SAILING/Commodore's Cup: Groundhog Day may fall every February, but the three Irish teams competing in the Rolex Commodore's Cup in Cowes this week might be forgiven for suspecting otherwise as the forecast of breezes for the duration of the event is strangely reminiscent of just two years ago at this venue.

Three Irish teams sailed then as well, though just one led from the outset to the final, high-scoring offshore race that was dogged by light airs and ended in defeat and third place for Colm Barrington's squad. But that was then and the lessons were learnt.

After day two of the event, all nine Irish boats have performed to their billing as favourites.

Tim Costello's Mark Mills-designed 40-footer Tiamat found form yesterday and scored two second places among the big boats of Class One, while No Naked Flames, owned by Andrew Allen and Colm Monahan, and Eamonn Rohan's Blondie scored a win and a second place each.

The combined performance of Ireland Green leaves them atop the leaderboard with 15.5 points overall, seven ahead of second-placed Ireland Orange.

Of the second Irish team, Colm Barrington's Magic Glove had her first win, though a fourth in the second race removed some gloss.

Team-mate Antix matched Glove's result, while Conor and Denise Phelan's Jump Juice followed their win in the first race of the day with a one-from-last place after undergoing covering tactics by a French rival anxious to break the Irish dominance.

Ireland's White Team maintained third overall, a slim 1.75 points ahead of the France Blue team in fourth.

"I'm delighted with the performance of the Irish teams and I'm very hopeful that between us we can do the business by the end of the week," Barrington told The Irish Times last night.

Asked about being relegated from his accustomed place as leader, Magic Glove's skipper said, "I always reckoned this wouldn't be a walkover and I'm just happy it's an Irish team ahead."

Early days.