Irish Team Racing Championships at Lough Derg Yacht Club
by Gordon Davies 16 Mar 2010 14:59 GMT
13-14 March 2010
The George Gladiator's win in the last race of the event against the other Royal St. George YC team, the George Knights, ensured them victory over the Royal Cork's South County Rebels in the 2010 ITRA National Championships.
Dromineer witnessed an intense weekend of team racing organised by Lough Derg Yacht and the Irish Team Racing Association.. Teams included 10 times nationals champions Royal St. George Knights, and the younger generation of “George” sailors competing as the Gladiators, Royal Cork YC's South County Rebels, IUSA Intervarsity 2010 champions from the University of Limerick, along with UCD, Schull and the Curradinghy Sailing Squad.
Race Officer Mike McCarney ran 3 round robins despite light and shifty winds, providing plenty of course laying practice. The umpire team put together by ITRA Secretary, and umpire, Gordon Davies included International Umpires from the UK and the USA and umpires from Scotland, Dublin and Cork matched the quality of the competitors.
At the end of the first two round robins the South County Rebels had only lost one race. Following closely by the Gladiators. Then, with only 6 races left to sail in the third round robin the win shut down. If the round robin was not completed then the Rebels were National Champions. Race Officer and umpires sat it out (despite some anxiety about catching their flights home), and after a nerve racking hour the wind filled in.
The final race of the round robin would decide the title. The Gladiators had to win this race to secure the national title, but the senior George team were not going to let the young upstarts beat them, and possibly deprive them of third place. After a tense race in a light and shifty breeze Gladiators won. This left them on equal points with the Rebels. However, the Gladiators, having beaten th Rebels twice, secured first place and the title of National Champion.
The 2011 ISAF World Team Racing Championships will be held in Schull, County Cork. This is event was part of the selection process for the two senior teams that will represent Ireland, plus an under-19 team. The Schull team was the only under-19, competing. They managed to beat the George Knights team once, and finished fourth overall.
The 2010-2011 season championships will be sailed in Schull in November 2010, to be followed by selection trials so that the Worlds teams can train intensively both here and abroad.
Overall Results:
1st George Gladiators
Rachel Guy, Rachel O'Brien, Marty O'Leary, Brian Fenlon, Jonny O'Dowd, Sam Hunt
2nd RCYC South County Rebels
Lisa Dann, Sean O'Rourke, Sandy Remmington, Fred Cudmore, Nicholas O'Leary, Alex Barry
3rd George Knights
Siofra Neary, Jodie Jane Tingle, Maeve Judge, John Sheehy, Nick Smith, Darragh O'Connor