Fáilte Ireland 1720 Europeans at Howth Yacht Club - Day 1

Hibernian leads after Day 1 of the Fáilte Ireland 1720 Europeans © David Branigan

Hibernian leads after tidal dominos start to Fáilte Ireland 1720 Europeans

British ocean racing veteran Tim Powell steering Brian Lennon and Roger Cagneys' Hibernian leads the Fáilte Ireland 1720 European Championship after three races in light airs at Howth, Ireland this afternoon. The local boat is overnight leader of the 50-boat fleet with a comfortable 17-point lead in this eleven race series.

A short postponement to the first race allowed a light easterly air-flow to become established on the race course between Lambay Island and Ireland's Eye though a flood tide running close to two knots created problems for most of the fleet.

While Powell on Hibernian made a clean start and took to the right hand-side of the course, the remainder of the fleet became bunched at the windward mark. One by one, minor collisions followed and with few exceptions, the fleet piled up at the mark until clear air gradually provided a chance to escape.

Hibernian opened their lead to score the first of two wins of the day. Tom and John Murphy's Peugeot Motocycles, another local boat with Swedish Match Champion Chris Law at the helm, produced a fourth place in the opening race. A 17th followed a mid-fleet start but a second place in race three brought him into second overall - at the front of the chasing pack.

Results after Day 1: