GP14 Irish Nationals at Newtownards Sailing Club

Tim Corcoran and Brendan Brogan win the Irish GP14 championships © Chris Scott

Alastair Duffin and Stephen Nelson finish as top Northern Irish boat at the Irish GP14 championships © Chris Scott

Corcoran and Brogan bring it home on “Last Chance Sunday”

Timmy Corcoran and Brendan Brogan continued their express train like progress towards a clean sweep of Irish GP14 honours this season. The Sligo duo were crowned as Champions of Ireland following a stellar performance at Newtownards Sailing Club this weekend.

Although the results show a 6.25 point victory the final outcome was not decided until the event’s final race. Indeed the honours in both Silver and Bronze fleets were also decided during the single race on “Last Chance Sunday.”

Following a relaxed 2.30 pm start on Friday to facilitate travelling, 34 crews took to the water to compete to for the prestigious Championship of Ireland Trophy. Two races were held in perfect conditions with wind speeds varying between 8-12 knots. A strong ebbing tide caught out Tim Jones & Andy Tunnicliffe forcing them over the line one a black flag start, Timmy Corcoran & Brendan Brogan made the most out of this to hammer home a race win. Jones and Tunnicliffe answered back in the best way possible with an emphatic win in race two. Corcoran and Brogan were later disqualified from this race due to a leeward mark incident. Black flags and DSQ’s grouped with a consistent performance from other Gold Fleet sailors meant that it was incredibly tight at the top and the pressure was well and truly on.

Race Officer Ruan O’Tiarnaigh used excellent foresight to decide to run three races of the Saturday due to the light wind forecast for Sunday. A classic example of the impeccable race management the GP14 fleet were treated to all weekend. Jones and Tunnicliffe continued were they had left of on Friday by winning the race three on Saturday morning but the pressure cooker just kept getting hotter as the main rivals were all able to bring home top five finishes. Curly Morris and Laura McFarland put on an absolute masterclass performance in race four with a huge winning margin.

Race Five results would be important to set up a good chance of victory on “Last Chance Sunday” but the main competitors yet again did not blink – Jones and Tunnicliffe 1st with Corcoran and Brogan 2nd meaning they were separated by only 1.5 points going into the final race. Henry and Geraghty; Duffin and Nelson; and Morris and McFarland were all within touching distance of the leaders and with them both using their discards with earlier disqualifications meant it was all to play for.

“Last Chance Sunday” began with miserable light rain and no wind but after a 90 minute delay racing got underway in a tricky offshore breeze with a strong tide going from right to left across the course. Corcoran and Brogan dealt with the pressure as if on a Sunday morning jaunt, cruising to line honours with Jones and Tunnicliffe further back in sixth giving them second overall. Duffin and Nelson scored a 2nd promoting them to third overall with covering tactics sailing from Henry and Geraghty ensuring they pipped Morris and McFarland to fourth overall.

Jane Alexander and ex Mirror World Champion Ross Kearney from Chase Sailing Club finished in 5th place in the last race enabling then to leap frog O’Sullivan and Pearson (Sutton Dinghy Club) to claim victory in the Silver Fleet. Local stalwarts Laurence Balhaam and Emma McKelvey completed the Siver fleet podium positions.

Two bronze fleet crews put in season best performances whilst battling out for the bronze fleet. The Collings brothers from Sutton Dinghy Club finished 8th in race sixth to secure a three point victory over Sheridan and Cooke from Skerries Sailing Club. Local sailors Brian Andrews and Nigel Sloan finished third in this fleet.

Finally Ireland has its own outright National Champion following years of visiting crews’ dominance. In his acceptance speech Timmy Corcoran made a point of thanking Fleet Financial for their generous sponsorship of the event and thanked Tim Jones and Andy Tunnicliffe for making the journey over.

Overall Results:

For further information see www.gp14ireland.com