Tralee Bay, with it's magnificent Mount Brandon backdrop was the magical scene for the fifth Irish Cruiser Nationals last weekend. Over 80 boats competed in the four main divisions, with IRC and ECHO results for each division.
Tralee Bay Sailing Club, under the stewardship of Commodore Liam Lynch and his team, put on a great show and we look forward to returning there in 2012!
Off the water, North Sails' Richard Marshall & Nigel Young provided on-site sail service and repair facilities for the event. Richard hired a truck and brought three high powered electric sewing machines and a van full of fabrics, rings, tapes, zips, hanks and other materials with him so that we could service all competitors during the event. Thankfully, he wasn't too busy but he still got everyone sorted and on the water the next day. Thanks Richard & Nigel for all your efforts.
On the water our customers were great and congratulations to all.
Dave Dwyer's "Mariner's Cove", with Peter O'Leary at the helm, took first overall in IRC and boat of the event with a string of five bullets. The previous week, she also took the UK IRC Nationals. "Mariner's" has a full suit of North Carbon 800L 3DL upwind sails and Gradient V Series downwind spinnakers. Dave and his team are having a great run this year.
I was racing against them on Eamon Rohan's "Blondie IV" and whilst we had five 2nd's, to their five 1st's, we never managed to pip them, even though the winning margins were less than 25's in most cases. Well done guys.
In IRC 1, Paul O'Higgin's Corby 33 "Rockabill V", steered by Mel Collins, with Stefan Hyde assisting on tactics was flying her 2009 3DL 600M Aramid upwind sails and they looked really fast, scoring three race wins to secure victory by a comfortable 10 point margin in the end.
In IRC 3, relative newcomer to sailing Conor Ronan helming his Corby 26 "Ruthless" finished 3rd overall with a string of 2nd and 3rd places. Dave Burrows assisted onboard and we were delighted for Conor and his team. They have put in a huge effort this year, optimising the boat and it's configuration - hopefully a sign of bigger and better things to come!
We would really like to see some more Division 3 boats flying North Sails, so please do get in touch guys and let's see how we can help you gain that extra speed, whether through sails, rig tune, optimisation, after sales service or coaching.
North Sails Customers' Results
IRC 0
1. Mariner's Cove - Dave Dwyer - North Sails
2. Blondie IV - Eamon Rohan - North Sails
3. Tiamat - Tim Costello - North Sails
4. Gloves Off - Ciaran Twomey - North Sails
IRC 1
1. Rockabill V - Paul O'Higgins - North Sails
5. Contango - Barry Cunningham - North Sails
6. Storm - Pat Kelly - North Sails
IRC 2
3. Ruthless - Conor Ronan - North Sails
ECHO 0
2. Blondie IV - Eamon Rohan - North Sails
3. Mariner's Cove - Dave Dwyer - North Sails
ECHO 1
2. Storm - Pat Kelly - North Sails
3. Rockabill V - Paul O'Higgins - North Sails