SAILING/GP14 World Championship: A steady nerve and good capsize recovery technique proved vital yesterday as the Fáilte Ireland GP14 World Championships completed the pre-qualification stage of the six-day event on Sligo Bay.
Britain's Carl Jeffs and Jim Toothill continue to lead the series after five races, while four Irish crews hold top-10 positions.
An early start this morning should return the event to its intended programme, with the 130-boat fleet split into Gold, Silver and Bronze divisions based on performances to date.
Though yesterday started with a moderate breeze, winds had once again defied forecasts with a brisk force seven for the third and final race of the day.
Most of the 200-plus competitors were at sea for seven hours, though Sligo Yacht Club's event medical doctor was kept busy with a constant stream of casualties, the injuries ranging from minor cuts and bruises to two dislocated knees and a head injury.
While, technically, a championship has been sailed, should weather continue to disrupt the event, six races may be sailed, though most ashore concede five is more likely between today and tomorrow.
While Jeffs and Toothill have excelled in the strong conditions, the expected light conditions for the final series could yet turn the championship, as this heavier crew may not be as suited for light airs.
This leaves at least four Irish crews with an open chance of reaching a podium result. Irish class veteran Hugh Gill, with Stuart Boyle from Sutton Dinghy Club, continues to lead the home charge with top-eight results through four of the five races sailed.
The fifth race ended prematurely for Gill, the International Class Association president, when the weather caused problems at the final weather mark rounding. After avoiding another competitor that had stalled, Gill and Boyle found themselves in a raft of three boats being driven on to the inflatable mark by the 28-knot, gusting wind.
Snagging the mark around his rudder kindly, though inadvertently, allowed other boats a bonus of a free rounding. Gill was obliged to dismantle his steering gear and, facing a shocker of a finishing place, opted to retire and use the single-race discard allowance.
