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GP14 Youth Championship of Ireland 2014 at Howth Yacht Club

by Dan Gill 17 Sep 2014 15:50 BST 13-14 September 2014
Dan Gill, U19 Winner at the 2014 GP14 Youth Championship © Laura Thompson

The 2014 GP14 Youth Championships kicked off to a slow start at Howth Yacht Club as racing was delayed due to lack of wind in the morning. The schedule provided two races for the seniors in the morning followed by another two in the afternoon for the Youth Championship.

The youth sailors, kindly ferried out to the racing area by Neville & Jean Maguire, waited eagerly as the seniors finished off their second race in gentle winds. With the changeovers complete, PRO Harry Gallagher quickly fired the five minute gun. The youthful enthusiasm of the sailors proved too much with two general recalls but finally got going, third time lucky. Two Sutton sailors, Callum Maher & Shane Mcloughlin miscalculating the race officer's signals and starting on the one minute gun provided the fleet with some humour as they continued towards the windward mark laughing amongst themselves.

With Eanna Maloney Lawless & Stephen Boyle rounding the windward mark first, the positions seemed set for the race with little place changing occurring around the racecourse. However the fleet battled it out on the upwind legs and the race finished up with Eanna & Stephen taking the bullet, Dan & Hugh Gill in second place and Gareth Gallagher & Donal McGuinness from Lough Foyle YC biting at their heels in third. By the time everyone had finished, the wind had dropped off and it seemed pointless to try and fit in another with stronger winds scheduled for Sunday.

Sunday began with sunshine and smiles all around as the forecast for stronger winds was correct. Racing kicked off with the first gun at 10:30. Strong winds and big swell provide the sailors with a difficult task navigating the race course with an extremely tight reach to the gybe mark and nice surf to the leeward mark with Dan & Hugh chasing the leaders Eanna & Stephen around the course but couldn't find the extra speed to catch them. Further back in the fleet they continued to fight it out until Edward Coyle & Colman Grimes of Skerries SC broke clear to take third. The last two races were fought hard by all in a strong breeze, no letting up with fierce competition on the points leader board. Gareth & Donal won race 3 from Edward & Colman with Callum Maher & Shane McLoughlin from Sutton pitching up in third place.

It all came down to the final race with Eanna, Dan, Gareth and Edward all possible winners. After a clean start Dan & Hugh rounded the weather mark followed closely by Eanna & Stephen. A tight top 3-sail reach saw Eanna pulling out over Dan and opening up yards as they powered into the gybe. Therein the battle for the Championship lay with Dan doing his best to catch the very quick Eanna providing the spectators on the committee boat and the waiting senior sailors with great excitement. At the last leeward mark Dan & Hugh secured inside position and held on to take the race win. Eanna however with 2 firsts and a second won the coveted GP14 Youth Championship of Ireland for the second year in a row. David Johnston & Alan Blay, also from Sutton, led the rest of the fleet home in third place. Many thanks to everyone who willingly gave their boats to the young sailors who happily returned them all without needing the wizardry of Alistair Duffin to put things right.

Overall Results:

PosSail NoHelm NameCrew NameClubR1R2R3R4Pts
1st14116Eanna Maloney LawlessStephen BoyleSDC11‑624
2nd13915Daniel GillHugh GillSDC22‑715
3rd14080Gareth GallagherDonal McGuinnesLFYC361‑810
4th14144Edward CoyleColman GrimesSSC‑632611
5th13977David JohnstonAlan BlaySDC‑545312
6th14055James HockleyAlan ThompsonLFYC4‑54513
7th14138Calum MaherShane McLoughlinSDC‑1183415
8th13951Sinead DicksonKatie DwyerSDC77‑10923
9th13917Michael CoxJosh PorterNSC‑1098724
10th13207Adrian LeeDavid LappinYSC9109‑1128
11th13902Daniel HopkinsNigel SloanNSC8‑11111029
12th14074Cathal SheridanDavid CookeSSC‑1212121236
13th13882Richard GallagherMark IrelandNSC(UFD)1313DNF40

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