Colm Barrington's overall victory in class zero at the conclusion of the Heineken Autumn League at Howth on Saturday, confirms the decision by the ISA to issue a wild card invitation to the owner/skipper of Gloves Off for the Eagle Star Champion of Champions event next weekend.
The Royal Irish Yacht Club sailor has accepted and will be amongst a star-studded line-up that will decide Ireland's top sailor for 2000, in an event also being staged at Howth. With an impeccable track-record at handicap cruiser/racer and offshore events over the past two years, this next event in small one-design may yet be Barrington's toughest test.
His win with Gloves Off last weekend has set down a benchmark in the big boat fleet on the east coast that recognises a flawless combination of good crew work, careful preparation and the latest design concepts. With the standard set however, the close of his most successful season yet saw several other class zero boats closing the performance gap.
Bob and Bairbre Stewarts' Prima 38 Great Bear finished a close second while Oliver Sheehy's new Beneteau 40.7 Tiger made impressive gains as the season progressed though it ended outside the top three. The class wasn't without controversy though as a protest has delayed confirmation of the ECHO results.
The complaint surrounds Great Bear's helmsman Mark Pettitt. Overall ECHO winner in the class Michael Fleming on Trinculo alleges that Pettitt is not a listed crew on Great Bear's ECHO handicap certificate, a contravention of the ECHO rules.
Amongst the other classes, Jim Hyland's Maxim won the Class One fleet convincingly after an early tussle with Barrington's previous class winner now named Lethal Weapon and owned by Ian Switzer who finished second. The final race for that class had to be abandoned and restarted when a trawler with a long tow cut across the course shortly after the lead boats had cleared.
A welcome area of growth for the 210 boat event was the entry of several non-east coast crews including Joggernaut from Galway. Almost appropriately, the visitor won class two with a comfortable six-point margin, reward enough for 5.30 a.m. starts every Sunday for the last six weeks.
