This past Saturday, the RS400 and RS200 Eastern Sprint Championships at Greystones Sailing Club showcased thrilling dinghy sailing action off the County Wicklow coast.
A total of 19 boats participated, from both the 200s to 400s.
The day promised 12-18 knots northwesterly winds and clear skies. Under the guidance of PRO Michael Conway, the event kicked off with a briefing to introduce the Sprint format, designed to maximize racing opportunities with fair courses and quick turnarounds for all participants.
Once on the water, the racing commenced at 11:30 AM with two starts for the 12 x 400s and 7x200s. The race unfolded with ideal conditions, albeit slightly different from the forecast, accompanied by a strong south-running tide.
Costello and Heather are RS200 Sprint Winners
A good level of racing, some downwind fun and also capsizes near the leeward mark with everyone with big smiles as the boats planed their way towards the finish line. On the racing side, Alex Costello/Charles Heather dominated with a clean sweep of 1st places, showing terrific speed and adaptability in the shifty conditions.
Emma O'Rourke sailing with Sophie Harden also sailed consistently very well to come in 2nd overall. The rest of the fleet all had a few good results but also mixed with a few capsize affected/other type races to affect their overall placing.
Alex Costello and Charles Heather were the RS200 winners of the Sprint Championships at Greystones Sailing Club
RS200 Dinghy Sprint Championships at Greystones Sailing Club results
RS200 Dinghy Sprint Championships at Greystones Sailing Club results
Espey and Ferguson win in RS400
Race 1 got away cleanly in both fleets. After a jostle for position near committee boat Bob Espey/Mike Ferguson showed a clean pair of heels in their new boat getting to top mark first, gybing clear on the run and controlling from the front from there to hold to finish. Paul Phelan/Alan leddy gave chase along with Marty O'Leary/Rory O'Sullivan and Barry McCartin/Conor Kinsella with the latter getting 2nd and O'Leary/O'Sullivan 3rd.
Race 2 as the wind flicked around a bit, it got away with a pin bias leading Peter Bayley/Paddy Blackley and others on the left looking pretty to begin with but towards the top of the course, the right came good and once again Espey/Ferguson were well in the lead chased by O'Leary/OSullivan and John Callanan also beneffeting up there.In the end top 2 stayed the same with McCartin/Kinsella recovering to 3rd.
RS400s close in on a startline at the Greystones Sailing Club hosted exciting RS Dinghy Sprint Championships Photo: Brendan Ryan
Race 3 once again Espey/Ferguson did another horizon job with O'Leary/O'Sullivan coming 2nd once more and Govan Berridge/Dom this time coming to the fore to sail a good race and come in 3rd this time.
Race 4 and finally a few boats started to challenge Espey/Ferguson. McCartin/Kinsella got to the weather mark first but getting stuck on the mark in very strong tide proved not very fast. Espey/Ferguson were in the lead again, however as both misjudged layline to the leeward mark O'Leary/O'Sullivan came roaring in and sailed a strong next beat picking a nice left shift at the top to then win comfortably. McCartin/Kinsella held on to second after a close last run with Espey/Ferguson in 3rd.
Now the wind really started playing havoc, up and down and lots of wind direction changes but Race 5 got away, turning very light against strong tide, Bayley/Blackley came from the right to lead this time but as the race got turned inside out with kites up second beat, it was rightly abandoned. However not to be beaten, PRO Michael pulled off another course change to a more northerly direction and the fifth race was resailed. This time, McCartin/Kinsella finally got it right and led from the front comfortably. The boats behind had a great race with any one of the entire fleet able to fill remaining positions in the lighter conditions. In the end Paul Phelan/Alan Leddy got a well deserved 2nd place and Espey/Ferguson came through to take 3rd on the line. This gave them the well deserved championship and as it was 4pm everyone headed ashore.
Bob Espey (right) and Mike Ferguson (left) were the RS400 winners of the Sprint Championships at Greystones Sailing Club
RS400 Dinghy Sprint Championships at Greystones Sailing Club results
RS400 Dinghy Sprint Championships at Greystones Sailing Club results
Shortly after, there was a prize giving with some fun prizes, as well as winners in the RS200 Alex Costello/Charles Heather and RS400 Bob Espey/Mikey Ferguson crowned. Bob concluded by thanking all the race organizers and volunteers and applauding the one-day Sprint racing format.
Many RSers stayed on after the prizes were presented as the Enterprise class had a reunion, providing more entertainment and stories at the bar long into the evening.
The next event in the class is the RS FEST on 6/7th July in Lough Derg YC. Info and Entry open here
