Irish Defence Forces take inaugural Services trophy in Volvo Round Ireland Race
by John O'Connor 6 Jul 2018 21:22 BST
6 July 2018
Irish Defence Forces take inaugural Services trophy in the 2018 Volvo Round Ireland Race © David Branigan / Oceansport
As Niall Dowling and the crew of Baraka Gp prepare to receive the overall winner's trophy in the Volvo Round Ireland Race at Wicklow Sailing Club tonight, Commandant Barry Byrne and the crew of Joker 2 have been confirmed as the second-placed team in the 56-strong event.
Racing on Joker 2, a J109, Byrne's team representing the Irish Defence Forces also win the inaugural Services Trophy for military teams in the 705-mile race which they add to the Beaufort Cup that they won at Volvo Cork Week in 2016.
Joker 2 had been locked in a tight race to the finishing-line on Thursday evening in an effort to beat Chris Power-Smith's Auralia out of second place with a deadline of 8pm to take second place. Byrne's team were initially scored as third overall until a race office error with their handicap was corrected and the result was upgraded.
Byrne's team also won IRC Class Three while Power-Smith won IRC Class Two in addition to his third-place overall result. Dowling took a hat-trick of Line-Honours, Overall victory on IRC handicap and the Class zero prize.
A total of nine boats retired from the race that started at Wicklow last Saturday afternoon, most due to gear failure in the near gale conditions experienced by the fleet on the Atlantic coast. Four boats remain at sea and will miss the prize-giving.
Included amongst the other prizes to be awarded are Conor and Derek Dillon for winning both the eight-boat two-handed division and IRC Class 4, the biggest individual division on their Dehler 34 Big Deal from Foynes Yacht Club. Nicolas Troussel's Corum won Class 40 while Finland's Arto Linnervuo on Xp 44 Xtra Staerk won IRC Class One.
Fully results are available at www.rorc.org/racing/race-results/2018-results