GP14 Spring Series 2025 at Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club - Week 3

Ruan and Rebekah O'Tiarnaigh leading the fleet - GP14 Spring Series at Royal North of Ireland YC week 3 © Callum Dalzell

A crisp and blustery day greeted sailors for the third weekend of the GP14 Spring Series 2025 hosted by Royal North of Ireland YC on the southern shores of Belfast lough on 2nd March.

Sailors from the host club were once again joined by visitors from Newtownards S.C., East Down Y.C., Antrim B.C., Royal Ulster Y.C., and as far a field as Lough Foyle Y.C. Race Officer Gerry Reid and team set the Windward/Leeward course with a median heading of 270deg on a course with a growing adverse tide on the windward legs due to the ebb, more strongly on the right side due to the deepening water towards the shipping channel. The significant wind gusts were generally causing a veer and the wind strength was varying between 12 and 25kts all of which combined for an exciting afternoon's racing.

The crew lineups had some changes from week 1 with Stephen Nelson taking up the crewing position with Adam Torrens in place of Emily Torrens, Ross Nolan replacing Martin Spooner at the front of Rory Higgins boat, Jennifer Bryce with Kevin Donnelly replacing Paidi Donnelly. Meanwhile Ruan and Rebekah O'Tiarnaigh reformed their Worlds 2022 team to sail Jane Kearney's boat as neither Jane nor crew Ellie Nolan were available.

Race 1 began with a close battle which saw event leaders Ross Kearney and Daniel Nelson locking horns with the O'Tiarnaigh duo in the shifty conditions. Approaching the weather mark, it was the O'Tiarnaigh's slightly ahead of Kearney and Nelson coming in on the starboard lay line, however Keith and Matteo Louden managed to slot into second place having stayed out of trouble and favouring the left-hand side of the beat in a manoeuvre reminiscent of the late and great Chris 'Bang Left' Maxwell. Down the run an early gybe allowed the O'Tiarnaigh team gain a slight advantage and lead onto the second beat. Kearney and Nelson overtook the Loudens to gain second position by the weather mark and those positions remained unchanged to the finish with Torrens and Nelson in fourth, Josh Porter and Sarah Gowdy fifth and Higgins and Nolan in sixth.

The second race once again saw intense close racing in the shifty conditions, but it was the Louden team who once again had favoured a drag race to the port lay line, who emerged at the weather mark leading ahead of Kearney and Nelson with the O'Tiarnaigh pair in third, closely followed by Torrens and Nelson, Robbie Richardson and Nathan Telford and Porter and Gowdy. The following group which included Patrick Hamilton and Hanna Stoicova, Donnelly and Bryce, David Mellor and Mike Shaw were all in close contention and revelled in the blustery conditions both uphill and down. At the finish, it was Loudens followed closely by Kearney and Nelson, the O'Tiarnaigh's third Torrens and Nelson fourth and Richardson and Telford fifth.

Race three began with a minor skirmish at the leeward end of the line with the O'Tiarnaigh's investigating the Louden 'bang left' strategy however it was Kearney and Nelson who emerged leading due to a slight veer in the breeze which tilted the balance away from the left-hand corner. At the weather mark they led from the O'Tiarnaigh's with Porter and Gowdy, Torrens and Nelson Mellor and Bryce in close contention. The conditions were to have their direct influence on the fleet as an intense squall, which lasted approximately 15 minutes, presented a number of the fleet with the opportunity to inspect the finish of their centreboards (names retracted to save blushes), but at the finish the Loudens had regained positions to finish third behind Kearney and Nelson first and the O'Tiarnaigh's who followed home in second. Once again Torrens and Nelson took fourth with Higgins and Nolan fifth and Mellor and Bryce in sixth.

The aftermath of the squall saw a slightly foreshortened fleet take off from the start line with a 15 degree veer in the wind. Positioned slightly to weather of Kearney and Nelson, the O'Tiarnaigh duo held a controlling stance in a drag race to the port lay line. With little to lose Kearney and Nelson rolled the dice and took an early tack to the right hand side of the course in a search for stronger wind and perhaps a further veer in the wind, however as the breeze began to back this tactic proved unsuccessful and by the windward mark the father and daughter O'Tiarnaigh team led with Porter and Gowdy second, the Loudens third and the remarkably consistent Torrens and Nelson once again making fourth position their own. These positions remained almost constant, save for Kearney and Nelson recovering to fifth position by the finish.

After what was a great afternoon's racing and four tremendous races atop the leaderboard was Ruan and Rebekah O'Tiarnaigh with an accumulated score of 7pts followed by Ross Kearney and Daniel Nelson tied on 10 points with Keith and Matteo Louden, the former team getting the nod on countback. Much thanks once again to Gerry Reid and his on the water team that included NJ Denis Todd and ace photographer Callum Dalzell.

Royal North of Ireland YC will host the first event in the GP14 Ireland calendar over the weekend of 12/13 April, called The O'Tiarnaigh Challenge, is a short course multi-flight, round-robin event, the format devised by the late, former President of the GP14 International Association, Riocard O'Tiarnaigh and son in 1999. A warm welcome awaits sailors from all corners of Ireland for this opening event of the 2025 calendar.