Euro Car Parks Half Ton Classics Cup at Kinsale Yacht Club

Euro Car Parks Half Ton Classics Cup at Kinsale Yacht Club - Day 2

by Bert Janssen 15 Aug 2017 21:21 BST 13-18 August 2017

Euro Car Parks Half Ton Classics Cup at Kinsale day 2 © David Branigan / Oceansport

In a clear statement of intent for the remainder of the regatta, Phil Plumtree's Swuzzlebubble found form on the second day of racing at the Euro Car Parks Half Ton Classics Cup at Kinsale with two wins and two second places during a long day afloat sailed in ideal conditions.

While there was a building breeze of 12 to 20 knots ending in champagne sailing conditions for day two, a near gale forecast for Wednesday morning may yet mean a lay day is on the cards and a break in the programme could be the best hope for a tight pack of runner-up contenders to break Plumtree's dominance of the 21-boat fleet.

Two bullets for David Cullen on Checkmate XV edges him into second overall, five points behind Swuzzlebubble and just a single point ahead of Nigel Biggs on Checkmate XVIII, the previous overnight leader. A consistent day for Mike and Ritchie Evans' The Big Picture, Cullen's clubmates from Howth, Co. Dublin keeps them in the hunt in fourth overall and just ten points off the leader.

On the water, Swuzzlebubble's impressive upwind performance is hard to miss and although needing to finish by more than a minute and a half over her nearest rival to win on IRC handicap, Plumtree's team is absent from the boat on boat tussle for places further astern.

Rollercoaster results across the two days afflicted several crews, notably Paul Pullen's Miss Whiplash who lost his consistent form of thirds and fourth places from Monday and Paul Wayte's Headhunter who used both the event discards to drop eleventh and twelfth places.

Class President Philippe Pilatte on General Tapioca also used both discards but also scored a third and fourth places to move up the leaderboard to fifth overall though a distant 19 points off first place.

Euro Car Parks Half Ton Classics Cup at Kinsale day 2 - photo © David Branigan / Oceansport

Meanwhile the forecast of strong winds for Wednesday and possibly again later in the week led Principal Race Officer Anthony O'Leary to set four races for the day with three windward/leeward courses followed by a 'round the cans' race finishing inside Kinsale natural harbour overlooked by the historic Charles Fort.

The possibility of the gale blowing through by lunchtime on Wednesday has not been discounted and the intention to hold a coastal course remains - pending a decision by the race committee in the morning. The longer race offers 1.5x multiplier and could prove critical in deciding the final outcome of the championship.

Results after Day 2:

Pos	Sail No	Boat Name	Country	Owner	Handicap	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	Pts
1	KZ3494	Swuzzlebubble	UK	Phil Plumtree	0.975	1	2	8	1	2	1	2	7
2	IRL2016	Checkmate XV	Ireland	Dave Cullen	0.947	8	1	5	4	1	6	1	12
3	GBR66R	Checkmate XVIII	UK	Nigel Biggs	0.952	4	4	2	2	3	2	10	13
4	IRL5522	The Big Picture	Ireland	Michael & Richard Evans	0.944	6	5	1	5	5	3	3	17
5	BEL7548	General Tapioca	Belgium	Philippe Pilatte	0.956	2	7.5	9	3	11	4	15	25.5
6	GBR5435	Miss Whiplash	UK	Paul Pullen	0.954	3	3	4	10	9	7	11	26
7	GBR5694	Headhunter	UK	Paul Wayte	0.963	9	6	3	8	6	11	12	32
8	IRL1484	Harmony	Ireland	Jonny Swan	0.948	5	7.5	10.5	9	8	8	6	34.5
9	GBR2759	Per Elisa	UK	Robbie Tregear	0.962	7	10	6	11	4	15	16	38
10	BEL8500	Red Cloud	Belgium	Tom Florizoone	0.949	10.5	15	13	7	10	10	4	41.5
11	IRL8094	King One	Ireland	David Kelly & Patrick Boardman	0.952	14	9	7	6	15	13	8	43
12	GBR4080T	Crakajax	UK	Richard & Ursula Hollis	0.898	10.5	11	15	13	14	5	5	44.5
13	GBR6521	Trastada	UK	Dan Challis & Roddy Angus	0.958	12	13.5	12	12	7	9	14	52
14	GBR8444	Demolition	UK	Mel Sharp	0.929	18	12	14	22	13	12	7	58
15	ESP2655	Cortagedo	Ireland	George Radley	0.951	13	13.5	10.5	15	12	18	13	62
16	FRA17416	Pivoine	France	Patrick Dijoud	0.896	16	16	17	14	17	16	9	71
17	FRA9292	Concorde	UK	Francis Marshall	0.965	17	17	16	17	18	14	18	81
18	FRA9187	Rampage	UK	John Hicks	0.961	15	18	18	16	16	17	19	82
19	BEL5394	Fantasy	Belgium	Ian Van Burm	0.942	21	19	19	19	19.5	19	17	93
20	IRL5530	Scorpio	Ireland	Dominic O'Sullivan	0.952	20	20	20	18	19.5	20	20	97.5
21	GBR5384	Superhero	Finland	Toni Stoschek & Janne Tulokas	0.944	19	22	22	22	22	22	22	107