GP14 Purcell Trophy at Lough Erne Yacht Club
by Chris Scott 21 May 2008 08:54 BST
17-18 May 2008
Tim Corcoran and Brendan Brogan made the Purcell Trophy their own winning an impressive five out of six races. The 24 competing crews from all over Ireland had no answer to the Sligo Yacht Club duo’s relentless consistency.
Lough Erne lived up to its notorious reputation as a challenging venue, with the shifty easterly breeze wind ranging between 5-10 knots throughout the series. Race Officer Fred Ternan set a combination of Olympic triangle and windward / leeward courses to keep the competitors on their toes.
Corcoran and Brogan apart the racing was extremely close with second to fourth only separated by 4 points and the podium places in each of the gold, silver and bronze fleets been only being decided in the last race. The tricky conditions meant nearly everybody hade “a clanger” they needed to discard.
A fourth place in the last race was enough for Alastair Duffin and Stephen Nelson from Newtownards Sailing Club to hold on to second overall despite clubmates Curly Morris and Laura McFarland winning the last race. Chris Scott and Mark Taylor slipped to fourth after incurring a penalty in the final stages of the race but still had the satisfaction of being first local boat.
Richard Street and Dan Crilly from Blessington Sailing Club sailed a very consistent series of top ten finishes to shade the Silver Fleet from Nigel Sloan and Mark Valentine from Newtownards Sailing Club.
Local sailors Raymond Morrison and Declan Dooley even surprised themselves by leading the final race of the series before being pipped to third place but this performance was enough to secure the Bronze fleet maybe event tempting Raymond back to the fleet – watch this space.
In his closing remarks Niall Henry President GP14 Ireland Association stated “Lough Erne Yacht Club had as usual ran an excellent regatta with race management and catering second to none.” 48 sailors from 10 different clubs show the strength and depth of the GP14 fleet in Ireland.
The next event on the Irish GP14 circuit is the innovative and high tension O'Tiarnaigh Challenge held a Swords Sailing Club on June 7th and 8th.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Boat Name | Sail No | Helm | Crew | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | estrella | 13801 | tim corcoran | brendan brogan | SYC | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| 2 | kanaka | 13901 | alastair duffin | s. nelson | NSC | 12 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 22 |
| 3 | keep me in trouble | 13917 | curly morris | laura mc farland | NSC/EABC | 9 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 23 |
| 4 | | 13833 | chris scott | mark taylor | LEYC | 3 | 16 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 26 |
| 5 | shadowfax | 13794 | dairmuid mullen | james conlon | SYC | 5 | 10 | 2 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 26 |