Boat ClubJohn McRobertsSteven PrestonS14162015‑231176
20thAlkadoo14040LFYCBill JohnsonJames JohnsonB182121193‑2582
21stFinnbarra14129Newtownards SCNewenhan de CoganAndre CorkhillB‑30202217112393
22nd 13782Mulingar SCMichael CollenderBrian WalkerB21191921‑241999
23rdProbably the best12560LEYCJorgen PedersenFinbarr McCannB23‑2423201620102
24th 13885DOSJames OggRonan OBeirneB20‑2624231522104
25thSDC14164Ballyronan Boa ClubtBrenda PrestonPatriciaBrowneB2225(DNS)262527125
26thCatherte13595LEYCFouad GhareebTimonthy BoomerB25‑3027252128126
27thKylip14133Youghal SCJack ButtnerFinn OBrienB‑292725242624126
28thLEYC 313597LEYCMichael BrinesRory GillB2431(DNS)272226130
29thCurvedGold13624MSCJoe KellyPat KellyB1923(DNF)DNSDNSDNS138
30th 13552LEYC/MulleghmoreMichelle MartinPaul GormanB2729(DNF)282729140
31stSyracuse13909SligoGerry BradyHazel MaloneyB262826(DNF)DNSDNS144

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