Irish Squib South Coast Championship in Kinsale Yacht Club

by Michele Kennelly 27 Aug 2017 22:32 BST 26-27 August 2017

Irish Squib South Coast Championship at Kinsale © Fiona Ward

Light airs and fog ensured that the Race Officer, John Stallard, and his team were tested to the limits over the past two days.

Saturday saw bright sunny conditions but no wind so the decision was made to postpone the start. The fleet were towed to the racing area east of the Bulman buoy. With 3 – 4 knots of breeze from the south-east racing finally got under way at 12.46hrs. Visiting from the Isle of Wight RVYC Dick & Pamela Batt in Squib lead from the start with Peter Wallace & Fergus O'Kelly in Toy ForThe Boys, RNIYC, hot on their heels. Colm Daly & Finbarr O'Regan in 50 Shades of Grey, KYC, came 3rd.

Race 2 got underway but the wind was fading so RO John and Siobhan jumped into a rib and went to finish the fleet at the Windward mark. Squib was 1st with Jeff Condell & Jeff Cochrane in Fuggles, KYC, 2nd and 50 Shades of Grey putting in another solid performance to take 3rd. By now the hard decision had to be made to abandon racing for the day and head home.

Sunday morning saw the racing postponed again but due to fog. The Race Officer on the Mary P went out to the Bulman Buoy to see if the fog would lift while the fleet remained at the mouth of the harbour. Eventually there was enough visibility to lay a course and get racing underway at 12.35hrs. Toy For The Boys took the line in Race 3 with Sam Hunt & Ian Travers in Badger, KYC, taking 2nd and Squib took 3rd.

With 3 races completed we now had a Championship Series. Race 4 saw Squib dominate again with Toy ForThe Boys challenging them all around the course and Badger took 3rd. This was enough to secure the Championship for Dick & Pamela Batt in Squib with Peter & Fergus in Toy For The Boys 2nd overall.

Race 5 got underway and the fog had descended again. Fuggles lead from the start and with clear air continued throughout the race to stretch their lead. Badger was in 2nd and with Squib picking up places as the race progressed they finished the race in a solid 3rd. Having sailed a very consistent series Denis & Brid Cudmore in Sensation, KYC, took 4th in Race 5 with Julie Silfverberg & Liz Bond in Breakaway, KYC, in 5th.

Why is there a squib called Squib? Well hull number 11 was the first one built in 1966 and is still winning races and Championships over 50 years later.

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Boat Name	Helm	Crew	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	Pts
1	11	Squib	Dick Batt	Pamela Batt		1	1	3	1	3	6
2	818	Toys For Boys	Peter Wallace	Fergus O'Kelly		2	5	1	2	17	10
3	612	Fuggles	Jeff Condell	Jeff Cochrane	KYC	6	2	4	5	1	12
4	1	Badger	Sam Hunt	Ian Travers		7	8	2	3	2	14
5	42	Fifty Shades	Colm Daly	Finbarr O'Regan	KYC	3	3	6	7	6	18
6	523	Sensation	Denis Cudmore	Brid Cudmore	KYC	5	4	5	6	4	18
7	568	Eala	Bill Thullier	Henry Kingston	KYC	9	7	17	4	8	28
8	150	Espresso	Victor Fusco	Ruth Ennis	KYC	4	11	8	8	10	30
9	606	Breakaway	Liz Bond	Julie Silfverberg	KYC	10	9	7	10	5	31
10	643	Flora	Dave Ross	Bobby Nash	KYC	8	10	9	9	7	33
11	79	Sedition	Dominic Falvey	Paul Cotter	KYC	11	6	10	14	9	36
12	624	Bateleur	John Stanley	Mary Stanley	KYC	14	13	12	12	11	48
13	38	Nimble	Barry Speight	Adam Griffin	KYC	12	12	11	15	14	49
14	12	Too Fat To Fly	Denis Kiernan	Paul Grimley	KYC	13	16	13	11	12	49
15	199	Woodstock	Martin Gowran	Patrick Gowran/Jimmy Murphy		15	15	14	13	13	55
16	556	Spectre	Martin Dooney	John Dooney	KYC	16	14	15	16	15	60