SAILING/ News: Tomorrow's fight for overall honours in class zero of Howth Yacht Club's autumn league may ultimately be settled ashore following Colm Barrington's decision to seek redress for an "outrageous decision" by the club's protest committee for a rule infringement during last weekend's penultimate race.
Significantly, the protest decision, if upheld, plays into the hands of Eamon Crosbie's league debutant Voodoo Chile, from Dún Laoghaire, who leads overall.
Even if Barrington's Gloves Off, which dropped after penalty from second to eighth in last week's race, is reinstated, Voodoo Chile retains the overall lead by a single point.
Reinstatement, however, gives Gloves Off the chance to win the final race and lift the class title.
The Royal Irish Yacht Club skipper is seeking redress from the committee over the racing rule that states yachts should not sail through the start-line while another start is in progress. The rule is designed to stop boats already racing from hindering those preparing to start.
The five per cent penalty given against Barrington and John Killeen's Nimmo, which followed a protest lodged by rival Roy Dickson's Cracklin' Rosie, has had the same effect to their points as would disqualification from race five, Barrington argues.
Barrington maintains he hindered no other boats and there were no class starts in progress. He also maintains the race committee had already lifted the pin-end buoy of the start-line and is consequently seeking redress on several grounds.
Not without their own set-backs this season, the crew of Voodoo Chile plan to be afloat tomorrow and sailing to win regardless of any protest decision in their favour.
The series gives Voodoo the chance to end 2003 with a class zero win in the biggest outing of class zero in over 10 years.
So far this season disqualification from two races in June's British nationals, which Voodoo was leading, have all threatened to scupper her opening season.
In spite of this, resilient National Yacht Club skipper Eamon Crosbie and sons Alan and David have met each obstacle head on.
In the Southern Atlantic, in a fleet of some 70 boats, Royal Cork's solo sailor Cian McCarthy in the mini-transat race continues to suffer from his westerly approach in 10 knot of winds to the Fernando de Noronha Island waypoint and is down to 23rd place, from sixth 10 days ago, as Sam Manuard and the front runners, now in a procession along the Brazilian coast, draw near the finish line.
The Lymington-based yachtswoman Hannah White (20), who set off on Wednesday westwards from Lymington for Ireland in a bid to beat Carrickfergus sailor Peter Keig's non-stop around Britain and Ireland record, has retired off Lyme Bay because of a torn mainsail and autopilot failure.
The Irish Sailing Association is putting its toe in the water for Beijing with an effort to form a 49er development squad aimed at the 2008 Olympics. An open day has been arranged with builders Ovington Boats of England on Monday, October 27th, in the Royal St George Yacht Club.
The high-speed, twin-wire dinghy, the fastest of all dinghy classes, will be available for demonstration sails, and Olympic team manager Garrett Connolly will give a briefing.
