SAILING/European Dragon Championship: With a fleet of 50 boats plus a crew of paparazzi photographers in hot pursuit, Prince Frederik of Denmark won the opening race of the Setanta Dragon European Championship at Kinsale yesterday.
The single, two-hour race saw strong performances from three Irish boats, while double-Olympic medallist Poul Richard Hoj-Jensen was absent from the front-runners.
Although the Danish winner had a mid-fleet start, an opportunity to tack into clear air early in the race provided the chance to sail for the left-hand side of the course. By the first mark, the crew of Nanoq had a solid lead which increased to almost one minute after the first lap.
Commenting on his first experience in Irish waters, the Danish crown prince said that arriving on the course an hour before the race start was useful. "The conditions are challenging and the tide surprised me, it was certainly more than expected," he said after the race.
Four-time winner of this event Hoj-Jensen was not shining as bright as expected yesterday when the Dane finished 10th to score a weighty 16 points in this one-discard, six-race series.
A close finishing sequence brought Germany's Marcus Brennecke in second, having closed the gap on the Danish leaders, followed just boat-lengths behind by Switzerland's Vincent Hoesch and Gold Cup runner-up Frank Berg of Denmark in fourth.
Of the Irish crews in contention, Andrew Craig sailing with Edward Peel and Aidan O'Connell, led a trio of home-fleet boats across with his Chimaera taking fifth place ahead of Garry Treacy's King Rat and Douarnenez winner Johnny Ross-Murphy on Rigmarole.
The conditions were particularly shifty during the race, according to the crews, requiring maximum concentration. "There was a huge amount of gear changing needed - if you weren't doing this then you just weren't there," Craig said.
Absent from the leading group at the finish was Dún Laoghaire's Richard Goodbody with Rick Johnson and local guru John Veale. A perfect start and an early tack on to port for clean air saw Diva round the top mark in third overall and best of the Irish fleet. But a bad call on a windshift saw the trio slip and a 20th place was their final result.
A collision with a committee vessel at the outer limit mark of the start for Ward Woods's Jessica put paid to plans for a promising start for this experienced crew. Sailing with Brian Mathews and Mark Pettit, a 38th place, having restarted the race second last, was the best they could manage and will be getting value from the event race discard.
Dragon European Championship (at Kinsale YC); Race 1: 1 Nanoq - Denmark (Frederik, Hendriksen, Harsberg); 2 Bahati - Germany (Brennecke, Wieser, Auracher); 3 Nanseatic Lloyd - Switzerland (Hoesch, Kriffka, Faber); 4 My Way - Denmark (Berg, Kaestal, Rapfod); 5 Chimaera - Ireland (Craig, Peel, O'Connell); 6 King Rat - Ireland (Treacy, Maguire, Tarbert). Other Irish: 7 Rigmarole (Ross-Murphy, Millerick, Murphy); 18 Cloud (Hogan, Hogan, Collins); 20 Diva (Goodbody, Johnston, Peale).
Results provisional - subject to protests and corrections.
